NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ Battles to a Semi-Final Finish in Dallas

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

 KJ Battles to a Semi-Final Finish in Dallas

 

Event:  21st Annual O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals

Day/Date: Sunday, September 24, 2006

Location:  Texas Motorplex, Ennis, TX

 

After qualifying fifth for Sunday's final eliminations of the O'Reilly
Fall Nationals in Ennis, TX, Kurt Johnson looked to score his fourth win
of the 2006 POWERade Drag Racing season, and fourth of his career at the
Texas Motorplex.  He got off to a good start in the first round by
combining a .023 reaction time with a 6.685-second, 206.29 mph pass to
defeat David Howard on a holeshot, who posted a quicker 6.678-second
time in the losing effort.

 

Johnson's chances for victory looked even better in the quarterfinals,
as he left the line with a .020 reaction time and recorded the quickest
pass of the round at 6.673-seconds to trailer No. 4 qualifier Tommy Lee.
However, damage suffered during the run sent the crew scrambling to
effect emergency repairs, using some creative engineering in order to
make it to their semifinal match-up against good friend Richie Stevens.

 

Arriving at the starting line with only moments to spare, the team had
another scare when the engine backfired as Johnson initially attempted
to start his race car.   He was able to get it fired on his second
attempt, and launched with a solid .041 reaction time, but slowed to a
6.706-second, 205.91 mph run.  Unfortunately, the drop-off cost him, as
he fell shy of overcoming his opponent's starting line advantage, who
used a .022 reaction time and a slightly slower 6.714-second pass to
score the win.    

 

 "That was ugly.  For a reason we have yet to identify, the engine had
been backfiring throughout the day, and even caught fire in the pits
twice.  However our ACDelco Cobalt kept running well, and we were going
rounds.  

 

"As if that wasn't enough, when I got out of the car at the top end
after the second round, I noticed a quarter-inch stream of what appeared
to be oil behind the car, which turned into a puddle after the car sat
for a few seconds.  Apparently when I hit the chutes and the car
bounced.  Looking back, maybe we should have changed engines, but we had
just run low elapsed time of the round with that motor, so we decided to
repair it instead.

 

"We used a combination of some UltraWeld (an instant sealing epoxy), a
piece of an aluminum Hawaiian Punch can and some tape, and managed to
patch it up in time for the semis.  We also replaced the starter, since
we weren't sure if it played a role in the engine backfiring.  I have to
commend my crew, because they never gave up, working through our
problems and making sure we made it to the line in time.

 

"Unfortunately, it backfired again under the tower and blew the gasket
out of the intake manifold, which certainly didn't help our run.  I let
the clutch out and it spun the tires a little bit, which might have hurt
the reaction time. But even so, it still felt good.  Unfortunately, we
slowed by three hundredths from the last round and it cost us.  

 

"Since you can't really see the win light here, I turned off the top end
thinking I had won.  When the camera crew started heading to Richie's
car, I realized we had lost.  What can you say - it was a drag race.  I
guess you could say it was a good day making it to the semifinals, but
we're here to win.  Even so, we'll take today's results and go on to
Reading next weekend and see if we can get this ACDelco Cobalt back to
the winner's circle."  

 

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