Tommy Johnson Jr. made his first career three-second NHRA lap Saturday night and it paid dividends for his Don Schumacher Racing Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger.

Johnson clocked a 3.999-second run at 317.19 mph to take the pole at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago.

Tommy Johnson Jr. made his first career three-second NHRA lap Saturday night and it paid dividends for his Don Schumacher Racing Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger.

Johnson clocked a 3.999-second run at 317.19 mph to take the pole at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago.

“The conditions out here were difficult,” Johnson Jr. said. “It’s hot and it’s humid and personally I didn’t think we could do it. But, the guys were swinging for the fence, they were going for it. I’m extremely happy for John Collins (Johnson Jr.’s crew chief) and all the guys on the team because they’ve been trying to do this for months. We’ve been so close for two or three months. We’ve been 4.02, 4.02, 4.03 and we just couldn’t quite figure out how to get it to go any quicker. With two night sessions, we ran the 03 (Friday night) and it gave us another opportunity to tune for a night session instead of just one a weekend.”

Johnson became only the 10th NHRA nitro Funny Car driver to record a three-second run at 1,000 feet.

This is Johnson’s first pole of the season and 10th of his career. He also has one victory this year at Bristol, Tenn., June 13-15.

When Johnson Jr. returned to the pits after qualifying was complete on Friday, he was quickly upbeat about Saturday.

“When I came back (Friday night), he (Collins) told me what he did and he said he already knew what he was going to do (Saturday night), and obviously it paid off,” Johnson Jr. said. “To me as a driver a three-second run is not going to win the race, but I wanted it for the guys. They’ve been trying really hard to get it to run in the 3s, and the performance of the car, the driver has some part in that, keeping it in the groove and getting it down there, but it has a lot to do with the crew. They have been trying different approaches and to see that pay off for them, I’m extremely pleased for the whole team.”

Johnson also admitted he’s confident his team will adapt to whatever the race conditions are on Sunday.

“Our car right now is really consistent no matter what conditions we are running in,” Johnson Jr. said. “Right now my confidence in the team is great.”

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