NHRA Kurt Johnson Qualifying Wrap Up: KJ Captures the
Ninth Starting Spot at the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals
Contact:
Jon G. Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing
(704) 662-3121
jgknapp@tmgsports.net
Kurt Johnson Captures the Ninth Starting Spot at the ACDelco Las Vegas
Nationals
Event: Sixth Annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
Day/Date: Saturday, October 28, 2006
Location: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
Kurt Johnson continued to work towards winning his third consecutive
race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, qualifying
ninth for Sunday's final eliminations of the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals
in Las Vegas, NV. Johnson took advantage of the improved conditions on
the second day of qualifying to make a 6.748-second, 204.17 mph pass,
guaranteeing a spot in his sponsor's race.
Having accomplished his first objective, the ACDelco Cobalt racer will
now look to put his starting spot to good use and successfully defend
his title from this event a year ago.
"After making a decent run this morning, we made some changes for the
last session. Even though it was a nice smooth run, it ended up
slipping the clutch a little more than we'd like, so we feel that we can
pick it up a couple hundredths more. It's better than it was yesterday,
but still isn't going perfectly straight, so we'll work on fixing that,
which will also help. With the field as tight as it is, however, we'll
have to get our foot off the clutch first because that's what will win
the race.
"We've got Jeggie (Jeg Coughlin Jr.) in the first round tomorrow, who's
running about the same as we are. I always get pumped up when I face
him, so it should be a good, close race. We've won the last two races
here in Las Vegas, including last year's ACDelco Nationals, and we
certainly want to extend that streak to three in a row. It's like we're
bowling, going into the last frame trying to hit those three strikes.
After all, that's what Vegas is all about - winning."
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