"We've had 18 races to figure out how to make this ACDelco Chevrolet a winner," Kurt Johnson said. "Other than starting a new year at Pomona (Calif.), the Countdown to 1 is about as close to wiping the slate clean as you could ask for."
 
That describes the situation most of the Pro Stock class finds itself in right now as the contending drivers try  to catch up to and surpass leader Jeg Coughlin.
 
But the Delaware, Ohio, dominator, who is going for his third straight and fifth overall Pro Stock championship, has had a lock on the standings since the spring Las Vegas race. Going into the current Carolinas Nationals, the headliner for Charlotte-based Victor Cagnazzi Racing had 100 points on closest competitor Jason Line before the NHRA reset the points.
 
So what do they have to do to stop the Coughlin Express? "We've had 18 races to figure out how to make this ACDelco Chevrolet a winner," Kurt Johnson said. "Other than starting a new year at Pomona (Calif.), the Countdown to 1 is about as close to wiping the slate clean as you could ask for."
 
That describes the situation most of the Pro Stock class finds itself in right now as the contending drivers try  to catch up to and surpass leader Jeg Coughlin.
 
But the Delaware, Ohio, dominator, who is going for his third straight and fifth overall Pro Stock championship, has had a lock on the standings since the spring Las Vegas race. Going into the current Carolinas Nationals, the headliner for Charlotte-based Victor Cagnazzi Racing had 100 points on closest competitor Jason Line before the NHRA reset the points.
 
So what do they have to do to stop the Coughlin Express?
 
Kurt Johnson, smarting from a DNQ that his father Warren Johnson matched at Indianapolis, has plan. He said, "This really is our second season, a golden opportunity for us to score some points and make some headway in the standings. If we can get on a roll, win some races and go to some finals, then anything's possible. That's why this is an exciting time of year for the fans, the sponsors and the teams that compete."
 
He's eighth in the standings, only 90 points off the pace. But at the U.S. Nationals, his streak of qualifying for 61 consecutive races ended. He has the longest current top-10 streak among active Pro Stock drivers and that mark is second only among all professional competitors to John Force's 25 straight seasons with a top-10 finish. So he knows he has the tools to win a title -- he just needs to use them.
 
"When you have your back against the wall, like we did coming out of Indy, we're ready to dig our heels in and start pushing. That's all there is to it," Johnson said. "That was quite a wake-up call there at the U.S. Nationals. We should have run a lot better than what we did. We know it's not a power issue. It's an application issue. I still feel good about the car, because we have the right components to be competitive. We were too conservative, especially in that final session, and we won't make that mistake again.
 
"The second season is going to benefit us this year where last season it kind of hurt us. Coming out of Indy we went into last year's Countdown in second place and ended up third. We had a bunch of bad luck, but this year we have a whole new approach to it and we're really going to attack it. Our job is to win races and to win a championship," Johnson said. "We only have one shot at it so we're going to have to make it count. We have one shot at this and we're going to let it all hang out. We're swinging for the fence right now."
 
Johnson made six test runs Sept. 9 at zMax Dragway. But others tested, too, including his dad in the K&N Pontiac GXP (who won’t be challenging for a seventh championship), Allen Johnson in the Team Mopar Dodge, and the relentless Summit Pontiac GXP tandem of Greg Anderson and No. 2-seeded Jason Line.
 
But that, Johnson said, gave him some comparisons. "It seems that Allen has been at the top of the page at 60-foot pretty much all season, and he was .992 (of a second) and .998 to 60-foot. Greg was 1.01, Dad was 1.01, and we went .995 right out of the box, and then came back with a bunch of one-flats," he said.
 
"It's a whole balancing issue, and hopefully we learned something to knock down those 60-foot times. We've been fast there at Englishtown, Joliet, .970s a couple of times, but we need to do it consistently like all the fast cars are doing," Johnson said. "That's our goal right now."
 
He also gathered some data on a track that is a sparkling gem in the time-weathered NHRA  jewelry box but is relatively new to all drivers.
 
"We started in the right lane, made three runs there, and then ended up going over to the extreme right lane. It was better down track but it wasn't as good on the starting line," Johnson said. "The track can be tricky. It's flat on the starting line and then goes downhill about 13 feet from the staging beam to the finish line. So you're on a flat pad when you let the clutch out, but by the time you move 105 inches, the track falls off from underneath you."
 
What could be unhappy news for Johnson and every other Countdown driver is Coughlin's preparation. Said the leader, "The team, we have discussed our strategy at the conclusion of the 2008 championship run, how we wanted to approach the 2009 season and how we ideally will approach the 2009 Countdown season. So you know, we are really just looking to minimize any mistakes we can. It's a six-race stretch that could be a do-or-die situation.
 
"Our goal is not to make any mistakes that can cost us being able to get the car to the starting line or get it down the racetrack and be able to put myself in a position to get out and do what I love to do, and that's try to work hard to turn the win light on."
 
Preparation and performance can be two different animals, Coughlin knows.
 
"It's going to take an extremely strong run. We have got such a powerful contingent of cars running at the top of the Pro Stock pack right now and we have had some great, great fortune. As you've mentioned, we have led the pace with race wins this year (seven, best in all NHRA pro classes) and for that to continue is going to take some good fortune still, and some good, old-fashioned racing."
 
