NHRA Kurt Johnson Pre Race: Surging KJ Maintains Status Quo
Heading into Memphis
Sugar Hill, Ga., August 17, 2005 - Over the last eight weeks, Kurt
Johnson and his ACDelco Cobalt Racing team have mounted a charge in the
NHRA's Pro Stock division. They have advanced to the final round in
four of the five races contested, winning three, and pulled themselves
within 55 points of the lead in POWERade championship standings.
It has been a team effort, as the driver has performed well behind the
wheel, while the team had made the right calls to extract the maximum
performance from their machine. Therefore, entering this weekend's
O'Reilly Midsouth Nationals in Memphis, TN, Johnson sees little reason
to make any major changes in how his team approaches the race.
"On one hand, you could say our ACDelco Cobalt has been in the right
place at the right time," stated Johnson. "However, it takes a lot of
effort to put yourself in that right place, and this team has worked
very hard to make sure we've qualified well and made good, consistent
runs to take advantage of every opportunity presented.
"Between myself, Kevin Horst and Joe Cottle, we're working very well
together, with everyone on the same page, pulling in the right
direction. It feels good. Everything is clicking, so we'll keep doing
what we're doing, avoiding making any major changes that might upset
this roll that we're on. We'll continue to approach every race one run
at a time, doing whatever we need to adapt to what the track will give
us. It certainly has worked so far."
Further fueling Johnson's motivation heading into this event is the fact
that Memphis Motorsports Park is one of the few facilities on the NHRA
tour where he has yet to reach the winner's circle, with just one final
round appearance in 1998. However, armed with an extremely fast race
car and a crew whose confidence has been bolstered by their recent
success, the second-generation racer believes it is time he added a
Volunteer state win to his list of many successes.
"Memphis has been one of those tracks that for one reason or another,
has simply eluded us," stated Johnson. "We've always qualified fairly
well there, and were the runner-up in 1998, but we really haven't
experienced the same level of success that we have at other tracks
around the country.
"It's not's a bad track, and has a really good starting line, so we'll
have to take advantage of the first 330 feet. I've always enjoyed
racing there, and who knows, maybe we've finally exhausted all our bad
luck in Memphis.
"In any case, I believe we are in a better position to win there than we
have been in some time, so hopefully, this ACDelco Cobalt crew can put
it all together this weekend, giving us a good reason to enjoy some of
that great Tennessee barbecue on Sunday night with a Wally as the
centerpiece."
Notes on Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team entering
the O'Reilly Midsouth Nationals:
* KJ Hopes to Rock in Memphis: This will be Kurt's 13th appearance
at Memphis Motorsports Park, where he has one final round appearance in
1998, and an 11-10 elimination round record in his 10 previous starts.
In addition, Kurt has one No. 1 qualifying performance in Tennessee in
1997, and only three starts outside the top half of the field, with an
average starting position of 7.0.
* One year ago: Kurt qualified ninth with an elapsed time of 6.807
seconds and a top speed of 201.61 mph, but fell in the opening round.
* Career Best Elapsed Time: 6.665 sec., Seattle, WA 7/23/05
* Career best top speed: 207.15 mph, Seattle, WA 7/23/05
Event Schedule:
Friday, August 19 - Two qualifying sessions
at 4:30 & 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, August 20 - Two qualifying sessions at
3:30 & 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, August 21 - Pre-race ceremonies begin
at 2:00 p.m. followed by
the first
round of eliminations at 3:00 p.m.
Television Schedule:
Qualifying: Saturday, August 20 -
8:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, August 21 -
10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
NHRA2Day: Sunday, August 21 -
11:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
(Please consult your local listings for exact times, as the schedule is
subject to change.)
