NHRA Sunday: Kurt Johnson is nearly perfect in Brainerd

            Contact: Jon G. Knapp
                                    TMG Sports Marketing 
                                    Phone: (704) 662-3121
                                    jgknapp@tmgsports.net
Final  Results  
                
Kurt Johnson is nearly perfect in Brainerd

Event: 22nd annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Location: Brainerd International Raceway
      Brainerd, MN
Day/Date: Sunday August 17, 2003 

Kurt Johnson came within four thousandths of a second of having a perfect 
weekend at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN.   After being the dominant 
car throughout qualifying, setting a new Brainerd International Raceway top 
speed record and claiming the No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday, Johnson and 
his ACDelco Cavalier were equally impressive during Sunday's final 
eliminations.   

Johnson opened the day by using the quickest pass of the first round to 
defeat J.R. Carr.  In the second round, he called on his driving skills to score a 
holeshot win over David Connolly before eliminating Jeg Coughlin in the 
semi-finals to reach his seventh final round of the season.

Facing fellow Minnesotan and rival Greg Anderson in the final, Johnson knew 
he would need a virtually error-free run to gain his fifth victory of the 
season.  Just as he had all day, Johnson gained the advantage at the starting line, 
leaving on Anderson by one hundredth of a second.  

As expected, it proved to be one of the closest races of the day.  Although 
Johnson made a solid 6.930-second, 198.82 mph pass, it was not enough to 
prevent his opponent from just edging him at the stripe by a mere four thousandths 
of a second.

"Although it was a good race in the final, we slowed down a little bit, and 
it obviously cost us.  The car started spinning the tires down track and didn't 
run like it should have, losing eight thousandths in the back half.  We 
changed a few things for the final, which might have hurt it, so at the very least 
we learned something today.

"Naturally, things could have been worse.  For example, we could have lost in 
the first or second round. Certainly that was a race we needed to win to gain 
some points in the championship, but there are seven left in the season, and 
anything could still happen.  Our ACDelco Cavalier is as good, if not better, 
as anyone out there, so we are far from done.

"We'll head from here to Indy to test, after which I'll check with my doctor 
back home, because I seem to have a pinched nerve that's been killing me.  It 
didn't really affect my driving, because I would just put things out of my 
mind and focus on the job at hand.  But who knows, maybe if I get that fixed, 
I'll can drive a little better, and we can complete the picture at the U.S. 
Nationals."

Points Standings:

1. Greg Anderson  1454
2, Kurt Johnson   1296
3. Jeg Coughlin     1057
4. Warren Johnson  1012
5. Allen Johnson    738

Next Event:  Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis, IN  August 29 - 
September 1
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