Joliet: Tommy Johnson Jr Friday summary

Johnson Jr. Sits 15th After First Day of Qualifying at Joliet

JOLIET, Ill. (May 21, 2004) - Tommy Johnson Jr. powered his blue Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo to a performance of 4.960 seconds at 274.44 mph to claim the No. 15 qualifying position Friday at Route 66 Raceway.

Johnson clocked the 4.960 at 274.44 effort on his first qualifying attempt of the weekend. As Johnson was sitting in the waterbox ready to begin the burnout for his second qualifying attempt, NHRA officials were force to delay qualifying due to high winds. After the gusty conditions calmed down, Johnson's Chevy flopper lost traction and the five-time NHRA winner slowed to a run of 9.691 at 83.53.

"The weather changed so fast that we didn't have time to make the changes we wanted to make to the car," Johnson said. "The air got so good and we weren't set up for it. After the delay, we went back to the pit to change some things, but we were the first pair to go and we didn't quite have enough time to make the changes we needed to make."

Funny Car qualifying resumes with nitro sessions at 1 and 4 p.m. (CT) Saturday afternoon as Johnson looks to move up the Funny Car order.

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