Hernandez harnesses ‘fire power’ and heads to the Rock
Courtesy B1 Racing
ROCKINGHAM, NC – Transitioning to a new car half-way through the 2011 ADRL season may have cost 2010 Pro Extreme runner-up Josh Hernandez any chance of repeating or improving on his prior season’s performance, but the
driver of the B1 Racing C5 Corvette is still focused on scoring bragging rights by winning the Pro Extreme Battle for the Belts contested October 21-23 at the ADRL World Finals in Dallas. Coming into this weekend’s event, ADRL Dragstock VIII, the job is clear: maintain or improve position and go rounds.
Currently ranked number seven, the Texas native knows he needs to stay focused and light a fire under his team to accomplish their goal. He said he’s got the fire part handled, but his focus might get a little divided because of the wild fires at home in Texas.
“We’re ready to go,” Hernandez said. “We’re seventh right now and the goal is to maintain that spot or improve on it with what we do this weekend.
“The car keeps getting better and better. We’re going in the right direction and are just trying to massage those last few gremlins out of the new car. I really think this will be an awesome deal, we just have to find the sweet spot.
“I can’t believe it’s Rockingham already – the “Big Go part two.” For eighth mile drag racing this is the big one of the year and everyone will be here.
“We haven’t done any car testing, but we’ve tested components individually to get ready. The race-day conditions of the ADRL are just about unmatchable, so testing wouldn’t have given us what we wanted to know. We’ll take what we’ve done and see if it sticks during qualifying,” he said.
He said he is confident he can focus on the racing, but the more than three-dozen wild fires ravaging his home state, including an area near his home north of Houston, are making it extremely difficult not to divide his attention. According to news reports Thursday, almost 1,400 homes have been destroyed by fires across the state, and Hernandez said the blaze is just miles from his home in Conroe, Texas.
“Things are pretty rough at home – lots of fires around the area – about six miles away from the house. The kids can’t go to school because their school has become a staging point for evacuees of the fires. The kids have been out all week.
“It’s right down the road – but we’re fine. The wind has been out of the north, blowing the fire to the south, and we’re west of everything. The thing started out in the woods, and it’s crazy dry out there – we’re 22 inches behind on rain. I’ve never seen conditions or things like this. The military is in there now, and they are just having a terrible time getting everything under control.
“Like I said, for us, we’re fine, so I felt comfortable coming here. We’ll keep a close watch on what’s going on, and get home quickly after the race, but each of us on the team has a job to do, and we’re really excited to see this car get down the track.
“The weather looks great right now, so it should be one of those “bad ass racing action” weekends – and we’ve brought the fire power with us,” Hernandez said.
