"I tell you what," said Hammonds, "that was a pretty good run. It was a little bit aggressive down low but overall it was a good starting point for us. It's tough out here. The former Minnesota Timberwolves power forward found out how tough it was in the NBA Finals. But we're going to go out here and just tune it up for next round and hope we come out and have a good run."

After nearly six months, Tom Hammonds and his team are about to evacuate the two-car garage and lawnmower shed that have housed their racing operation since the start of the year.  Their new 11,000-square-foot shop should be open the week following the 10th annual Torco Racing Fuels Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

Tom Hammonds made a great run on his first qualifying effort at Route 66 Raceway. The former NBA star recorded a stout 6.673 at 206.48 mph to jump into the No. 5 position. Even though he ended up sixteenth in the final pecking order, he was at least in the game.

"I tell you what," said Hammonds, "that was a pretty good run. It was a little bit aggressive down low but overall it was a good starting point for us. It's tough out here."

The former Minnesota Timberwolves power forward has found out how tough it can be in the NHRA; fighting with a blind-fold on. 

After nearly six months, Tom Hammonds and his team are about to evacuate the two-car garage and lawnmower shed that have housed their racing operation since the start of the year.  Their new 11,000-square-foot shop should be open the week following the 10th annual Torco Racing Fuels Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

According to Harry Turner, one of Hammonds’ key team members and good friend, the team has built four Chevy Cobalt engines for the 2007 campaign with only a single visit to the dynamometer.  “We ‘borrowed’ a dyno after we didn’t make the field at Vegas 1, but the rest of them we built in that storage shed, with Jimmy Oliver doing the heavy lifting,” Turner said.
 
It’s hard to believe that in December of last year, Hammonds had no parts, no engines, no team to speak of and was planning on making a concerted effort to win rounds and races in 2007.  But Hammonds had a plan: “When he asked me to join him, I asked him what his long-term plans were and he actually had a five-year plan.” 
 
Turner was impressed by that dedication and came onboard, even though he was flirting with retirement at that time, having worked with GM for 32 years and in the racing business a good 20 seasons.  “I was surprised he had a realistic plan in place and I just couldn’t say no,” he revealed.
 
The team came together in January and they went testing, first at Las Vegas (2) and then at Valdosta, just before Gainesville in March.  On his first time out, Hammonds made the field of 16 at Gainesville and has only failed to qualify once, at Vegas 1. 
 
“We are running our own port design on the engine that is proprietary,” according to Turner.  “In this class, it’s all about parts and people and we’ve got a talented crew with over 100 years experience between them,” including Turner, Oliver and crew chief Jerry Eckman.
 
In the new shop, the Hammonds squad will finally be able to drive their hauler into the building and there’s space now for between four and eight cars.  “We’ve got room for expansion,” and by the way things are going for Hammonds, they might need it all.  Oh and yeah, they’ll have a clean, dyno room ready to go when they return from this road trip to Topeka and Joliet.

Hammonds went on to beat Greg Anderson in the first round of eliminations.