Memphis: Tommy Johnson Jr Saturday summary

Johnson Jr. Qualifies Eighth at Memphis

MILLINGTON, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2004) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his Don Prudhomme-owned blue Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to the No. 8 qualifying spot Saturday at Memphis Motorsports Park after making three consistent passes during qualifying.

The two-time winner at the Tennessee track posted the second quickest run of the third Funny Car qualifying session after using a Mike Green tune-up to record a run of 4.926 seconds at 302.33 mph behind the wheel of his Chevy flopper. Johnson followed that up by racing to a run of 4.909 at 304.94, his best speed of the weekend, to cap off qualifying at the Memphis race.

"Our qualifying position doesn't reflect how well we ran this weekend," Johnson said. "I'll take the eighth spot if our car is that consistent. We hoped for a little more on the final run, but I'll take good, consistent runs over one stellar run that just gets you in the show. The consistency will go a long way on race day."

Johnson opened qualifying at the Memphis track by driving his blue Chevy flopper to a run of 6.026 at 173.54 after spinning the tires on his first run. The Iowa native then raced to a run of 4.905 at 304.80 to claim the provisional No. 2 qualifying position on Friday.

Johnson eyes a third career win at Memphis Motorsports Park when Funny Car eliminations kick off at 3 p.m. (CT) on Sunday. Johnson will battle No. 9 qualifier Del Worsham in round one. Johnson is 4-12 in his career against Worsham.

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