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NHRA POWERade Pro Stock

Topeka - Final

Greg Anderson Concludes Magical May By Capturing Third Win Of '05; Two-Time Champ Delivers 150th All-Time Pro Stock Victory For Pontiac

Greg Anderson became the first Pro Stock driver this season to win three national events after driving his Summit Racing Pontiac to a final-round victory over Chevy Cobalt stalwart Dave Connolly at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. It was Anderson's third consecutive victory going back to the Summit Racing Southern Nationals just 14 days ago in Atlanta, and his third straight win at this venue dating back to 2003. It was also Pontiac's 150th all-time victory in NHRA Pro Stock competition, the most by any manufacturer in the history of the sport.

"Three in a row at Heartland Park, and three in a row on the circuit," exclaimed Anderson. "We're coming back. It was a great weekend all around. I can't say enough about the job this team does on our Summit Racing Pontiac. The guys at the engine shop and the team at the racetrack has kept us as strong as ever. We're going to be good all year and it's shaping up to be an exciting season in Pro Stock. We have so many tough cars right now in this class, and we seem to be hitting our stride, but man you slip one inch and you're going to lose - that's how tough this class is. It's just great to be a part of it."

Anderson entered today's eliminator with his Pontiac qualified in the No. 1 spot after setting a Heartland Park track-record elapsed time of 6.716 seconds. Anderson defeated Jeg Coughlin in round one, narrowly nipped Mike Edwards at the finish line in round two by .02 of a second, and defeated teammate Jason Line in round three before facing Dave Connolly in an all-GM final round. Anderson's Pontiac ran 6.759 seconds in the first session, 6.795 seconds in the quarterfinals and 6.775 seconds against Line's Pontiac in the semifinals.

Out of the gate first in the championship heat against Connolly's Chevy Cobalt, the Summit Racing Pontiac charged across the finish line with a 6.768 e.t. at 203.65 mph. Connolly's Carrier Boyz Chevy Cobalt closed with a 6.907 second run at 203.68 mph. The margin of victory for Anderson's Pontiac was .147 of a second. It was the 34th career win for Anderson and his 50th final-round appearance, moving the 44-year-old Minnesota native into third-place on the NHRA list for all time wins by a Pro Stock driver behind Bob Glidden (85) and Warren Johnson (94). Anderson is also 10th on the all-time win list among professional drivers and fifth among active drivers.

"We love our time at the shop," said Anderson. "We feel that these races are won or lost at the race shop and now we'll have a weekend to get everything freshened up. There's not a whole lot different you can do when you get to the racetrack as far as what you have with you with the engines and the cars - they are what they are and you have to make the right calls. About all you can do is execute and we've been doing that real well lately. But you must have that formula when you get to the racetrack. We look forward to any break we can get in the schedule and I can't wait to get back to the shop tomorrow morning."

When the NHRA POWERade tour departed Bristol Dragway at the conclusion of the O'Reilly Nationals on May 1, Anderson was struggling in fourth place in the Pro Stock standings with no wins to his name in 2005 and 171 points out of first place. Four weeks, 28 days and three national-event victories later the driver of the Summit Racing Pontiac has clawed his way to within 13 points of first-place Warren Johnson.

"We really struggled early in the season but it wasn't for lack of effort," said Anderson. "Somehow we missed that winning formula and we couldn't figure out why. We were doing everything the same as last year and it just wasn't working out. It's taken some different thinking and a little bit different approach to get the kind of results we wanted. We tried a few different ways to run these Pontiacs and they started to responded. It feels great to be able to rebound from adversity and now we're looking real strong. We have a lot of confidence. I don't know what is going to happen in the next few months, but I do know it's going to be a great battle, it's going to be a lot of fun, and I'm very, very proud of this team right now. We've tested, we've tested, we've worked on engines, around the clock, and dug ourselves out of that hole. It couldn't have gone on any longer or we would have been out of the points chase."

