NHRA Kurt Johnson Qualifying Wrap Up: KJ Slides into the 13th Starting Spot in Houston

Qualifying for the O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals in Houston, TX turned
out to be an eventful experience for Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt
Racing team.  After opening with a solid 6.709-second, 207.34 mph pass
on Friday afternoon, KJ had an unusual malfunction which cost the
second-generation racer his second attempt at Houston Raceway Park.
This left him in the thirteenth position heading into Saturday's final
two attempts, where following overnight rainstorms that flooded the
Houston area he would face the unenviable prospect of having to try and
improve on his time while being the first car to run down a questionable
track.

However, when day-long rains washed out Saturday's activities, Johnson
was locked into the 13th starting position.  Having solved the problem
which slowed him on Friday, the two-time Houston winner looked forward
to a long and successful outing on Sunday.

"We had mixed feelings about today.  We wanted to go out there and run,
putting on a good show for the fans who waited out the rain, while
trying to move ourselves further up in the field, and hopefully have
lane choice for the first round.  But then again, if we had run into
another glitch similar to what got us last night, we could possibly get
bumped out.  

"All in all, the way things worked out, the ACDelco Cobalt was safely in
the show, we learned something and, having fixed our transmission, we'll
go out tomorrow and try to make good runs.   We're starting 13th, and I
don't believe I've won from there before, but maybe we can do it
tomorrow."