Red light start does little to deter Hernandez’

Courtesy of B1 Racing
Photo by Roger Richards

READING, PA – To the uninformed, Josh Hernandez’ results at last weekend’s ADRL Penske Truck Leasing Inaugural Northeast Drags at Maple Grove might seem disappointing: the former world champion struggled to get into the field, squeaked into the field in 12th in his last qualifying attempt after failing to get down the track in his two previous attempts, and lost first round because of a dreaded false start. Hardly something to talk about.

The entire B1 Racing team sees last weekend in a completely different and much more positive light.

The team made a late decision to change from their new Murf McKiney-built C5 Corvette back to their stalwart  ’57 Chevy Bel Air, which meant removing parts, replacing parts, and re-retrofitting parts to work on the ’57. In addition, they moved to an automatic transmission from the manual they had practically perfected.

Huge changes in a short amount of time. And, on top of it all, add the strain of team owner Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, second son of the King of Bahrain, contending with political situations in his country never seen before.

Getting the car down the track was a major feat for the team, and for Hernandez, driving it was completely different than anything he had ever attempted. Qualifying at the event was bonus.

“I’m not used to driving like this. It’s a lot different. It’s a button and a break instead of a clutch and a hand break, and I haven’t had a whole lot of luck with it – after this weekend I’ve only done it four times now, and I’m batting .500 with it, so it’s just the learning curve. It’s a new combination, but that seems to be running better than what we were running before in the ’57.  In the long run it was definitely the way to go,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said the car wouldn’t hold when he was at the starting line in his first-round matchup against Jason Hamstra. He left the line .008-seconds early, giving Hamstra the win, but the loss hardly took any wind out of the B1 team’s sails.

“There was a lot of work that had to be done, and it all had to be fine tuned. We had to get the thing wired to where the car would do everything we wanted it to do, and because it wasn’t holding on the line, it cost us that round.

“We made some laps, which is what was really important. We got better and better each time, and we got all the way down the track. That gave the guys a lot of confidence – they didn’t really care that we redlit, they were just happy it went down the racetrack.

“Ultimately, yes, I am disappointed that I went red, but we’re so stoked about the car picking up every round, it far outweighs any short term setback. We’ve got a lot of positive momentum right now, and we’ve made great progress with the combination we’re running.

“We’re taking big steps, and every step is in the right direction. The better car won that round, but it won’t be long before we get paybacks. This season is far from over, and this B1 team will be right in the mix for the championship at the end of the season,” Hernandez said.