Dave Connolly came into today's race with his Carrier Boyz Chevy Cobalt qualified in the No. 2 position. The 22-year-old Ohio native defeated Kenny Koretsky in round one, Warren Johnson in round two and Greg Stanfield in round three before going toe-to-toe with Anderson in the championship heat. It is the second straight race and the second time since its debut less than a month ago in Bristol, Tenn., that a Chevy Cobalt has advanced to the finals.

"It was a Cinderella story in the making," said Connolly following his runner-up finish. "Greg Anderson got in the way and it didn't have the finish we had hoped. But Greg is tough and he made a good run. We probably set some type of record for wheel speed and came away with a terrible 60-foot time. After the wheel spin the rest of the run was normal. "For us to even be here, then get qualified and make it to the final was a win by itself. Even though we didn't get the win light, we have nothing to complain about. The way the Carrier Boyz stepped up to the plate and carried us through this weekend was just terrific. You couldn't ask for better guys to work with."

Four GM-branded cars driven by Greg Anderson (Pontiac), Jason Line (Pontiac), Dave Connolly (Chevy Cobalt) and Greg Stanfield (Chevrolet) advanced to the semifinal round. With Anderson and Line paired on one side of the ladder, and Connolly and Stanfield facing off on the other side of the bracket, another Pontiac vs. Chevrolet final-round matchup was guaranteed early in today's eliminator.

Line came into today's eliminator fourth in the points, and his fifth semifinal-round appearance for the season solidified his hold on fourth place in the points standings. Line lost in round three to teammate Greg Anderson.

"It could have been better, it could have been worse," said Line. "He was better off the tree and both runs were a little soft, but we learned something to get Greg's Pontiac ready for the finals. The important thing is that the best car got to the finals. We keep winning rounds and putting pressure on the front runners. A steady pace wins the race and although we didn't get to the finals today we're getting to at least the semifinals every week and those points are adding up."

Greg Stanfield came into today's event ninth in the Pro Stock standings and advanced all the way to sixth place, just 62 points out of the top five.

"We've had a problem with car since we got here," explained Stanfield. "We never quite got a handle on it and the problem popped up again during the semifinals - it shut off as soon as I left the line. We have to go home, regroup and figure out what it is. There are no complaints though in our camp, especially when you consider what we were able to accomplish. When you have gremlins like we had, and you're trying to get those fixed while racing at the same time, it's tough. This is the first time in our four years of racing that we will compete at all 23 events and my goal is to finish in the top 10. We need to get home fast, get the electrical gremlin fixed and work on some other things to get ready for Chicago."

In Funny Car, Tommy Johnson Jr. drove the Skoal Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to his second final-round appearance of the season. Johnson defeated Phil Burkart in round one, Gary Scelzi in round two and Robert Hight in round three before losing to John Force in the finals. Johnson's Sunday drive was good enough to move the Avon, Ind., resident back into seventh place in the Funny car standings.

"We've been lucky, but sometimes you need some luck and things went our way today," said Johnson. "When things are going your way it doesn't matter. We were able to get some nice breaks here and there, and those are the kind of things that have gone against us at the last three or four races. We're getting them all back in one day, but there's no asterisk by the win light, it just means win. This is a good team and they get the job done. I came to this race mentally focused on getting back in the points race. Driving over here in the motor home to this race I knew we needed to have a great weekend and we needed to do whatever it took to get the job done. That was my main focus and you can only do that by winning rounds."

It was a good afternoon for GM-branded cars in the Sport Compact competition that took place here this weekend at Heartland Park. Matt Hartford won his second Pro RWD drive national event of the season, and the seventh of his career by defeating Stephan Papadakis in the finals. The GM High-Feature V6-powered Chevrolet crossed the finish line first with 6.908 e.t. at 205.60 mph. Papadakis' Honda Civic followed in 6.940 seconds at 188.60 mph. Hartford becomes the first repeat winner in the Pro RWD category this year.

