NHRA

Warren Johnson St Louis report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Race Results from NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals: W.J. WINS IN MADISON! Madison, Ill.; June 29, 1997 -- Warren Johnson scored his fourth win of the season in ...

Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        Race Results from NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals:
                                
                      W.J. WINS IN MADISON!

Madison, Ill.; June 29, 1997 -- Warren Johnson scored his fourth win of the season in the inaugural NHRA Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, a new showcase for drag racing across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Johnson put his Pro Stock Firebird in the NHRA winner's circle for the first time with GM Goodwrench Service Plus colors. W.J. defeated his rival Jim Yates in the final round on a holeshot, parlaying a quick .429-second reaction time with a 7.062 e.t. to defeat Yates' quicker 7.049.

Johnson's win was the 63rd of his career in 101 final round appearances. It was also his third straight victory in an inaugural NHRA event; he also won the inaugural 1996 Pennzoil Nationals in Richmond, Va., and the first Lone Star Nationals in Dallas in May.

"I had a premonition this morning," Warren revealed. "I've had good results in inaugural events before. It's one of those strange feelings you get, but I just had a premonition I was going to win this thing. Of course, I wasn't going to tell anybody until after the fact!

"I actually have a 15-year winning streak here," Johnson joked. "I won an American Hot Rod Association race here in 1982. The track ran the other direction back then."

En route to the final, Johnson won a crucial semi-final round match with his son Kurt. Although Kurt was quicker in the preceding round, his ACDelco Firebird faltered at half-track, and Warren took the victory.

"Kurt thought the starting line was better on the right side," Warren explained. "He just got loose in third gear and that's what cost him the race.

Johnson narrowed Yates' lead in the championship race to just 20 points -- one round of competition. After a three-week layoff, Warren and the GM Goodwrench Service Plus team will begin the grueling three-week "Western Swing" through Colorado, California, and Washington. The three-race trek begins in Denver at the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals on July 17-20.

WARREN JOHNSON RACE SUMMARY

QUALIFYING: Warren Johnson qualified No. 2 at 7.017/196.76

ELIMINATIONS: Round 1: Warren Johnson (7.028/196.85) defeated Darrell Alderman (7.131/194.59) Round 2: Warren Johnson (7.061/196.37) defeated Steve Schmidt (7.096/195.14) Semi-Final: Warren Johnson (7.032/196.89) defeated Kurt Johnson (7.182/193.09) Final Round: Warren Johnson (7.064/196.16) defeated Jim Yates (7.049/195.90) LOW ET: Jim Yates 6.975 TOP SPEED: Warren Johnson 197.02 mph

PRO STOCK STANDINGS: (after 11 of 22 events; victories in parentheses): 1. Jim Yates (3), 943; 2. Warren Johnson (4), 923; 3. Kurt Johnson, 782; 4. Bruce Allen, 631; 5. Tom Martino (2), 529.

NEXT EVENT: July 17-20, NHRA Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals, Denver, Colo.

# # #

E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 30-Jun-1997

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article SBRS: Al Hofmann to try Barber Dodge

Next article Sonoma preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Indonesian GP

46 min

2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more

Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

8 h

Zane Smith fined $50,000 by NASCAR for ramming Carson Hocevar after Phoenix Cup race

FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

12 h

FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned

TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 12 h

TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts