Warren Johnson Sits 11th on Saturday in Indy

Courtesy Jon G. Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing

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."