"You have to win rounds to win championships," said Hartford. "Mylon (Keasler) has this Chevrolet running from A to B every time in about 6.60 seconds, everywhere we go. Occasionally we can step it up into the 6.50s, but right now you have to race the track and race your opponent. If your opponent's going to run an .80, then just make sure you run quicker than an .80. In the finals we were a little soft on it and could have used some more clutch, but Steph hadn't made it down the track all weekend, and if we could just go A to B, we should be able to win. It almost got us, but we pulled it off and the 6.90 was quick enough to beat his .94. We had about ..05 on him on the tree. At 1000 foot, he went around me for about a nose and then we got right back around him.

"Mylon's raced a lot of Pro Mod cars on a lot of slippery racetracks so his wealth of knowledge certainly helped us here today. He tells me what he's going to do with the clutch, we talk about it and then we go back to whatever he wants to do. As long as our Summit Racing Chevrolet goes down the track there's nothing I need to say about it."

In HOT ROD, Ron Lummus set a national e.t. record of 7.837 seconds in qualifying in an Ecotec-powered Pontiac and then went on to defeat Kenny Tran in the finals. Lummus' performance numbers in the finals included a 7.864 e.t. at 185.26 mph.

Dave Connolly drives Carrier Boyz Cobalt to runner-up at Topeka

At the NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals, an event at which he though he might not race, 22-year-old Dave Connolly raced his Carrier Boyz Racing Pro Stock Chevrolet Cobalt to a runner up position.

In the opening round, Connolly turned back Kenny Koretsky in a race that was never in doubt. Connolly cruised the Heartland Park Topeka quarter-mile in 6.777 seconds to 6.839 seconds for Koretsky.

In the quarterfinals, Connolly was away first at the green gaining an advantage of three hundredths of a second. He turned that three hundredths into a hole shot win over Warren Johnson, winning by .0014 of a second. It was Connolly to the finish line first in 4.796 seconds. WJ was an eyelash behind in 4.767 seconds.

Connolly was victorious in the semifinals when Stanfield broke and the Elyria, Ohio driver advanced to his 12th career final round and fourth of 2005 against defending event and POWERade champion Greg Anderson. With the track temperature around 125-degrees, Connolly recorded an elapsed time of 6.778 seconds in the semifinals.

Against Anderson in the money round, Connolly spun the tires and that gave Anderson the breathing room he needed to take the win light in 7.768 seconds. Connolly chased Anderson to the finish line in 7.907 seconds.

“It was a Cinderella story in the making,” said Connolly following his runner-up finish. “Greg Anderson got in the way and it didn’t have the finish we had hoped. But Greg is tough and he made a good run.

“We probably set some type of record for wheel speed and came away with a terrible 60-foot time. After the wheel spin the rest of the run was normal.

“For us to even be here, then get qualified and make it to the final was a win by itself. Even though we didn’t get the win light, we have nothing to complain about.

“The way the Carrier Boyz stepped up to the plate and carried us through this weekend was just terrific. You couldn’t ask for better guys to work with.”

Andy Carrier, who along with his brother Mark owns Carrier Boyz Racing, restated his and Mark’s intentions regarding further involvement with a Pro Stock team.

“This weekend was a one-race deal,” said Carrier, “but what a weekend. Connolly, Terry Adams (crew chief) and the guys did great and Mark and I would look forward to continuing to work with this team if things can be worked out.

“As soon as we get back, we will continue to work with Mike Dzurilla (Bullet Motorsports owner) to negotiate an agreement that is satisfactory to both Mike and Carrier Boyz Racing. If, and when, that is accomplished or when that is no longer a reality, we will immediate make known the outcome regarding a Pro Stock team for Carrier Boyz Racing.”

After three consecutive races the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series takes a weekend off. Next up for Connolly and team is the CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals (June 9-12) at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., near Chicago.

STEVENS K.O.'s K.J., ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND

Richie Stevens Jr. and the Team Mopar/Valspar
Dodge Stratus Pro Stock car were off to a spectacular start at the O'Reilly
NHRA Summer Nationals today, when the No. 14 qualifier K.O.'d K.J. (Kurt
Johnson) in the first round of final eliminations on a holeshot advantage
that sent the No. 3 qualifier packing.

Richie scorched the starting lights with a .047 reaction time to Johnson's
.084 and held the advantage down the entire quarter-mile, taking the win
light with a slower 6.815/202.67 to Johnson's quicker but losing
6.781/203.86. The margin of victory was just a blink of an eye or 11 inches.

The second round presented a bigger challenge for the 26-year-old New
Orleans native in his first season with Don Schumacher Racing and tuner Bob
Glidden.

Stevens had lane choice over Greg Stanfield, but Stevens' day was over
instantly when the car veered to the left at the launch, nearly brushing the
wall, as Stevens shut it off to post a losing 14.011/60.77 to Stanfield's
winning 6.841/202.30.

"It just blew the tires off," said Stevens. "It completely annihilated the
tires, not even 20 feet off the line. It was just a bad run. It was kind of
going left to begin with, and when it started shaking the tires it just went
hard left and it wasn't going anywhere.

"I guess the lane of choice earlier today in the first round was the left
lane, as all the cars that had lane choice chose the left lane. So we came
up there in the second round and we took that lane.

"It was unfortunate. We were the first pair down, and when you're first pair
you don't get to watch anyone else, so we didn't have anybody to judge from.
I guess it kind of bit us there. We should have probably gone with the right
lane, but hindsight is 20-20, like they say."

Stanfield was definitely there for the taking. "He ran a 6.84," said
Stevens. "I knew we could have run at least a .81 or .80. We probably could
have beat him. He got me a little bit on the starting line, but I think we
could have driven around him, but it wasn't our day."

Beating Kurt Johnson in the first round was clearly the highlight of
Stevens' day. "Kurt's had my number for a long time, I think, and to leave
on him and get the win by three thousandths of a second was pretty exciting.
We were all pumped up after that."

He fell to eighth in the Pro Stock point standings, with 433 points. His
teammate Jeg Coughlin, who lost in the first round, is in 10th with 393.

Topeka - Saturday

ENDERS AND TEAM OPTIMISTIC IN SPITE OF DNQ

Although Erica Enders failed to qualify for this
weekend's O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, the team is optimistic about what they learned running here.

The Cagnazzi Racing team has been working non-stop developing a new in-house engine program to complement their new Chevy Cobalt chassis. Teammate Roy Simmons feels confident that bringing everything "in-house" will lead to more success for the team in the long run.

"Victor Cagnazzi has assembled a group of professionals who have excelled in drag racing in the past, and brought them together on this team," Simmons
said. "In addition to our guys at the track, we have a whole group of people
back in our race shop who are dedicated to making this successful.

"We have our own engine department, we have our own chassis program, and we have a driver that works very well with all of it. This weekend showed the progression that we have been working towards for awhile. What you are
starting to see is everything finally coming together as we move forward."

Cagnazzi Racing's progress was very apparent during the team's final
qualifying run today in Topeka. On that pass, Enders piloted her SunCom
Wireless Cobalt to a 6.796, at 202.97 mph. That run was the 7th quickest of
the fourth session, and tied for the best 60-foot time as well.
Unfortunately, the time was just short of the 6.785 bump spot.

"That was a brand new motor that had never gone down the track before
today," Enders said. "The run was pretty decent, and it looks like there
may be more in it. It's going to be awesome if we can keep improving the
car's performance at the next races. I can't wait to get to Chicago and see
what else we can do."

Jeg sizes up threat from reigning champ

A drastic swing in the weather conditions left the Pro Stock field of the 17th annual NHRA Summer Nationals pretty much intact. Only one racer managed to break into the top 16 Saturday as ambient temperatures soared into the 80s and the heat on the racing surface topped 110 degrees. It was a huge difference from Friday's cool weather.

Two-time Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin successfully qualified his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T in the No. 16 position, keeping alive his perfect streak of qualifying for every race on the 2005 POWERade Drag Racing Series. His 6.785-second pass at 203.12 mph from the first of four qualifying runs ended up being his best.

