Hernandez Among Winners at ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI

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MARTIN, MI (June 12, 2010) — The added pressure, expectations and attention that comes with landing a new major sponsor seems to have brought out the best in Josh Hernandez. A race after advancing to the final in Richmond while debuting his new Fight Me MMA sponsorship, Hernandez and his ’57 Chevy took it a step further on Saturday, winning in Pro Extreme at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI. “To come out with a new sponsor and within two races have a win, that’s what we’re in it for,” Hernandez said. “To be in that winner’s circle, nothing makes me happier. “I’m so happy for my guys. This is what we’ve been waiting for.” It’s the seventh career win for Hernandez, but just the first this year in a loaded division. Hernandez left his stamp on the weekend in the finals, running a 3.66 at 206 miles per hour to knock off Alex Hossler. Hernandez wasn’t the only one to entertain the near-capacity Martin crowd on a thrilling Saturday. In Pro Nitrous, Lee Adkins picked up his first career win, denying No. 1 qualifier Pat Stoken his first title in the final round. Gary White picked up his second straight win in Extreme 10.5, beating Billy Glidden in the finals to extend his recent reign in the division. Ashley Owens made it three straight wins in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, extending his dominance with a holeshot win in the finals against Terry Schweigert. John Montecalvo was the winner in Extreme Pro Stock, denying Brian Gahm a second straight win by running a 4.09 in the finals. Both Montecalvo and White were No. 1 qualifiers who ended up in the winner’s circle. It was also the first chance for Martin fans to celebrate final-round victories after rain ended the two prior races prematurely. It wiped out the final round of qualifying on Saturday, but it didn’t keep Hernandez and his Fight Me team down for the count. After struggling through two qualifying sessions on Friday, Hernandez looked strong, knocking off Mike Stawicki, No. 1 qualifier Gaylen Smith and John Stanley to reach the finals, running 3.65, 3.69 and 3.66 in three of those wins. “You have to keep hacking it and I think we turned every knob on it,” Hernandez said. “I just loved seeing that win light. “The car was just marching all day long.” Lee Adkins was overcome with emotion after his first career and understandably so. He was at a loss for words after running a 3.96 at 188 mph to knock off Stoken, hoping to thank everyone that came to mind in his victory speech. “I’m speechless right now,” Atkins said. “Anybody that has had anything to do with this car or this team, you’re the man.” Adkins knocked off Steve Vick, Thomas Myers and got a red-light win against Khalid Al-Balooshi to advance to the finals. Stoken will have to wait for his first win, picking the worst time to have his biggest struggle of the weekend. “We’re getting there,” Stoken said. “We’ll be there next time. We need one of those (trophies).” White’s stack is starting to grow as he picked up his third career win in XTF in another wildly successful weekend. White ran a 3.93 at 190 mph to beat Glidden and that elapsed time is becoming par for the course for White. “We’re just enjoying this,” White said. “To be the No. 1 qualifier and win, it’s just great. That’s something we missed out on in Richmond. I’m glad we could get it this time and we’re just going to ride this as long as we can.” White had a first-round bye and then broke the 3-second mark in wins against L.J. Wood and Spiro Pappas. “The guys are just doing an amazing job right now,” White said. “It’s just so easy for me right now thanks to the work they’re doing.” It might be a neck-and-neck battle between Owens and White for the most dominant ADRL driver at the moment. Owens slipped past a stout Schweigert to get his third straight win, running a 4.23 at 174 mph. “It was a close one,” Owens said. “We’re having a good time and we have to keep working.” After not making a second qualifying run on Friday, Owens ran a 4.09 in the semifinals to beat Kim Morrell, which was preceded by wins against Casey Stemper and Scott Grey. “This is a great deal,” Owens said. “We’ve got a great bike. I felt great about the bike today and, after going 4.09, I felt good going into the final.” Montecalvo was another start-to-finish winner, needing a top-notch performance in the finals to knock off Gahm and his 4.11 time. Montecalvo made a significant change before the final race, but it paid off, going 4.09 at 178 mph. “We saw the clouds and made the call to change the transmission,” Montecalvo said. “We did it in 15 minutes. We’ve got a fantastic crew and it to go 4.09, it obviously was the right decision.” Montecalvo was unbeatable all weekend, beating Scott Hinle, Doug Kirk and Pete Berner to reach the final. “This is as good as it gets for the weekend,” Montecalvo said. “We’ve been close the last couple races, we just needed to finish it.” Taylor Weatherford was the winner in Pro Junior Dragster, running an 8.14 at 79 mph, slipping past Kyle Dvorak. The American Drag Racing League returns to action July 2-3 with the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS.

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