NHRA: The Warren Report, Richmond Edition
26 April 2000
THE HORSEPOWER CHASE
While children across America were searching for Easter eggs last
Sunday, Warren Johnson was hunting for horsepower. After two days of
testing at nearby Atlanta Dragway, W.J. spent the Easter holiday in his
Sugar Hill skunkworks preparing for a motorized marathon. With five
national events in the next six weeks, there will be no rest for the weary
on the NHRA championship drag racing circuit.
Johnson's objective is to regain the championship form that propelled
him to five NHRA titles in the last eight seasons. "We've developed some
sort of electrical anomaly in the car," Warren reported after suffering
a disappointing first-round loss at the O'Reilly Nationals in Houston.
"The engine sounds like it's constantly running on the rev limiter. Several
times at the last race it simply refused to start. We have completely
disassembled the car to find the problem - the only thing left on it is the
paint!
"We'll have the problem fixed before we leave for Richmond," W.J.
vowed.
RICHES IN RICHMOND
The Old Dominion State promotes tourism with the slogan "Virginia Is
for Lovers" - but Virginia is also for racers. Virginia Motorsports Park,
the site of the upcoming Moto1.net NHRA Nationals presented by Chevrolet on
April 28-30, is paradise on Earth for Pro Stock racers. The track near
Richmond has produced phenomenal performances since it became a regular
stop on the NHRA tour in 1995.
Warren Johnson won 16 straight rounds at VMP en route to four
consecutive victories in 1995-1998. He made history there in 1997 when he
produced the first 200 mph Pro Stock run. At last year's race, he set the
national speed record at 202.24 mph in his GM Goodwrench Service Plus
Firebird before suffering an upset loss to No. 15 qualifier John Nobile in
the first round of eliminations.
"We've done well at Richmond over the years," Johnson noted with
his characteristic understatement. "The track favors how we run our race
car, and we've had exceptionally good weather conditions at several events.
When you have a good track and good air, the result is usually a plethora
of 200 mph runs.
"We'll have a new puzzle to solve this year at Virginia Motorsports
Park," Warren advised. "The track has been resurfaced with concrete from
330 feet to the 1/8th mile, so we will essentially have three different
surfaces to deal with - the old starting line, a new middle section, and
the original back half. It's going to be interesting."
BACK HOME IN ATLANTA
One week later, the NHRA troops will reassemble at the freshly
refurbished Atlanta Dragway for the Advance Auto Parts Southern Nationals
on May 5-7. The track in Commerce, Ga., is literally just up the highway
from Johnson's top secret headquarters. W.J. has enjoyed considerable
success at his home track, posting four victories in seven final-round
appearances since 1986. He's also qualified on the Pro Stock "pole" eight
times at the Southern Nationals.
Last year Johnson staged his own reenactment of General Sherman's
Civil War march through Georgia when he rolled to his milestone 75th career
victory at Atlanta Dragway, defeating Richie "the Kid" Stevens in the final
round. W.J. utterly dominated the event: He qualified No. 1, set the track
elapsed time and top speed records, reeled off five 200 mph runs, and ran
the quickest e.t. in all four rounds of eliminations.
"You can disregard all of that because we'll be racing on a
brand-new track," Johnson declared. "The track was resurfaced from the
starting line to the finish line. We've tested there several times, but
that will not be an advantage because the surface will be entirely
different after it is prepared for a national event. The fuel cars will put
down a layer of rubber on the top end that we need for traction. At our
last test session at Atlanta Dragway, we could only go about 200 feet under
power because of the pollen that had accumulated on the track. The bees may
like those conditions, but race cars don't!"
THE SEASON IN PERSPECTIVE
After five of 23 events, Warren is second in the Pro Stock
championship standings, 133 points behind Jeg Coughlin Jr. W.J. has
advanced to the final round three times, but Coughlin has been there four
times - and each time his rival came away with a victory.
"It's not that I'm having a bad season, but rather that Jeg is having
an unbelievably good one," Johnson observed. "I'm maintaining about the
same pace that won championships in the last two seasons. The breaks have
been going Jeg's way so far, but over a year that will all balance out."
Johnson has divided his time between simultaneous tire and
chassis development programs. "When you are always trying to go quicker and
faster, you have to try some unusual things - and sometimes they backfire,"
Johnson explained. "Once you get behind, you have to work four times as
hard just to get back to where you were.
"We have radically increased the stiffness of our race car chassis,
and that has required us to develop some unusual suspension combinations,"
Johnson continued. "This is an unconventional car, and it appears to
want unconventional shock absorbers and springs. We're definitely
exploring uncharted territory with this chassis.
"We are simultaneously working with Hoosier to develop a new Pro
Stock tire," he added. "They received a new mold last Friday and worked
straight through Easter weekend to make new tires for us to test. I know
they are committed to the success of this program. It may take several more
iterations before we come up with the tire that I want, but there is a
strong possibility that I will run Hoosiers in Richmond or Atlanta."
W.J.'s SILVER ANNIVERSARY SEASON: The Way It Was
Warren Johnson made drag racing history at Virginia Motorsports Park on
April 25, 1997, when he recorded a top speed of 200.13 mph in his GM
Performance Parts Pontiac. Johnson's historic run at 7:27 p.m. during the
second round of Pro Stock qualifying was the first 200 mph pass by a Pro
Stock driver in NHRA national event competition. It earned the Professor a
$25,000 prize and the first membership in the Speed-Pro 200 mph Pro Stock
Club.
"We knew we had the horsepower to run 200 mph," Johnson recalled.
"Greg Anderson (Johnson's crew chief) made the right call on the clutch and
chassis combination. Lo and behold, it all worked!"
Johnson covered the quarter-mile in just 6.894 seconds, the first pass
in the 6.80s at an NHRA event. That record-setting performance added a
$15,000 bonus from the MBNA World Record Club.
Two months later, Johnson's barrier-breaking Firebird was repainted
in black-and-silver GM Goodwrench Service Plus livery. At the end of the
season, it was returned to its original colors and put on display at the
NHRA Motorsports Museum in La Verne, CaliF.
LAST RACES:
SummitRacing.com Nationals, Las Vegas, April 9, 2000
Qualified: No. 4 at 7.075/196.33 mph
Finished: Runner-up to Jeg Coughlin Jr.
O'Reilly Nationals, Houston, April 16, 2000
Qualified: No. 13 at 6.919/200.68 mph
Finished: Lost in first round to Richie Stevens
POINTS RACE:
(After 5 of 23 events)
Driver Wins Points
1. Jeg Coughlin Jr. 4 523
2. Warren Johnson 1 390
3. Mark Pawuk 0 313
4. Ron Krisher 0 291
5. Jim Yates 0 277