NHRA
Bristol: Tommy Johnson Jr final summary
JOHNSON JR. DRIVES TO ROUND-TWO FINISH SUNDAY AT BRISTOL BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 1, 2005) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. raced his Skoal RacingSM Chevy Funny Car to a win over points leader Whit Bazemore en route to a second-round finish Sunday at Bristol ...
Edited: May 2, 2005, 2:09 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
JOHNSON JR. DRIVES TO ROUND-TWO FINISH SUNDAY AT BRISTOL
BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 1, 2005) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. raced his Skoal RacingSM Chevy Funny Car to a win over points leader Whit Bazemore en route to a second-round finish Sunday at Bristol Dragway.
Johnson qualified sixth in a rain-shorted weekend of qualifying making just one of four scheduled qualifying attempts due to persistent rain showers in the area. The six-time NHRA winner used a performance of 4.913 seconds at 316.08 mph to earn the victory over Bazemore, who qualified 11th this weekend at Thunder Valley. Johnson's 4.913 elapsed time was the third quickest E.T. of the first round.
"We were the first pair of Funny Cars to run, so we just wanted to go down the track," Johnson said. "It was a nice conservative run. We just wanted to get it through there. The car was smooth and I was glad to see a good run. It's important to win the first round."
Johnson used a slight starting line advantage to stake to the early lead over veteran nitro driver Gary Scelzi in the second round, before Johnson's Chevy flopper lost traction mid-track allowing the three-time NHRA Top Fuel champion to earn the narrow win at the 1,320-foot finish line.
"We knew he'd (Gary Scelzi) be tough," Johnson said. "The car just came loose a little bit about 500-feet into the run. I pedaled it and stayed on it, but we came up just short. His tires came loose about 100-feet further down track and that was the difference. That extra momentum carried him through there. We needed about an extra 100-feet. If the drag strip was 1,420-feet long, we would have won.
"That was a tough race to lose because we had an excellent chance to make up some ground in the standings with the top three guys in the points going out early."
Johnson remains solidly in the top 10 of the POWERade Funny Car standings in sixth position. He also sits seventh in the Skoal Showdown standings. The eight-car bonus event will be contested at the 51st annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Labor Day weekend in Indianapolis.
The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the 26th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, May 12-15, at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga. Johnson and Don Prudhomme's Skoal Racing Funny Car team will test at Bristol Dragway on Monday, May 2, before returning to the team's Brownsburg, Ind. race shop to gear up for the first three-race swing on the 2005 NHRA schedule that begins in two weeks in Georgia.
-www.snakeracing.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Bristol: Doug Herbert final summary
Next article Bristol: Jeg Coughlin final summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Whit Bazemore
Tommy Johnson Jr. aiming for big win in Las Vegas for Make-A-Wish
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Tommy Johnson Jr. aiming for big win in Las Vegas for Make-A-Wish
Ron Capps looks to extend final round streak to five
NHRA
NHRA
Ron Capps looks to extend final round streak to five
Ford Looks For 200th NHRA Funny Car Win At Joliet
NHRA
NHRA
Ford Looks For 200th NHRA Funny Car Win At Joliet
Latest news
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 min
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
36 min
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Red Bull called Christian Horner to thank him for F1 engine project after maiden win
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe