NHRA Warren Johnson Saturday Update: WJ Powers His New Car to the No. 1 spot in Brainerd

Event:  24th Annual Lucas Oil Nationals 
Day/Date: Saturday, August 13, 2005
Location:  Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, MN

Warren Johnson's first race with his new GM Performance Parts Pontiac
GTO got off to the best possible start in qualifying, as he powered his
way to the No. 1 position at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN.
During his third attempt on Saturday morning, Johnson blistered the
Minnesota quarter-mile, resetting both ends of the track record with his
6.698-second, 206.57 mph run.  This was Johnson's sixth "pole" of 2005,
136th of his career (the most by any professional driver in NHRA
history) and fifth at Brainerd International Raceway.

 

"We're certainly not going to complain about our GM Performance Parts
GTO's performance to this point.  Obviously we knew there was going to
be a steep learning curve to get to where we could make better choices
to improve its performance, but overall it's a good start.  

 

"We had made the decision before coming to Brainerd to run one
particular engine for the first two runs, and then to switch for our
last two attempts.  It's part of our plan to learn exactly what we have
with these different DRCE III powerplants, and in this case, it worked
out nicely.  

 

"Realizing how much better this new GTO would be aero-wise over what we
had run in the early part of the season, we knew it would be in our best
interest to work on getting it on the track as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, our test session in St. Louis on Wednesday was cut short
by rain, so we arrived here with only three passes on the new car.  

 

"Once we got here, we kept pecking away at the tune-up, working to make
it better.  For the limited experience we have with it, this morning's
run was very good, leaving very little on the table.  Fortunately, it
was enough to put us on top.  However, even though we're certainly happy
with where we are right now, we know we still have a lot of work to do,
starting with the first round tomorrow."