Shortly after fireworks lit up the south-Virginia sky, Joshua Hernandez lit up the crowd at Motor Mile Dragway this July 4th by winning an unprecedented third consecutive American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Pro Extreme event, in the rain-postponed “arm-drop drags” final from the series’ previous race in Martin, Michigan.

Joining Hernandez in victory lane at Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia were Billy Harper in Pro Nitrous and Extreme 10.5 winner Gary White. The postponed Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was held over again to the ADRL’s next event, July 25-26, at Budd’s Creek, Maryland because finalist Scott Gray asked for the delay to accommodate his opponent, T.T. Jones, who couldn’t make the race due to illness.

 

 

 

Shortly after fireworks lit up the south-Virginia sky, Joshua Hernandez lit up the crowd at Motor Mile Dragway this July 4th by winning an unprecedented third consecutive American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Pro Extreme event, in the rain-postponed “arm-drop drags” final from the series’ previous race in Martin, Michigan.

Joining Hernandez in victory lane at Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia were Billy Harper in Pro Nitrous and Extreme 10.5 winner Gary White. The postponed Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was held over again to the ADRL’s next event, July 25-26, at Budd’s Creek, Maryland because finalist Scott Gray asked for the delay to accommodate his opponent, T.T. Jones, who couldn’t make the race due to illness.

“I know everybody says this, but this win belongs to my team. They work so hard getting the car ready and hauling it all over the country and then they just give me a perfect ride,” Hernandez said of his ’57 Chevy after going 3.89 seconds at 192.55 miles per hour over the eighth-mile course to defeat Bob Mandell Jr. “I was definitely worried after we didn’t get down the track in our test pass, but they made some changes and there was no problem at all.”

Harper defeated teammate Dennis Radford to pick up his second-straight ADRL Pro Nitrous win, but it was an anticlimactic affair as both drivers lost traction early and coasted to the finish line.

“It shook hard going into second gear and I had to get off it,” Harper explained after posting a 5.98-seconds win at just 83 mph with his 2000 Viper. Radford said the transmission broke in his ’70 Cuda after it also lost traction early.

“It’s okay, we knew the trophy was going home with the team,” Radford said. “We want to win one again tomorrow, though, that’s what we’re focused on now.”

In Extreme 10.5, which refers to the cars’ relatively narrow 10.5-inch-wide rear slicks, Gary White made a solo pass in his 2006 Scion after fellow Martin finalist Brent Rau didn’t make the long tow down from Minnesota. White’s car also lost grip shortly after launching and smoked it’s rear tires to half-track on a 5.12 at 152.65-mph pass.

“Basically the track was just too good tonight and we just read it wrong,” White admitted. “That’s okay, though, because we learned something and hopefully we can use that to do better tomorrow.

The ADRL returns to action tomorrow with two more scheduled qualifying sessions before eliminations rounds begin at 4 p.m. for the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags.