Racing in muggy hot conditions? No problem.

Got a 30-mile per hour wind blowing? No problem.

Warren Johnson has said time and time again that old age and treachery will whip youth and enthusiasm any day. On Friday, WJ whipped the young whippersnappers.

Johnson posted the quickest elapsed time and top speed in each of Friday’s two qualifying sessions at the NHRA Torco Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ill., to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying position.  Racing in muggy hot conditions? No problem.

Got a 30-mile per hour wind blowing? No problem.

Warren Johnson has said time and time again that old age and treachery will whip youth and enthusiasm any day. On Friday, WJ whipped the young whippersnappers.

Johnson posted the quickest elapsed time and top speed in each of Friday’s two qualifying sessions at the NHRA Torco Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, Ill., to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying position. 

After opening with a solid 6.733-second, 206.26 mph run in the afternoon session, The Professor picked up the pace on his evening attempt, improving to 6.711-second time and 206.35 mph top speed to sit atop the 26-car Pro Stock field heading into Saturday’ twin time trials.

“Today was definitely a step in the right direction for our GM Performance Parts GXP, but the key is being able to maintain that consistency all the way through.  On the first attempt, we just wanted to get a solid run in, so we didn’t go up there trying to rotate the earth.  As a consequence, we were a little soft, since we didn’t know what the racetrack would hold.  It’s apparent everyone else had the same idea, as evidenced by the wholesale improvement we saw in the evening session. 

“We took the information from that run and came back with a more aggressive approach in the evening session.  Looking at the data, it appears we could have gotten after it a little more.  However, we’re pretty happy with today’s results, so tomorrow we’ll just keep pecking away at it, seeing what we can do to improve even further while making sure we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.   It’s a good start.”