Indy ORP: Kurt Johnson Friday notes

KJ Speeds to Third on Friday in Indy

The biggest race of the drag racing year, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, got underway on Friday with a single qualifying session at O'Reilly Raceway Park, and ACDelco Cobalt racer Kurt Johnson made the most of the opportunity. Coming off his stirring runner-up performance in Reading a week ago, Johnson streaked down the quarter-mile in 6.663-seconds with the top speed of the day at 206.76 mph, placing him in the third position with four attempts remaining.

"That's not a bad start, being third out of 33 cars, with the top speed. We made somewhat of a guess on the tune-up, but the first run is the same for everybody, with the exception of the few who tested here last week. We just looked at the past few races and what we had been doing, and applied if for this track and these conditions. Overall, I'd say that was a pretty good hit by our ACDelco Cobalt.

"Coming off that sub-par performance in the final round at Reading, we knew we had to step up. The way we see it, it will take 48 perfect runs by both myself and the car between now and the end of the year to win the championship. Tonight's was just the first."

-credit: j2r