NHRA Kurt Johnson Race Wrap Up: KJ Charges to U.S. Nationals Semifinals, Climbs to Fourth in Championship Standings

Contact:  Jon Knapp   

TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.

 Ph: (704) 662-3121

jgknapp@tmgsports.net

 

KJ Charges to U.S. Nationals Semifinals, Climbs to Fourth in
Championship Standings

 

Event:  53rd Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

Day/Date: Monday, September 3, 2007

Location:  O'Reilly Raceway Park, Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team overcame their share of
obstacles on Monday to make their way to the semifinals of the Mac Tools
U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN.  After qualifying fifth for drag
racing's biggest race, Johnson knew that maintaining lane choice would
play a pivotal role in his attempt to score his third career national
event win at O'Reilly Raceway Park.  

 

Although things went according to plan in the opening stanza, when
Johnson defeated Greg Stanfield with the fourth quickest pass of the
round at 6.698-second, a noticeable drop off in his top speed indicated
there were issues with his powerplant. 

 

Quickly effecting repairs, he came back to eliminate Allen Johnson in
the quarterfinals.  However, his mechanical gremlins returned, slowing
him to a 6.748-second time, which unfortunately ceded lane choice to
rival Greg Anderson for their semifinal match-up. 

 

With just over an hour between rounds, the ACDelco crew worked
feverishly to change engines, finishing just in time to make it to the
line.  Running in the less-preferred right hand lane, Johnson was able
to make a solid 6.749-second, 205.91 mph pass, but it was not enough to
hold off his opponent's charge, who took advantage of the left hand side
of the track to post a 6.719-second time and put an early end to
Johnson's day.  Still, Johnson's solid showing allowed him to climb two
places in the POWERade Championship standings to fourth, giving him
confidence heading into the season's final five races.

 

"We certainly had our share of challenges today.  We burned a pushrod in
the first round and dropped a valve in the second round, but still made
it to the semifinals, so I guess you could say it was my lucky day.  We
did lose lane choice going into the semis, and that was probably a major
factor in determining the outcome, because even though I put a
thousandth on him in the last eighth mile, we didn't have the surface to
get hooked up to in the first eighth, and that's where the race was won.

 

"Looking back at our weekend, our ACDelco Cobalt was exceptional in the
first four qualifying sessions, and even though we had our issues with
that right lane last night in the final session, it actually helped us
make a decent run there in the semifinals.   As for today, it's hard to
say how the car was because of the mechanical issues, but the way it
acted, I'd say it was decent.  The big thing was that it didn't shake,
which is something we've been fighting.  The tires were spinning but
that didn't stop us from going from A to B, which you can't do when the
tires are all distorted. 

 

"Still, anytime you can go from sixth to fourth in the points, and only
be a point out of third, you've had a good day.  We made some changes,
and the car was better, so I think we're going to be good the rest of
the year."

 

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