Josh Hernandez came out early in testing during the ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V and burned out all the way to the eighth-mile clocks. When you only race 660 feet like the ADRL does this kind of a burnout can easily be construed as sending a message to the competition.
 
Hernandez, the former NHRA Pro Modified champion and now full-time ADRL front-runner, was sending a message alright. He was letting everyone know that he didn’t have any brakes on his National Guard-sponsored Camaro.
 
“We had just put on a set of new tires and we were going to do a reasonably long burnout in order to set them up for a 3.80 run,” Hernandez admitted. “Sometime gremlins will creep up on you at the most inopportune times and for me they showed up on that run.” Josh Hernandez came out early in testing during the ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V and burned out all the way to the eighth-mile clocks. When you only race 660 feet like the ADRL does this kind of a burnout can easily be construed as sending a message to the competition.
 
Hernandez, the former NHRA Pro Modified champion and now full-time ADRL front-runner, was sending a message alright. He was letting everyone know that he didn’t have any brakes on his National Guard-sponsored Camaro.
 
“We had just put on a set of new tires and we were going to do a reasonably long burnout in order to set them up for a 3.80 run,” Hernandez admitted. “Sometime gremlins will creep up on you at the most inopportune times and for me they showed up on that run.”
 
The burnout was great for the few fans who had already made their way into the grandstands for the first of two days of expected capacity crowds.
 
Tuner Jim Oddy diagnosed the problem before even speaking to his driver.
 
“I was thinking that we didn’t have much brake on the car,” Oddy confirmed.
 
Oddy knew something wasn’t right because his driver wouldn’t go that far.
 
When a tuner with the level of experience that Oddy gains a comfort level in a driver like that, it says a lot about the man behind the wheel.
 
Hernandez rewarded the confidence with a provisional top qualifying run by laying down a 3.831 elapsed time at 199.02 mph.
 
Accomplishments such as the No. 1 qualifying effort are nothing new for Hernandez who has driven consistently in the fast lane to success.
 
It wasn’t always in cruise control for the Conroe, Texas native.
 
His introduction to drag racing was a sink or swim scenario.
 
The 2001 season seems like yesterday for Hernandez. That was when he made his drag racing debut behind the wheel of a 3,000-horse, supercharged alcohol Funny Car.
 
“I learned a lot from that car,” Hernandez admitted. “I don’t care what you have driven before, when you drop the clutch on that car – you were in for a different experience.”
 
The alcohol Funny Car provided so much of a challenge in the early going for Hernandez, that the first run he made in an alcohol flop during a course at the Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing school, he began second-guessing whether he needed to finish the course.
 
“I was wondering if I had gotten in way over my head,” Hernandez said. “I learned quickly that they were evil, wicked, mean and nasty. I stuck with it. It was a dream and when you chase a dream you have to be able to overcome those kinds of obstacles.”
 
Hernandez decided the next obstacle on his horizon was Pro Modified. He entered the new arena with all the confidence of his first days in an alcohol funny car.
 
Then he wrecked.
 
Adding insult to injury Hernandez crashed in front of his home crowd at Houston Raceway Park.
 
“I had my head hanging low,” Hernandez said. “Instead of picking up a good run, we were picking up pieces in the shutdown area. My crew looked at me and let me know they were surprised I hadn’t dinged it up before then. We all shook hands and went on about our business.”
 
Hernandez went three-and-a-half years without putting another scratch on the car.
 
“This is racing and you have to be willing to drive the car to the edge,” Hernandez added.
 
Hernandez quickly erased the rookie tendencies by driving his way to six national event victories during the 2007 season to capture the NHRA world championship and successfully defended his title in 2008.
 
Hernandez announced in late 2008 that he’d run exclusively on the National Guard ADRL tour in 2009.
 
He’s back in his comfort zone with the same Tim McAmis-built 1968 Camaro that he won the NHRA titles with. The 1957 Chevy formerly reserved for the outlaw confines of the ADRL series has been relegated to as show car.
 
Hernandez ran strong with the Camaro recently at a major test session in Valdosta, Ga., posting as quick as a 3.84 elapsed time.
 
“I love this car,” Hernandez said. “It was fun to get back in the car in Valdosta, but then again this car has a few more hundred horsepower this season than we used to have.”