NHRA Warren Johnson Saturday Update: WJ Qualifies No. 1 in Houston

 

Event:  18th Annual O'Reilly Spring Nationals

Day/Date: Saturday, April 9, 2005

Location:  Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX

 

Warren Johnson completed his No. 1 qualifying performance at the NHRA
O'Reilly Spring Nationals in dramatic fashion on Saturday at Houston
Raceway Park.  Entering the fourth and final qualifying session,
Johnson's 6.707-second, 205.10 mph run from Friday night seemed to be
more than enough to assure him of the top starting position for the
131st time in his career.

 

However, having changed engines between sessions, Johnson's GM
Performance Parts Pontiac blasted down the Baytown quarter-mile in
6.696-seconds at 205.63 mph, setting low elapsed time and top speed for
the event.  

 

"We really didn't know what to expect on that last run.  We knew the
conditions were good enough to run quicker, but we had changed engines,
using one that had never gone down the racetrack.  In fact, we had just
made five runs with it on the dyno before we came here.  

 

"It has a completely different power curve from our other engines, and
since we felt no one would be able to improve enough to get the No. 1
spot away from us, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to try it.  We
were quite surprised that it would run that quick and fast.  I guess you
could say it was a successful test for the GM Performance Parts Pontiac.


 

"With qualifying behind us, we'll take a look at our notes and come up
with a game plan for eliminations.  We've successfully completed the
first half of our assignment here in Houston - now we're focused on
finishing the job tomorrow."

 

*	This is the 131st No. 1 qualifying performance of WJ's career,
which is the most by any professional driver in NHRA history (John Force
is second with 124).
*	This is WJ's 9th No. 1 qualifying performance at Houston Raceway
Park.
*	WJ's most recent No. 1 qualifying position was 36 races ago at
the 2003 Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison, IL.
*	Ironically, WJ's most recent No. 1 starting position at HRP also
came in 2003.
*	45 of WJ's 92 national event wins have come from the No. 1
starting position.
*	WJ won this event from the No. 1 position in 1998, one of his
five wins in Baytown.
*	This is also the first No. 1 qualifying performance for the DRCE
III, the third generation General Motors Drag Racing Competition Engine.
Warren and his son Kurt are the only competitors in Pro Stock currently
running this engine.        # # #