Gainesville: Warren Johnson Saturday summary

WJ Will Roll Off 14th at the ACDelco Gatornationals

On the basis of a 6.696-second, 206.80 mph run recorded on Friday afternoon, Warren Johnson qualified his GM Performance Parts GTO in the 14th position for Sunday's final eliminations of the ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL. Although this performance will allow him to make his 26th start at Gainesville Raceway, Johnson knows improvements will be necessary in order to add to his NHRA-leading total of nine wins in the Sunshine State. Therefore, shortly after the conclusion of qualifying, "The Professor" began a detailed review of his notes, formulating his game plan for race day.

"Something is amiss in our generic tune-up, because Kurt's car (the ACDelco Cobalt), which is identical to ours, is reacting the same way. Some things are absolutely the way they should be, while others aren't, and we're fighting to find the sweet spot.

"Our numbers in the back half continue to be among the very best. For example, we ran the fastest top speed in the last session at 207.30 mph on a run that was all over the track. However, we have yet to really make what I would classify as a complete run, getting the most out of the car from start to finish. Once we do that on a consistent basis, we'll be fine.

"Obviously the solution is there -- it's just up to us to find it. We'll go back into this GM Performance Parts GTO's history, analyzing the data, seeing what we've done and where we've gone, and come up with a plan for tomorrow. For the second consecutive race, I guess I'll have to try and set another personal best for winning from the back of the field."

-j2r