Some of his perennial key rivals have struggled a little bit but he said he can't busy himself with worrying whether they have peaked at the right time for them.
 
"We can't control what our competitors are doing. Our goal is to make sure that our car is as best prepared as it can be. The guys in the shop -- Stevie Johns and everybody -- have been working on horsepower, which is extremely crucial. We have some new enhancements that have filtered into the car over the last two races and we have done extremely well.
 
"Mike Edwards has certainly been leading the performance trends of the entire 2009 season, whether it was first round, second round, Q1, Q2. I think we have seen Greg Anderson struggle a little.  I think that's been surprising to the masses, without question. But what he's missed, his teammate, Jason Line, has certainly picked up.  You have Allen Johnson back there who has not made as much noise as I think we are going to see," Coughlin said.
 
"That's what makes this Full Throttle championship so important and so special, is because we are on the edge of our seat now, not just the fans. You have got the crew chief right on the edge. You have got the drivers and the riders right on the edge," he said. "It's game time. There's no looking back, and this is what the whole year is set up for and that's what makes it the most exciting. Obviously for us at Jeg's and Jeg's.com, we would like nothing more than to win our third straight championship. So stay tuned. This is going to be a heck of a ride."
 
Line will give him maybe the most scare of all, for he approaches the Countdown much like Coughlin does.
 
"Although this race is certainly important as the first one in the Countdown, I can't say we're going to treat it any differently than the previous 18," Line said. "After all, we go into every race to win, and if we do that, the points and the championship will take care of themselves. As with every other stop on the circuit, we'll be racing the racetrack as much as we are the competition, so it will be u p to us to adapt better than anyone else. Fortunately, we have a great Summit Racing crew who consistently give us great Pontiacs to drive, so I know we are up to the challenge"
 
But his ace in the hole is getting to sleep in his own bed each night at the Countdown kickoff.
 
"I can't discount the benefits of being able to stay at home and see my kids every night," Line said. "At this point in the season, we don't need to be perfect, but we need to be pretty darn close, and every little bit helps."
 
His teammate, Anderson, who's ranked fourth and itching to earn another championship to match the three straight he captured from 2003 through 2005, has a new approach.
 
"In the first two years of the Countdown format, we missed something, which we are determined to rectify in 2009," Anderson said. "We haven't finalized our game plan yet, but we are going to approach things differently than we have in the past. The last two years we went in as the lead car and felt we could experiment in the races leading up to the playoffs -- shooting right back in to race mode when we got there, which backfired on us.
 
"This year, we are not changing the way we go into the race. We are trying to win every race we enter. In addition, the Summit Racing Pontiacs are going in from the second and fourth positions. A lot of things are different, and I am OK with that, because the old formula didn't work," he said. "The championship was won from a guy who was in the position we're in right now, so we're confident of getting the job done."
 
Mike Edwards, frustrated that he hasn't capitalized on his many outstanding moments this season and particularly since he clinched his playoff berth, is overdue for some excellent performances again.
 
The Young Life/A.R.T./Contemporary Corvette Pontiac GXP driver said, "Things have not gone perfect for us as a team since we clinched our spot, meaning we haven't picked up any more Wallys. Most of that has fallen to one area, and now that one area, me, has to pick up his game to make this happen."
 
He has earned the No. 1 qualifying position at the previous three races but has lived for two weeks with the aftertaste of a red-light foul at Indianapolis against Coughlin in the semifinal. He and Coughlin have met nine times this year, and four of Edwards' six losses to Coughlin have come on red lights.
 
"I've been up there thinking too much," Edwards said. "I just need to drive the car and the rest will take care of itself."
 
Even with his focus corrected, Edwards said he needs to make sure he isn't what's standing in his way of that first championship. "I know what I need to do and a few of my friends have helped clean up some of the areas I was struggling with. This minor correction will be a positive for us the next six races," he said.
 
The Coweta, Okla., veteran is third in the standings, 30 points behind Coughlin and 10 behind Line.
 
"If we can come out these next six races and just improve slightly on what we did the same six races in 2008, I know we can reach that ultimate goal," Edwards said. Last year he earned the second-most points during the Countdown and won at Memphis. "The entire team is focused and ready to go out and do all we can to win the championship," he said.
 
Now, they need to hope they don't become awestruck at the surrounds this weekend.
 
"I walked in that place when we tested on Wednesday and just stood on the starting line looking around," Kurt Johnson said. "It's an amazing facility. We parked on the right side of the track and walked under the bleachers to watch Greg run, and we turned to look around and Allen Johnson mentioned there were 15,000 seats on the right side and 25,000 on the left – 40,000 seats. Plus with the standing-room-only tickets the place is packed. It will take your breath away.
 
"You always like going to a Bruton Smith-owned facility, because you know it's going to be first-class," he said. "The crowd we had last year was unbelievable. We had a packed house and hundreds of fans that stayed long after qualifying was over, walking the pits, talking to the teams and the drivers. They didn't want to leave – and that's what you like to see. If you were there last year to see the enthusiasm of these drag racing fans in Charlotte, then you will understand why we're going to zMax twice next season. People think of Charlotte as being a hotbed for NASCAR, but they love their NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing, as well."
 
And the Pro Stock is ready to see who, if anyone, can halt Coughlin's streak.

Advertisement