Indianapolis: Tommy Johnson Jr final summary

JOHNSON JR. DRIVES TO FIRST-ROUND FINISH AT INDY

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 4, 2006) One day after racing his special edition Skoal RacingSM Chevy Funny Car to a runner-up finish in the Skoal Showdown, eight-time NHRA winner Tommy Johnson, Jr. drove to a round one finish Monday at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis during the 52nd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

The Iowa native qualified his Don "the Snake" Prudhomme-owned Monte Carlo in the No. 3 position with a 4.701-second elapsed time and was matched up against former NHRA Top Fuel champion Scott Kalitta. Johnson used the starting line advantage to speed to the early lead, but the Skoal Racing/Lucas Oil Chevy lost traction early and slowed to an 8.066-second pass. Kalitta powered his white flopper to a career-best 4.761 elapsed time at 320.97 mph to earn the trip to the quarterfinals.

"It's just unfortunate the way our car has been running," Johnson said. "We found a mechanical problem that caused the motor to be down on power which caused the tire-shake. It's disappointing because we had such a great car all weekend with our performance in the Skoal Showdown and winning the Full Throttle award."

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the 22nd annual Toyo Tires Nationals, Sept. 14-17, at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. Johnson won the Reading race in 1999.

-credit: www.snakeracing.com