NHRA Friday: KJ's 2003 ACDelco Cavalier powers to the 2nd position halfway through Gatornationals qualifying

Contact: Jon G. Knapp
										TMG Sports Marketing
										Phone: (704) 662-3121
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 KJ's 2003 ACDelco Cavalier powers to the 2nd position halfway through Gatornationals qualifying 

Gainesville, Fla., March 14, 2003 - Kurt Johnson debuted the 2003 body on his ACDelco Cavalier during the first day of qualifying for the Mac Tools Gatornationals, and wasted little time in making a strong first impression, posting two of the quickest runs in the Pro Stock category.  After pacing the field with a 6.800 second, 203.52 mph blast on his opening attempt, KJ came back on his second run with an equally strong 6.808 second, 203.61 mph run, claiming the Gainesville Raceway top speed record and the provisional second position, with two sessions remaining on Saturday.

"Other than looking good, the biggest difference I've noticed so far with the 2003 body is the big numbers it's been putting on my time slip," remarked Johnson.  "We're faster than everyone else out there, and it shows a lot of potential.  However, like anything new, we'll have to do some work to get the most out if it.   But after two official runs, It certainly has us excited."

"We were happy after the first session when we ran that 6.80 and were the low qualifier.  However, since we knew we could go even quicker, we knew some of our competitors could as well, so we made some changes and ran another .80 in the afternoon. However, Greg  laid that 6.78 down and moved around us, so it's just a matter of going back to work.

"We knew coming in that this would be a tough field.  There are a lot of good cars here, and everybody's been testing at Bradenton.  We tested in Atlanta and the hard work is paying off.  We have great power, but we're just not getting the car hooked up in the first 300 feet.  We'll work on that tomorrow, and see if we can get this ACDelco Cavalier back on the pole.