"We made the field, so we've already accomplished the first goal on our list," Coughlin said. "You have to be in the field to have a chance at winning and we're in the field, so that's great. I'm awfully proud of this Jeg's Mail Order race team because you don't often have back-to-back days at a racetrack where the conditions are so dramatically different. Yet, these pros made it look like just another day at work.

"We're revved about having a good race day. I've won here before in 2000 so I already know how to get to the winner's circle. We'd love to make a repeat appearance. Certainly, the hard work these guys have put in needs to be rewarded very soon. Hopefully things will fall our way tomorrow."

Coughlin will open eliminations against No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson, who made the field with a track-record pass of 6.716 seconds at 204.57 mph. Anderson won the last two races on tour as well as the last two races at Heartland Park Topeka. The back-to-back reigning series champion is 2-1 versus Coughlin this season.

"I not worried about hurting his feelings," Coughlin said with a laugh. "Champion or not, we'll race him as hard as humanly possible. We know Greg is a fantastic driver with a great racecar so we'll be geared up for a battle. The goal of winning each race we enter has not changed, regardless of who's in the other lane."

Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

Connolly qualifies Carrier Boyz Racing Colbalt No. 2 at Topeka

All four qualifying sessions have been completed at Heartland Park Topeka for the NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX.

Dave Connolly, who this weekend is driving the Carrier Boyz Racing Chevrolet Cobalt, qualified No. 2 with a best elapsed time of four qualifying attempts of 6.735 seconds at 204.85 mph.

Connolly and team are racing under the umbrella of Carrier Boyz Racing, after Andy and Mark Carrier, owners of Carrier Boyz Racing, which fields the FRAM AirHog Top Fuel dragster driven by Cory McClenathan and the Autolite XP Super Stock H-Automatic ’67 Nova driven by Steve Graham, announced late Wednesday that they had reach an agreement with Mike Dzurilla for a one-race deal to field the Pro Stock car for the Topeka event.

Dzurilla, owner of Bullet Motorsports, notified Connolly and the Bullet Motorsports team on Monday that he had ceased operation for financial reasons. Following Topeka, Carrier Boyz Racing and Dzurilla will continue their negotiations regarding the future of the team and the continued involvement of Carrier Boyz Racing.

“We’re definitely trying to forget about the past especially what went on this week,” said Connolly. “We’re trying to step forward with our whole program. We had four good run in the Carrier Boyz Racing Cobalt and we have a real good race car that’s ready for tomorrow.

“I would like to give a big thanks to Andy and Mark Carrier for really stepping up in a time of need like this and giving us the opportunity to race this weekend.”

Andy Carrier added, “Dave Connolly and the crew, led by crew chief Terry Adams, along with the power supplied by Grumpy (Bill Jenkins), shows that this team has the potential to do good things. Both Mark and I are happy thus far with the weekend and hope that we can continue our relationship with this team in the future.”

In the opening round of eliminations tomorrow, Connolly will square off against Kenny Koretsky. Koretsky qualified No.15 with a pass of 6.785 seconds at 203.34 mph..

Connolly, with engine power from Jenkins Competition, is currently third in the POWERade Pro Stock point standings.

STEVENS QUALIFIES IN BOTTOM HALF OF FIELD FOR ONLY THE FIFTH TIME THIS SEASON

Richie Stevens Jr. continues to be impressed with crew chief Bob Glidden and the new Team Mopar/Valspar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus Pro Stock effort from Don Schumacher Racing he joined this year. In a series famous for its tight fields, Stevens has qualified for each of the nine events so far.

Today, he qualified 14th - not his best, but also not his worst. He's qualified in the bottom half of the field five times so far and four times in the top half, including a No. 1 qualifier in Phoenix this year.

Stevens posted his best pass in today's third session, a 6.785/203.61. He also pulled out a 6.788/203.71 in the first round, but struggled in the other two.

"The good news is we qualified, the bad news is we're having bad luck," said the New Orleans native. "Two out of four good runs. Last night we just blew the tires off in the good session and didn't get down the track. We came out this morning and made a really, really nice run - not picture perfect, but good enough to pick us up some spots.

