NHRA: Dallas NHRA Chevy FC/PS Saturday Qualifying Notes
24 October 1999
PRO STOCK -- CAMARO Z28 -- FINAL QUALIFYING KURT JOHNSON, ACDELCO CAMARO Z28, is No. 4 qualifier, 6.844/202.02. He and his dad Warren, No. 1, were the only Pro Stock qualifiers to run 202 mph this weekend. MIKE EDWARDS, DEWCO PERFORMANCE CAMARO Z28, squeaked in a No. 16 qualifying position set in the fourth and final round, 6.916/199.86. The team is not concerned, as Mike has already proven that he can win from No. 16, which he accomplished in Topeka just two races ago. He went on to win two in a row in Memphis, the previous race on the NHRA circuit. EDWARDS: "I had a problem this morning, which put us behind today. I missed a good session this morning but there was another one tonight. Unfortunately, we were first pair out, we just didn't make a very good run. We are real lucky to be in. Other than getting in the field, it's been a pretty miserable day." WERE YOU BITING YOUR FINGERNAILS IN THE LAST ROUND? "I hung on for dear life. I guess that's how you describe Pro Stock, hero to zero." ON RUNNING POINTS LEADER WARREN JOHNSON IN THE FIRST ROUND: "He's probably going to have to make a big mistake for me to win, because he's running awesome, so is the whole field. It really should have been an .89 or .88 bump. It's usually anywhere from six to seven thousanths of a second difference and it's almost a tenth, fortunately for us." Note: Edwards has met Warren three times this season: Edwards beat him in the semis in Houston and in the second round in Sonoma. He and Warren faced off in the final here in May, with Warren taking the victory. FUNNY CAR -- CAMARO Z28 -- FINAL QUALIFYING WHIT BAZEMORE, KENDALL OIL/SUPERWINCH CAMARO Z28, is No. 3 qualifier, 4.904/303.43, the second quickest pass of the day. BAZEMORE: "You always try for a perfect run, but I really don't think it exists. Invariably something will surface during the run that prevents the car from running better. For example, this morning's pass was a good one, quickest in that session, and second quickest for the day. That's pretty good, but naturally we wanted more. Then tonight, I think the Kendall Camaro team was again looking to improve, but, unfortunately, we shook the tires. Still, we ran well in three of the four sessions, which puts us in a good position for tomorrow. We have an unpredictable opponent in Cory Lee. You never know what that car might run, so we'll have to be on our game right at the start. In addition, we have to be consistent. That will be important if we hope to do well tomorrow." RON CAPPS, COPENHAGEN CAMARO Z28, is No. 4 qualifier, 4.908/298.01. CAPPS: "Everything is great. We put our brand new Camaro body on, which we just did some work on from what GM learned in the wind tunnel. And obviously with Dale Armstrong being here every run he gets the Camaro down the track is something he can file away as information for the future on the Funny Car. If you know Dale Armstrong you understand what he's done in the past. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what he's capable of. It's going to be a fast Funny Car for the rest of '99. In 2000 it will be a fresh car, and we're excited. To come here and run 4.9s (4.950, 4.908, 4.94) three rounds in a row and run a 4.908 in the heat of the day is very cool. We actually expected to run a mid .80 in the last round but it had some things that went wrong and I clicked it off early. It has the potential to do it and it's going to be a fun race tomorrow. The Camaro is just an animal to drive. Thank God we have the downforce on the new body. The way Dale sets up this car it's an animal to drive, but it's a lot of fun. It's just wild and crazy, things flying, front-end in the air, just havoc going in in the cockpit to keep the car going straight. That's the way you have to run these cars if you want to run a 4.80; they have to be on the edge every run, that's what we have to do. We're going to go to the wind tunnel and find some more downforce and go down the track even better. It goes hand in hand."