NHRA Wrap-Up: Hammonds Powers to Route 66 Semi-Finals

Hammonds Highlights
Final results from the 
Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals

Hammonds powers to Route 66 semifinals

Date: Sunday, September 29, 2002
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, Illinois

Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care Cavalier driver Tom Hammonds continued his run of 
strong Route 66 Raceway performances by advancing to the semi-finals of 
today's Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.  Today's 
performance came on the heels of Hammonds' runner-up finish at this facility 
back in June.

After qualifying fourteenth, Hammonds knew he faced a difficult task in the 
first round, as he would face No. 3 qualifier Greg Stanfield.  Despite not 
having lane choice, Hammonds used the second quickest pass of the opening 
stanza at 6.865 seconds, with a top speed of 200.23 mph to score the upset 
and easily advance to the second round.

This scene virtually repeated itself when Hammonds faced Brad Jeter in the 
quarterfinals.  Running once again in the right lane, Hammonds made the 
second quickest pass of the factory hot rods at 6.873 seconds, increasing his 
top speed to 200.62 mph to advance to the semi-finals for the third time in 
the 2002 NHRA POWERade season.

Standing between Hammonds and his second consecutive Route 66 Raceway final 
round was Ron Krisher, whose KRJ engine shop ironically supplies the 
powerplants to the Hammonds Racing team.  Although Hammonds made another 
strong run, covering the quarter-mile in 6.893 seconds with a top speed of 
200.29 mph, it was not enough to over come his opponent's quicker 
6.886-second, 200.17 mph pass.  

Despite the initial disappointment, Hammonds knew that this has been a 
productive weekend for his Winnebago/GM Vehicle Care crew, and that today's 
performance bodes well for this season's final three races.

 "Overall, this was a great weekend.  We came out, qualified and went some 
rounds today, much like we did in the earlier part of the season. For some 
reason, we seem to be able to adapt really well to the conditions here in 
Chicago.  I think it all starts with having a good basic set-up, which 
obviously we have for Route 66 Raceway.

"I was pretty pleased with our performance today.  Our Winnebago/GM Vehicle 
Care Cavalier was strong in the first two rounds, which helped to offset any 
questions on the lanes.  

"However, in our last run against Ron (Krisher), we tried to put a little 
more clutch in it, which it obviously didn't like. That gave us a little more 
tire spin than we'd like, and caused us to have a little handling problem, 
which slowed us down enough to let Ron get by.  Although I am never happy to 
lose, if I have to, I'd rather it be Ron than anyone else.

"I'm most happy about today's performance for my sponsors and crew, who have 
stayed with me through this tough period.  Hopefully, this is the start of a 
strong finish that we can all enjoy.

"Although I'm really looking forward to having next weekend off and spending 
some time with my family, I know the whole team can't wait to get to Dallas.  
We had some good luck there a year ago, advancing to the first final round of 
my career.  We'll look back at what we did back then, plug that same set up 
back in, and hopefully we'll be fast again."