NHRA

Madison: Kurt Johnson Saturday summary

On the strength of a 6.750-second, 204.14 mph pass made during Friday night's second qualifying session Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Racing Team captured the No. 1 starting position at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals in Madison, IL. It was ...

Published: Jun 26, 2005, 11:37 PM

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On the strength of a 6.750-second, 204.14 mph pass made during Friday night's second qualifying session Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Racing Team captured the No. 1 starting position at the Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals in Madison, IL. It was Johnson's second "pole" position of the 2005 season, second at Gateway International Raceway, and 25th of his illustrious career. This was also the third time in his 13-year NHRA career that K.J. was the No. 1 qualifier at consecutive national events.

Having secured his position in Sunday's starting field on Friday, Johnson used his final two attempts on Saturday to try new components in his race car, as well as working on fine-tuning his hot weather tune-up for race day.

"We did a little experimenting in the early evening session, trying a completely new clutch. We really didn't know what to expect, and it ran a 6.79, giving us some good information. We put our normal set up back in for the last run, and it went 6.76. The bottom line is that we got the money and the points for being No. 1, and that's what it's all about.

"We're pretty pleased. Our ACDelco Cobalt is going down the racetrack, and has been pretty good on parts, so with a little good luck, we should be in good shape for tomorrow.

"We know the conditions we're going to be running in the first round tomorrow afternoon, and since we've only had one run under those conditions, we'll have to see what happens. Fortunately, we've been working on our car since Englishtown trying to improve our set-up, and the car has responded.

"We know we're making good power, and when you have horsepower under the hood, you had better make good runs and the driver has to be on his game, because it's all hills and valleys out here. You have to take advantage of it when you can, which is what we are looking to do here in St. Louis tomorrow night."

-jgk-

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