Warren Johnson Blasts to His Second Win in Bristol
Courtesy Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
Sunday, May 1, 2005, Bristol, TN - Warren Johnson powered to his second win of the 2005 season on Sunday, taking home the Pro Stock title at the 5th annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN. It was another impressive performance by "The Professor", as for the third consecutive race, his GM Performance Parts Pontiac posted the quickest elapsed time of the weekend with a dramatic 6.715-second pass in the second round, setting the stage for the 94th win of his stellar career, and second at Bristol Dragway in NHRA competition. The win also allowed Johnson to reclaim the lead in the POWERade championship standings.
"We had a good day at the office," said Johnson. "The crew did everything they needed to get our GM Performance Parts Pontiac ready to race, I did what I needed to do, and we even got a break or two. Overall, it was one of those wins that didn't go exactly as scripted, but fortunately it came out in our favor.
"The biggest thing is that we had a great turnout by the spectators today, which, in light of the inclement weather of the past two days, was tremendous. Hopefully, we gave them a great show. It was pretty good from where we were sitting."
Starting from the second position, Johnson quickly showed that he would be a contender on race day, posting the second quickest elapsed time of the first round in defeating Allen Johnson. He followed this with an impressive 6.715-second pass in eliminating Jason Line in the quarter-finals, which was three hundredths of a second quicker than any other Pro Stock car would run all weekend, and a new Bristol Dragway track record.
"There was nothing left on that run," said Johnson. "It quivered the tires and was right at the point where it was as fast as it could go. I can't say we milked it, but we got everything out of it. It proved that if we could get on top of this just a little bit better, both Kurt and I could step up our performance. It also worked in our favor for the rest of the day, because it was one of those ominous daggers that gets in people's minds."
Advancing to the semi-finals for the fifth time in six races, Johnson faced a familiar foe, his son Kurt Johnson, who made headlines of his own during the weekend with the competitive debut of his new ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt. Knowing the DRCE III under the hood of his son's race car was equal in performance to his own, the senior Johnson knew he would need a complete effort to move on to the 146th final round of his career, and combined a .025 reaction time with a 6.757-second, 204.29 mph pass to claim the family bragging rights for the weekend.
"Winning over Kurt was a great thing, because it allowed me to advance to the final," said Johnson. "Naturally, going in to the semifinals, we were in a win-win situation, because we knew one of our team cars was going to go to the final. Therefore, both teams did everything they could to win.
"Kurt is obviously going to be in contention for the championship before the year is out. The season is still very early, and he has a new car that is quite capable of performing at the head of the pack. Today, we were the ones to come out on top, but I'm confident he'll get his share of wins."
The final obstacle between Johnson and the winner's circle was Richie Stevens, who was making his first appearance in the championship round in four years. With Stevens having gained lane choice for the final by one thousandth of a second, Johnson found himself relegated to the less-preferred left-hand lane. However, it did not matter, as Stevens left the starting line almost five hundredths of a second early, awarding the automatic win to Johnson, who punctuated the win with a 6.756 second, 203.89 mph pass.
"Richie's a good driver. He just took at shot at the tree in the final," said Johnson. "Maybe they were thinking of the 6.71 we ran in the second round, or the fact that we ran a 6.75 in the semi-finals when we shook the tires. Therefore, they may have been worried that we'd run another good number, even though they ran well all day. Fortunately, we came away with the win.
"This was a tremendous performance for the entire team. We're back in the points lead, and even though it is very early in the season, it's always better to be first than second. It's not even a safety margin, but it shows our entire team is competitive on a race to race basis. Our goal continues to be winning the championship for GM Performance Parts, Pontiac and all the other sponsors who have stuck with us. Fortunately, it seems as if things are coming round. We are not about to bank on winning the title, but we're certainly going to keep working at it."
Fast Facts Following WJ's Win in Bristol -
This was WJ's 94th career win, which is the most by any Pro Stock driver in the history of the NHRA, and second only to John Force among all professional drivers.
This was also WJ's 146th final round appearance, also the most in Pro Stock history.
This was Johnson's second win at Bristol Dragway in NHRA competition.
This was the 24th time that WJ has won from the second starting position.
By winning the race, WJ scored his 800th career elimination round win, which is second only to John Force for the most among all professional drivers.
NHRA POWERade Championship Points Standings (after 6 of 23 events)
1. Warren Johnson 536
2. David Connolly 486
3. Jason Line 379
4. Greg Anderson 365
5. Ron Krisher 316
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.
