[coverattach=1]Former NBA Star will spend Wednesday with the U.S. Marines at Camp Lejeune
CONCORD, N.C., Sept. 14, 2009 - It's been a little more than four months since Tom Hammonds drove at a national event, at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, but now the former NBA power forward and Georgia Tech basketball All-American will return to competition when the NHRA Full Throttle Series converges on zMax Dragway for the 2nd annual NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sept. 18 - 21. While many of the professional competitors have their sights set on the Countdown to 1 and the de facto six-race playoff that will crown this year's champions, the 42-year-old Hammonds is already looking ahead to next season with the goal of getting a head start on 2010.
"I'm excited," Hammonds said. "I haven't been in a car in a long time and I'm anxious to see exactly what our engines can do. We've made some improvements since the last time we went down the quarter mile, and now we'll see exactly where we stand against the field. That will give us a good indication of where we need to go over the winter.
"Bruton Smith has done an incredible job with zMax Dragway and I can't wait to make that first qualifying pass on Friday. You know the stands are going to be packed. They love their NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing in Charlotte and I'm proud to be a part of it."
At this time, Hammonds' game plan is to race at the next two events in Charlotte and Dallas, and then sit out the remainder of 2009 to begin preparation for next year.
"We have some functions we're doing at these next couple of events for some of our sponsors," Hammonds said, "and then hopefully, not too long after Dallas, we'll be able to make an announcement regarding 2010. We'll then continue to work on our engines and our program for the rest of the year, and that should put us in a solid position where I feel we can not only finish in the top 10 next season, but have a chance to run for the championship. This will give us the head start to do that."
The week leading up to the NHRA Carolinas Nationals promises to be a busy one for Hammonds. Following a test session at Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway on Sunday, the Chevy Cobalt driver and team owner will take his race rig over to Camp Lejeune (N.C.) where he will spend the day with United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has been an associate partner on Hammonds' Chevrolet throughout most of the 2009 campaign.
"The Marine Corps has been a tremendous supporter of mine this year," Hammonds said. "We have a tremendous opportunity on Wednesday to visit Camp Lejeune, display our race car, sign some autographs, and just spend the entire day with the United States Marines. We'll visit with some of our wounded warriors there and let them know how much we appreciate what they've done for our country. I'm also going through the Marine Corps obstacle course, and depending on what kind of toll that takes on me, I may or may not be in Charlotte. If I'm at zMax Dragway on Friday then you'll know I survived."
Hammonds' decision to park the race team following the St. Louis event was a difficult one, especially considering the fact that he had qualified at six of the first seven races on the tour. His season-best effort in 2009 was a No. 7 qualifying spot in Las Vegas, and at Houston, he posted a career-best elapsed time and speed of 6.580 seconds at 210.18 mph. However, the need to devote more time to finding additional funding and a long-term sponsor temporarily won out over continuing on the circuit.
"My main objective when we parked the team after St. Louis was to make sure we had secured funding for 2010 and beyond," Hammonds said. "It was a tough, tough decision. I thought we had momentum, I felt good with the team that we had both at the track and the shop, and it was a hard choice to make. I had a good conversation with Tomi Laine, Jimmy Oliver, and my whole crew and made the decision that the best thing to do was to focus on finding a sponsor. Suffice it to say, we've made a lot of headway.
"We were consistently qualifying in the top 16 and we were doing it on a limited budget. That's not an easy thing to do. Jimmy (Oliver), in my opinion, is the best in the business and what he was doing with our engines with what he had to do it with, was unbelievable. Now we're close to being in a position where we can put our program on solid ground for many years to come. I feel confident that I can give Jimmy the budget that will put us in the upper echelon of NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing."
Hammonds entered his first NHRA Pro Stock contest at the 1996 Mile-High Nationals while playing professional basketball with the NBA Denver Nuggets. He continued to compete part-time on the NHRA tour while still in the NBA.
