Joshua Hernandez got right down to business after arriving at Valdosta about 11 a.m. Saturday morning after leaving the NHRA event in St. Louis. He later went out and qualified 2nd for the Valdosta event, but also won the final round of last year’s weather-postponed World Finals from Kennedale, TX, to claim his first ADRL victory and become the only Pro Extreme/Pro Mod driver to have won in ADRL, NHRA and IHRA action. Hernandez lost to Quain Stott in the opening round of the Valdosta event, but won the NHRA race the next day after jetting back to St. Louis. Whew!
Hernandez and Watkins squared off as the last pair of the third and final round of qualifying for the Valdosta event, with Hernandez going 3.926 at 193.26 mph to earn his career-first ADRL race title, leaving Watkins behind in a cloud of tire smoke. In fact, Watkins failed to
make the cut for eliminations at Valdosta, finishing 25th after 29 cars took shots at getting into the field.
“Man, I don’t really know what to say, but it was worth the wait,” Hernandez declared later. “I’ve got to thank Tommy Lipar for all he did to make this happen this weekend, Howard Moon is just unbelievable, and all the guys on our team for just working so hard at two different races. This feels good!”
Starting third on raceday was Travis Swearingen in his family-owned ’41 Willys, followed by Tommy D’Aprile in the debut of his new Vanishing Point-built ’63 Corvette, with John Lynam in another ’63 Vette rounding out the top five. Mel Eaves, with 15-percent nitro in the tank of his ’67 Camaro, held on to the final spot in the 16-car field with a 4.032-seconds lap at 183.12 mph.
Baker, who struggled somewhat in testing and early qualifying, finally placed 9th with a 3.981 in the last session, then began his march to a career-first ADRL win by going 3.991 in the opening round to beat Rickie Smith behind the wheel of Terry Leggett’s ’07 Mustang and racing a blower car for just the second time in his long career. Baker then took out Scruggs with a holeshot win, going 3.977 to Scruggs 3.974, and advanced to the final by running 3.963 in the semis against D’Aprile, who later revealed a throwout bearing broke in his car so he had to leave from dead idle against Baker.
Pro Extreme finalist Travis Swearingen enjoyed great consistency throughout the weekend at Valdosta, rarely running outside the three-second zone, even in testing. He credited data gathered at the previous, weather-interrupted ADRL event at Montgomery, AL, for his impressive times. “Actually, it was what I thought about on the drive home (to Grain Valley, MO) that really made the difference,” the young driver said. “I realized some things that really helped us here.”
