Indy ORP: Kurt Johnson Sunday notes

KJ Qualifies Fifth for the U.S. Nationals

On the strength of a 6.662-second pass recorded on Sunday morning, Kurt Johnson qualified his ACDelco Cobalt in the fifth position for Monday's final eliminations of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN. Throughout the unique three-day qualifying procedure of the NHRA's marquee event, Johnson was among the best of the 33 Pro Stock Cars attempting to qualify, recording a time quick enough to make the field in four of the five sessions at O'Reilly Raceway Park, while reestablishing the track top speed record at 207.30 mph. Even after aborting his final run in the heat of day on Sunday, Johnson felt good about his chances for race day.

"We're pretty happy with our ACDelco Cobalt's performance so far this weekend. We're using some new components, and it seems to be running well. We haven't run this configuration all year, and it's pretty happy right now.

"Sometimes you need a run like that fifth one just to wake you up and make you take a close look at what's going on. After all, we need to know what to do if we are put in a similar situation tomorrow, and we certainly found out what doesn't work. However, we're going to concentrate on making that first run, getting in that left lane for the first round and staying there.

"I think we have a horse that can win the race. It's just a matter of getting everything together and making good runs. It will be tough, because there are 16 good cars out there, and each round is going to be a battle, but we're going to see if we can make it happen."

-credit: j2r