NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: Runner-Up Finish in Sonoma Propels KJ Forward in Championship Standings

Runner-Up Finish in Sonoma Propels KJ Forward in Championship Standings

 

Event:  18th Annual NHRA California Nationals 

Day/Date: Sunday, July 31, 2005

Location:  Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California

 

ACDelco Driver Kurt Johnson continued his push towards the top of the
POWERade Championship standings on Sunday, powering to a runner-up
finish during the final eliminations of the NHRA national event in
Sonoma, California.  It was Johnson's third final round of the season,
third at Infineon Raceway, and 58th of his career.  KJ's strong
performance also allowed him to move into third in the POWERade
Championship standings.

 

"You're never completely happy unless you take home the trophy, but
we're pretty pleased with our ACDelco Cobalt's performance this
weekend," stated Johnson.  "We came into today 112 points out of first
and leave 94 behind.  We gained ground on every team except one, and
moved into third place overall.  From when we unloaded on Friday to the
final, the crew performed flawlessly, and the car responded.  Anyway you
look at it, it was a good day." 

 

After capturing the 26th No. 1 starting position of his career with a
track record 6.676-second pass in qualifying, Johnson opened his pursuit
of a second Sonoma win with an opening round win against V. Gaines.  A
second round defeat of Richie Stevens advanced him to the semi-finals
against David Connolly in a rematch of their first round encounter in
Seattle one week ago.  

 

Just as he had in the Great Northwest, Johnson made quick work of his
young opponent, using a 6.722-second, 205.44 mph pass to easily
outdistance Connolly's 6.804-second effort, scoring the 400th
elimination round win of his illustrious career.  This set the stage for
a final round encounter against rival Greg Anderson, who would have the
luxury of choosing his lane in the championship round.

 

Facing Anderson in the final without lane choice, Johnson knew he would
need a nearly perfect run to score the 31st win of his career.  Although
he was able to gain the early advantage, welding Anderson to the line
with a stellar .016 reaction time, KJ soon found himself fighting to
maintain control in the less-preferred right hand lane, with his 6.760
second, 204.23 mph run falling just shy of holding off Anderson's
6.732-second clocking.

 

"Lane choice was huge for the final, just as it was all day.  The right
lane was all right in the first round, but after that, it wasn't worth a
flip, and no one was able to get down it.  

 

"On top of that, the glare of the afternoon sun in the right lane
reflecting off the dashboard meant I couldn't see where I was going in
the final.  I had a decent light, but when the car wheel stood at the
start, I was looking directly into the sun. 

 

"It went through low gear nice and straight, but in second gear, it spun
hard and made a move to the centerline.  Since I couldn't see exactly
where I was, I didn't try to correct it, which put me right at the
centerline in third gear.  In fact, I was surprised with where I was,
and practically blew the timing cones over when I went by.  Basically,
it got out of the groove and was really ugly.  

 

"Still, we had a great West Coast swing, with a win, a runner-up and a
semi-final finish.  We scored more points than anyone else, and the two
races we didn't win, we very easily could have, missing by a total of
nineteen thousandths of a second.  If you look at where we came into the
Swing, and where we came out of it, you can see this ACDelco Cobalt crew
is on the move, and that's what it's all about.  There's plenty of
racing left, and we plan on making the most of it."