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BAYTOWN, Texas, March 29, 2008 - To win in racing one must first qualify, and Kurt and Warren Johnson have certainly displayed early-season strength in qualifying their ACDelco Chevy Cobalt and GM Performance Parts Pontiac GXP, respectively, and now hope to translate that into race wins. This weekend it is Kurt's turn as he recorded his first pole of the season and 28th of his career for this weekend's 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Southern Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. Johnson drove his Chevy to an elapsed time of 6.638 seconds at 208.42 mph to take top spot on the Pro Stock ladder, matching his father's No. 1 qualifying effort at Gainesville two weeks ago. Kurt has qualified in the top four at all four of this season's races, and Warren has been almost as good by qualifying in the top four in three of this year's first four races including his No. 1 qualifier at the Gatornationals.
"The car has responded to everything we've thrown at it this weekend," Johnson said. "We can probably call it our Velcro car because everything we throw at it sticks. We're really pleased right now, but our goal is to have this type of performance on Sunday. It's good to be No. 1 on Saturday, but our goal is to have our ACDelco Cobalt be No.1 on race day.
"We really wanted a hot racetrack coming in here, especially after qualifying so well at Gainesville but then looking so bad on Sunday morning. We had been on cold racetracks all year until Gainesville. The only unfortunate part is Dad's qualified ninth, so assuming we both get by first round we have to race second round, but that's drag racing so we'll move on."
Ron Krisher turned in his best qualifying effort of the season in his Valvoline Chevy with an elapsed time of 6.666 seconds at 207.30 mph to qualify third. The Ohio native made his quickest run of the weekend in today's fourth and final qualifying session in the heat of the day.
"That run makes us feel real good about this Chevy," Krisher said. "We've been running as fast on the back all weekend on every run, the same as on each previous run, so we've just been working on carburetors, carburetors, and carburetors. We've just been creeping along on this thing. We missed the clutch quite a bit this morning, but we knew we had it in the car. I didn't know if we'd pull it out there or not, but it sure as heck did. I feel real good going into tomorrow. As long as we stay away from Kurt (Johnson) for awhile we'll be in good shape."
Speaking of qualifying, Jason Line in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP qualified for his 100th consecutive NHRA national event this weekend by qualifying fifth. Ironically, he is second only to teammate Greg Anderson in consecutive races qualified among active Pro Stock drivers (120). Line, the 2006 POWERade champ, has started his pro career with his current 100-race qualifying streak and no career DNQs.
"We're definitely struggling," Line said. "I'm surprised we're the highest-qualified Pontiac, but the fact is we are qualified. That means we've got a shot to win the race, but we've got our work cut out for us, that's for sure.
"That's pretty cool to qualify for my 100th consecutive race. It would be nice if it stayed that way forever and I never DNQ'd, and obviously that's a pretty tall order, but so far so good. It's been fun. Mine and Greg's streaks say a lot about the team, that's for sure."
Line"s teammate Anderson has his sister Summit Racing Pontiac GXP qualified sixth for tomorrow's eliminations.
"We definitely have struggled in qualifying," Anderson said. "We've pretty much made eight runs here between the two cars and we're not proud of any one of them. We've tried a lot of different things so far this weekend, but it's a very, very tricky racetrack. We've kind of missed each time, so we just have to go back and add up the scorecard. It's just a long grocery list of things that we're just a little off on this weekend. It's not just one thing we can point our finger at. The good thing is there is tomorrow morning.
"We're very proud of our streaks, but that just goes back to this KB Racing team we have here. It's not Jason or me, it's this team. That's why we've qualified so many times, been No. 1 so many times, and won so many races, because of the group of guys we've got here."
Jim Yates qualified his Wiley X Pontiac GXP in the No. 12 position and like Krisher, made his quickest run of the weekend in today's final qualifying session in the heat of the day.
"We've been using Ron Krisher's engines since we got to Gainesville," Yates said, "and we haven't had a chance to really test them other than at the national events. We've been running good here, we've been 11th or 12th every session down the track, and finally we got a session where we were in solid and we had an opportunity to make some changes. They made some changes to the engine tune-up and made some changes to the chassis, and it was the fifth-fastest car down the track.
