Championship Drag Racing

Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
Pomona, Calif.
(Nov. 6-9)

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Kurt Johnson ACDelco Pro Stocker

Reports: Sunday Saturday Friday Pre-race

Pomona, Sunday: ACDelco Cavalier pilot Kurt Johnson finished off an outstanding 2003 season by scoring a runner-up finish at the Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, CA. After qualifying sixth, Johnson again displayed the form that powered him to a second place finish in the POWERade championship chase, consistently recording one of the lowest elapsed times of each round. Johnson opened his day by disposing of Troy Coughlin with a 6.764-second pass, bettering his quickest time from qualifying.

In the next two rounds, Johnson would continue his march through the field, getting better with each round. After using a 6.758-second elapsed time to eliminate 2002 Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin, KJ defeated Mike Edwards in the semi-finals to reach his tenth final round of 2003, where he would face Greg Anderson, with whom he had battled for the championship throughout the year.

Running in the less-preferred right hand lane, Johnson combined a strong .024 reaction time with a 6.749-second elapsed time, which was the quickest time of the day on that side of the track. However, it was not enough to prevent Anderson, who used the quickest run of the day at 6.735 seconds, from narrowly edging Johnson at the finish line stripe.

"After falling off the pace a bit and qualifying sixth, we made some substantial gains today. For example, we were strong in the first sixty feet, which is where we had been struggling. The ACDelco Cavalier ran well all day. Going into the final, I wasn't overly concerned about running in the right hand lane, because I won from there last year,

"We made a pretty good run at 6.749 with a top speed of 205.26, especially for that lane. I out ran Greg to sixty feet and in the last three hundred feet as well, but it just wasn't enough.

"I had a career year, but Greg just happened to be in the way. We won four races, and went to ten final rounds, which is nothing to complain about. We've learned a lot this year, and this championship fight has just given us added motivation going into 2004. I promise this ACDelco Cavalier crew will be coming out with a full head of steam next year. We're certainly not satisfied with finishing second - we want to be No. 1, and that will be our focus throughout the off-season."

Pomona, Saturday: Entering the final day of qualifying at the Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, CA with a best effort of 6.806 seconds, Kurt Johnson knew improvement would be necessary in order to guarantee his participation in Sunday's final eliminations. On his first attempt on Saturday morning, Johnson responding to the challenge just as he has all season with his ACDelco Cavalier streaking down the Pomona Raceway quarter-mile in 6.773 seconds with a top speed of 204.20 mph to earn the sixth starting position.

"We made two good runs with our ACDelco Cavalier and learned a lot today. We were a little conservative with our set-up this morning, trying to ensure that we got down the track and in the show. We then changed a few things for this afternoon's run, including the carburetors. I'm happy with how the car is running, the only thing I have to fine tune is the motor. Fortunately, we believe we gathered some valuable information today, and we hope to use it tomorrow to win this thing for the second year in a row."

Pomona, Friday: Kurt Johnson continued his string of strong performances during the second day of qualifying at the Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, CA. Running in the less preferred right hand lane at Pomona Raceway, Johnson's ACDelco Cavalier posted the second quickest pass on that side of the track at 6.812 seconds with a top speed of 203.74 mph. However, Johnson's 6.806 second, 204.17 mph pass from Thursday remained his run of record, and placed him seventh entering Saturday's final two qualifying sessions..

"Our performance today was affected by a combination of a couple things going wrong. We didn't make a perfectly straight run, which cost us a couple hundredths. We changed the gearing around a little bit, and it was going left, so I got it in second gear a little early, which just killed it. In addition, we were in the right hand lane, which traditionally has been slower here in Pomona, and probably added a couple more hundredths.

"If we had made a straight run, and hooked it up in the middle of the racetrack, we probably could have gone a 6.79. Fortunately, tomorrow morning we will be running in the left lane, and if we keep it straight, I see no reason why our ACDelco Cavalier can't run a 6.77. We're not worried."

Pomona, pre-race: By all accounts, ACDelco Cavalier pilot Kurt Johnson has had an outstanding 2003 season. For example, his 46 elimination round wins are not only a personal single season best, but with one race remaining, equal the total number posted by last year's Pro Stock champion, Jeg Coughlin. In addition, the 1,660 points Johnson has scored through the first 22 races of this year's NHRA POWERade championship chase exceed by 17 those tallied by Coughlin over an entire season in 2002. Punctuating this stellar effort are his four national event wins, which tie him with his father, Warren Johnson, for the second most in the highly competitive Pro Stock division.

Although this performance would certainly have earned Johnson the championship in almost any other season, former Warren Johnson Enterprises employee and current rival Greg Anderson's record-breaking run finds Johnson solidly in second place. However, rather than lamenting the unfortunate timing, Johnson prefers to focus on the positive aspects of his strong showing.

"There was one guy who kept getting in my way," said Johnson. "Obviously, Greg's team stumbled on to something and ran well all year. We gave him a run for the money, and kept it close for most of the season, but in the end we just didn't have enough points to win the championship. Having worked here, Greg is well aware of how we operate, so he should know that we will be coming after him next year, and you know what they say about paybacks.

"But it has been a great year for the ACDelco team. Even though we didn't get as much research and development time as we'd like because of all the rainouts, the engine shop still did its job, giving us plenty of horsepower. All season long, Kevin Horst and Joe Cottle worked hard to make sure our Cavalier was ready to go. We're coming into Pomona with four wins in nine final rounds, and are looking to make it five in ten to wrap up 2003 on a high note."

Even though this year's championship has been decided, there is still plenty of motivation for Johnson and his ACDelco crew entering this weekend's Auto Club of Southern California Finals in Pomona, Calif. For example, their primary goal remains the same as it was when the NHRA season began at this racetrack nine months ago - to win every race entered. It is an assignment that the second-generation driver has completed quite successfully at Pomona Raceway, with four wins, more than he has earned at any other on the circuit. In fact, he enters this race as the defending event champion, having scored a dramatic victory one year ago to preserve his streak of winning at least one race a year, an accomplishment that dates back to his rookie campaign in 1993.

"Pomona has always been a great racetrack for me," said Johnson. "I won this event a year ago, and even though the starting line was completely changed by the work they did to it prior to this year's Winternationals, I believe we have a pretty good combination for the racing surface. We're coming off a runner-up finish in Las Vegas, where I felt we didn't run as well as we should have, so we should be in good shape this weekend. We're ready to put an exclamation point on a good 2003 season, and start getting ready for an even stronger 2004."