"As for this last session, we have no idea what happened. I let the clutch out and it just fell on its face, almost like it was out of fuel. It had fuel, the fuel pump was on, it had good fuel pump pressure, so I don't have any idea what the deal is.

"The good part is we're here tomorrow, we get to race Kurt Johnson first round, hopefully get an upset from the 14th spot, and I'm in. This is kind of one of those weird weekends."

Topeka - Friday

Jeg Coughlin lucky to earn 13th spot on opening day

Jeg Coughlin waited out a lengthy rain delay Friday before he ever got a chance to put his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T on the racing surface of Heartland Park Topeka. And just like the unpredictable Midwest weather, Coughlin and many of the other drivers in the Pro Stock category had mixed results in the opening two rounds of qualifying for the NHRA Summer Nationals, which were run much later than originally scheduled.

Thing started well in Round 1 as Coughlin streaked down a freshly-washed quarter-mile in 6.785 seconds at 203.12 mph to temporarily qualify sixth overall. Unfortunately, that was his best run of the day as he failed to improve in a hit-or-miss second session that ended with drivers either posting track record numbers or spinning and sliding out of the groove. His 6.788 at 203.43 mph didn't help and he ultimately slipped to 13th place.

"We're in the show and that's always exciting," Coughlin said. "We had a combination of things go wrong in Round 2. We were probably too aggressive with the tune-up and I had it revved up a little too much at the start. The two things combined didn't agree with the car and we lost a lot of momentum down low. It just magnified all the way down.

"We'll get this car prepared for tomorrow and see if we can't improve. It should be good weather in the morning and we'll step on it and see what happens. I'm optimistic."

Coughlin and crew will have two more chances to better their position Saturday. The final two sessions of professional qualifying are slated to begin at noon and 3 p.m.

Dave Connolly No. 2 after first day of qualifying
in Carrier Boyz Racing Pro Stock Colbalt

What a difference a week makes.

One week ago, Connolly was racing in Columbus for Mike Dzurilla and Bullet Motorsports and qualified No. 5. This weekend at Heartland Park Topeka, Connolly and team are under the umbrella of Carrier Boyz Racing and after two of four qualifying sessions the Elyria, Ohio driver holds the No. 2 position on the qualifying ladder for the NHRA O’Reilly Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX.

In the interim, Connolly’s week has been hectic to say the least. On Monday, the 22-year-old racer, who as a Pro Stock driver has five wins in 11 final rounds, including two wins in three final rounds thus far this season, learned that team owner Mike Dzurilla was disbanding Bullet Motorsports for financial reasons. Connolly then spent the remaining part of Monday, all of Tuesday and into Wednesday trying to salvage his ride.

Then late Wednesday, Andy and Mark Carrier, owners of Carrier Boyz Racing, which fields the FRAM AirHog Top Fuel dragster driven by Cory McClenathan and the Autolite XP Super Stock H-Automatic ’67 Nova driven by Steve Graham, announced that they had reach an agreement with Dzurilla for a one-race deal to field the Pro Stock car for the Topeka event, after which Carrier Boyz Racing and Dzurilla will continue their negotiations regarding the future of the team and the continued involvement of Carrier Boyz Racing.

So for now, Connolly is concentrating on the job at hand qualifying the Carrier Boyz Racing Chevrolet Cobalt, with power supplied by Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, for the O’Reilly Summer Nationals.

After an afternoon rain delay yesterday, Connolly showed no ill effects of the goings on of early in the week. In the first qualifying session, Connolly covered the Heartland Park Topeka quarter-mile in 6.751 seconds, followed by a 6.735-second pass in Friday’s final qualifying run.

Connolly and veteran crew chief and former Pro Stock driver Terry Adams have two additional qualifying opportunities to improve on their current elapsed time of 6.735 seconds when qualify resumes later today.

Topeka - Pre-Race

ENDERS PAYING DUES, MOVING FORWARD

Although the 2005 NHRA POWERade season has been
challenging for Erica Enders so far, she knows the struggle is part of the
sport.