Sunday, May 1, 2005, Bristol, TN - Warren Johnson powered to his second win of the 2005 season on Sunday, taking home the Pro Stock title at the 5th annual O'Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN. It was another impressive performance by "The Professor", as for the third consecutive race, his GM Performance Parts Pontiac posted the quickest elapsed time of the weekend with a dramatic 6.715-second pass in the second round, setting the stage for the 94th win of his stellar career, and second at Bristol Dragway in NHRA competition. The win also allowed Johnson to reclaim the lead in the POWERade championship standings.
"We had a good day at the office," said Johnson. "The crew did everything they needed to get our GM Performance Parts Pontiac ready to race, I did what I needed to do, and we even got a break or two. Overall, it was one of those wins that didn't go exactly as scripted, but fortunately it came out in our favor.
"The biggest thing is that we had a great turnout by the spectators today, which, in light of the inclement weather of the past two days, was tremendous. Hopefully, we gave them a great show. It was pretty good from where we were sitting."
Starting from the second position, Johnson quickly showed that he would be a contender on race day, posting the second quickest elapsed time of the first round in defeating Allen Johnson. He followed this with an impressive 6.715-second pass in eliminating Jason Line in the quarter-finals, which was three hundredths of a second quicker than any other Pro Stock car would run all weekend, and a new Bristol Dragway track record.
"There was nothing left on that run," said Johnson. "It quivered the tires and was right at the point where it was as fast as it could go. I can't say we milked it, but we got everything out of it. It proved that if we could get on top of this just a little bit better, both Kurt and I could step up our performance. It also worked in our favor for the rest of the day, because it was one of those ominous daggers that gets in people's minds."
Advancing to the semi-finals for the fifth time in six races, Johnson faced a familiar foe, his son Kurt Johnson, who made headlines of his own during the weekend with the competitive debut of his new ACDelco Chevrolet Cobalt. Knowing the DRCE III under the hood of his son's race car was equal in performance to his own, the senior Johnson knew he would need a complete effort to move on to the 146th final round of his career, and combined a .025 reaction time with a 6.757-second, 204.29 mph pass to claim the family bragging rights for the weekend.
"Winning over Kurt was a great thing, because it allowed me to advance to the final," said Johnson. "Naturally, going in to the semifinals, we were in a win-win situation, because we knew one of our team cars was going to go to the final. Therefore, both teams did everything they could to win.
"Kurt is obviously going to be in contention for the championship before the year is out. The season is still very early, and he has a new car that is quite capable of performing at the head of the pack. Today, we were the ones to come out on top, but I'm confident he'll get his share of wins."
The final obstacle between Johnson and the winner's circle was Richie Stevens, who was making his first appearance in the championship round in four years. With Stevens having gained lane choice for the final by one thousandth of a second, Johnson found himself relegated to the less-preferred left-hand lane. However, it did not matter, as Stevens left the starting line almost five hundredths of a second early, awarding the automatic win to Johnson, who punctuated the win with a 6.756 second, 203.89 mph pass.
"Richie's a good driver. He just took at shot at the tree in the final," said Johnson. "Maybe they were thinking of the 6.71 we ran in the second round, or the fact that we ran a 6.75 in the semi-finals when we shook the tires. Therefore, they may have been worried that we'd run another good number, even though they ran well all day. Fortunately, we came away with the win.
"This was a tremendous performance for the entire team. We're back in the points lead, and even though it is very early in the season, it's always better to be first than second. It's not even a safety margin, but it shows our entire team is competitive on a race to race basis. Our goal continues to be winning the championship for GM Performance Parts, Pontiac and all the other sponsors who have stuck with us. Fortunately, it seems as if things are coming round. We are not about to bank on winning the title, but we're certainly going to keep working at it."
Fast Facts Following WJ's Win in Bristol -
This was WJ's 94th career win, which is the most by any Pro Stock driver in the history of the NHRA, and second only to John Force among all professional drivers.
This was also WJ's 146th final round appearance, also the most in Pro Stock history.
This was Johnson's second win at Bristol Dragway in NHRA competition.
This was the 24th time that WJ has won from the second starting position.
By winning the race, WJ scored his 800th career elimination round win, which is second only to John Force for the most among all professional drivers.
NHRA POWERade Championship Points Standings (after 6 of 23 events)
1. Warren Johnson 536
2. David Connolly 486
3. Jason Line 379
4. Greg Anderson 365
5. Ron Krisher 316
posted by David @ 10:45 PM
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