52nd NHRA MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS - PRO MODIFIED
Indianapolis, Indiana
By Amy Johnson; Photos by Roger Richards, Brian Wood

MONDAY FINAL - HERNANDEZ SCORES FIRST CAREER NHRA U.S. NATIONALS PRO MODIFIED TITLE

(9-4-2006) –Racing for a winner's purse of $6,250 instead of the usual $5,000 thanks to Rick Stivers, Houston winner Joshua Hernandez and No. 1 qualifier Ray Commisso staged for the biggest single run of any season, the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge U.S. Nationals final.            

Hernandez took a noticeable edge at the line, .043 to .109, and made his best run of the marathon weekend, 6.04, to hold off Commisso's slowest full run of eliminations, a still-quick 6.10. Commisso did a masterful job of completing the run when his '67 Camaro, which just missed the five-second zone with a 6.01 in qualifying, went every way but straight.

"I could talk all day about this it means so much to me," Hernandez said. "Last year, I was a bridesmaid, so it's great to close the deal this time. Indy's the biggest race all year, and it always means so much."

Commisso had the advantage earlier in the weekend, qualifying No. 1 and leading a Canadian invasion that included the '57 Chevy Bel Air of No. 2 qualifier Tony Pontieri. Both reached the semifinals, Pontieri with consistent 6.0s in wins over Thomas Patterson and Troy Critchley (who had top speed), and Commisso with a wild 7.42 win over Cody Barklage and a 6.07 against defending event champ Jay Payne.

Hernandez plowed through eliminations to reach his second U.S. Nationals final in a row, running low e.t of the first round, 6.05, in a win over Mike Bell. He beat Stivers, who broke, with another 6.0 in the second round and Pontieri on a holeshot in the semi's in one of the quickest races of all time, 6.07 to 6.05.

"There were so many challenges, and we overcame them all," Hernandez said. "I was sick when the weekend started. By Saturday, I was in bad shape. I couldn't even stage the car. I was like, 'Doc, make this go away. This is Indy.' Then we kicked the rods out of our best motor right before eliminations, during the last session of qualifying."

The next pair down the track was Joey Martin and Shelly Payne, who were competing eliminations from the rained-out Memphis race during Indy qualifying. Payne got off the starting line eight-hundredths of a second ahead of Martin with a final-round .073 light, her best of eliminations, but her Valvoline car slowed before the finish line to a 6.42 at 213 mph. Martin blasted past her between half-track and the 1,000-foot mark with a 6.16, his slowest lap of eliminations. He had been in the 6.0s in both previous rounds and ran a 6.23 under vastly different conditions in the opening round, which was run two weeks earlier in Memphis.

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SATURDAY - Martin, Anderson complete "Memphis" final at Indy

(9-3-2006) - Joey Martin and former Top Fuel national record holder Shelly Anderson will meet in today's AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge final for the rescheduled Memphis event, which is to be run in conjunction with last-shot U.S. Nationals qualifying.

Martin, driving the Mustang that Mike Ashley wheeled to the 2005 championship, and Anderson, driving a Valvoline Dodge that is a twin to husband Jay's car, both have run in the 6.0s in Indianapolis – a vast improvement over the oppressive heat and humidity present in Memphis, where 6.20s were considered quick.

Anderson ripped off a 6.07 in the second round in a win over Thomas Patterson. Martin reeled off back-to-back 6.0s, including a 6.06 in a semifinal win over Jay Payne that will give him lane choice over Shelly Payne in the final.

In U.S. Nationals qualifying, Martin's 6.06 has him in the No. 4 spot, just ahead of Shelly Anderson's 6.07. Ray Commisso has paced the field all weekend with an outstanding 6.01, and Tony Pontieri and Joshua Hernandez are second and third, respectively. Commisso not only has the quickest run of the event; he also has the second-quickest, a 6.02.

It takes a 6.23 – a time that would have fallen just short of the No. 1 spot in Memphis –to make the field in Indianapolis. A 6.12 or quicker is necessary to make the top half of the field, and five competitive drivers are on the outside looking in with a single session remaining: Burton Auxier, Steve Engel, veteran Troy Critchley, Harold Laird, and Andy McCoy.

The final session of qualifying is slated for 2:00, with the first round of eliminations at 5:45 p.m.

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