NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ Sees Red in Brainerd

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

 KJ Sees Red in Brainerd

 

Event:  25th Annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals

Day/Date: Sunday, August 13, 2006

Location:  Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, MN

 

After qualifying seventh for Sunday's final eliminations of the Lucas
Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN, Kurt Johnson looked to repeat his winning
performance from a year ago and make the debut of his new ACDelco Cobalt
a triumphant one.  Things seemed to go according to plan in the first
round, when he combined a solid .032 reaction time with the second
quickest pass of the round at 6.768 seconds, 203.52 mph to eliminate
former Pro Stock champion Jim Yates, who posted a 6.783 second, 203.00
mph run in the losing effort.

 

This set the stage for a second round encounter against current points
leader Jason Line, who was the only car quicker than Johnson in the
opening stanza.  Racing in the less-preferred right-hand lane, KJ knew
he would need every advantage in order to advance to the next round and
gain ground in the championship chase.  Therefore, he staged quickly,
determined to gain the starting-line edge.  Unfortunately, the race was
over within a few hundredths of a second, as Johnson left the line
early, with his red light start awarding the automatic win to his
opponent.

 

 "I'm probably more upset about the red light than anything else.  I was
locked in on the tree, but not that much.  In fact, I had been pretty
comfortable in the car all weekend.  It was our first race with this new
ACDelco Cobalt, so we really can't be too disappointed, but we're never
satisfied unless we win.  It was nice to win a round, but we're here to
take home the trophy.

 

"Somehow it would have been slightly better if we had made a good run,
but something must have happened to the car, because we slowed down in
that round when everyone else seemed to pick up a little bit.   We had
made a pretty respectable run in the first round and made some
adjustments for the second round hoping to pick up.  We headed in the
same direction with the tune-up as we had this morning, but it didn't
like it, so we obviously went over the edge.  We'll take the information
we gathered here and go on to Memphis, and see if we can regroup and get
this car its first win there."  

 

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