"Everything is new this year," Erica Enders said. "Not only am I a new
driver, but we have a new engine program, and our Chevy Cobalt is a new car
too. It's going to take time to get everything going. You don't come out
the first year and be a world champion in this class, unless you have
tremendous luck on your side."

Luck seemed to be the biggest problem for Enders during this weekend's
Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Out of four qualifying
attempts, the Cagnazzi team only made one full pass down the quarter-mile
under power.

During the first qualifying session, Enders encountered severe tire shake
which forced her to abort the run. Then during the second session, the car
was on a strong run when a mechanical problem kept the car from shifting
into fourth gear. Then on the third qualifying effort, a part failure caused
the motor to shut off abruptly before the finish line.

"On our last pass we hadn't got down any of the three previous runs, so it
was kinda do or die and we knew that," Enders said. "We gave the car
everything we thought it could take and it launched hard, and felt strong
through the first couple of gears. Then I hit a bump going down the track
and I could feel the car layover, I knew we were done right there."

Enders ran a 6.811 at 203.06 mph on that lap, which placed her 21st in the
field.

"Long term we are going to be fine," Enders said. "Victor (Cagnazzi, team
owner) has really put together a great group of people with a ton of
knowledge. Things should straighten up.

"We have improved, maybe not when you look at qualifying and stuff, but our
engine graphs, our horsepower, and our team chemistry is all better now. We
are just paying our dues right now, and I keep telling myself 'good things
come to those who wait'. So I'm waiting. and waiting, and waiting," Enders
said with a smile.

RICHIE STEVENS AND BOB GLIDDEN SQUEEZE IN SOME TESTING BEFORE TOPEKA

At first, they didn't think there would be time, but like any other determined driver/crew chief team, Richie Stevens Jr. and tuner Bob Glidden are fitting in some testing in St. Louis between last weekend's race in Columbus, Ohio, and this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.).

After eight races with Don Schumacher Racing driving the Team Mopar/Valspar HEMI-powered Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock teamed with Jeg Coughlin Jr., Stevens is pleased with the team's performance and is eager to get onto the quarter-mile in Topeka, where he was No. 1 qualifier in 1999.

"I think we're doing pretty good so far," said the New Orleans native.
"We've had a No. 1 qualifying spot this year (Phoenix), we made a final
round (Bristol), and we qualified both cars for every race. For me that's a
big accomplishment. To qualify one car at every race is a big deal, but to
get both of them in the field in every one has been a big, big plus."

Winning and moving to the front of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series are strong goals as well. "I feel like we are gaining ground," said Stevens, who is seventh in the point standings heading to Topeka. "We have good power, we have two good cars, and Bob is doing a great job tuning both cars. We keep making progress.

"We're testing today in St. Louis to try to get some clutch discs run in and
see if we can't just get a better grip on everything. We'll also gain some
data on the drag strip at Gateway Int'l Raceway, on which we'll race at in a
couple of weeks. That will definitely be a positive.

"We probably could have won the race in Bristol," said Stevens, who had lane
choice through each eliminations round, but fouled out in the final against
Warren Johnson. "I don't think winning a race is far out of reach for either
Jeg or me. If we can qualify well and go some rounds on Sunday and keep
gaining points, a win will come sooner than later, I believe, between the
two of us.

"We just need a have a little bit of luck, and we should be there.

"I haven't raced in Topeka since probably 2000, so I don't really know what
to expect as far as conditions are concerned. Everybody tells me the track
surface is really good. If I remember right, it was a pretty smooth track
and it's always been a great track.

"I want to win. I'm ready. We have eight races in, this is the ninth. We
definitely have all the kinks ironed out. It's time to get one now."

WJ Looks to Use Lessons Learned to Finish on Top in Topeka

The first of four blocks on the 2005 NHRA schedule containing races on three consecutive weekends come to a close with the running of this weekend’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals in Topeka. KS. It has been a long and arduous stretch, starting in Atlanta, GA and stopping in Columbus, Ohio, before arriving at Heartland Park Topeka.

