|
SAME
DAY COVERAGE
O'Reilly Spring Nationals
Houston, Texas
By Matthew Brammer and Bobby Bennett;
Photos by Roger Richards
O'Reilly Spring Nationals Same
Day Coverage:
SUNDAY - Hernandez returns
to the scene of the crime with a major victory in front of hometown crowd
(4-10-2005) - Two months ago, Josh Hernandez admitted
that his confidence had taken a pretty serious shot. He had reached the
semifinals of the preseason event known as the Pro Stock Super Bowl at
Houston Raceway Park, but after posting the lowest elapsed time of eliminations,
Hernandez found himself entangled in a frightening two-car crash with
Frankie Taylor.
 The
memory of the incident is still fresh in his mind, and lining up in the
right lane, the same one he crashed in, caused plenty of flashbacks during
the course of the run. Sometimes you just have to say to yourself that
what’s going to happen is going to happen - I’m winning today.
That’s exactly what the Houston, Texas-based driver for Tommy Lipar
did.
“There were eerie similarities between this final and the Pro Stock
Super Bowl,” Hernandez said. “I couldn’t be any happier
than I am right now. This is a dream come true and I am very proud of
what we accomplished today.
“My crew has already nick-named me John Wayne because of the way
I went about winning this race,” Hernandez added. “It’s
the final round and you have to do what you have to do to win. That’s
what matters the most. If you don’t see them, you have to keep after
it. This is race day and we are a competitive team today.”
Hernandez defeated recent IHRA winner and points leader Ed Hoover in
a race that was by all counts ugly. As Hernandez admitted, “There
are no style points in drag racing.”
With that said, the second day of eliminations began with a nasty match
between two determined drivers.
The first pair in the quarterfinals experienced more than their collective
share of anxiety. When Kirk Kuhns failed to fire immediately, it appeared
that Mike Ashley would single into the semifinals. However, at the last
second, Kuhns, of Yorba Linda, Calif., fired and did a short burnout.
He then proceeded to grab a quicker reaction time and led Ashley all the
way to the stripe.
Ashley, fighting a battle of his own to keep from crossing the center-line,
couldn’t make up the deficit and lost to Kuhn’s 6.274, 222.58.
For his efforts, Ashley still managed a 6.290, 224.88.
Joshua Hernandez continued his bid to put a wicked Houston preseason
accident behind him by taking out Mopar racer Chip King. King was quicker
off the line, but that didn’t deter Hernandez as he reeled off a
winning 6.232, 226.51. King fell off the pace with a losing 6.394, 222.91.
Troy Critchley piloted the AMS Staff Leasing 1941 Willys to another round
win and brought a halt to the upset-minded Frankie Taylor’s chances
for victory. The Australian’s 6.244, 224.25 was more than enough
to eliminate Taylor’s 6.845, 214.31.
Ed Hoover’s march to a second final round in a row continued as
Eddie Ware fell to the South Carolina-based veteran in the quarterfinals.
It was only Ware’s second NHRA event. Hoover, driving for Paul Trussell,
was first out of the gate and laid down low elapsed time of the round
with a pass of 6.225, 229.16.
Hoover successfully established himself as a finalist by running low
elapsed time of eliminations with a 6.173, 229.27, defeating Kirk Kuhns.
Kuhns fell from competition with an off-pace 6.361, 225.79.
Hernandez continued his inspirational ride to the final round as he tracked
down a quicker-reacting Critchley and scored the victory with a 6.252,
225.86. Critchley lost with a 6.338, 221.67.
Headed into the final round, Hoover had a distinct edge both in terms
of experience and performance. In a race that proved to be more of a pedal-fest
than anything, Hernandez worked his way to the finish line with a winning
6.915, 164.91. Hoover, in the other lane, suffered a broken transmission
for the second time in NHRA competition and slowed to a runner-up finish
SATURDAY - Taylor stuns
top qualifier Billes; Ashley beats Payne in Gainesville rematch
(4-9-2005) - Qualifying No. 1 is supposed to be a good
thing. The drivers on the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge presented
by TLR tour, though. might be beginning to wonder if that is necessarily
true.
