Phoenix: Kurt Johnson Saturday notes

KJ's Phoenix Title Defense Will Start from Fourth

With their total number of qualifying attempts slashed in half by Friday's rain, Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team knew they would have no room for error on Saturday at the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, AZ. Fortunately, they were able to call on their notes from previous races at Firebird Raceway and come up with a solid tune-up. As a result, they made two impressive runs in the 6.64-second range, with their 6.641-second, 207.40 mph pass on their final attempt capturing the fourth starting position for Sunday's final eliminations, where KJ will look to defend his Pro Stock title from a year ago.

"This ACDelco Cobalt just loves to run 6.64's. We made four in that range in Pomona, and another two here, which, considering we only have a total of 24 runs on it, is pretty good.

"We're fairly pleased with today's results. We qualified and have lane choice for tomorrow. Certainly, we would have liked to be number one, but there seems to be a difference in the two lanes here, and we just happened to be in the worse lane for the best session. However, we were still able to pick up, so it's all good.

"The plan for tomorrow is the same as it is at all the races. I'm going to go up there, let the clutch out first, click her in high gear, put my hand on the chute and light the win light, and try to do it four times. It's all there before us, and it's up to us to turn tomorrow into a good day."

-credit: j2r