NHRA pre-race: Hammonds is ready to get off the roller
coaster in St. Louis
Crestview, Fla., June 25, 2002 - Tom Hammonds and his team have displayed a
split personality during the first eleven races of the 2002 NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing season. The Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care Cavalier started the year
by being one of only six Pro Stock entries to qualify for the first five
races, each time in the top half of the field. However, over the next four
events, their performance belied their freshman status, as they battled a
combination of unusual weather conditions and unfamiliar racetracks, which
found them on the sidelines during final eliminations.
Although they rebounded in Chicago by matching their career-best qualifying
performance and advancing to their first final round of the season, their
efforts were once again stymied by a tricky racing surface in Columbus.
Therefore, as they head to the Midwest for this weekend's Sears Craftsman
Nationals in Madison, Ill., Hammonds' primary goal will be to establish a
pattern of competitive and consistent performance starting with the first
qualifying session on Friday.
"I'm a big thrill-seeker, but I want to get off this roller coaster as fast
as I can," stated Hammonds. "Naturally, our primary objective is to win
every time we roll through the gates, but right now, we have to establish
some consistency. Our Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care Cavalier is a fast race car,
but we need to do a better job of adapting to the different racetracks.
We're not quite sure of the reason, but a look at the qualifying sheets shows
we're definitely not the only team experiencing difficulties.
"Fortunately, we're only halfway through the season, and the Pro Stock field
has never been tighter. If we can find that consistency, we still have a
chance, but we have to start hammering it out here pretty soon."
To take the first step towards achieving their objective, the Hammonds crew
must adapt their racecar to the conditions at Gateway International Raceway,
site of this weekend's race. Located across the Mississippi river from St.
Louis, GIR is one of the newer facilities on the NHRA circuit, having hosted
their first national event in 1997. With the sole exception of 2000, when
this event was held at night, the predominant factor every year has been the
stifling heat. This not only robs the normally aspirated "doorslammers" of
valuable horsepower, but places extra importance on the Friday evening
qualifying session, where cooler temperatures will provide the best
opportunity to record an elapsed time capable of making Sunday's final
eliminations.
"Although it drew mixed reviews, I personally enjoyed running this race at
night," said Hammonds. "But it's held during the day now, which creates a
completely different set of conditions. Not only will we be fighting the
heat, but in Pro Stock we're also faced with having only one session on
Friday night in which you can realistically qualify.
"That makes the first qualifying pass even more important. We have to make
sure that our Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care Cavalier is ready to go right off the
trailer. We're going to focus on not being too aggressive so we make it
down the track, and have something to tune from for that nighttime run. It's
a tough situation, but everyone in Pro Stock faces the same challenge, so we
have to make sure we're up for it."
Hammonds Highlights: Tom will continue to tune the Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care
Cavalier for the foreseeable future, although he will soon relinquish the
duties of driving the team's transporter to a new team member…Tom is
currently 11th in the NHRA POWERade Points standings, and is only 48 points
(approximately 2 ½ rounds of competition) out of 10th.
Fast Facts
WHAT: 6th annual Pontiac Sears Craftsman Nationals,
the twelfth race on the 23-race 2002 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Schedule.
WHEN: June 28 - 30, 2002
WHERE: Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Illinois
SCHEDULE: Professional qualifying begins with two sessions on Friday, June
28 at 4:45 and 8:15 p.m., and concludes with two more sessions on Saturday,
June 29 at 11:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Final eliminations will start at 11:00
a.m. on Sunday, June 30.
TV: ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights from 9:00-11:00
p.m. on Saturday, June 29. Final eliminations coverage can also be seen on
ESPN2, with two and a half hours scheduled on Sunday, June 30 from 8:00 -
10:30 p.m. The NHRA's weekly magazine show, NHRA2Day will on Sunday, June 30
from 11:00-11:30 a.m. (Times given are Eastern. As always, please check your
local listings.)
