Pomona II: Warren Johnson Thursday notes

WJ Opens Fast, Sits Fourth in Pomona

Despite having only three days between races and with numerous appearances scheduled at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer Association (SEMA) trade show, GM Performance Parts GTO racer Warren Johnson had precious little time to prepare for this weekend's Auto Club Finals in Pomona, CA. Even so, he made sure to take time to test his race car on Monday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, gathering valuable information without the pressure of competition.

The results of this test became readily apparent during Thursday's opening qualifying session at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, when The Professor blasted through the quarter-mile in 6.695-seconds with a class-best top speed of 207.24 mph to sit fourth with three attempts remaining.

"We tested some things on Monday in Las Vegas that we obviously didn't want to risk trying during the national event, and I'd have to say that overall, it went pretty well. We found out some things about our GM Performance Parts GTO that we would have liked to have learned during the race, but our top priority at that point was to ensure we got in the show. However, we were able to use it today and produced a good result. Now our challenge will be to see if we can expand on it."

-credit: j2r