 Tom
Hammonds won't have any troubles dealing with
any added attention he may receive this season.
After all, the ex-NBA veteran is used to the
attention and pressure that comes along with
being a professional athlete.
Hammonds, a Georgia Tech graduate, said he will
only enjoy having extra friends and family in
the stands when the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series stops by his former stomping grounds.
"My
mom is coming up from Florida and my uncle lives
in the Atlanta area, so we should have more than
our fair share of family and friends,"
Hammonds said. "One thing I learned while
playing pro basketball is that people are going
to come and watch. If you can't handle that in
pro basketball, you sure couldn't handle racing
at the NHRA tracks. I'm used to that and I know
what I have to do to prepare myself and the team
in order to perform. Having (more) friends and
family in the stands won't be a
distraction."
Driving his Winnebago Chevy Cavalier, Hammonds
is looking for his first professional victory as
a drag racer and would love for it to come at
the 22nd annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern
Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, May 2-5. Mike
Dunn, Frank Pedregon, Jim Yates and Antron Brown
are the defending winners in their respective
categories for the $1.8 million race, the
seventh of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.
In fact, Hammonds has never raced at Atlanta
Dragway as a Pro Stock driver, but even that
doesn't seem to bother him.
"I'm looking forward to racing there
because I haven't had a chance to compete in
Atlanta as a professional yet," he said.
"I lost a lot of drag races in college; a
lot of drag races. When I was going to Georgia
Tech I would go watch the professional races
there and see all the great drivers that the
event brings in. Now I finally get to be a part
of that and it is very exciting for me."
Hammonds will have to battle a tough Pro Stock
class in order to break through for his first
victory. In the first six races of the season,
there were six different winners. Hammonds
believes the team is capable of joining that
list.
"It's been a roller coaster ride for
us," Hammonds said. "We have done well
at times and we have stunk up the place at times
as well. I think as the season goes on, we are
going to get stronger and stronger. We are
taking care of business and we have made some
good runs. We have been plagued with engine
problems in a couple of races, but that can't
last forever."
Hammonds retired from the Minnesota Timberwolves
in September, opting to go racing full time.
While the move has paid off with better
qualifying positions and rounds won, Hammonds
knows the team is still dealing with a lack of
experience.
"We are still racing at a lot of tracks
that we have never been to before,"
Hammonds said. "We don't have a lot of data
for our Winnebago Chevy Cavalier. But I still
think that if we stay focused, I like our chance
in the long run. I think we can contend for the
championship, but we have got to stay focused as
a team. We have to start taking care of business
pretty soon so we don't let the frontrunners get
too far ahead of us in the point
standings."
SCHEDULE:
Pro qualifying is scheduled for 3:15 and
6:45 p.m. on May 3 and will continue at 10:30
a.m. and 2:15 p.m. on May 4. Final eliminations
begin at 11 a.m. on May 5.
TICKETS: Tickets are available for
the 22nd annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern
Nationals presented by Pontiac. Call the NHRA at
(800) 884-6472. Tickets are also available
through Ticketmaster.
TELEVISION: ESPN2 will televise two
hours of qualifying highlights at 9 p.m. (ET) on
May 4. ESPN2 will televise two hours of
eliminations at 5:30 p.m. (ET) on May 5.
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