NHRA Kurt Johnson Pre Race: After a Little R&R, KJ is Looking
for the "W" in Pomona
Sugar Hill, Ga., November 1, 2005 - Following his exciting win at the
ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals ten days ago, Pro Stock standout Kurt
Johnson did something quite uncharacteristic - he went on vacation.
Just over twelve hours after his dramatic hole shot defeat of Greg
Anderson in the championship round, the second-generation racer was on a
plane to Hawaii to spend a week celebrating his 20th wedding anniversary
with his wife Kathy. Although this might seem unusual with one race
left in the season, as far as Johnson is concerned, the timing could not
have been better.
"When my wife Kathy and I decided to go away for our 20th anniversary, I
looked at the schedule and picked the week after the Las Vegas race,"
said Johnson. "The way I see it, I actually saved a week in the off
season by taking this vacation now. During the winter, we'll be busy
with research and development on our ACDelco Cobalt, but between the two
races all of our equipment stayed on the West Coast.
"After all, you want to have everything ready for Las Vegas and Pomona,
so you ship everything out there to make sure you're ready for any
situation. Therefore, I took advantage of the slight break to take my
wife to Maui for a well-deserved week of R&R."
However, even before he returned from the island paradise, KJ's thoughts
returned to racing, reflecting on his season while setting his sights on
this weekend's Auto Club of Southern California Finals, the final stop
on the NHRA's POWERade Drag Racing circuit. Entering the season
finale, Johnson holds a 103-point lead over his closest competitor, and
although he seems poised to score the fourth championship runner-up
finish of his career, his focus remains on cementing his second place
standing and securing his fifth win of the year.
"Although we've had a good season, I think we could have benefited from
being more consistent," opined Johnson. "To put it simply, when we were
on, we were dead on, but when we were off, we were off. For example,
our clutch program wasn't what we wanted in the beginning of the year,
which hurt us. We finally worked it out, and started to run well
through the middle of the season.
"Unfortunately, we stumbled a bit around Indy and Reading because we
were testing to gain an advantage before coming back in the last few
races. We've won some races and made it to some final rounds, but we
also had a few early exits. You need to be good all year to make it all
the way to the top.
"This weekend, our primary goal is to lock up second place. We're going
in with full intentions of winning the race, and will do whatever it
takes to get the job done, but, before anything else, we will focus on
making sure we qualify."
Fortunately, confidence, which was already high on the ACDelco crew
following their win in the Nevada desert, is bolstered even further by
the site of the season-ending race, Pomona Raceway. With four wins and
seven final rounds in his previous 25 appearances, Johnson certainly
knows his way to the winner's circle in Southern California. It is a
trip that he looks to make once again this weekend.
"We're coming in off a great win in Las Vegas, where our ACDelco Cobalt
ran better than it has all year, going down the racetrack on every run,
and I did my job behind the wheel," said Johnson. "That, combined with
our previous record in Pomona, has us excited heading into the race. We
feel if we make good runs and qualify well, we should be in good shape.
"When you listen to that last national anthem of the year, you know it's
going to be a while before you race again, so it's gets the hair on the
back of your neck up. There's only one race, four elimination rounds
left, and you want to win them all, and go out on a high note, which is
exactly what we are planning to do this weekend."
Notes on Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team entering
the Auto Club of Southern California NHRA Finals:
* KJ is a Prime-Time Player in Pomona: This will be Kurt's 26th
appearance at Pomona Raceway, where he has four wins in seven final
round appearances, and a 44-20 elimination round record for a .688 win
percentage.
* 2005 Has Been a Good Year for the ACDelco crew: Should Kurt win
in Pomona, it will give him five wins for the season, breaking a tie
with his 2003 effort for the second-most in a single season in his
career. Kurt's six wins in 2000 remain his best single-season mark. In
addition, KJ's 42 elimination round wins are second only to his 49
rounds wins in 2003.
* One year ago: Kurt qualified fifteenth with an elapsed time of
6.766 seconds and a top speed of 204.08 mph, but fell in the first
round.
* Career Best Elapsed Time: 6.663 sec., Dallas, TX, 10/7/05
* Career best top speed: 207.30 mph, Joliet, IL, 9/30/05
Event Schedule:
Thursday, November 3 - A single qualifying session at 2:00
p.m.
Friday, November 4 - A single qualifying session at
2:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 5 - Two qualifying sessions at 11:00 a.m.
& 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 6 - Pre-race ceremonies begin at 10:00
a.m. followed by
the first round of
eliminations at 11:00 a.m.
Television Schedule:
Qualifying: Saturday, November 5 -
10:00 p.m. - 12:30 a.m.
Eliminations: Sunday, November 6 -
7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
NHRA2Day: Sunday, November 6 -
11:30 a.m. - 12 noon
(Please consult your local listings for exact times, as the schedule is
subject to change.)
