NHRA Warren Johnson Saturday Update: WJ Powers to No. 1 Starting Spot in Atlanta

 

Event:  25th Annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals 

Day/Date: Saturday, May 14, 2005

Location:  Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, GA

 

Warren Johnson put together four extremely quick and consistent runs at
Atlanta Dragway to place his GM Performance Parts Pontiac in the No. 1
qualifying position at the 25th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern
Nationals.    It was the 133rd "pole" position for the six-time NHRA Pro
Stock champion, third of 2005 and tenth in twenty-five starts at the
Georgia quarter-mile.

 

Starting with a class-leading 6.778-second pass on Friday, WJ was out of
the top position only once throughout qualifying, when Ron Krisher's
6.757-second attempt on Friday evening edged the Sugar Hill, GA resident
by one thousandth of a second.  However, "The Professor" came back on
Saturday morning to blast through the quarter-mile in 6.749-seconds at
204.54 mph to reset both ends of the track record and cement his place
atop the Pro Stock field.

 

"We have quite a few people in the stands cheering for us with the shop
being only a half hour away, so we didn't want to disappoint them.  You
always want to run faster, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't
a bad effort by the entire GM Performance Parts Pontiac team.  We made
four solid runs, one of which was good enough to make us the No. 1
qualifier.  

 

"Of course, there is always room for improvement, so we'll keep pecking
away, but we're obviously getting better at it.  But we're certainly
pleased with our performance so far."

 

"The forecast is calling for cooler temperatures tomorrow, which will
make the conditions closer to those we tested under last week, when I
ran 6.68, so we would certainly be comfortable in that situation.  In
any case, we'll make the best of what is given to us and see if we can
take the trophy home tomorrow night."

 

Some quick facts on Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts Racing
team following their No. 1 qualifying performance in Atlanta:

 

*	This is the 133rd No. 1 qualifying performance of WJ's career,
which is the most by any professional driver in NHRA history (John Force
is second with 124). 
*	This is WJ's tenth No. 1 qualifying performance at Atlanta
Dragway. 
*	WJ's most recent No. 1 qualifying position came last month at
the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, NV.
*	46 of WJ's 93 national event wins have come from the No. 1
starting position, including last month in Houston, TX. 
*	This is the third No. 1 qualifying performance for the DRCE III,
the third generation General Motors Drag Racing Competition Engine.
Warren and his son Kurt are the only competitors in Pro Stock currently
running this engine.