Kurt Johnson admitted he was afraid.

After watching the racing surface at Gateway International Raceway during the recently completed NHRA Midwest Nationals make a mockery of many of his fellow racers’ combinations, Johnson had doubts.

If there were to be any hopes of winning his first race since February of 2007 [Phoenix, Az.], Johnson was going to have to make serious adjustments to his combination.

"We were scared to touch the car after running a .58 earlier in the day," Johnson said, "but we knew we had to make some changes.  We changed gears around, we changed the clutch around, and the whole ACDelco crew came together and we did what we needed to do.”

Kurt Johnson admitted he was afraid.

After watching the racing surface at Gateway International Raceway during the recently completed NHRA Midwest Nationals make a mockery of many of his fellow racers’ combinations, Johnson had doubts.

If there were to be any hopes of winning his first race since February of 2007 [Phoenix, Az.], Johnson was going to have to make serious adjustments to his combination.

"We were scared to touch the car after running a .58 earlier in the day," Johnson said, "but we knew we had to make some changes.  We changed gears around, we changed the clutch around, and the whole ACDelco crew came together and we did what we needed to do.”

Last Sunday’s victory represented the 37th of his career, tying him with Funny Car standouts Gary Scelzi and Tony Pedregon for 13th in career victories among all professional classes. He’s the fifth winningest driver in NHRA Pro Stock.

Johnson would need every bit of the experience he's gathered to extend his streak of winning at least national event over the last 14 years.
 
"It's brutal out there; every run's a challenge,” Johnson said after the win. “We've got humans working on these cars and everybody's making different decisions out there. That last session on Saturday in St. Louis, everybody was grouped together with .59s and Jason made a great run with a .57. It just gets so finite and all of the little changes make a difference now a day, it seems like. 

“But, it's great to win 14 years in a row; it's been a long time since (the win in) Phoenix last year.  This is the seventh race of the season and we now have six different winners, so that just shows you how tough it is and it's great for the fans."

Johnson’s Gateway victory also marked his third national event win there, which is the most by a competitor in the Pro Stock Car category, breaking a tie with his father Warren Johnson and Ron Krisher.  This also ties Kurt with Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) for the most by a professional competitor in Madison.