Following his retirement from basketball in 2001, Hammonds entered the NHRA circuit full time. He took a sabbatical from the sport in 2003, to complete final coursework in the GM Minority Dealer Development Program and then opened Tom Hammonds Chevrolet in Darlington, S.C., in May of 2004. Hammonds sold the dealership in December 2005 to return to Pro Stock drag racing.
Hammonds' career as an NHRA Pro Stock driver includes three final-round appearances; at Dallas and Las Vegas in 2001, and at Chicago in 2002.
"Drag racing professionally has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done," Hammonds said. "Playing basketball you're kind of in control of your own destiny, and success is largely determined by how hard you want to work, and the effort put forth in the gym and in the weight room. Regardless of how hard you work or how many hours you put, there are no guarantees in drag racing.
"When I retired from basketball I was still doing this in the "hobby" frame of mind, and that's what really hurt me. If I would have approached it more so as a business back then I feel we would have been in a better position now. That's where we are now. This is my business and this is what I do for a living. I have worked extremely hard to make this work and thank God that he has put some key people in front of me that have taken notice of our program, and today we're in a better position."
Hammonds was a two-time all-ACC and an All-America basketball standout at Georgia Tech University where his No. 20 jersey was retired and where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
"I absolutely love NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing," Hammonds said. "Not many people can say they've had an opportunity to compete professionally in two different sports, and I've truly been blessed. This is a lot of fun; driving the car, facing the competition and going up against the best racers in the world. I also want to be a testimony to others. Don't quit on your dreams - that's what I tell the kids in our 'Race for Achievement' program. It may be hard at times, but don't quit, and if you want it bad enough and you work hard enough, you can make it happen. Have faith in God and you can make it happen."
The 2nd annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals on Sept. 17 - 20 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., is the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship. Qualifying coverage of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, Sept. 19, beginning at 11:30 p.m. Eastern. Final eliminations coverage gets underway on Sunday, Sept. 20, with NHRA Race Day starting at 11 a.m., and then a three-hour telecast of final eliminations kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern.
CONCORD, N.C., Sept. 14, 2009 - It's been a little more than four months since Tom Hammonds drove at a national event, at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, but now the former NBA power forward and Georgia Tech basketball All-American will return to competition when the NHRA Full Throttle Series converges on zMax Dragway for the 2nd annual NHRA Carolina Nationals on Sept. 18 - 21. While many of the professional competitors have their sights set on the Countdown to 1 and the de facto six-race playoff that will crown this year's champions, the 42-year-old Hammonds is already looking ahead to next season with the goal of getting a head start on 2010.
"I'm excited," Hammonds said. "I haven't been in a car in a long time and I'm anxious to see exactly what our engines can do. We've made some improvements since the last time we went down the quarter mile, and now we'll see exactly where we stand against the field. That will give us a good indication of where we need to go over the winter.
"Bruton Smith has done an incredible job with zMax Dragway and I can't wait to make that first qualifying pass on Friday. You know the stands are going to be packed. They love their NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing in Charlotte and I'm proud to be a part of it."
At this time, Hammonds' game plan is to race at the next two events in Charlotte and Dallas, and then sit out the remainder of 2009 to begin preparation for next year.
"We have some functions we're doing at these next couple of events for some of our sponsors," Hammonds said, "and then hopefully, not too long after Dallas, we'll be able to make an announcement regarding 2010. We'll then continue to work on our engines and our program for the rest of the year, and that should put us in a solid position where I feel we can not only finish in the top 10 next season, but have a chance to run for the championship. This will give us the head start to do that."
The week leading up to the NHRA Carolinas Nationals promises to be a busy one for Hammonds. Following a test session at Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway on Sunday, the Chevy Cobalt driver and team owner will take his race rig over to Camp Lejeune (N.C.) where he will spend the day with United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has been an associate partner on Hammonds' Chevrolet throughout most of the 2009 campaign.
