Dinwiddie, Va. (August 13, 2011) - Josh Hernandez, the winningest Pro Mod driver in history, added another round-win to his record in a quarterfinal finish Saturday at the American Drag Racing League Speedtech U.S. Drags IV at Virginia Motorsports Park. In what has been a frustrating season for the flagship drag racing team from the country of Bahrain, the win marked what Hernandez said he feels is a defining, turning-point moment.
Hernandez delivered his quickest qualifying effort to date in the B1 Racing Corvette C5 and grabbed the No. 6 spot with a 3.708-second pass at 200.83 mph, setting up a faceoff with No. 11-qualfying Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, sponsor of team Al-Anabi that hails from Bahrain’s neighbor country, Qatar.
At the hit, Hernandez laid down a .040-second reaction time to Al Thani's .068, and that proved to be the difference in the race. At the finish line, Hernandez won the battle on a holeshot, running 3.698-seconds at 202.09 mph to Al Thani's quicker-but-losing 3.676 at 208.55.
"KH and I were joking with each other before the race because we raced each other here in Richmond last season, and he won that round. I told him I owed him one, and after we got out of the cars at the end of the track, he was very quick to come over and congratulate me. He’s done so much for the sport of drag racing, and just like our team owner, Sheikh Abdullah [bin Hamad Al Khalifa], their goal is to highlight the thrill and excitement of drag racing — and I think our race proved that. It was a good race," Hernandez said.
In the quarterfinals, Hernandez met up with Jason Hamstra. The two left the starting line at virtually the same time and stayed side-by-side until the end, when Hamstra pulled away for the win. At the stripe, Hernandez ran a 3.707 at 202.88 mph to Hamstra's 3.679-second pass at 207.85 mph. The team, however, was extremely pleased with the performance despite the loss.
"I really wish we had gone past the second round, but all in all, the car is responding very, VERY well and we are all very pleased," Hernandez said. "We've made major changes to the car - welding type changes, and had minimal opportunity for testing, so, we're really, REALLY happy with the results.
"It's no secret it's been tough for us this season. We changed cars from the old '57 [Chevy Bel Air] to a brand new McKinney-built Corvette C5, and we've been working hard to break it in - using qualifying laps as test runs. This weekend, it all finally started to come together.
"We finally got into the 200's. We got into the '60's this weekend and the car went down the track four out of six times. It went nice, straight, and it responded to what we did, even when we had to turn the wick up on it. We just needed a couple more laps under our belt, and we'd have had a great car for this racetrack to go a few more rounds. All-in-all, it was an excellent weekend," Hernandez said.
The whole B1 team was extremely happy with the results, Hernandez explained, regardless of the fact they went out second round. "We qualified really well and got a significant win first round, and the car was really running like we knew it should. Now we've got a few notes to go back to the shop and make some more changes to kick it up just another notch. It's great, because now, we're starting to finesse the car, where we can really get it to do those things we need, pick up another tenth and we'll be right there in the hunt."
Having mixed results throughout the season, Hernandez is well-aware he is fighting uphill to make it into the Battle for the Belts, the one-day shootout featuring the top eight competitors from each class to be contested at the season's final race, Oct. 21-23, at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. He currently sits at number 10.
"We've got to keep winning rounds, we've got to pick up more points, and we've got to get back into the top eight for the Battle for the Belts. That's a big deal for us. We've got two races left - we go to Rockingham next, then to Norwalk, Ohio, both in September. We've got to pick up 60-80 points, and it's definitely a big deal, we need to make that happen.
"Overall, we're definitely stoked. Hopefully we'll be able to sneak in some testing before the next event so we can make some more improvements that we need to on the racecar. Then, it's one lap at a time," Hernandez said.
Hernandez delivered his quickest qualifying effort to date in the B1 Racing Corvette C5 and grabbed the No. 6 spot with a 3.708-second pass at 200.83 mph, setting up a faceoff with No. 11-qualfying Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, sponsor of team Al-Anabi that hails from Bahrain’s neighbor country, Qatar.
At the hit, Hernandez laid down a .040-second reaction time to Al Thani's .068, and that proved to be the difference in the race. At the finish line, Hernandez won the battle on a holeshot, running 3.698-seconds at 202.09 mph to Al Thani's quicker-but-losing 3.676 at 208.55.
"KH and I were joking with each other before the race because we raced each other here in Richmond last season, and he won that round. I told him I owed him one, and after we got out of the cars at the end of the track, he was very quick to come over and congratulate me. He’s done so much for the sport of drag racing, and just like our team owner, Sheikh Abdullah [bin Hamad Al Khalifa], their goal is to highlight the thrill and excitement of drag racing — and I think our race proved that. It was a good race," Hernandez said.
In the quarterfinals, Hernandez met up with Jason Hamstra. The two left the starting line at virtually the same time and stayed side-by-side until the end, when Hamstra pulled away for the win. At the stripe, Hernandez ran a 3.707 at 202.88 mph to Hamstra's 3.679-second pass at 207.85 mph. The team, however, was extremely pleased with the performance despite the loss.
"I really wish we had gone past the second round, but all in all, the car is responding very, VERY well and we are all very pleased," Hernandez said. "We've made major changes to the car - welding type changes, and had minimal opportunity for testing, so, we're really, REALLY happy with the results.
"It's no secret it's been tough for us this season. We changed cars from the old '57 [Chevy Bel Air] to a brand new McKinney-built Corvette C5, and we've been working hard to break it in - using qualifying laps as test runs. This weekend, it all finally started to come together.
"We finally got into the 200's. We got into the '60's this weekend and the car went down the track four out of six times. It went nice, straight, and it responded to what we did, even when we had to turn the wick up on it. We just needed a couple more laps under our belt, and we'd have had a great car for this racetrack to go a few more rounds. All-in-all, it was an excellent weekend," Hernandez said.
The whole B1 team was extremely happy with the results, Hernandez explained, regardless of the fact they went out second round. "We qualified really well and got a significant win first round, and the car was really running like we knew it should. Now we've got a few notes to go back to the shop and make some more changes to kick it up just another notch. It's great, because now, we're starting to finesse the car, where we can really get it to do those things we need, pick up another tenth and we'll be right there in the hunt."
Having mixed results throughout the season, Hernandez is well-aware he is fighting uphill to make it into the Battle for the Belts, the one-day shootout featuring the top eight competitors from each class to be contested at the season's final race, Oct. 21-23, at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. He currently sits at number 10.
"We've got to keep winning rounds, we've got to pick up more points, and we've got to get back into the top eight for the Battle for the Belts. That's a big deal for us. We've got two races left - we go to Rockingham next, then to Norwalk, Ohio, both in September. We've got to pick up 60-80 points, and it's definitely a big deal, we need to make that happen.
"Overall, we're definitely stoked. Hopefully we'll be able to sneak in some testing before the next event so we can make some more improvements that we need to on the racecar. Then, it's one lap at a time," Hernandez said.
