NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ's Topeka Rollercoaster Stops in the Quarterfinals

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

KJ's Topeka Rollercoaster Stops in the Quarterfinals

 

Event:  19th Annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals

Day/Date: Sunday, June 3, 2007

Location:  Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, KS

 

Throughout his 15-year Pro Stock career, Kurt Johnson has had a
rollercoaster relationship with Heartland Park Topeka, site of Sunday's
O'Reilly NHRA Summernationals.  After qualifying his ACDelco Cobalt in
the seventh position, the second-generation racer entered final
eliminations looking to improve upon his runner-up finish from a year
ago.

 

Things went according to plan in the first round, as Johnson bettered
his quickest elapsed time from qualifying by almost four hundredths of a
second, with his strong 6.707-second, 205.41 mph pass giving him the win
over veteran Mike Edwards.  In the second round against David Connolly,
however, he was unable to duplicate this performance, slowing to a
6.743-second time, allowing his opponent, who carded a 6.739-second
time, to gain the round win.

 

 "The bottom line is that the track temperature went up for the second
round, and we just didn't make enough adjustments to compensate.  There
are a lot of good cars in Pro Stock, and we consider our ACDelco Cobalt
to be one of them.  However, to win you have to have the whole
combination - the lid, the can and all the ingredients, as well as a
little luck and we were slightly off today.

 

"We made a good run in the first round - in fact, it corrected to be one
of the best we have made in a while.  Unfortunately, we made a few
changes for the second round, going in the right direction, but it
wasn't enough.  As a result, it spun the tires and went right.  We had a
good car today, but didn't win, so we'll keep after it until we do.
We'll get there."

 

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