The Pro Mod Challenge has had three 16-car fields in its history —
beginning with last year’s season-ending event in Las Vegas —
and, in all three, the No. 1 qualifier has loaded the trailer earlier
than expected after losing to the No. 16 driver.
The third and most recent example came Saturday afternoon at the O’Reilly
Spring Nationals when No. 16 Frankie Taylor fought, pedaled, and eventually
coaxed his ’68 Camaro to an 8.41 to 10.02 first-round win over pole-winner
Al Billes, who earlier looked to be the class of the field when his 6.10
qualifying best paced his competition by five-hundredths. For Taylor,
the round-win was just the second in his AMS/TLR career, and first since
he reached the semifinals at this event two years ago.
Other first-round highlights included defending series champion Mike
Ashley’s 6.27 to 7.75 win over No. 2 qualifier Jay Payne in a rematch
of the Mac Tools Gatornationals final last month (which Payne won in a
6.11 to 6.17 thriller). The losses by Billes and Payne leave No. 3 Ed
Hoover (Trussell ’63 Corvette) as the highest-qualified driver remaining
in the field; he beat Doug Palmer, 6.18 to 6.36, in one of the better
races of the first round.
No. 6 Eddie Ware recorded low E.T. of the round, pushing his Disturbed
Motorsports ’41 Willys to a 6.15 in his win over Shelly Payne. He
will have lane-choice against Hoover when the second round of Pro Mod
Challenge eliminations begins Sunday at 11 a.m.
The previous 16-over-1 upsets in AMS/TLR racing came at this year’s
season-opening Gatornationals (Thomas Patterson over Hoover) and last
year’s ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals (Jay Payne over Mike Castellana).
Saturday’s results
First-round eliminations
(winner on top)
Troy Critchley 6.249, 224.81
Shannon Jenkins 9.816, 90.97
Kirk Kuhns 6.231, 228.92
Quain Stott 6.222, 230.13
Mike Ashley 6.273, 228.96
Jay Payne 7.755, 118.20
Joshua Hernandez 6.232, 228.89
Mike Bell 11.478, 88.95
Frankie Taylor 8.419, 143.87
Al Billes 10.029, 99.88
Chip King 6.263, 226.01
Glen Kerunsky 6.588, 196.90
Eddie Ware 6.156, 228.73
Shelly Payne 6.226, 229.51
Ed Hoover 6.189, 229.66
Doug Palmer 6.366, 222.40
Sunday’s second-round pairings
(qualifying position in parentheses; driver on top has lane
choice)
(8) Troy Critchley
(16) Frankie Taylor
(5) Joshua Hernandez
(4) Chip King
(10) Kirk Kuhns
(15) Mike Ashley
(6) Eddie Ware
(3) Ed Hoover
SATURDAY NOTES - A Rivalry
is Born, Newcomers Rock and Can-Am Connection Makes Debut
 That’ll
Work – If hindsight is 20/20, and it usually is, then Al
Billes and veteran tuner Jim Oddy are seeing things clearly these days.
When the duo went to the top spot in qualifying, it was a vision they
had all along.
“It wasn’t the whole goal, but it’s a good start,”
Billes said. “Our goal is to be on top at the end of the event.”
Billes, of Barrie, Ontario, and Oddy, of Elma, New York, plan to run
at least three events on the NHRA MS/TLR Challenge schedule this season.
It may seem that Oddy is using the NHRA events as a testing venue for
running in the IHRA, but such is not the case; at least it isn’t
at this point.
In NHRA, supercharged Pro Modified engines run with 29% blower overdrive,
while the IHRA restricts it to 20%.
“You really have to change a lot in going between the two,”
Oddy said. “It’s neat to run both, but you don’t gain
a lot that is interchangeable. But, then again, it’s too early to
tell.”
