NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ's Strong Run Ends in Englishtown Semi-Finals

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

KJ's Strong Run Ends in Englishtown Semi-Finals

 

Event:  37th Annual NHRA Supernationals

Day/Date: Sunday, June 18, 2006

Location:  Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ

 

Kurt Johnson and his ACDelco Cobalt Racing team continued their recent
streak of strong performances by powering to the semifinals at today's
NHRA Supernationals in Englishtown, NJ.  Although he was the recipient
of an automatic win in the first round when Larry Morgan red-lit,
Johnson grabbed both the crowds' and his competitors' attention by
posting the quickest and fastest pass of eliminations, covering the
quarter-mile in 6.703-seconds with a top speed of 206.76 mph.   

 

In the second round, Johnson eliminated veteran Jim Yates with a solid
6.741-second, 205.94 mph effort, but lost lane choice for his semifinal
match-up against Dave Connolly by seven thousandths of a second.  Fully
aware of Connolly's reputation as one of the better leavers in the Pro
Stock category, a determined Johnson left the starting line first, with
his .026 reaction time giving the second-generation racer a two
hundredths of a second advantage.  

 

However, just as he seemed poised to advance to his third consecutive
final round, Johnson found himself fighting to maintain control as his
race car spun the tires in several gears, slowing him to a 6.780-second
pass, allowing his opponent to overcome his lead and edge him at the
finish line stripe.

 

"To be honest, we feel as if we only did half the job.  We wanted to win
the race, or at least go to the final, but for some reason the lane
seems to have bit us.  The conditions today were unlike any others we
had raced in this year, and we had a few new pieces in the car that we
will have to get used to. 

 

"We started with a great run in the first round, but then the track went
away, and we overpowered it in the second round, which cost us lane
choice.  We made a few changes for the semis, but it just spun, and
spun, and spun some more.   I talked with (fellow Pro Stock racer) Allen
Johnson, who ran right behind us, and he was out of control in that lane
as well.  I guess there was something out there that the human eye
didn't see.

 

"Even so, it was still a productive day for the ACDelco Cobalt crew.  We
gained ground on the points leader, and opened up a lead on most of the
cars behind us.  We'll take that to St. Louis next weekend, where we'll
see if we can duplicate our winning performance from a year ago."

 

 

 

 

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