Tue, May 26, 09:17 AM Kurt Johnson: Fram Route 66 Nationals

Courtesy of Rick Voegelin

JOLIET, Ill. - KURT CASHES IN

For the second time in his six-year driving career, Kurt Johnson walked off with the $50,000 winner's purse in the Pro Stock Challenge in Englishtown. The Pro Stock Challenge, a special "race within a race" held in conjunction with the Mopar Parts Nationals, matched the elite eight drivers with the best qualifying records over the last year. Johnson defeated Bruce Allen, Jim Yates, and Steve Schmidt to claim the prize. The Johnson family has now won four of the last six Pro Stock Challenge races.

Kurt also qualified his ACDelco Camaro on the Pro Stock "pole" for the Mopar Parts Nationals at 6.906/199.14 mph -- his first No. 1 qualifying effort of the season and the ninth of his career. "The temperature got cooler, the track got stickier, and we made a little more horsepower," Kurt explained. "It was just a picture perfect run."

Johnson's "perfect" weekend came to an abrupt end in the first round of eliminations when he was upset by No. 16 qualifier Darrell Alderman. "The car got out of the groove, and I was about to hit the wall," K.J. revealed. "When the tires started to shake, it surprised me, because my Camaro had run straight and fast all weekend. I guess it proves that race cars do have personalities."

NEW CAR NOTES

Kurt Johnson plans to debut a new ACDelco Camaro in the near future. "My new car should be in body shop by the end of the week," he said. "I'll pick it up after we race in Columbus. The chassis I have now is working well, so I'm not in a big hurry to get the new car on the track. It's like fine wine -- it's getting better with age."

"The engine that ran 6.90 in Englishtown was a new motor that I started using in Dallas," Kurt revealed. "We took the heads off, worked on it, and picked up 5 or 6 horsepower when we put it back on the dyno. We'll take that engine to Chicago. We also have some new lightweight clutch parts that should be more forgiving on a hot starting line."



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