[coverattach=1]JOLIET, Ill., June 6, 2009 – Another afternoon of Pro Stock qualifying for the NHRA Route 66 Nationals had ACDelco's Kurt Johnson improving upon his Friday performance. The 46-year-old Northeast Georgia resident stepped up to a 6.622 e.t. during Saturday's first session of time trials, and that has Johnson in the No. 5 slot for Sunday's eliminator at Route 66 Raceway.
"Everybody came together, we made some changes, they were the right changes and we ran fast," Johnson said. "We weren't the fastest out there, but we're fast enough that if we get a little luck we can put this ACDelco Chevy in the winner's circle. This car is good enough to win on Sunday."
After struggling through round one of time trials on Friday, Johnson and his ACDelco team came back and turned in three, nearly identical runs of 6.62 seconds. That demonstrated a combination of consistency and performance that will make the ACDelco Chevrolet one of the Pro Stock Cars to watch on Sunday.
"We're pretty pleased to go three 6.62s in a row," Johnson said. "That's how we won the Full Throttle championship last year was with consistency. If you're going to win these races you have to be consistent and I think we have a pretty good package here."
Johnson's times in the final three rounds of qualifying were the fourth quickest in each session, and even though his final run of 6.627 seconds during the last round wasn't his quickest of the weekend, the winner of 39 career national events felt it was his best lap given the air and track conditions.
"We didn’t shine at first, but the last three runs everything came together and it looks good," Johnson said. "I had a good reaction time on the last run so I'll go to bed confident tonight knowing that if we make four runs tomorrow like we made tonight, we should be good – we should be right up there."
Route 66 Raceway has been good to the ACDelco driver over the years. Johnson has won this race three times (2003, '06 and '08), and has captured No. 1 qualifying honors twice at this venue; in 1999, and at the fall contest in 2001 when he set both the national e.t. and speed record.
This was the 54th consecutive event in which Johnson has successfully qualified for a race, and it is the seventh time in the first 10 races of 2009 that he's been in the top half of the field. Johnson will race Justin Humphreys in round one on Sunday.
"To make the last three runs that we did in two different lanes shows that the ACDelco Chevrolet is pretty consistent right now," Johnson said. "It's a matter of going out there on Sunday and doing the same thing that we did over the last three runs."
Mike Edwards is the No. 1 qualifier in a Pontiac with a 6.587 e.t. at 210.08 mph.
ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 6. NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, will air at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 7 on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will feature three hours of eliminations coverage at 4 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 7.
"Everybody came together, we made some changes, they were the right changes and we ran fast," Johnson said. "We weren't the fastest out there, but we're fast enough that if we get a little luck we can put this ACDelco Chevy in the winner's circle. This car is good enough to win on Sunday."
After struggling through round one of time trials on Friday, Johnson and his ACDelco team came back and turned in three, nearly identical runs of 6.62 seconds. That demonstrated a combination of consistency and performance that will make the ACDelco Chevrolet one of the Pro Stock Cars to watch on Sunday.
"We're pretty pleased to go three 6.62s in a row," Johnson said. "That's how we won the Full Throttle championship last year was with consistency. If you're going to win these races you have to be consistent and I think we have a pretty good package here."
Johnson's times in the final three rounds of qualifying were the fourth quickest in each session, and even though his final run of 6.627 seconds during the last round wasn't his quickest of the weekend, the winner of 39 career national events felt it was his best lap given the air and track conditions.
"We didn’t shine at first, but the last three runs everything came together and it looks good," Johnson said. "I had a good reaction time on the last run so I'll go to bed confident tonight knowing that if we make four runs tomorrow like we made tonight, we should be good – we should be right up there."
Route 66 Raceway has been good to the ACDelco driver over the years. Johnson has won this race three times (2003, '06 and '08), and has captured No. 1 qualifying honors twice at this venue; in 1999, and at the fall contest in 2001 when he set both the national e.t. and speed record.
This was the 54th consecutive event in which Johnson has successfully qualified for a race, and it is the seventh time in the first 10 races of 2009 that he's been in the top half of the field. Johnson will race Justin Humphreys in round one on Sunday.
"To make the last three runs that we did in two different lanes shows that the ACDelco Chevrolet is pretty consistent right now," Johnson said. "It's a matter of going out there on Sunday and doing the same thing that we did over the last three runs."
Mike Edwards is the No. 1 qualifier in a Pontiac with a 6.587 e.t. at 210.08 mph.
ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 6. NHRA Race Day, a 30-minute pre-race show, will air at 11 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 7 on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will feature three hours of eliminations coverage at 4 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 7.
