NHRA: Kurt Chronicles: Atlanta Edition, There is no place like home

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Kurt Johnson will experience the ultimate luxury for a touring racer: an
event at a track with a local area code. Atlanta Dragway, site of the
upcoming Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, is just a short haul up the
interstate from Johnson's home in bucolic Buford, Ga. With a travel
schedule that will take Kurt and his ACDelco team from Georgia to New
Jersey, Kansas and Illinois in the next five weeks, the Southern Nationals
will be Johnson's last weekend at home for a long while.

Johnson comes into his home race in second place in the Winston Pro
Stock standings, just seven points behind his front-running father. He also
brings an optimistic attitude that is the result of a promising performance
at the preceding event in Bristol, Tenn.

"I should have won Bristol," Kurt declared. "That was a win that slipped
away, and I'm still aggravated about it.

"The transmission popped out of third gear in the first round, and then
it popped out of fourth gear when I lost in the second round," Johnson
explained. "We've worked on the shifter all week to prevent a repeat
performance."

With the Southern summer beginning to simmer, Johnson is confident that he
has garnered enough data to prepare his ACDelco Cavalier for the warm
weather ahead. "The car was on a perfect run in Bristol, the best I've made
in a while on a hot race track," he noted. "We changed the suspension and
it responded. I think we have something we can show the boys this weekend."

Johnson has tested tirelessly at Atlanta Dragway since the start of
the season, but he anticipates very different track conditions this
weekend. "We expect the track to be much hotter than it was in February and
March, and that will make it tricky," he predicted. "The concrete starting
pad is almost a little too smooth and the tires want to spin in the middle
of the run. We'll have to make adjustments for that."

The arrival of a new engine dynamometer at the Johnson family's top
secret headquarters in Sugar Hill, Ga., heralds a change in Johnson's
between-races routine. "We really haven't devoted much time to our engine
program because we had to concentrate on the new cars and chassis," he
confided. "I ran big speeds at the beginning of the year, but the mph has
tapered off in the last few races. I think I've found the problem, and I
expect to be fast this weekend."

Some problems are simple to solve. Glare off the dashboard obscured
Kurt's view of the Christmas Tree in Bristol, resulting in a sub-par
.470-second reaction time in the second round. "I was flying blind and
couldn't see the lights," Kurt offered. "Some flat black paint will fix
that."

And how will Johnson maintain his motivation through the forced march to
come? "That's easy," he said. "I've got kids to feed, so motivation is not
a problem. The crew is doing a great job, and that helps to keep morale
up."

A victory celebration at Atlanta Dragway with friends and family would
also sustain the ACDelco team's spirits through the long weeks on the road.

KURT JOHNSON'S ATLANTA DRAGWAY RECORD

Year  Qual.  Result
1993    3    Runner-up (to W. Johnson)
1994    6    Semi Final
1995    9    Second Round
1996    9    Winner (over Yates)
1997    4    Runner-up (to Yates)
1998    4    Second Round
1999    14    First Round
2000    2    Second Round