NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ's Up and Down Day Ends in Joliet Quarterfinals

Event:  Fifth Annual Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals 

Day/Date: Sunday, October 2, 2005

Location:  Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, IL

 

Despite qualifying tenth, ACDelco Cobalt pilot Kurt Johnson was quietly
optimistic entering Sunday's final eliminations of the Ameriquest
Mortgage NHRA Nationals in Joliet, IL.  Their competitive performance on
Saturday, when the weather conditions closely matched those encountered
on race day, had the entire team looking to go rounds and challenge for
their second win at Route 66 Raceway.

 

Their confidence seemed well founded in the first round, when Johnson
combined a lightning-quick .002 reaction time with the quickest elapsed
time of the round at 6.752-seconds with a top speed of 204.45 mph to
eliminate Allen Johnson.

 

This set the stage for a second round encounter with rival Jason Line.
Once again, Johnson was first off the line, with his .024 reaction time
giving the second-generation racer over one hundredth of a second
advantage.  Unfortunately, even though he was able to record the third
quickest time of the round at 6.760 seconds, it was not enough to hold
off his opponent's 6.746-second pass, which was quickest for the round,
edging KJ at the line by a mere three thousandths of a second.

 

"We just didn't run the number.  I had him by eleven thousandths on the
tree, and came up three thousandths short at the finish line.
Certainly, our ACDelco Cobalt looked good in the first round, but we
know they (Line) would come out strong in the second round, and they
did, driving around us at the top end.

 

"Even so, we're happy that we ran better in eliminations than we did in
qualifying, and I drove well, so everyone did their job today.  We were
on track, but that round was like a final at any other race.  It would
have been nice to have it, especially since Dad took out Greg at the
same time, which would have allowed us to gain some points.

 

"However, we're not going to dwell on it.  We're just going to put today
behind us, regroup and head on to Dallas, and see if we can get
ourselves back to the winner's circle."