"I felt confident coming in here that we could run well and go some rounds," Johnson said. "But we want to win - we want to win more than anything. We have a top-five car, we know that right now; we're not No. 1 or No. 2, but we're top five. We need to pick up the pace a little bit and make better runs, especially on a hot race track."

"I think on a cool race track we have a pretty good package. On a hot race track, with the package we have now, we need more runs to make it better. That's what hurt us yesterday, but now we know. To go out there in those conditions and make the poor runs that we made, we need to make adjustments, be more prepared and fine-tune our hot-weather package - especially going into Topeka."

Johnson came into Sunday's eliminator at Bristol Dragway with the ACDelco Chevrolet qualified in the No. 9 position. The Friday and Saturday qualifying sessions were run in hot, humid conditions usually not felt until the middle of the summer. With a 30-degree drop in both air and track temps on race day, the performance of the naturally aspirated Pro Stock Cars, including Johnson's ACDelco Chevrolet, picked up dramatically.

In round one, Johnson defeated No. 8 qualifier Rodger Brogdon, with the ACDelco Chevrolet outrunning the yellow-and-purple Pontiac down the entire quarter-mile with a 6.675 e.t. at 206.26 mph to a 6.699 e.t. at 206.80 mph .Johnson's margin of victory in round one was .053 of a second.

Johnson's second-round matchup was No. 1-qualifier Mike Edwards, who had set the performance pace all weekend and who ran low elapsed time in round one. Knowing that he could not take for granted the driver in the red, white and blue Chevrolet, Edwards laid it all on the starting line and cut a perfect .000 reaction time, and then bolted to a track-record 6.639 second run at 207.40. Johnson, who had solid .033 reaction time, followed with a 6.685 second run at 206.64.

"Mike and I have raced a lot in the past," Johnson said. "We had a little bit of a performance advantage over him the last couple of years. He's put a good program together and is making a lot of power. I think I beat him four or five times in a row there for awhile - drivers remember that. When somebody beats up on you, you have to get up on the wheel and get after it. He threw everything he could at it.

"My driving has been fair recently - I've been in the .020s and .030s and teens, and been consistent. I kind of struggled there for a little while earlier in the season, so I think we've successfully addressed that issue. We probably need to make a little bit more power - probably 10 to 15 more horsepower. We're not far off, but I think if we make the power it will drive everybody to work harder to make better runs, and that's what we're going to need to get better.

Johnson will remain eighth in the points standings heading into the next stop on the schedule, the 21st annual NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., on May 29 - 31. It is the ninth race on the 24-event NHRA Full Throttle Series tour.

Courtesy of Jeff Romack