Hernandez earns Ohio Crankshaft Low Qualifier Award
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<b><font color="Navy">"I knew that run would be 'the run' of the weekend because halfway down the track it was still pullin' so hard," Hernandez said.</font>
<P> (9/1/08) INDIANAPOLIS -- Reigning JEGS ProMod Challenge champion Josh Hernandez held onto the No. 1 qualifying spot through Sunday's last time trial and will start Sunday evening's eliminations for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals as the favorite to win drag racing's biggest event.
This is the Team Rage driver's fourth low qualifier of the year and it's worth $1,000 from Ohio Crankshaft. He got the job done with the weekend's only five-second pass, a 5.993 at 241.20 mph in the fourth and final qualifying session.
"I knew that run would be 'the run' of the weekend because halfway down the track it was still pullin' so hard," Hernandez said. "I just had that feeling we'd be in the fives and we got it done. That was exciting.
"I was so excited when I heard the number on the radio. I started fist pumping so hard in the cockpit that I almost missed the turn off."
Adding to Hernandez's big weekend was the fact points leader Tony Pontieri missed the field when Troy Coughlin bumped him out in the final session. Hernandez started the weekend 51 points behind Pontieri in second place but has already gained 28 points on him through qualifying.
"It's good news to gain big chunks like that on the points leader," Hernandez said. "You never want to see someone not qualify but it happens and this time we benefited from it. We had to miss a race earlier this year so we've been playing catch-up. It looks like we can catch up a bunch this weekend.
"It feels great to be No. 1 but at the same time I feel like we have a big target on our backs. We are one step closer to our goal of defending our title and we are running numbers I knew this team could run. We can't lose focus now. We've got to perform in eliminations.
"Big thanks to Jim and Dave Oddy as well as Troy Critchley and our thoughts and prayers are with Steve Engel and his family."
Engel's well-being remains on everyone's mind as he continues to recover from a harrowing collision with the retaining wall Saturday night. Engel's spent several hours in surgery at Methodist Hospital earlier Sunday and his condition remains very serious.
<p style="width:300px;float:right;font-weight:bold;padding-right:0px;">
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/SANY3817.jpg" alt="SANY3817" />
<b><font color="Navy">"I knew that run would be 'the run' of the weekend because halfway down the track it was still pullin' so hard," Hernandez said.</font>
<P> (9/1/08) INDIANAPOLIS -- Reigning JEGS ProMod Challenge champion Josh Hernandez held onto the No. 1 qualifying spot through Sunday's last time trial and will start Sunday evening's eliminations for the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals as the favorite to win drag racing's biggest event.
This is the Team Rage driver's fourth low qualifier of the year and it's worth $1,000 from Ohio Crankshaft. He got the job done with the weekend's only five-second pass, a 5.993 at 241.20 mph in the fourth and final qualifying session.
"I knew that run would be 'the run' of the weekend because halfway down the track it was still pullin' so hard," Hernandez said. "I just had that feeling we'd be in the fives and we got it done. That was exciting.
"I was so excited when I heard the number on the radio. I started fist pumping so hard in the cockpit that I almost missed the turn off."
Adding to Hernandez's big weekend was the fact points leader Tony Pontieri missed the field when Troy Coughlin bumped him out in the final session. Hernandez started the weekend 51 points behind Pontieri in second place but has already gained 28 points on him through qualifying.
"It's good news to gain big chunks like that on the points leader," Hernandez said. "You never want to see someone not qualify but it happens and this time we benefited from it. We had to miss a race earlier this year so we've been playing catch-up. It looks like we can catch up a bunch this weekend.
"It feels great to be No. 1 but at the same time I feel like we have a big target on our backs. We are one step closer to our goal of defending our title and we are running numbers I knew this team could run. We can't lose focus now. We've got to perform in eliminations.
"Big thanks to Jim and Dave Oddy as well as Troy Critchley and our thoughts and prayers are with Steve Engel and his family."
Engel's well-being remains on everyone's mind as he continues to recover from a harrowing collision with the retaining wall Saturday night. Engel's spent several hours in surgery at Methodist Hospital earlier Sunday and his condition remains very serious.
