NHRA Warren Johnson Sunday: Warren Johnson Scores Dominant Win at O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals

 

Sunday, April 10, 2005, Baytown, TX- Warren Johnson, "The Professor of
Pro Stock", made a dramatic return to the NHRA winner's circle on
Sunday, scoring a dominant win at the 18th annual O'Reilly Spring
Nationals in Baytown, TX.  Starting from the No. 1 position, Johnson's
GM Performance Parts Pontiac was clearly the class of the field at
Houston Raceway Park, posting low elapsed time of eliminations with his
6.706-second pass in the first round, as well as the top speed in all
four rounds.  This was the 93rd win of Johnson's stellar career, sixth
at the Baytown quarter-mile, and catapulted the six-time Pro Stock
champion into the POWERade Championship lead.

 

"I guess you can't do much better that we did this weekend," stated
Johnson.  "Especially after last year, which we consider an anomaly, I
have to give my GM Performance Parts team credit for not giving up.
This team knows it can still win, and never let anything that's happened
deter them.  

 

"That's probably the biggest thing about this win.  It was a total team
effort.  I have two great guys that work at the race track, and people
back at our shop in Sugar Hill that are really dedicated to what they
do.  That all results in my having a better race car to drive, giving us
a better potential to win.  I certainly can't do it all myself."

 

After eliminating Richie Stevens, Greg Stanfield and David Connolly in
the earlier rounds, Johnson squared off against sophomore driver Jason
Line in the final, with "The Professor" holding the advantage both in
performance and lane choice.   However, the contest was over almost
immediately, as Line left the starting line early and handed the
automatic win to Johnson, who punctuated his win with another stellar
6.714-second, 205.01 mph run.  

 

This was also the first national event win for the DRCE III, the third
generation General Motors Drag Racing Competition Engine that Johnson
has been developing since early last year.  Johnson and his son Kurt are
the only two competitors currently using this powerplant in competition.

 

"Our GM Performance Parts Pontiac was virtually flawless all weekend,'
said Johnson.  "Since the middle of last season, we've focused on
improving our race cars and our power level, and it's all starting to
come together.  

 

"Of course, when you have a car that good, the feeling is that if we
don't win, I screwed up, so the pressure was really on.  Fortunately,
things worked in our favor, and we were able to come away with the win.


 

"We hope this is just the tip of the iceberg, because we only have three
of these DRCE III engines in our inventory at the moment, and each one
seems to want to run faster.  Given the fact that we are relatively
competitive right now, and that we're fairly confident of being able to
pick up the pace, I look at this year as being potentially as good as
any of those in which I won the championship.  

 

"However, we're not going to put the cart before the horse.  We still
have a lot of work to do, and there are nine or so cars in this division
that are capable of winning.  So, for now, we're going to enjoy this
win, while at the same time start getting ready for next week's race in
Las Vegas.  We still have a lot of racing left."

 

Fast Facts Following WJ's Win -

 

*	This was WJ's 93rd career win, which is the most by any Pro
Stock driver in the history of the NHRA, and second only to John Force
among all professional drivers.
*	This was also WJ's 145th final round appearance, also the most
in Pro Stock history.
*	This was Johnson's sixth win at Houston Raceway Park, again the
most in Pro Stock.
*	This was the 46th time that WJ has won from the No. 1 position.
*	Johnson "swept" the O'Reilly Spring Nationals, being the No. 1
qualifier, posting the low elapsed time and top speed of the event, and
winning the race.
*	Johnson now has the distinction of being the oldest NHRA event
winner.  WJ, who is 61 years and nine months, eclipsed Eddie Hill's 1996
mark, who won when he was 60 years, four months old.


 

NHRA POWERade Championship Points Standings (after 4 of 23 events)

 

1. Warren Johnson     341

2. David Connolly       315

3. Jason Line              294

4. Allen Johnson         248

5. Greg Anderson        239