Seattle: Tommy Johnson Jr Saturday summary

KENT, Wash. (July 24, 2004) - Tommy Johnson Jr. raced his blue Skoal RacingSM Chevy Monte Carlo to the 14th qualifying position Saturday at Pacific Raceways, the track where Johnson earned his first professional victory.

Johnson recorded his quickest run during qualifying on Saturday's first attempt after using a Mike Green tune-up to power to a run of 5.155 seconds at 288.95 mph. Johnson's Skoal Racing flopper then overpowered the hot Pacific Raceways quarter mile as Johnson coasted to a run of 5.700 at 177.79 on his fourth and final qualifying effort of the weekend.

"The conditions were very tough," Johnson said. "Not just because of the extreme heat that we're dealing with, but the change to the 85-percent nitromethane has been a big challenge to the crew chiefs. It's kind of frustrating because we were running so well at 90-percent. We've got a good handle on the tune-up for Sunday. We have an idea of what this 85-percent is liking."

Johnson will match up against No. 3 qualifier Tim Wilkerson in the opening round of Funny Car eliminations on Sunday. Johnson has a 6-1 career record versus Wilkerson.