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ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. - Kurt Johnson came within 12 thousandths of a second of scoring the first Pro Stock victory for Chevrolet's Camaro since 1988. Kurt lost in the final round of the Lone Star Nationals to No. 2 qualifier Mike Edwards on a holeshot, 7.024 to 7.108. K.J.'s runner-up finish moved him to fourth in the points standings, just 15 markers behind third-place Mark Osborne. Kurt's quote:"We came up about half an inch short of winning the race."
How tough is the competition in Pro Stock? Simply qualifying is an accomplishment. After seven rounds of the 22-race Winston Drag Racing Series, only three Pro Stock drivers have qualified for every race in 1998: Warren Johnson, Kurt Johnson, and Mark Osborne. Every other driver has at least one DNQ on his record this season. In 1997, four drivers made the Pro Stock field at every race. Not surprisingly, Warren and Kurt Johnson made the cut at all 22 events. Jim Yates and Steve Schmidt were the other two drivers with unblemished qualifying records last year.
Kurt Johnson earned a permanent place in drag racing history on a chilly Friday evening in Englishtown on May 20, 1994. At 8:30 p.m., Kurt became the first Pro Stock driver to break the 6-second barrier when he stopped the timers at 6.988 seconds. By the time the race was over, Kurt set the national elapsed time record, became the first member of the Holley 6-Second Pro Stock Club, earned a spot in the Slick 50 World Record Club, and won the invitational Pro Stock Challenge. Kurt's weekend winnings totaled $91,000 -- the biggest payday ever in Pro Stock.
"I made the turn-off at the end of the track and saw the television crew
running toward the car," Kurt recalled. "I figured that I must have
run in the sixes."
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