[coverattach=1]ENNIS, Tex., Sept. 27, 2009 – With solid outings by the Race for Achievement Chevrolet on back-to-back weekends at Charlotte and Dallas, it's easy to conclude that Tom Hammonds made the most of his two-event return to the NHRA Full Throttle tour, and now the veteran Pro Stock competitor will step away and turn his focus to 2010.
"Other than winning a race, we accomplished everything we set out to do," Hammonds said. "The Race for Achievement Chevrolet ran toward the top of the pack, we turned in our best qualifying effort of the year here in Texas, and we learned some things about this race car that we'll put to good use next season."
Hammonds qualified in the No. 4 spot for this weekend's race at the Texas Motorplex, his best effort of the season, but a round-one loss to Allen Johnson ended Hammonds' day early. Still, taking into consideration his performance a week ago at the Carolinas Nationals and here at the NHRA Fall Nationals, Hammonds was pleased with the team's two-week effort.
"We had a good two weekends of racing," Hammonds said. "It gave us a good idea of where our program was, and not only that, but solidifying our program with the Marine Corps was very important. Now we go back and start our offseason and begin the preparation of a championship team for 2010.
"Probably one of the hardest things I'm going to have to do is identify the right crew, and I'll have to do that in the next two to three months so that we'll be in a position to win every race. Our engine program is on solid ground, we have great people as far as that is concerned, but now we need to put the whole program together."
Hammonds' box score for the last two weeks includes a No. 8 and a No. 4 effort in time trials, and a car that ran toward the top page during six of its eight qualifying attempts.
"It felt good to get back in the car, but I was playing crew chief, driver, everything this weekend, and we just didn’t get it done on the track," Hammonds said. "It's tough wearing that many hats especially since we wanted to put together a good program this weekend for the Marine Corps. All in all, though, we qualified fourth, had a good weekend, the last two weekends to be exact, and now we're looking ahead to 2010."
"Other than winning a race, we accomplished everything we set out to do," Hammonds said. "The Race for Achievement Chevrolet ran toward the top of the pack, we turned in our best qualifying effort of the year here in Texas, and we learned some things about this race car that we'll put to good use next season."
Hammonds qualified in the No. 4 spot for this weekend's race at the Texas Motorplex, his best effort of the season, but a round-one loss to Allen Johnson ended Hammonds' day early. Still, taking into consideration his performance a week ago at the Carolinas Nationals and here at the NHRA Fall Nationals, Hammonds was pleased with the team's two-week effort.
"We had a good two weekends of racing," Hammonds said. "It gave us a good idea of where our program was, and not only that, but solidifying our program with the Marine Corps was very important. Now we go back and start our offseason and begin the preparation of a championship team for 2010.
"Probably one of the hardest things I'm going to have to do is identify the right crew, and I'll have to do that in the next two to three months so that we'll be in a position to win every race. Our engine program is on solid ground, we have great people as far as that is concerned, but now we need to put the whole program together."
Hammonds' box score for the last two weeks includes a No. 8 and a No. 4 effort in time trials, and a car that ran toward the top page during six of its eight qualifying attempts.
"It felt good to get back in the car, but I was playing crew chief, driver, everything this weekend, and we just didn’t get it done on the track," Hammonds said. "It's tough wearing that many hats especially since we wanted to put together a good program this weekend for the Marine Corps. All in all, though, we qualified fourth, had a good weekend, the last two weekends to be exact, and now we're looking ahead to 2010."
