FW: Kurt Johnson/ACDelco Racing/NHRA Friday Qualifying/Richmond

From: Jeff Romack
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 8:40 PM
To: Jeff Romack
Subject: Kurt Johnson/ACDelco Racing/NHRA Friday Qualifying/Richmond


[cid:image001.jpg@01CA491F.8844BB20]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Romack
ACDelco Racing Communications
Office: 317.843.5447
Cell: 317.698.1016
jeff.romack@pmgincorporated.com
www.ACDelco.com

Kurt Johnson/ACDelco Racing
Virginia NHRA Nationals
Friday Qualifying
Virginia Motorsports Park

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 9, 2009 - Kurt Johnson kicked off the first day of time trials for the Fourth annual NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park qualified in the No. 8 position in Pro Stock after driving the ACDelco Chevrolet to a  6.642 e.t. at 207.34 mph.

"Looking at the run we think we can squeeze a little more out of it," Johnson said. "We ran a .982 in 60 foot and that's better than we've been. We definitely see room for improvement. If we pick up a hundredth that would put us somewhere around third. We're pretty pleased, though. We're trying some new parts in the motor that I actually think are hurting us a little bit, so we're going to back up and go back to the combination we had at Dallas that was running the big speed, make some changes there, and I think we can nitpick another couple of hundredths out of this thing."

Johnson's ACDelco Chevrolet improved during both qualifying rounds on Friday. During today's first session he posted a 6.664 second run at 206.64 mph, and then built on that performance in round two with his current qualifying time of 6.642 seconds.

With temperatures reaching the high 80s, Friday's weather is expected to be the warmest of the three days of racing at Virginia, and the cooler conditions the teams have been accustomed to over the years at here should return by tomorrow.

"It's a lot of fun when it's fast here," Johnson said. You keep the front end on the ground, go to the finish line and see what kind of number you can put up. We won't know how fast we can go until we wake up and see what we have to work with. Today was a little hotter than normal, but tomorrow and Sunday, you could see times in the mid (6.)50s out there."

This is Johnson's 10th trip to Virginia Motorsports Park as a Pro Stock competitor. He was runner-up to Warren Johnson in 1997, and No. 1 qualifier in 1999 when he set what was then a national elapsed-time record of 6.840 seconds. At last year's NHRA Virginia Nationals he ran a career-best time of 6.559 seconds at 210.11 mph, which was also a career-best top speed until he eclipsed that mark earlier this season at Houston.

The Fourth annual NHRA Virginia Nationals on Oct. 9 - 11 at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., is the 22nd race on the 24-event NHRA Full Throttle Series tour. Qualifying coverage of the Virginia Nationals can be seen on ESPN2 on Saturday, Oct. 10, beginning at 10:30 p.m. Final eliminations coverage gets underway on Sunday, Oct. 11, with NHRA Race Day starting at 11 a.m., and a three-hour telecast of final eliminations kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern.

# # #