PRO MODIFIED
Josh Hernandez won his second Knoll Gas-Torco Pro Modified Ironman in as many appearances on the IHRA circuit when he defeated defending world champion Mike Castellana in the final. Hernandez, who knocked off local favorite Steve Bareman in the semifinals, clocked a 6.131 at 235.56 mph to take home the title. He also set the IHRA speed record in the process, clocking a 237.09 during Saturday qualifying.
“This was a storybook ending to a storybook weekend,” Hernandez said. “Setting the IHRA speed record says a lot about the preparation of the track. The weather was great, the crowd was great and this whole weekend was just perfect for us.”
Dr. Moon really had something to rage about after Hernandez teammate Troy Critchley took himself out of the competition in his first pass down the track.
PRO STOCK
It was a perfect weekend for Tony Gillig as well. Gillig knocked off John Nobile, the 2004 IHRA Torco Pro Stock World Champion in the final round, to put some distance between himself and his closest competitors in the 2006 points chase. Gillig’s Mustang ran 6.468/213.94 against a 6.531/215.37 for Nobile’s Escort.
“I couldn’t have written a better story,” Gillig said. “My wife and daughter are my biggest fans and they don’t come to the races very often, and my mom hasn’t been to a race since I started driving this car for my car owner. They were all here. If I had to pick a bigger race to win, this was it. Between that and the points chase, and everything else under the sun that goes with this whole deal, it was perfect. I couldn’t have written it better if I had sat down and plotted it out on a piece of paper.”
Gillig overcame a huge disadvantage at the starting line, .014 for Nobile to .050 for Gillig, to win with a 6.468/213.94. Nobile registered a 6.531/215.37 pass.
