Phoenix: Kurt Johnson Saturday summary

KJ Picks Up the Pace, Will Roll Off 5th in Phoenix

After battling a series of problems that relegated him to an uncharacteristic 15th position on Friday, Kurt Johnson returned to form during the second day of qualifying at the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona. In each of his two attempts on Saturday, Johnson's ACDelco Cavalier recorded the second quickest and fastest runs of the session, with his best effort of 6.803 seconds and 204.35 mph catapulting him into the fifth position on Sunday's final eliminations ladder.

KJ will face No. 12 qualifier J.R Carr in the first round tomorrow, as he looks to duplicate his winning Firebird Raceway performance from 1999.

"Even though we're pleased with today's runs, the car still isn't right. We know there is room for improvement with this new car, but right now, it's going down the track, putting decent numbers on the board, so we'll make the best of it this weekend, waiting until we get back to Atlanta to do some extensive testing...

"For example, I didn't feel it inside the car, but it quivered the tire a little on our first run, so we made some adjustments to the tire pressure, the clutch and the launch rpm for tonight, and it actually shook worse tonight going into second gear.

"Looking at the data from that last run, the changes may have hurt us in one area, but helped in another, so we should be able to make some gearing changes in the morning and really smooth our ACDelco Cavalier out. I'm confident we could pick up a solid hundredth, which has us excited heading into tomorrow.

"Track preparation will be critical tomorrow, and as long as the track is prepped right, I believe we can win out of either lane.

-j2r-