NHRA Saturday: WJ Drives His Way to Third on Saturday at the U.S. Nationals

Event: 49th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Location:  Indianapolis Raceway Park
      Clermont, IN
Day/Date: Saturday August 30, 2003 

Warren Johnson opened his 28th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals qualifying effort on Saturday in exciting fashion.  On each of his first two attempts, Johnson had to call on his vast racing experience to maintain control of his race car.  Even so, Johnson recorded two solid elapsed times, with his best run of 6.825 seconds with a top speed of 202.18 mph placing the GM Performance Parts Grand Am in the third position midway through qualifying at Indianapolis Raceway Park. 

"As each run was quick enough to place us in the field, they were certainly legitimate, other than the fact that I used a little more race track than they wanted me to.  It's just a matter of making a few minor adjustments to our GM Performance Parts Grand Am.  Obviously, the conditions are a little different from what they were last week, so it's just a matter of adapting to it - we are certainly competitive power wise.  

"The humidity tonight was such that the track had a little glaze to it, so the surface wasn't as good as you would expect given the track temperature, which is traditional here in Indy.  Like anything else, you just have to deal with it better than your competitors, which is what we plan to do tomorrow."