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Madison: Kurt Johnson Saturday summary

Kurt Johnson Will Roll Off 13th in Madison The second day of qualifying for the Sears Craftsman Nationals proved to be quite challenging for Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cavalier Racing team. They entered the day outside of the starting field ...

Edited: Jun 28, 2004, 1:44 AM

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Kurt Johnson Will Roll Off 13th in Madison

The second day of qualifying for the Sears Craftsman Nationals proved to be quite challenging for Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cavalier Racing team. They entered the day outside of the starting field with their task further complicated by the warmer temperatures which slow the normally-aspirated Pro Stock race cars.

In Saturday's first qualifying session, Johnson quickly showed he was up to the task, recording one of the quickest passes in the heat of the afternoon to be the only car to break into the sixteen-car line-up. However, with the final time trial being held in the cooler evening conditions, they knew further improvement would be necessary in order to guarantee their spot in Sunday's final eliminations, and had already been displaced by the time they pulled to the line.

As they have on several occasions this season, KJ and crew responded with a 6.766-second, 204.42 mph pass, slotting them in the thirteenth position.

"We knew we could get it - it was just a matter of getting the job done, putting all the pegs in the right holes and making the right calls at the right time. You also hope to have a little luck on your side, because you never know what's going to happen. For example, on our last run, when I went from low gear to second it wanted to go to the left, which got me into the marbles and knocked off a hundredth or so.

"Fortunately, our ACDelco Cavalier has been good lately, making straight runs. This was our first race with this particular motor in the car, and we're still learning what it needs to run, getting the entire combination of chassis and drive train to respond in a consistent and tunable matter.

"The important thing is that we got in, and we're confident we can win from any spot. We responded to the challenge today - we just have to do the same tomorrow."

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