NHRA Warren Johnson Race Wrap Up: WJ Battles His Way to the Win in Phoenix

February 26, 2006, Phoenix, AZ - Warren Johnson and the GM Performance
Parts GTO Racing Team scored a tenacious win in Sunday's final
eliminations of the Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, AZ.
Starting from the eleventh position, Johnson posted early round
victories over veterans V. Gaines, Jason Line and Rickie Smith before
capping the performance with a win over rival Greg Anderson in the
championship round.  It was the 96th win of WJ's stellar career, first
of the 2006 season and third at Firebird Raceway.

 

"Starting eleventh as we did today is usually not a good omen, but we
made it work, getting our GM Performance Parts GTO into the winner's
circle," said Johnson.  "Our starting position showed we didn't
initially have the right set-up for this race track, but we kept working
on improving our performance, getting it close enough to where we could
win, which is what's important.  It wasn't pretty, but sometimes you get
paid for getting the job done." 

 

Although winning is certainly nothing new for "The Professor", his path
to the Arizona winner's circle on Sunday was far from an ordinary one,
as he scored round wins in virtually every way possible.  Johnson opened
by combining a strong .022 reaction time with a 6.751-second, 204.91 mph
run to defeat V. Gaines on a holeshot, who recorded a quicker
6.708-second time in the losing effort.  In the second round, he was the
recipient of a red-light start by Line, with WJ using a 6.742-second,
206.07 mph pass to claim lane choice for the semifinals.

 

Squaring off in the semi-finals against veteran Smith, Johnson posted
his only "normal" win of the day, leaving on his opponent and then
posting a quicker 6.756-second elapsed time with a top speed of 205.69
mph to better Smith's 6.788-second, 204.26 mph clocking, to reach the
149th final round of his career.

 

The final obstacle between Johnson and the win was Anderson.  With his
opponent holding lane choice and a slight performance advantage in the
early part of the track, Johnson knew he would need an error-free run to
get the win.  From the moment the lights turned green, a determined WJ
surged ahead, using an outstanding .015 reaction time to gain the edge
by over three hundredths of second.  

 

However, before Anderson had a chance to make up the deficit, his ride
suddenly slowed due to a parts failure.  This allowed Johnson to race
down the quarter-mile uncontested, crossing the finish line in 6.770
seconds with a top speed of 206.13 mph.  With the trophy firmly in hand,
the six-time champion was quick to credit his young team.

 

"I have never seen a script on how to win a race - there's only one way
to win and a million ways to lose," stated Johnson.  "The bottom line is
that you have to get to the finish line first without a red light in
your lane.  We did that and were able to accomplish everything we wanted
to today. 

 

"I have won a few of these things in a variety of ways, so I take events
like today in stride.  However, the true importance of this win is what
it means to our young GM Performance Parts crew, including Dain Schwan,
Adam Drzayich and Mike Smith.   This is their first win as a group and I
really enjoyed seeing how excited they are about winning.  I couldn't
have done this today without their hard work and preparation.  

 

"But it doesn't stop there. Today's win was a collective effort,
including Kurt's ACDelco team and everyone back at the shop in Sugar
Hill.  Overall, we have the best chemistry on our teams that we have
ever had, making both of our programs run smoother.  We're definitely
excited moving forward, because we have yet to maximize our race car's
performance.  We're going to enjoy this win tonight before getting back
to work, testing before Gainesville, working on the early part of the
run, to see what we can do to maintain this winning pace."