Wed, 23 Sep 2009, 11:28 PM Tom Hammonds Returns to NHRA Fall Nationals

Courtesy of Kirk Weeks

ENNIS, Tex. -- Tom Hammonds will close out his brief, two-race return to the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season this weekend at the 24th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals on Sept. 25 - 27. The Texas Motorplex is the site of one of Hammonds' three career final-round appearances, and it came back in 2001 when he lost to V. Gaines in the title round.

"You get that close to winning a race, that close to taking home a 'Wally', and to come up a little short, it hurts almost as bad as if you don't qualify," Hammonds said.

Hammonds made his return to NHRA Pro Stock competition at Charlotte after a four-month hiatus where the team focused on a number of items including race engines, car setup and the all- important search for sponsorship procurement. Judging by the performance of the Race for Achievement Chevrolet at the recently completed Carolinas Nationals, it appears that Hammonds' team has hit upon something. The 42-year-old Florida native had one of the quickest and most consistent cars on the strip during three days of racing at zMAX Dragway, and he is confident that the performance can continue beginning Friday at the Texas Motorplex.

"It just felt great to be back in the car," Hammonds said. "We weren't sure how we would stack up against the rest of the field since we had been away for so long, but I'd say we did okay."

Hammonds description of the team's showing at Charlotte may be a little modest considering all four runs he made during qualifying were good enough for the top half of the field, and during the final session of time trials he posted the second-quickest elapsed time of the round. On race day, he advanced to round two where he lost to eventual Pro Stock winner Mike Edwards, but in doing so, Hammonds posted the second-quickest time of the round and was the quickest car to 60-foot.

"We had a great weekend, there's no doubt about that," Hammonds said. "We've been off for awhile, but to come back and run like we did - we were right there with the fastest Pro Stock Cars in the world. It was gratifying but we're not satisfied. My goal, as it has been since I first started this sport, is to build a championship team. Hopefully, the Charlotte race, and even this race in Dallas, will be a stepping stone to that goal.

"Mike (Edwards) has the best Pro Stock car in the world and to run as close as we ran to him gives us a lot of excitement going into the winter - knowing that if we continue to work as hard as we have these last few months that we've been out, we'll be right there."

Hammonds entered his first NHRA Pro Stock contest at the 1996 Mile-High Nationals while playing professional basketball with the NBA Denver Nuggets. He continued to compete part-time on the NHRA tour while still in the NBA.

Following his retirement from basketball in 2001, Hammonds entered the NHRA circuit full time. He took a sabbatical from the sport in 2003, to complete final coursework in the GM Minority Dealer Development Program and then opened Tom Hammonds Chevrolet in Darlington, S.C., in May of 2004. Hammonds sold the dealership in December 2005 to return to Pro Stock drag racing.

Hammonds' career as an NHRA Pro Stock driver includes three final-round appearances; at Dallas and Las Vegas in 2001, and at Chicago in 2002. His Dallas objectives are simple - run competitively while improving on the standards established by his program in Charlotte.

"The whole package is coming around," Hammonds said. "Everyone on this race team has done a tremendous job, from Jim Oliver back at the shop, to Tomi Laine who did an excellent job setting up the race car, and Eric Luzinski who did an excellent job in Charlotte. We have a great program and we're continuing to move ahead."

And if Hammonds can continue on the torrid pace set last weekend in Charlotte, would he consider continuing after the NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas?

"It's tempting, but we have a plan for success and we're sticking to it," replied Hammonds.

The O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Tex., on Sept. 24 - 27, is the second race on the six-event NHRA Countdown to 1 for the 2009 Full Throttle Championship.

Qualifying coverage can be seen on ESPN2 on Sunday, Sept. 27, beginning at 12:15 a.m. Eastern. Final eliminations coverage gets underway on Sunday, Sept. 27, with NHRA Race Day starting at 11 a.m., and a repeat broadcast of qualifying gets underway at 11:30 a.m. A three-hour telecast of final eliminations kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern.

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