NHRA Sunday: WJ's Day is Cut Short in Columbus

Contact: Jon G. Knapp
									TMG Sports Marketing
									Phone: (704) 662-3121
									jgknapp@tmgsports.net
										
Final Results
					
WJ's Day is Cut Short in Columbus

Event: 39th annual Pontiac Excitement Nationals
Location:  National Trail Raceway
       Columbus, Ohio
Day/Date: Sunday June 15, 2003 

The weather for Sunday's final eliminations of the Pontiac Excitement Nationals was completely unlike that encountered in qualifying, as for the first time in three days, partly sunny skies greeted competitors and fans at National Trail Raceway.  This presented a completely new set of tuning conditions, sending teams scrambling to find the right combination.  

Facing Jeg Coughlin in the first round, Warren Johnson knew he would need a nearly perfect run to advance to the second round.  As expected, the GM Performance Parts crew was up to the task, as their Grand Am rocketed down the quarter-mile in 6.897 seconds, with a top speed of 198.79 mph, the second quickest pass of the round.  

Unfortunately, this outstanding effort was not enough, as Coughlin was just slightly quicker, gaining the narrow victory, and putting a premature end to Johnson's weekend in Columbus.

"It was just one of those deals.  It was on a middle 6.88 run until the three-second mark, when it got off to the right side and started spinning the tires in the back half.  I tried to keep it parallel to the race track, and stayed with it even when it got close to the wall, but there was nothing I could do.

"Our GM Performance Parts Grand Am is a good race car.  We were the quickest car in the right lane in the first round, but it just wasn't enough.  We had the misfortune of facing the one car that made it down that left lane.  We'll just have to take this bull by the horns, fix it, and be ready for St. Louis."




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