NHRA Sunday: Warren Johnson loses a heartbreaker in Madison

										
Final Results
					
Warren Johnson loses a heartbreaker in Madison

Event: Seventh annual Sears Craftsman Nationals
Location:  Gateway International Raceway
       Madison, IL
Day/Date: Sunday June 29, 2003

After capturing the No. 1 qualifying position with a track record 6.808-second elapsed time, Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts Racing team entered Sunday's final eliminations of the Sears Craftsman nationals as one of the leading candidates to end the day in the winner's circle.

Even so, Johnson knew the path to his 91st career victory would not be an easy one, as the entire Pro Stock field was separated by just over five hundredths of a second.  In addition, Sunday's warmer temperatures and earlier starting time meant the "factory hot rods" would be dealing with conditions unlike any they had faced all weekend.

Throughout the 2003 POWERade season, Johnson has been among the best in the category in leaving the starting line.  However, in the first round, No. 16 qualifier Greg Stanfield was able to gain the advantage at the line, and even though WJ recorded the quickest pass of the first round at 6.845 with a top speed of 202.06 mph, it was not enough to prevent Stanfield from scoring the upset by a mere seven thousandths of a second.  

"We were definitely ready for the first round, and our GM Performance Parts Grand Am made a nice run.  Unfortunately, you had the combination of my worst reaction time of the weekend, and someone having the best reaction time of the first round, which was a recipe for disaster.  

"It's not all bad.  The car is coming around, and we found some things on the dyno last week.  It's piecing itself together pretty nicely, and we're in a good position entering the second half of the season.  

"It's just one of those things.  If I had an idea of what would happen in that round, I would have come up with a preventative measure.  It wasn't intentional, but it certainly was self-inflicted."