Phoenix: Tommy Johnson Jr final summary

JOHNSON JR. DRIVES CHEVY TO FIRST-ROUND FINISH AT PHOENIX

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 27, 2005) -- Tommy Johnson Jr. raced his Skoal RacingSM Funny Car to a first-round performance Sunday at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix.

Johnson, who opened the 2005 season by winning the historic Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway two weeks ago, used the second best reaction time (.045) of the opening round to stake an early lead on opponent Ron Capps before the Skoal Racing flopper hazed the tires and slowed to a pass of 5.953 seconds at 160.35 mph. Capps recorded a run of 4.813 at 317.87 to earn the trip to round two.

"The groove here is real narrow and the car went to the left and when I tried to get it back in the groove, the tires came loose," Johnson said. "Everyone had problems keeping the car in the groove this weekend. It was a tough race track."

Johnson and his Don Prudhomme-owned Skoal Racing crew will test at the Arizona drag strip on Monday before returning to their race shop in Brownsburg, Ind. The next NHRA POWERade Series event is the 36th annual Mac Tools Gatornationals. Prudhomme scored five wins at Gainesville Raceway as a driver and has claimed another three as a team owner.

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