NHRA Saturday: Down to his last run, Kurt Johnson qualifies 13th in Madison

Event: Seventh annual Sears Craftsman Nationals
Location:  Gateway International Raceway
       Madison, IL
Day/Date: Saturday June 28, 2003 

After battling to tame a very tricky racing surface on Friday, Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Racing team entered the final day of qualifying for the Sears Craftsman Nationals faced with the unenviable assignment of having to bump himself into the field for Sunday's final eliminations.   

Although the early performance numbers showed that he seemed poised to accomplish this task on his first attempt on Saturday afternoon, his car suddenly jumped out of third gear, costing valuable hundredths of a second and leaving the team with one final attempt to qualify.  Even so, the team remained confident of racing at Gateway International Raceway on Sunday.

As they have all season, Johnson and crew responded to the challenge.  Running in the left lane, the ACDelco Cavalier powered through the quarter-mile in 6.854 seconds with a top speed of 202.24 mph to earn the 13th position for final eliminations.

"We weren't worried heading into the last session, just concerned.   We just didn't make a good run until the last one, and it almost bit us.  Fortunately, the ACDelco Cavalier made almost a perfect run, running straight and true, with everything working right.  

"We were using a little different motor program this weekend, and I think we'll go back to our basic set-up tomorrow, because it should have run quicker than it did. We think there's a couple hundredths left in it, so we'll fine-tune it tomorrow.  We may not have lane choice for the first round, but that hasn't bothered us in the past. We're in, and that's what matters on Saturday night."