"The Marine Corps has been a tremendous supporter of mine this year," Hammonds said. "We have a tremendous opportunity on Wednesday to visit Camp Lejeune, display our race car, sign some autographs, and just spend the entire day with the United States Marines. We'll visit with some of our wounded warriors there and let them know how much we appreciate what they've done for our country. I'm also going through the Marine Corps obstacle course, and depending on what kind of toll that takes on me, I may or may not be in Charlotte. If I'm at zMax Dragway on Friday then you'll know I survived."
Hammonds' decision to park the race team following the St. Louis event was a difficult one, especially considering the fact that he had qualified at six of the first seven races on the tour. His season-best effort in 2009 was a No. 7 qualifying spot in Las Vegas, and at Houston, he posted a career-best elapsed time and speed of 6.580 seconds at 210.18 mph. However, the need to devote more time to finding additional funding and a long-term sponsor temporarily won out over continuing on the circuit.
"My main objective when we parked the team after St. Louis was to make sure we had secured funding for 2010 and beyond," Hammonds said. "It was a tough, tough decision. I thought we had momentum, I felt good with the team that we had both at the track and the shop, and it was a hard choice to make. I had a good conversation with Tomi Laine, Jimmy Oliver, and my whole crew and made the decision that the best thing to do was to focus on finding a sponsor. Suffice it to say, we've made a lot of headway.
"We were consistently qualifying in the top 16 and we were doing it on a limited budget. That's not an easy thing to do. Jimmy (Oliver), in my opinion, is the best in the business and what he was doing with our engines with what he had to do it with, was unbelievable. Now we're close to being in a position where we can put our program on solid ground for many years to come. I feel confident that I can give Jimmy the budget that will put us in the upper echelon of NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing."
Hammonds entered his first NHRA Pro Stock contest at the 1996 Mile-High Nationals while playing professional basketball with the NBA Denver Nuggets. He continued to compete part-time on the NHRA tour while still in the NBA.
Following his retirement from basketball in 2001, Hammonds entered the NHRA circuit full time. He took a sabbatical from the sport in 2003, to complete final coursework in the GM Minority Dealer Development Program and then opened Tom Hammonds Chevrolet in Darlington, S.C., in May of 2004. Hammonds sold the dealership in December 2005 to return to Pro Stock drag racing.
Hammonds' career as an NHRA Pro Stock driver includes three final-round appearances; at Dallas and Las Vegas in 2001, and at Chicago in 2002.
"Drag racing professionally has been one of the most difficult things I have ever done," Hammonds said. "Playing basketball you're kind of in control of your own destiny, and success is largely determined by how hard you want to work, and the effort put forth in the gym and in the weight room. Regardless of how hard you work or how many hours you put, there are no guarantees in drag racing.
"When I retired from basketball I was still doing this in the "hobby" frame of mind, and that's what really hurt me. If I would have approached it more so as a business back then I feel we would have been in a better position now. That's where we are now. This is my business and this is what I do for a living. I have worked extremely hard to make this work and thank God that he has put some key people in front of me that have taken notice of our program, and today we're in a better position."
Hammonds was a two-time all-ACC and an All-America basketball standout at Georgia Tech University where his No. 20 jersey was retired and where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
"I absolutely love NHRA Pro Stock Drag Racing," Hammonds said. "Not many people can say they've had an opportunity to compete professionally in two different sports, and I've truly been blessed. This is a lot of fun; driving the car, facing the competition and going up against the best racers in the world. I also want to be a testimony to others. Don't quit on your dreams - that's what I tell the kids in our 'Race for Achievement' program. It may be hard at times, but don't quit, and if you want it bad enough and you work hard enough, you can make it happen. Have faith in God and you can make it happen."
The 2nd annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals on Sept. 17 - 20 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., is the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Series championship. Qualifying coverage of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, Sept. 19, beginning at 11:30 p.m. Eastern. Final eliminations coverage gets underway on Sunday, Sept. 20, with NHRA Race Day starting at 11 a.m., and then a three-hour telecast of final eliminations kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern.
