NHRA: Kurt Chronicles: Topeka Edition
29 September 1999
TALKIN' ABOUT TOPEKA
Although Kurt Johnson has made 30 final-round appearances in his
seven-year racing career, he has yet to advance to a final round at
Heartland Park Topeka. K.J. hopes to erase this blemish from his record at
the upcoming Advance Auto Parts Nationals on October 1-3.
"We learned a lot last year in Topeka," said Johnson, who lost to
Mark Pawuk in the opening round of last season's race. "My car wanted to
wheelstand and turn to the left. This year we're going to tie it down to
the race track and try to make it go straight.
"I qualified No. 1 in Topeka in 1995, so I know how to run fast
there," Kurt asserts. "We plan to take an aggressive approach because we
know that the starting line will handle the horsepower. Because of the
altitude and the lack of trees around the track, there isn't a lot of
oxygen in the air to pump up the power. When the engine is down on power,
you have to compensate with gearing - so we're going to gear up and go for
it!"
TESTING FOR TOPEKA
Kurt tested at Maple Grove Raceway on the day after the True Value
NHRA Keystone Nationals in preparation for Topeka. "I made seven runs on
Monday," Kurt reported. "I ran 6.93 on my first run on track, and finished
up with a 6.94.
"We thought that testing at Maple Grove would better prepare us for
the track conditions we expect in Topeka than going to Atlanta, where we
usually test between races," K.J. noted. "The car is consistently going
down the track - and that's a major improvement over where we were a couple
of months ago!"
RUDE INTRODUCTION
Kurt began his rocky relationship with Heartland Park in his rookie
season. Ranked second in the points coming into Topeka in 1993, he crashed
his Oldsmobile in the first qualifying session.
"At about 1,000 feet, the car started getting loose," Kurt recalled.
"It was moving around a little, and starting to shake. The wind might have
caught it, because as soon as I corrected, the back end came around."
Kurt's only injury in his close encounter with Heartland Park's
concrete wall was to his pride. His father Warren spray painted a large
"21" - K.J.'s number - on the door of the battered race car. "If he's going
to drive like a NASCAR racer, his car should look like a stock car, too!"
W.J. declared.
K.J. had the last laugh when he borrowed a replacement car, qualified
in the No. 8 spot, and advanced to the semi-final round - one round farther
than his father, who lost in the second stanza.
READING REDUX
Kurt Johnson added another note to his racing resume when he ran the first
200 mph Pro Stock ever recorded at historic Maple Grove Raceway during the
True Value NHRA Keystone Nationals on September 18. Kurt's ACDelco Camaro
was clocked at 200.13 mph in the third qualifying session, marking the 17th
time that K.J. has topped 200 mph.
Kurt was at the top of the qualifying list on Friday evening at
6.872 seconds, but he was bumped to the second spot on Saturday morning
when Warren ran a track-record 6.853-second elapsed time. The Keystone
Nationals was the tenth race this season in which the Johnsons qualified
1-2.
Kurt defeated Mike Thomas with a holeshot in the first round
of eliminations, but surrendered lane choice for the second round to
Darrell Alderman. The ACDelco team fitted new shock absorbers on Kurt's
Camaro in hopes of negotiating the bumpy right lane, but Alderman
prevailed, 6.984 to 6.994.
"I lost lane choice by a thousandth of a second, and that really
hurt," Johnson lamented. "I thought that I could beat him if I made a good
run - but he made a flawless run."
DON'T LOOK BACK
If Kurt Johnson looks over his shoulder, he'll see Jeg Coughlin, Jr.
gaining ground on him in the championship race. Jeg's victory in the
Keystone Nationals cut Kurt's advantage to 96 points - five rounds - with
five races to go. Two months ago, K.J. had a 237-point lead over Coughlin.
"Jeg has had several good races in a row, and he's getting down the
track every time," Kurt observes. "Things are going his way, and we're
going to have to stop him if we want to hold onto second place. Topeka
would be a good place to start my own hot streak!"
SHOCKING DEVELOPMENTS
Kurt has added a new weapon to his racing arsenal: a sophisticated new
data acquisition system. "We're able to look at new information with our
Pi computer," he reports. "At Maple Grove we were able to simulate our
best qualifying run on the computer before we made adjustments for the
second round of eliminations. There are times when you need to spin the
tires, and there are times when you need to stop them from spinning. We
think we can accomplish that by working on the shock absorbers.
"We went to the Penske shock absorber factory in Reading after
the Keystone Nationals," Kurt revealed. "We're working with the Penske
engineers to develop the shocks for drag racing."
KURT JOHNSON HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA RESULTS
Year Qualified Result
1993 Spring 2 Second Round
1993 Fall 8 Semi-Final
1994 Spring 4 Semi-Final
1994 Fall 6 Second Round
1995 Spring 9 Second Round
1995 Fall 1 Semi Final
1996 Spring 9 Second Round
1996 Fall 6 First Round
1997 Spring 8 Second Round
1997 Fall 4 First Round
1998 6 First Round
NEXT RACE:
Advance Auto Parts Nationals, October 1-3, Topeka, Kan.
TV: FOX, Oct. 3, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. local time - check local listings
LAST RACE:
True Value NHRA Keystone Nationals, September 19, Reading, Penn.
Qualifying: Kurt Johnson qualified No. 2 at 6.872/199.02 mph.
Eliminations:
First Round: Kurt Johnson defeated Mike Thomas
Second Round: Darrell Alderman defeated Kurt Johnson
Final Round: Jeg Coughlin, Jr. (6.936/198.80) defeated Mark
Pawuk (7.004/196.03)
Low ET: Warren Johnson, 6.853 seconds (track record)
Top Speed: Warren Johnson, 201.43 mph (track record)
POINTS RACE:
(After 17 of 22 events)
Driver Wins Points
1. Warren Johnson 6 1,417
2. Kurt Johnson 3 1,187
3. Jeg Coughlin, Jr. 4 1,091
4. Jim Yates 2 1,023
5. Richie Stevens 1 872