NHRA Saturday: WJ Starts Third at Route 66 Raceway

Final Qualifying Results		

WJ Starts Third at Route 66 Raceway   


Event: Third annual Carquest Auto Parts Nationals 
Location:  Route 66 Raceway
       Joliet, IL
Day/Date: Saturday September 27, 2003


Racers returning to Route 66 Raceway on Saturday for the second day of the Carquest Auto Parts Nationals faced a tough assignment.  After heavy rains on Friday had washed out the first day of qualifying, they would have only two chances in which to qualify for Sunday's final eliminations.  In addition, the cool temperatures and fast racing surface in Joliet produced one of the quickest Pro Stock fields of the 2003 POWERade Drag Racing season leaving the competitors with little room for error.

After opening with an 11th best 6.793-second, 204.51 mph pass, Warren Johnson looked to secure a position in the top half of the field on his final attempt. Despite running in the less-preferred right hand lane, Johnson's GM Performance Parts Grand Am posted the third quickest time of the session (and quickest in his lane) and second fastest top speed of the day, covering the quarter-mile in 6.760 seconds with a top speed of 204.88 mph to qualify third.

"The important thing on that last run is that we went straight down the race track.  Prior to that, we had succeeded in putting so much bite in the car that it wanted to go left.  We checked the shocks to make sure nothing had gone awry there, and then made a series of adjustments, including putting more preload changes than we ever had in the past, and it went relatively straight.  It wasn't perfect, but it was a decent run.

"In our first run, even though we were in the better lane, there was an oil down early in the session which hurt any one who ran in the lane after that.  It's just one of those unfortunate things that we'll live with and move on.  We'll make a few minor adjustments to our GM Performance Parts Grand Am, but overall I think we're in pretty good shape."