 Revenge
– If AMS/TLR World Champion Mike Ashley is looking for
a rival in 2005, it’s safe to assume that he may have found such
a man in Jay Payne. The two met in the finals in Gainesville, with the
Valvoline-sponsored Payne decisively defeating Ashley.
During Friday’s second qualifying session, Payne went in to stage
quicker than Ashley. Ashley was counted out by starter Rick Stewart and
effectively disqualified. As a result, Ashley went into the final session
unqualified. The Torco Race Fuels-sponsored driver made it in by the skin
of his teeth at No. 15. As fate would have it, he was paired opposite
of Payne in the first ound of eliminations. Ashley snagged a holeshot
and used the .07 starting line advantage to take out the points leader
with a pass of 6.273, 228.96.
Bored? In A Pro Mod Car?– Mike Bell loves the
way a Pro Modified car covers the quarter-mile so quickly. The problem
for the drag racing school instructor is that he gets bored during the
course of a run.
Bell, of Asheboro, North Carolina, who is filling in for Roy Hill this
weekend, says that the three-speed transmission is a lot different than
the five-speed he’s run in his Pro Stockers. Driving the different
breeds of doorslammers has its plusses and minuses.
“The hardest thing is slowing down your actions in the Pro Modified,”
Bell said. “I found myself wanting to short-shift it because I’ve
become impatient. In fact, I short-shifted it on Friday in qualifying.”
Bell pointed out the one thing a Pro Modified has over the Pro Stocker
is that it still pulls once it passes the eighth-mile. That’s the
point, Bell says, a Pro Stocker “levels out.”
 Shock
Me – Hometown favorite Thomas Patterson went back to the
basics today as a last resort, but an electrical gremlin got the best
of him.
“We’ve chased this thing long enough,” Patterson said.
“We have gone back to the basics with all the extra stuff taken
off. We still ran a 6.22, 234 in testing without any of it.”
That ploy failed to help Patterson make it into the show.
Say It Isn't So – It’s always good to nip
a problem in the bud and Ed Hoover, along with crewchief Jimmy Rector,
are pleased they found a broken rear-end in the team’s blown Corvette
before the first round of eliminations. A thrash prior to their first
round match with Doug Palmer attracted the help of Eddie Ware’s
crew, who had benefited from suspension advice given by Hoover prior to
the race.
The repairs were made in impressive fashion as Hoover had the second
quickest elapsed time of the first round with a 6.189, 229.66. That win
effectively paired Hoover against the man who turned in the low E.T. of
the first session – Ware.
Glad To Be Here– Largely known as an outlaw Pro
Modified racer, Eddie Ware and his father Sammy have devoted more time
to racing the national events in 2005. Business constraints with their
family-owned security business kept them to a limited schedule in the
past, but more opportunities have opened up and the father and son have
taken advantage of them.
Originally, the Wares were only supposed to attend Gainesville. “I
think we’ll make a few more; this is getting fun,” the elder
Ware said.
Gettin' Over The Hump - Along with fellow AMS/TLR series
rookie Eddie Ware, Joshua Hernandez (Tommy Lipar Racing ’57 Chevy)
recorded his first Pro Mod Challenge round-win. Hernandez ran a 6.23 to
easily get past Mike Bell, who was making his series debut.
Another Collision Course? - Should they both win their
second-round races, Frankie Taylor and Joshua Hernandez would meet in
one of Sunday’s semifinals — with both drivers no doubt hoping
for a different outcome. In their most recent on-track encounter, which
also came at Houston Raceway Park, Taylor and Hernandez met in the semifinals
of the Pro Stock SuperBowl exhibition and ended up wrestling for control
in separate incidents before eventually becoming tangled up with each
other. Neither driver was hurt.
Hot Streak - Mike Ashley has reached at least the semifinals
in three straight Pro Mod Challenge events, dating to last season’s
Dallas event. To improve that streak to four, he’ll have to get
past Kirk Kuhns in Sunday’s quarterfinals, with Kuhns holding lane
choice (6.23 to 6.27).
SATURDAY - Billes retains top spot headed into eliminations
(4-9-2005) - Qualifying order after final session
at NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas.
