NHRA Saturday: KJ Slides Into the 16th Starting Position in Reading

 

Final Qualifying Results


 


Kurt Johnson Slides Into the 16th Starting Position in Reading 

 

Event: 20th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals

Location:  Maple Grove Raceway

       Reading, PA

Day/Date: Saturday October 9, 2004

 

Entering the second day of qualifying for the Lucas Oil Nationals, Kurt
Johnson knew he would need to pick up the pace in order to guarantee a
position in Sunday's starting field.  Fortunately, he improved with each
pass down the Maple Grove Raceway quarter-mile, with his 6.757-second,
203.86 mph run on his final attempt slotting the ACDelco Pro Stock
Cavalier earning the second-generation driver the 16th and final spot on
Sunday's final eliminations ladder. 

 

As the only competitor to break into the line-up on Saturday, Johnson
was pleased with the results.  However, he also realized even further
improvement would be necessary in order to contend for the win on
Sunday, and immediately started to map out his race day strategy.

 

"Our biggest issue is not making a decent run at the right time.  For
example, the pass we made in the last qualifying session would probably
have been a 6.73 this morning, which would have put us substantially
higher in the field.  

 

"Even so, we're happy to have gotten into the show.  We made quite a few
changes before that last run, and learned a lot, running our best
sixty-foot time ever.  In addition, I think there is at least another
hundredth if we can resolve a shock problem and smooth it out over the
bumps.

 

"It's just a matter of sneaking up on it, which is what we're doing at
the moment.  We've survived so far, so we just have to find a little
more so we can have a long day tomorrow."