"That gives us a lot of enthusiasm going into tomorrow to know that we've got a car and an engine that fast. I think we're getting closer to the potential of it, but I believe we've got a top-half engine program in there right now and we just need to do our job. Jamie (Yates, crew chief) is doing a great job with our new GXP and getting it down the racetrack, and we're excited to race eliminations tomorrow and try and do some damage and go some rounds."
Cruz Pedregon is hoping to match his brother's efforts from two weeks ago at Gainesville where Tony qualified the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS No. 1 and went on to win the race. Cruz has the first task completed after qualifying his Advance Auto Chevy Impala SS No.1 with an elapsed time of 4.834 seconds at 314.97 mph. Tony Bartone was close behind in his Canidae Pet Foods Chevy with a 4.839 e.t. at 305.08 mph.
"Three out of four great runs so far this weekend," Pedregon said. "The car's been very consistent. This year we've made 15 of 16 runs from A to B down the track, so that's why we're in this position. Tomorrow is tomorrow, so we're going to enjoy this, but tomorrow is the big payoff. Either way, whatever happens tomorrow is just a bonus. We've already enjoyed a great weekend.
"I don't know what the forecast is for tomorrow, but I think we're ready for either cloud cover or direct sun on the track, either one. I think Rahn (crew chief Tobler) will adjust the car accordingly. What's funny is I qualify No. 1 and I look over and I have to race Scelzi first round, so that just goes to show how tight the field is. I wish I was racing some guy that didn't have much of a budget, who's used to leaking oil on the track, maybe shut the car off. That's who I'd like to race first round. Racing Scelzi, that's going to be like racing in a semifinal round. He'll keep us honest, that's for sure. But if we can get by that round it will just make us that much better."
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at General Motors | Corporate Website | GM.
Johnsons Claim Back-to-Back No. 1 Qualifiers at Gainesville, Houston
Pedregon Brothers also Consecutive No. 1 Qualifiers in Funny Car
BAYTOWN, Texas, March 29, 2008 - To win in racing one must first qualify, and Kurt and Warren Johnson have certainly displayed early-season strength in qualifying their ACDelco Chevy Cobalt and GM Performance Parts Pontiac GXP, respectively, and now hope to translate that into race wins. This weekend it is Kurt's turn as he recorded his first pole of the season and 28th of his career for this weekend's 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Southern Nationals at Houston Raceway Park. Johnson drove his Chevy to an elapsed time of 6.638 seconds at 208.42 mph to take top spot on the Pro Stock ladder, matching his father's No. 1 qualifying effort at Gainesville two weeks ago. Kurt has qualified in the top four at all four of this season's races, and Warren has been almost as good by qualifying in the top four in three of this year's first four races including his No. 1 qualifier at the Gatornationals.
"The car has responded to everything we've thrown at it this weekend," Johnson said. "We can probably call it our Velcro car because everything we throw at it sticks. We're really pleased right now, but our goal is to have this type of performance on Sunday. It's good to be No. 1 on Saturday, but our goal is to have our ACDelco Cobalt be No.1 on race day.
"We really wanted a hot racetrack coming in here, especially after qualifying so well at Gainesville but then looking so bad on Sunday morning. We had been on cold racetracks all year until Gainesville. The only unfortunate part is Dad's qualified ninth, so assuming we both get by first round we have to race second round, but that's drag racing so we'll move on."
Ron Krisher turned in his best qualifying effort of the season in his Valvoline Chevy with an elapsed time of 6.666 seconds at 207.30 mph to qualify third. The Ohio native made his quickest run of the weekend in today's fourth and final qualifying session in the heat of the day.
"That run makes us feel real good about this Chevy," Krisher said. "We've been running as fast on the back all weekend on every run, the same as on each previous run, so we've just been working on carburetors, carburetors, and carburetors. We've just been creeping along on this thing. We missed the clutch quite a bit this morning, but we knew we had it in the car. I didn't know if we'd pull it out there or not, but it sure as heck did. I feel real good going into tomorrow. As long as we stay away from Kurt (Johnson) for awhile we'll be in good shape."
