NHRA: Indianapolis Kurt Warren report 


     The following is a post-race report on Pro Stock racer Kurt
 Johnson's victory on Labor Day at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in
 Indianapolis, Ind., and pre-race releases on Kurt and Warren
 Johnson at the upcoming NHRA Pioneer Keystone Nationals in
 Reading, Penn., on September 12-15.


     Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or
 comments, or let me know if you would prefer not to receive this
 material via e-mail.  I can be reached at 408-761-2201 (phone),
 408-761-2454 (fax) or 72467.3005@compuserve.com.


 Thanks!
 Rick Voegelin
 High Performance Communications








 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


             KURT JOHNSON WINS NHRA U.S. NATIONALS!


       Kurt Defeats Points Leader Jim Yates in Semi-Final,
                  Moves to Fourth in Championship Race


     Indianapolis -- Kurt Johnson drove his Delco Freedom Battery
 Firebird to his first U.S. Nationals victory, scoring his seventh
 career NHRA national event win in the oldest, richest, and most
 prestigious event in championship drag racing.  Kurt also
 continued the Johnsons' domination of the U.S. Nationals by
 notching the fifth straight Indy title for the family.


     Kurt posted his second win of the season by defeating Chuck
 Harris, Tom Martino, and points-leader Jim Yates in the opening
 rounds.  In the final round, which was televised live on TNN, he
 beat Rickie Smith, 7.070/195.14 to 7.083/195.01.  The margin of
 victory was two thousandths of a second.


     "I've been coming to Indy for 25 years, and this is the
 biggest win of them all," Kurt declared in a post-race interview.
 "Everyone works all season for this race, and everybody's at
 their peak.  To win here is a dream come true."


     Johnson qualified fifth in the 16-car field, and was one of
 the few drivers to improve his car's performance over the long
 Labor Day weekend.  "I came here to win this race," Johnson told
 reporters.  "We tested here the week before the Nationals.  We
 were the first race car on the track, and the last one to leave.
 We made seven runs in the heat of the day, and that paid off
 today."


     Kurt's dramatic victory vaulted him from sixth to fourth in
 the NHRA Winston championship.  Johnson will attempt to continue
 his climb in the points standings at the NHRA Keystone Nationals
 in Reading, Penn., on September 12-15.


          NHRA PRO STOCK STANDINGS (after 15 of 19 rounds):
          1.  Jim Yates       1277
          2.  Warren Johnson  1148
          3.  Mike Edwards    890
          4.  Kurt Johnson    820
          5.  Chuck Harris    807
                                   # # #




 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


         WARREN JOHNSON GETS TOUGH AT KEYSTONE NATIONALS


     Reading, Penn. -- Pro Stock drag racer Warren Johnson has
 never been noted for his easy-going demeanor.  No one has ever
 confused the silver-haired "Professor of Pro Stock" with "Mr.
 Nice Guy."  Now with four races remaining on the drag racing
 calendar and a 129-point deficit to points-leader Jim Yates, you
 can see W.J.'s intensity level rising.


     It's time for W.J. to take off the gloves.


     It comes down to simple mathematics.  Johnson must win seven
 more rounds of racing than Yates in order to claim a fourth
 career NHRA championship.  Winning races isn't enough for the
 driver of the GM Performance Parts Pontiac; W.J. has to stop his
 rival early in eliminations.


     "We can still win this championship," Johnson declared after
 a broken wheelie bar took him out in the first round of
 eliminations at the U.S. Nationals.  "We'll have to qualify
 opposite Yates on the ladder, and take him out in the early
 rounds."


     Johnson's first opportunity to implement his new
 "go-for-broke" strategy will be at the Pioneer Keystone
 Nationals, to be contested at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading,
 Penn., on September 12-15.


     There is no better place than the Keystone Nationals for
 Warren to launch his offensive.  At last year's event he laid
 down a barrage of six-second runs in qualifying and notched his
 third career Keystone Nationals victory.  Johnson has been in
 five straight final rounds and qualified No. 1 four times at the
 track in the scenic Pennsylvania countryside.


     "Maple Grove is a track that's suited our particular
 combination in the past," Warren reports.  "But since the track
 has been resurfaced, we'll be searching for the right setup --
 along with everyone else."


     Warren has an ally in his quest for the championship.  His
 son Kurt has defeated Yates three times this season on holeshot
 victories, including a crucial match in the semi-final round of
 the U.S. Nationals.  W.J. has beaten Yates in three of their five
 meetings this season, including the final rounds in Memphis and
 Topeka.


     There's no hint of desperation in Johnson's championship
 plan -- only determination.  Johnson was runner-up six times in
 the title race before he won his first championship in 1992.  He
 knows the difference between No. 1 and No. 2.  That's why he's
 taking off the gloves at Maple Grove.


                                   # # #




 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


    KURT JOHNSON CRAVES ANOTHER VICTORY AT KEYSTONE NATIONALS


     Reading, Penn. -- The taste of victory can be as addictive
 for a drag racer as a candy bar for a chocoholic.  Pro Stock
 driver Kurt Johnson experienced the ultimate thrill in the
 quarter-mile sport when he stood in the winner's circle at the
 NHRA U.S. Nationals on Labor Day with his Delco Freedom Battery
 Firebird.  Now he craves another victory at the Pioneer Keystone
 Nationals, to be held at Maple Grove Raceway on September 12-15.


     Kurt already knows the way to the Keystone winner's circle.
 He visited there in 1993 when he celebrated one of his three NHRA
 national event victories in his rookie season.


     "I remember winning the Keystone Nationals very well," Kurt
 reports.  "It rained that year, and we only had two qualifying
 runs.  I burned out a clutch on my first run, and we weren't even
 in the show after the first session.


     "I was fighting Scott Geoffrion for the No. 2 spot in the
 points standings, so my last qualifying lap was a do-or-die
 effort," Kurt continues.  "I qualified No. 2 behind the Old Man
 (father Warren Johnson), and ended up winning the race.  I raced
 Dad in the final; it was the quickest side-by-side Pro Stock race
 ever."


     The Maple Grove track is one of the fastest on the NHRA
 tour.  Last year it yielded four six-second Pro Stock runs in Pro
 Stock.  The prospect of cool autumn temperatures promises another
 barrage of sub-seven second performances.


     "I'm pumped up about going back to Maple Grove," Kurt
 declares.  "We can make a lot of horsepower at that track, and
 the starting line's good enough to hold it.  Of course, we won't
 know what the new track surface is like until we get there."


     With two final round appearances in the last three races,
 Kurt Johnson is staging his trademark late-season surge in the
 points race.  In the span of four races, he has climbed from
 eighth to fourth in the standings.  And with just four races
 remaining on the schedule, Kurt Johnson is hungry for more wins.


                              # # #


  E-mail from: Rick Voegelin, 10-Sep-1996
All information courtesy of MNI - Motorsport News International
This archive is made possible by the support of Software Metrics Inc.