Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Indianapolis, Ind.
(Sept. 1-6)
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Warren Johnson GM Performance Parts Pontiac Pro Stocker |
Reports: Monday Sunday Saturday |
Indianapolis, Monday: After qualifying 12th for Monday's final eliminations of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, GM Performance Parts Grand Am pilot Warren Johnson knew he would have to be on his game if he were to have any chance of scoring his seventh win at the biggest race in the POWERade Drag Racing Series. Facing No. 5 qualifier Jason Line in the opening round, Johnson would not only be facing a car that had secured a position higher in the qualifying order, he would also have to do so without the benefit of lane choice.
However, Johnson quickly showed he was up to the challenge, using a stellar .021 reaction time to weld his opponent to the starting line by over four hundredths of a second, and then posting a solid 6.905-second elapsed time with a top speed of 200.53 mph to defeat Line's quicker 6.887-second effort.
Johnson's assignment did not get any easier in the second round, as he was matched against Jeg Coughlin. Once again racing without lane choice, Johnson was relegated to the less-preferred right hand side. Just as he had done in the first round, W.J. left the line well ahead of his opponent and powered towards the finish line. Unfortunately, although he improved on his first round performance, his 6.886-second, 200.68 mph run was not enough to hold off his rival's 6.852-second charge.
Despite the premature end to his weekend, Johnson was nevertheless pleased with the team's progress.
"To put today in proper perspective, it was wonderful when compared to some of our more recent outings," he said. "We've found a few things, and I believe we have a better handle on the race car, correcting what had been ailing us the last few races. Having seemingly put that behind us, now we can concentrate on the engine part of it.
"Our GM Performance Parts Grand Am is leaving the line well. In fact, we were the quickest car in the right hand lane to sixty feet, which is a monumental change for us, especially considering how undesirable that lane was today. We're definitely closing the gap, so it's up to us to keep moving forward.
"I'm going to drive home tonight, because I want to be at work in the morning to work on a few things for Reading that will hopefully put us over the hump."
Indianapolis, Sunday: On the strength of a 6.830-second, 201.67 mph pass made on his third attempt on Saturday evening, Warren Johnson qualified his GM Performance Parts Grand Am 12th for Monday's final eliminations of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, IN.
After securing his position in the field on Saturday, and with major schedule changes altering the conditions on Sunday, Johnson spent the day experimenting with new ways to improve his performance even further.
"Obviously starting 12th isn't exactly what we were looking for, but it's certainly better than what it could have been. Looking at it in realistic terms, we're qualified, and that's a start. After all, you can't strike if you don't have a position to start from.
"Once our first session got delayed this morning, we knew it would be a throwaway run, so we thought we would try a few things to get ourselves closer to where we wanted to be. Our theory was that at worst, it would tell us what direction not to go in, which it did, running only a 6.88.
"We then came back for this evening's run knowing the conditions would be decent, but not any faster because the relative altitude was still higher than it was yesterday. Therefore, we went the other way and when it didn't perform as we wanted, we established some tuning parameters.
"For tomorrow, we'll go back to the chassis set up we had before, which is somewhat comforting, and I'll change valve springs on it. Having done that, this GM Performance Parts Grand Am should be ready for a nice long day in Indianapolis."
Indianapolis, Saturday: After experiencing some difficulty on his first two qualifying attempts, Warren Johnson entered the third session at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals looking to break his way into Monday's final eliminations field. Running in the left lane, WJ responded with a solid 6.830-second, 201.67 mph pass, which placed his GM Performance Parts Grand Am in the eleventh position heading into Sunday's final qualifying sessions.
"Obviously, we finally took a major step in the right direction. We had been slowly but surely retracing everything we had been doing since June, methodically replacing components and trying to determine the cause of the problem. I believe replacing the wiring harness was the key because now the shocks work, the computer works, with all the electrical functions in the race car performing as designed.
"In retrospect, I believe it was a progressive thing that got us off center, and we made changes around it, not knowing that it was indeed the problem. We've never had an electrical problem with these particular symptoms before, and sometimes the doctor is off on his diagnosis.
"Although we still have plenty of work to do, tonight's run was certainly a relief, not only for myself, but for the people who work on this GM Performance Parts Grand Am. I know they have been just as frustrated as I have of late, and perhaps even more, so I'm glad we were able to finally make a somewhat representative run. We may not be out of the woods yet, but hopefully it's within sight."
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