NHRA Kurt Johnson Qualifying Update: Sitting Fifth in Sonoma on Friday, KJ Sets his Sights High For Saturday

Sitting Fifth in Sonoma on Friday, KJ Sets his Sights High For Saturday

 

Event:  19th Annual NHRA Nationals

Day/Date: Friday, July 28, 2006

Location:  Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA

 

Having battled unseasonably high temperatures during the last two races,
Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team welcomed the cooler
temperatures at Infineon Raceway on Friday, with temperatures remaining
in the 70's for most of the day.  Taking advantage of the improved
conditions, the Johnson crew opened their qualifying attempt for the
NHRA Nationals in Sonoma, CA with two consistent, quick runs.  

 

On his first attempt on Friday afternoon, KJ posted a fourth-best
6.715-second elapsed time. He then came back in the evening session with
a 6.669-second, 206.80 mph run to earn the provisional fifth position
midway through the qualifying procedure.  Feeling his position in
Sunday's field is fairly secure, the second-generation racer will be
setting his sights extremely high during his final two attempts on
Saturday.

 

"After opening with a pretty good pass, we made a few changes for
tonight and picked up about five hundredths.  It was really good in the
first sixty feet, running a .984, so now we'll work on being just as
strong for the rest of the run.  The bottom line is that we went into
the night session fourth and came out fifth, which is a pretty good
starting point, and we're going to be swinging for the fences tomorrow
morning.

 

"I think our '.66 will keep us in, but we'd like to get the extra points
for getting the top spot and setting the (national elapsed time) record.
I think it's a realistic goal, because the conditions in the morning
session will be a couple hundredths better than they were tonight, but
we'll definitely have to pick up about fifteen thousandths to be in the
hunt.  I believe someone is leaving Sonoma with the record, and we'd
certainly like it to be our ACDelco Cobalt."