RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 10) -- Pulling out all the stops in an attempt to catch point leader Josh Hernandez and win his first JEGS ProMod Challenge championship, second-ranked racer Tony Pontieri earned provisional low qualifier honors Friday evening during the third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Entering the weekend 59 points behind Hernandez, Pontieri crushed both ends of the existing VMP track records set one year ago by Hernandez when he powered his Quality Plus Compressors '57 Bel Air to a stout 5.947 at 242.84 mph. Should the time hold through Saturday's final time trial, Pontieri will slightly close the gap on Hernandez and will become the favorite to win the race Sunday. Hernandez qualified a distant 12th with a best of 6.019 at 241.32 mph in the Team Rage Camaro.
"Since we ran that 5.94 in Round 1, I really didn't think it would stick through the night session but it did," Pontieri said. "We've got nothing to lose at this point so we're going for it. Josh is a big hitter and he was going for a big number tonight like a lot of the guys were. I think maybe we all thought it was a little better than it might have been in the end. It was like, if it stuck, it was going to be good. Otherwise, you were sideways.
"This is an exciting weekend. A lot of the heavyweights from the IHRA and ADRL are here and it's neat to see how we measure up against them. It's good to keep a JEGS ProMod Challenge regular on top. We're protecting our turf."
Racing in his first JEGS ProMod Challenge event of the season, IHRA point leader Kenny Lang fit right in on the NHRA side with a 5.961 at 239.44 mph that placed him second. Fellow IHRA pro Scott Cannon Jr. was next with a 5.962 at 241.37 mph, while ADRL regular Mike Castellana came in fourth with a 5.963 at 237.84 mph.
Castellana's run was the first five-second NOS-assisted pass at a sanctioned event in drag racing history. His previous mark of 6.000 was the best prior to Friday's pass.
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