Joliet II: Tommy Johnson Jr. final summary

Johnson Jr. Races to First-Round Finish at Joliet JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 3, 2004) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his blue Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to a solid performance in a first-round effort Sunday at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. Johnson's ...

Johnson Jr. Races to First-Round Finish at Joliet

JOLIET, Ill. (Oct. 3, 2004) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his blue Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to a solid performance in a first-round effort Sunday at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.

Johnson's impressive reaction time (.059 of-a-second) gave the Skoal Racing driver an early advantage over first round opponent Del Worsham as the Don Prudhomme-owned flopper powered to a performance of 4.867 seconds at 319.37 mph, while Worsham's Chevy was slightly quicker, clocking a pass of 4.767 at 320.05 to earn the narrow round win.

"We thought we had something for (Del) Worsham," Johnson said. "We had a good lead off the starting line and the car shook the tires. I pedaled it and it hooked up and made a pretty good run, but just not good enough to beat a 4.76."

The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event is the 20th annual Lucas Oil Nationals, Oct. 8-10, at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. The original race date was postponed in September due to rain.