NHRA Kurt Johnson Saturday Update: KJ Will Roll off Fourth at the Mile-High Nationals

 

Event:  26th Annual Mile-High NHRA Nationals 

Day/Date: Saturday, July 16, 2005

Location:  Bandimere Speedway, Denver, CO

 

When Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team were greeted by
clear skies and warming temperatures upon their arrival at Bandimere
Speedway on Saturday morning, they knew their final two qualifying
attempts would be used as a test session for Sunday's final
eliminations.  Fortunately, their 7.134-second, 194.04 mph pass from
Friday evening was strong enough to earn the fourth starting position,
allowing them to focus on fine-tuning their high-temperature,
high-altitude set-up.

 

After opening with a solid 7.172-second, 193.24 mph pass in the morning
run, KJ came back on his final attempt with a stellar 7.152-second,
193.77 mph run, setting the stage for what he hopes will be his third
win "on the mountain".

 

"Based on our last qualifying run, we're pretty pleased with the
progress we've made with our ACDelco Cobalt this weekend.  When I let
the clutch out, I knew we were on a much better run, with a lot less
wasted motion.  

 

"We had made some major changes, but in looking at what we had done,
there was one area we hadn't adjusted that ended up making a big
difference when we did.  We got after it, and we went through low gear
the quickest we had all weekend, and it showed at the finish line on the
scoreboard.  

 

"Hopefully, we've just scratched the surface.  As long as I can continue
my pace of .20s and .30s on the tree, I think we can go some rounds
tomorrow.  I won here in 1995 and 2000, so maybe we can continue our
five-year plan at Bandimere."