NHRA Warren Johnson Friday Update: WJ Starts Strong, Slots 5th Midway through Gatornationals Qualifying

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

WJ Starts Strong, Slots 5th Midway through Gatornationals Qualifying

 

Event:  37th Annual ACDelco Gatornationals

Day/Date: Friday, March 17, 2006

Location:  Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, FL

 

Coming off their win in Phoenix two weeks ago, Warren Johnson and the GM
Performance Parts GTO Racing team continued to run well during Friday's
qualifying sessions for the ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL.


 

Their first attempt proved to be their best, as WJ powered through the
quarter-mile in 6.696 seconds with a Pro Stock best top speed of 206.80
mph.  This remained his run of record after he was slowed by tire shake
in the second session, earning The Professor the fifth position midway
through qualifying, with the entire team focused on bettering their
standing on Saturday.

 

"We made a decent run on our opening attempt, and made a few changes for
the second session to try a few things and improve even further.  You
might say it was a combination of fine-tuning and testing, since we felt
fairly confident we wouldn't be bumped out.

 

"There are several factors that contributed to that severe tire shake.
The engine combination we were using probably had a little more power -
it felt like it on the burnout.   In addition, I suspect the track might
have been a little better, looking at the sixty-foot times across the
board.  When we were here a few weeks ago, the track deteriorated
substantially in the afternoon, so we backed it down for the second run,
and might have gone a little too far.  Even though we didn't get the run
we were looking for, we learned quite a bit which we will able to use.

 

"We'll be an early pair in tomorrow's first session, and I don't really
see a problem with our picking up the performance on our GM Performance
Parts GTO.  We just have to make a decent run."

 

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