1. Al Billes, Barrie, Ontario, ’53 Corvette, 6.101, 236.01,
2. Jay Payne, Ontario, Ca., ’05 Stratus, 6.154, 234.94
3. Ed Hoover, Gilbert, SC, ’63 Corvette, 6.180, 231.75
4. Chip King, Semora, NC., ’00 Avenger, 6.185, 232.79
5. Josh Hernandez, Conroe, Texas, ’57 Chevy, 6.205, 229.55
6. Eddie Ware, Marietta, Ga., 1941 Willys, 6.212, 220.55
7. Quain Stott, Columbus, NC., ’63 Corvette, 6.228, 231.24
8. Troy Critchley, Wylie, Texas, ’41 Willys 6.228, 225.79
9. Shannon Jenkins, Tuscaloosa, Ala, 2004 Cavalier, 6.234, 229.20
10. Kirk Kuhns, Yorba Linda, Ca., ’01 Viper, 6.263, 226.16
11. Shelly Payne, Ontario, Ca, 05 Stratus, 6.274, 224.06
12. Mike Bell, Asheboro, NC, ’04 Mustang, 6.275, 225.07
13. Glenn Kerunsky, Calgary, Alberta, ’57 Chevy, 6.282, 228.65
14. Doug Palmer, Prarieville, LA., ’63 Corvette, 6.291, 233.16
15. Mike Ashley, Melville, NY., ’67 Mustang, 6.299, 228.07
16. Frankie Taylor Dickinson, Texas, ’68 Camaro, 6.304, 224.81
_________________________________________________________
17. Thomas Patterson, Houston, Texas, 1941 Willys, 6.317, 215.13
18. Cody Barklage, Lake Ozark, MO, ’05 GTO, 6.347, 213.23
19. Scott Ray, Greenville, Ohio, ’63 Corvette 6.459, 218.30
20. Mike Moran, Taylor, MI, ’99 Monte Carlo, 6.712, 224.06
21. Troy Coughlin, Delaware, Ohio, ’67 Mustang, 6.882, 132.87
22. Zach Barklage, Lake Ozark, MO, ’38 Chevy, DQ
FRIDAY - Billes blasts to
a 6.10, leads by eight-hundredths
 (4-8-2005)
- Al Billes, making his season debut in the AMS Staff Leasing
Pro Mod Challenge presented by TLR series, scorched the Houston Raceway
Park track Friday evening to take a huge lead into Saturday’s third
and final qualifying session at the O’Reilly Spring Nationals. Driving
the Jim Oddy-owned Summit Racing Equipment supercharged ’53 Corvette,
Billes powered to a 6.101 at 236.01 mph in Friday’s second qualifying
session to grab an eight-hundredths advantage over both Ed Hoover (6.180)
and Chip King (6.185).
Billes, one of two Canadians in the 21-strong Spring Nationals field,
opened qualifying with an uninspiring 8.05, but came out firing in the
evening session to zoom from No. 18 to No. 1 in the provisional
qualifying order. In addition to the 6.10 e.t., Billes’ 236.01 speed
is
the second-fastest ever recorded in an AMS/TLR event, trailing only Jay
Payne’s 236.03 from the season-opening Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals.
Trailing Billes, Hoover, and King after two rounds are Joshua
Hernandez, who drives a ’57 Chevy for series presenting sponsor
Tommy Lipar Racing (6.20), Eddie Ware and his ’41 Willys (6.21),
AMS Staff Leasing-sponsored Troy Critchley (6.22), and Shannon Jenkins
(6.23), whose Awesome Motorsports ’04 Cavalier is the quickest
nitrous-oxide-injected car in the field.
Quain Stott (Lee Boy ’63 Corvette) rounds out the top half of the
field at 6.26.
