NHRA Warren Johnson Saturday Update: WJ Qualifies Second on His Single Attempt in Bristol

WJ Qualifies Second on His Single Attempt in Bristol

 

Event:  5th Annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals

Day/Date: Saturday, April 30, 2005

Location:  Bristol Dragway, Bristol, TN

 

When Warren Johnson rolled his GM Performance Parts Pontiac to the line
for his first qualifying attempt at the O'Reilly Thunder Valley
Nationals, he knew he might have only one chance to earn a spot in
Sunday's final eliminations field.  After all, the wet weather that had
washed out Friday's action at Bristol Dragway was forecast to return and
put a premature end to qualifying.

 

However, Johnson quickly allayed any doubts about his participation on
race day as he blasted through the quarter-mile in 6.834 seconds with a
top speed of 201.58 mph, which earned "The Professor" the second
starting position when rain prevented any further sessions.

 

"The possibility of not being able to make a second run seemed pretty
obvious, so we loaded it up to the point that we would at least qualify
well, but not shake the tires which would cause us to miss the show.  I
guess you could say we were cautiously aggressive.  As a result, we were
way off in the first sixty feet, which was part of our game plan, but
the fastest car in the back half, which shows our GM Performance Parts
Pontiac has plenty of power.  

 

"We don't know what exactly this track is going to yield tomorrow,
because the first 120 feet has been replaced, and it will certainly have
seen a lot of moisture over the last two days.  It will be an entirely
new ball game tomorrow, but everyone will be in the same boat, having
only gotten one shot at the track.  

 

"A lot will also depend on how the racing surface is prepared.  They
certainly had their hands full today, so I'm sure they will do their due
diligence for tomorrow. The bottom line is that we will just have to do
a better job of reading the conditions and dialing in the set-up than
our competitors."