Indianapolis: Tommy Johnson Jr final summary

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2004) - Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his Don Prudhomme-owned Chevy Funny Car to a first-round finish Monday at Indianapolis Raceway Park during the 50th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. In the closest race of the ...

CLERMONT, Ind. (Sept. 6, 2004) - Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his Don Prudhomme-owned Chevy Funny Car to a first-round finish Monday at Indianapolis Raceway Park during the 50th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

In the closest race of the first round of Funny Car eliminations, Johnson took the early lead behind the wheel of his blue Skoal RacingSM Chevy Funny Car with a slight reaction time advantage before being narrowly edged at the finish line by opponent Whit Bazemore. Johnson raced to a pass of 4.997 seconds at 312.93 mph, while Bazemore earned the round victory by clocking a performance of 4.941 at 314.83. Johnson remains 11th in the NHRA Funny Car standings.

"Even though it's frustrating to lose in the first round at the 50th U.S. Nationals, we didn't beat ourselves," Johnson said. "We just got outrun by Whit (Bazemore). We ran a 4.99 when most cars had trouble negotiating the right lane. We'll test on Tuesday and then head to Reading (Pa.) in two weeks."

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the 20th annual Lucas Oil Nationals, Sept. 16-19, at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pa. Johnson won the Reading race in 1999.