Speaking of qualifying, Jason Line in the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP qualified for his 100th consecutive NHRA national event this weekend by qualifying fifth. Ironically, he is second only to teammate Greg Anderson in consecutive races qualified among active Pro Stock drivers (120). Line, the 2006 POWERade champ, has started his pro career with his current 100-race qualifying streak and no career DNQs.
"We're definitely struggling," Line said. "I'm surprised we're the highest-qualified Pontiac, but the fact is we are qualified. That means we've got a shot to win the race, but we've got our work cut out for us, that's for sure.
"That's pretty cool to qualify for my 100th consecutive race. It would be nice if it stayed that way forever and I never DNQ'd, and obviously that's a pretty tall order, but so far so good. It's been fun. Mine and Greg's streaks say a lot about the team, that's for sure."
Line"s teammate Anderson has his sister Summit Racing Pontiac GXP qualified sixth for tomorrow's eliminations.
"We definitely have struggled in qualifying," Anderson said. "We've pretty much made eight runs here between the two cars and we're not proud of any one of them. We've tried a lot of different things so far this weekend, but it's a very, very tricky racetrack. We've kind of missed each time, so we just have to go back and add up the scorecard. It's just a long grocery list of things that we're just a little off on this weekend. It's not just one thing we can point our finger at. The good thing is there is tomorrow morning.
"We're very proud of our streaks, but that just goes back to this KB Racing team we have here. It's not Jason or me, it's this team. That's why we've qualified so many times, been No. 1 so many times, and won so many races, because of the group of guys we've got here."
Jim Yates qualified his Wiley X Pontiac GXP in the No. 12 position and like Krisher, made his quickest run of the weekend in today's final qualifying session in the heat of the day.
"We've been using Ron Krisher's engines since we got to Gainesville," Yates said, "and we haven't had a chance to really test them other than at the national events. We've been running good here, we've been 11th or 12th every session down the track, and finally we got a session where we were in solid and we had an opportunity to make some changes. They made some changes to the engine tune-up and made some changes to the chassis, and it was the fifth-fastest car down the track.
"That gives us a lot of enthusiasm going into tomorrow to know that we've got a car and an engine that fast. I think we're getting closer to the potential of it, but I believe we've got a top-half engine program in there right now and we just need to do our job. Jamie (Yates, crew chief) is doing a great job with our new GXP and getting it down the racetrack, and we're excited to race eliminations tomorrow and try and do some damage and go some rounds."
Cruz Pedregon is hoping to match his brother's efforts from two weeks ago at Gainesville where Tony qualified the Q Horsepower Chevy Impala SS No. 1 and went on to win the race. Cruz has the first task completed after qualifying his Advance Auto Chevy Impala SS No.1 with an elapsed time of 4.834 seconds at 314.97 mph. Tony Bartone was close behind in his Canidae Pet Foods Chevy with a 4.839 e.t. at 305.08 mph.
"Three out of four great runs so far this weekend," Pedregon said. "The car's been very consistent. This year we've made 15 of 16 runs from A to B down the track, so that's why we're in this position. Tomorrow is tomorrow, so we're going to enjoy this, but tomorrow is the big payoff. Either way, whatever happens tomorrow is just a bonus. We've already enjoyed a great weekend.
"I don't know what the forecast is for tomorrow, but I think we're ready for either cloud cover or direct sun on the track, either one. I think Rahn (crew chief Tobler) will adjust the car accordingly. What's funny is I qualify No. 1 and I look over and I have to race Scelzi first round, so that just goes to show how tight the field is. I wish I was racing some guy that didn't have much of a budget, who's used to leaking oil on the track, maybe shut the car off. That's who I'd like to race first round. Racing Scelzi, that's going to be like racing in a semifinal round. He'll keep us honest, that's for sure. But if we can get by that round it will just make us that much better."
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world's largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 77 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 266,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2007, nearly 9.37 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at General Motors | Corporate Website | GM.
