Warren Report: Chicago Edition

JOHNSON PRIMED FOR REPEAT VICTORY AT ROUTE 66 RACEWAY

    Chicago is Warren Johnson's kind of town. The city with big shoulders
has been good to the racer with big horsepower. W.J. has advanced to the
final round three times in the six races contested at Route 66 Raceway, the
site of this weekend's Craftsman 75th Anniversary NHRA Nationals. He won
last year's inaugural autumn event at the stadium-style supertrack, and
he's primed his GM Performance Parts Pontiac with more firepower to defend
his title.

    Johnson set the performance pace at the preceding event in Memphis,
Tenn., where he qualified No. 1 and ran the quickest elapsed time of the
event. Warren promises there's more to come from his top-secret engine
shop.

    "We're exploring a new direction," Johnson said. "We've completed
about two-thirds of the program at this point, and the engine's top-end
power just keeps climbing. Now we're working on bolstering the bottom and
middle of the power curve. If we're successful, I foresee a significant
performance gain."

    Johnson relishes his return to Route 66 Raceway. He was runner-up to
Mike Thomas in the track's inaugural event in 1998. He won in 1999 over
Troy Coughlin and defeated Darrell Alderman in last year's fall race. The
prospect of cool weather in Chicago has raised Warren's expectations for
another successful weekend at Route 66 Raceway.

    "If the predictions of 60-degree temperatures prove accurate, the
track will be incredibly fast," he promised. "Depending on how well the
track held up over the summer, we should have a good racing surface as long
as the temperatures are cool. If it's hot, though, the rubber has a
tendency to pull up, and then all bets are off."

    While Johnson has been relentless in his pursuit of power, the
other members of his GM Performance Parts team have worked on repairing
body damage sustained by W.J.'s Grand Am when it broke loose inside the
transporter en route to Memphis.

    "Some of my competitors thought that our impromptu repairs were a ploy
to gain an aerodynamic advantage," Johnson laughed. "I volunteered to drop
a few tires on anyone's race car if they truly believed that duct tape was
a speed secret.

    "Of course, I was deeply disappointed that we didn't receive the
Best Appearing Car award," Warren added with a wink.


WARREN JOHNSON'S ROUTE 66 RACEWAY RECORD
Year         Qual.  Result
1998           1    Runner-up (to Thomas)
1999           2    Winner (over T. Coughlin)
2000          12    First Round
2001 Spring   12    Semifinal
2001 Fall      4    Winner (over Alderman)
2002 Spring    6    First Round