just sleep a little now and if you need more rest stop off at a rest station and sleep in the car (to get ahead of traffic). If you are worried about not being able to make it with less than 3 hours of sleep on a 9 hour road trip, you are right to worry. 9 hours is a hell of a long drive, especially if its all highway.
i left at 2:45 AM on what would be thursday morning. i arrived in houston at 10:30 with no problems at all. then i got what i wanted from my lady friend.
I would leave now. Personally I find myself more tired if I go to sleep for only a couple hours than if I would have just stayed awake. I am not a fan of waking up lol...you can always pull off and sleep for a couple hours if you get tired while driving.