Coming in below the line were defending AMS/TLR world champion Mike Ashley
(No. 20, 9.13) and his teammate, former NHRA Pro Stock driver Troy Coughlin
(No. 17, 6.88). Both have one more chance to crack the top 16 when the
third and final Pro Mod Challenge qualifying session begins Saturday at
1:30 p.m. The first round of Pro Mod eliminations is scheduled for Saturday
at 4:30 p.m. - Duke Rittenhouse
FRIDAY NOTES - It's a Hot
One, The Gators Haven't Bitt Yet and the Turbo Has Arrived...
(4-8-2005) -  Fry
an Egg – That’s exactly what one could do on the
racing surface the first time the AMS TLR Pro Modifieds rolled around
for qualifying. The track temperature was 124 degrees.
M.I.A. – After the first session of qualifying
neither Gatornationals finalists, point leader Jay Payne or runner-up
Mike Ashley were in the show. Payne encountered electrical woes that prevented
him from firing the car while defending World Champion Ashley rattled
the tires just past the one-two shift and coasted through.
 For
Whom The Bell Tolls – Former Mountain Motor Pro Stock World
Champion Mike Bell is following the same path that fellow factory hot
rod racer Scott Geoffrion took earlier this year. He’s jumping behind
the wheel of a supercharged Pro Modified with no previous experience.
Bell, of Asheboro, NC., and a former chassis builder for NHRA Funny Car
champion Raymond Beadle, is up for the challenge. At least he thinks he
is.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Bell said prior
to his first session. “I was fortunate enough to be there with Scott
when he was going through it all.”
Bell is driving the same Roy Hill-owned 2004 Mustang that was formerly
campaigned by another Pro Stock runner Richie Stevens. Once Hill’s
newest Pro Modified Mustang emerges from the Jerry Haas chassis shop,
Bell will assume driving duties with it. Hill crashed the car in Gainesville,
Fla.
Bell was considerably off the pace in his first effort and feathered
the throttle en route to a 7.255. He still managed to record his quickest
career speed with a 217.60 mile per hour lap.
Not a Good Day For The Champ – Defending event
champion Mike Ashley was understandably not having a day fit for a world
champion. The Torco Race Fuels-sponsored driver from Melville, NY., shook
the tires and aborted his run. During the second session on Friday, Ashley
was timed out by starter Rick Stewart. He enters Saturday’s final
session unqualified.
 From
Shakin’ and Bakin’ to Number Four - About his first
run, Hernandez said, "It was bad from start to finish. We had just
put a new injector on the car and it was the first time trying to do a
burn out with that. The burnout with that, they didn't have enough water
out and it dried up.”
Hernandez’ second run was an impressive 6.205 second pass at 229.55
miles per hour in front of a home-town crowd to claim the number four
position.
Frankie’s Community Racer – Frankie
Taylor can say that he got by with a little bit of help from his friends.
Actually, he adds, “It was a lot.”
Taylor was involved in a two-car crash with Josh Hernandez earlier this
year that destroyed his 1963 Corvette.
 Thanks
to Charles Yesnick, a lawyer from Los Angeles, Ca., Taylor is competing
in this weekend’s event with a 1968 Camaro that he says has been
through four different chassis shops.
Taylor also received significant assistance from Jim Oddy, The Patterson
Family, Mike Ashley, Larry Jeffers and Jeff Lynn from Pinnacle Business
Solutions.
A testimony to his resolve, Taylor was in the show after the first session
with a 6.304, 224.81.
When Legends Combine – One of the largest alliances
announced in the off-season included the partnership between veteran team
owner/engine builder Jim Oddy and Canadian Pro Modified racer Al Billes.
The duo made their debut last week at an IHRA event in San Antonio, Texas.
While they didn’t blow away the competition in that event, the
one thing that prevailed was the fact there was a lot of common ground
in which to build on.
“You never know what directions things will take when you start
a program like this,” Billes said. “But, for us, the thing
we saw immediately was the common goal of winning the championship. That’s
always the best place to start.
“I couldn’t ask for a better teammate. Things are really
good for us and I don’t see that changing.”
Billes entered the Pro Modified ranks in 1991 with a nitrous combination.
