Kurt Chronicles: Bristol Edition

For Release: April 25, 2001
Contact: Rick Voegelin
rickvoegelin@compuserve.com
831-761-2201


THE KURT CHRONICLES: Kurt Johnson ACDelco News & Notes for the NHRA Mac
Tools Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, Tenn., April 27-29, 2001


JOHNSON READY FOR BRISTOL REBOUND

They say you can't go home again - but for Pro Stock driver Kurt Johnson,
the NHRA Mac Tools Thunder Valley Nationals is a return to his racing
roots.

Johnson was a frequent visitor to Bristol Dragway during his teenage
years. K.J. served as gopher, mechanic, and crew chief on his father
Warren's frequent forays to Thunder Valley for match races and IHRA events
in the late '70s and early '80s. On April 27-29, the 38-year-old driver
will return to Tennessee with his ACDelco Cavalier for the first NHRA
national event contested at Bristol Dragway since 1967.

"I remember when Dad raced Lee Edwards in the final round in Bristol in
1979," Kurt said. "Edwards was the big dog in IHRA back then, and we had
never won a race. It rained and rained, and it was three in the morning
when they finally ran the final. Dad beat Edwards, and we celebrated in a
Waffle House. That's my most vivid memory of Bristol."

Twenty-two years later, Kurt Johnson finds himself in the middle of
a three-way battle for the Winston Pro Stock championship. Ranked third in
the standings after five events, Kurt trails his father by only 23 points.
He is 11 markers behind No. 2 Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Last season's Winston Showdown bonus event at Bristol Dragway was a
turning point for Johnson. After losing to Jim Yates in the first round of
the Showdown, he rebounded and won three of the next four races.

"I ran so badly in Bristol last year, I only had one way to go,"
Johnson admitted. "When we left the track, I said, 'This is it, I've hit a
wall' - and then we won the next race. Now that we're racing for points as
well as prize money in Bristol, I hope that I can get that same strategy
going one race earlier."

Johnson has good reason to be optimistic. His ACDelco Cavalier Z24 is
the fastest machine in Pro Stock, recording the top speed at four of the
five races contested this season. The thin air in Thunder Valley will be
conducive to fast times, but the elevation will tax Kurt's naturally
aspirated engine.

"We don't make the same horsepower in Bristol that we do at sea level,"
K.J. noted. "The track has plenty of bite. We are definitely going to work
on the carburetion and gearing."

And if Kurt Johnson and his ACDelco team are successful in Thunder Valley,
the Waffle House will be the scene of the biggest victory celebration since
1979.

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  E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 26-Apr-2001