Charlotte: Kurt Johnson Friday notes

KJ Powers to the No. 1 Spot on Friday in Concord

The NHRA welcomed the zMAX Dragway to the POWERade Drag Racing Series on Friday, as the Carolina Nationals got underway with two qualifying sessions. For Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt racing team, this represented their second visit to the spectacular new speedplant, having tested here just over a week ago. This prior experience obviously paid dividends, as the second-generation racer made two strong runs, with his 6.680-second, 206.42 mph pass in the evening session earning the No. 1 qualifying position with two attempts remaining.

"First of all, I have to thank the Smith family, not only for this tremendous facility, but for allowing us to test here last week. We've been working on fine tuning our ACDelco Cobalt, and what we learned here and in Atlanta two days ago, made a huge difference. If we're going to win this thing, we'll have to keep collecting data and making good decisions. That's what it's all about.

"There are some fire-breathing dragons behind me, and it's so close. Jeggie (Coughlin) is four-thousandths behind me, and Dad (Warren Johnson) is right there as well. Everything seems to be going right lately, so we're just going to go out there and keep doing what we've been doing, trying to have some fun."

-credit: j2r