Scott Ray’s Ohio Crankshaft-sponsored Corvette joins the other Pro Mods in the staging lanes. (Mark Rebilas photo)
JEGS ProMod Challenge at Las Vegas
Hernandez battles to championship and final event win
Josh Hernandez wasn’t going to let a banged-up body or clogged up lungs to keep him from wrapping up the JEGS Pro Mod Challenge Series season in style.
“I’ve given all I got this weekend. I’m out of breath, I’m out of everything,” Hernandez said. “If you realize the hurt I had crashing my other car last weekend, going through rehab trying to get all my parts working again, working through some pain this whole weekend, getting a chest cold and losing my voice. You’ve just got to suck it up and go all the way to the winner’s circle.”
The Team Rage Camaro got the final 2008 win over Mike Knowles’ Corvette. (Tim Marshall/LesWelch.com photo)
After clinching the series title on Saturday night, Hernandez finished the job Sunday at the ACDelco Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by winning his fourth race of the season running a track record 6.001 second ET at 238.55 mph over Mike Knowles.
“Our real goal this weekend was to come out to Las Vegas to put the car in the winner’s circle,” Hernandez said. “And if we did that, we’d win the championship because one came with the other.
“I wanted to show everybody that this is just the baddest team out there. Now I’m standing in the winner’s circle with a handful of stainless steel JEGS Pro Mod winner’s trophies.”
A three-time winner this season, Hernandez has a total of 16 victories in the 41 NHRA races in which he's competed. He's never suffered a DNQ and has amassed 14 low qualifier awards, including six this year.
In elimination rounds this year, Hernandez is 17-5 (a 77 percent success ratio), which matches his career winning ratio produced by a lifetime elimination-round mark of 88-26. In October he posted the quickest NHRA-legal pass in history when he ran a 5.900 in Richmond.
"I have to thank my crew chief, Jim Oddy, and all the guys on the team that give me a great racecar every weekend," Hernandez said. "We win and lose as a team and this is just as much their trophy as it is mine."
Hernandez was also literally crowned the Pro Mod champion during driver introductions and “King” Hernandez and crew take a victory cruise. (Tim Marshall/LesWelch.com photo)