NHRA Saturday: Kurt Johnson Speeds to the Third Starting Position in Gainesville

Event: 34th Annual Mac Tools Gatornationals
Location:  Gainesville Raceway
       Gainesville, Fla.
Day/Date: Saturday March 15, 2003 

For the second day in a row, Kurt Johnson's ACDelco Cavalier was the fastest Pro Stock car at the Mac Tools Gatornationals.  After resetting the Gainesville Raceway speed record on Friday afternoon, KJ came back to once again pace the field in both sessions on Saturday, with his 203.71 mph effort on his final attempt raising the bar even further.  

Of even greater significance, however, was the 6.794-second elapsed time that Johnson posted during the crucial third session, placing him third on Sunday's final eliminations ladder. 

Ironically, Saturday's on-track action was somewhat of a surprise, as heavy rain had been forecast, but the precipitation held off, with the skies actually clearing as the "factory hot rods" took to the track.  The combination of a fast racing surface and cooler temperatures produced an extremely quick field, as evidenced by the fact that last year's 6.821-second track record would have only earned the 15th starting position.

This marks Johnson's best qualifying performance at Gainesville since 1999, when he captured the second position, and sets the stage for a first-round encounter with No. 14 qualifier Mike Edwards. 

"We were pretty consistent throughout qualifying, with a 6.79, two 6.80s and a 6.81.  I've had good lights, the car has been going down the race track - now we just have to do it four times tomorrow.

"We are still off a little in the first 60 feet, which bothers us a little bit, but not enough that we're going to make any big crazy changes for tomorrow.  We might move a few pounds to the back to see if we can get this thing to hook up a little bit better.  It's spinning the tires, but not shaking, and running really smooth, so we'll leave it alone and see if we can put our ACDelco Cavalier in the winner's circle."

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