One year later, he made the switch to a blown entry and called on Oddy
for assistance. At the time, Oddy retained Fred Hahn as a driver.
The common goal for the team at this time seems to be keeping the body
parts intact after a few tire-shaking endeavors.
In San Antonio, the team shook the door open in a first round match.
During today’s first session, they lost the passenger door on the
first attempt.
 Turbo
Lover – Mike Moran has never considered himself a pioneer
but he is. The Taylor, MI.-based driver made history this weekend as the
first one to pilot a turbocharged entry in a major sanctioned Pro Modified
event.
“We’ve been waiting for a long time to do this,” Moran
said. “We just really want to have a good showing. A lot of things
have been changed on the car and it will be interesting to see how the
car responds. I think this race will provide a huge learning experience
for us.”
Moran encountered every problem a team could in the name of making it
to the track for testing.
 “We’ve
had flat tires on the tow vehicle,” Moran added. “We’ve
had gremlins jump up and plague us on the car. Even the weather back home
has not cooperated. We just keep forging ahead because we are confident
the Promised Land has to be ahead.”
Moran didn’t make it to Gainesville due to financial restraints.
“The decision to not run Gainesville was mainly financial,”
Moran added. “We couldn’t afford a few things the car needed
safety wise. When you start adding up the things we needed, it cost a
fair bit of money.”
Moran’s efforts fell short in his first attempt as he drifted toward
the center-line and aborted the run.
FRIDAY QUALIFYING - Ware leads early AMS/TLR
Qualifying
(4-8-2005) - Qualifying order after first session
at NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston, Texas.
1. Eddie Ware, Marietta, Ga., 1941 Willys, 6.212, 220.55
2. Shannon Jenkins, Tuscaloosa, Ala, 2004 Cavalier, 6.234, 229.20
3. Chip King, Semora, NC., ’00 Avenger, 6.261, 227.88
4. Quain Stott, Columbus, NC., ’63 Corvette, 6.264, 228.92
5. Frankie Taylor Dickinson, Texas, ’68 Camaro, 6.304, 224.81
6. Doug Palmer, Prarieville, LA., ’63 Corvette, 6.310, 224.92
7. Troy Critchley, Wylie, Texas, ’41 Willys 6.317, 223.10
8. Thomas Patterson, Houston, Texas, 1941 Willys, 6.317, 215.13
9. Kirk Kuhns, Yorba Linda, Ca., ’01 Viper, 6.336, 222.44
10. Scott Ray, Greenville, Ohio, ’63 Corvette 6.459, 218.30
11. Troy Coughlin, Delaware, Ohio, ’67 Mustang, 7.144, 119.92
12. Mike Bell, Asheboro, NC., 04 Mustang, 7.255, 217.60
13. Shelly Anderson, Ontario, Ca, 05 Stratus, 7.567, 125.63
14. Cody Barklage, Lake Ozark, MO, ’05 GTO, 7.748, 129.92
15. Al Billes, Barrie, Ontario, ’53 Corvette, 8.050, 114.31,
16. Ed Hoover, Gilbert, SC, ’63 Corvette, 8.113, 118.87
_________________________________________________________
17. Josh Hernandez, Conroe, Texas, ’57 Chevy, 8.218, 116.87
18. Glenn Kerunsky, Calgary, Alberta, 1957 Chevy, 8.915, 97.66
19. Mike Ashley, Melville, NY., ’67 Mustang, 9.135, 100.07
20. Mike Moran, Taylor, MI, ’99 Monte Carlo, 9.813, 123.35
| 
|
| |
| |
(4-8-2005) - Stay tuned as our staff arrives in Houston,
Texas, for the 18th annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals. Check in daily for
news and notes from this event.
FRIDAY, April 8, 2005
Pro Mod Qualifying Session 3:00 PM
Pro Mod Qualifying Session 6:00 PM
SATURDAY, April 9, 2005
Pro Mod Qualifying Session 1:30 PM
Pro Mod - Round 1 4:30 PM
Return
to Contents
|
Return
to Contents
Return
to Contents |