With his early success, few people remember that the GM Performance Parts Pontiac with which Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson won two races and catapulted himself into the championship points lead was a completely new and untested vehicle at the start of the season. Therefore, after two No. 1 qualifying performances and a semifinal and quarter-final finish in the last two weeks, “The Professor” will look to continue the familiarization process and close the “Spring Swing” with a win.

“We’re finally starting to get a better handle on this GM Performance Parts Pontiac,” said Johnson. “It’s a standard production Haas car, with which we had never had any experience, so there was a lot for us to learn about it. Combine that with the ever-evolving DRCE III program, and the season has been one continuous learning process.

“For example, we were a little suspect in sixty feet at the beginning of the year, and began getting a grasp on it in Columbus. We had been hesitant to make wholesale changes prior to that, because we had abbreviated qualifying at some of the earlier races, which prevented us from trying new combinations, and we certainly were not going to experiment during eliminations.

“As a result, we’ve slowly started to hone in on better sixty-foot performance, until it started to bear fruit last week. I’d have to say it’s starting to come around.”

Over the last two weeks, the competitors in the POWERade Drag Racing Series have faced constantly changing weather conditions, which historically has been the norm at the Kansas quarter-mile With over sixty years of combined Pro Stock experience, the veteran Johnson crew is well versed on determining the necessary adjustments to extract the maximum performance from their naturally-aspirated hot rod. Having reached a working familiarity with their race car, they will now look to put it all together and celebrate Memorial Day weekend in the Topeka winner’s circle.

“The weather is usually the big story in Topeka, and you can virtually guarantee that we will have to deal some sort of wind,” stated Johnson. “Fortunately, one of this team’s strong points has been its ability to adapt to whatever we find when we get to a track.

“Running at this time of year, before it gets too hot, the racing surface shouldn’t be too bad. But as tight as the competition has become in Pro Stock, we have no room for error if we plan to win. Therefore, we’ll assess the weather when we arrive in Kansas, evaluate the track conditions and come up with a game plan. It’s a philosophy that has served us well for many years, so we should be in good shape this weekend, as long as we don’t see Dorothy and Toto.”

Critical point in the season sends Jeg testing

With eight national events in the books, Jeg Coughlin and his first-year race team, which was formed in the off-season by drag racing mogul Don Schumacher, are doing well. They've been a part of the POWERade top 10 for 75 percent of the season and they have a racecar that has successfully qualified for every national event.

But when your name is Coughlin and you have three world championships and 45 national event victories to your credit, it's hard to get overly excited about anything other than wins and series titles. It's been that way from the beginning for Coughlin, and now that the POWERade tour has hit the one-third pole, the 34-year-old's thoughts of running at the top are occupying more and more of his time.

"The first three-race swing is almost over and before you know it we'll be at the mid-season break," said Coughlin, who is currently 10th in the championship standings. "We're competing against the best in the world and that's never easy, but I know we have a car and team that can hang in there and make a run.

"We're going to St. Louis to test before this weekend's race in Topeka. We need to find one set-up that we can run eight times in a weekend and win the race with it. I don't want to leave St. Louis until we have that set-up. We all thought we'd be a little further along than we are. It's a pivotal point in the season for us. It's time to rise up."

Coughlin unofficially leads the league in close losses. He's seemingly had more than his share of close races go against him by the slenderest of margins, many times in the thousandths-of-a-second range. But he refuses to offer up and excuses.

"When we won championships for Jeg's Mail Order, we probably had more that our share of good luck so it all balances out," Coughlin said. "The thing is we need to qualify better and more consistently and run better on race day so that we have the edge when it comes down to inches deciding a race or a qualifying position."

A winner at Heartland Park Topeka in 2000, Coughlin enters the 17th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX with a chance to move up as high as fifth in the championship chase. He's currently just one and a half rounds out of sixth place as the standings continue to tighten.

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Columbus - Saturday

STEVENS ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND, MOVES TO SEVENTH IN POINTS

Richie Stevens Jr. moved into seventh place in
the 2005 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock division standings today, breaking the tie in eighth with his teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., after advancing to the quarterfinal round.

Stevens, in the Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T from Don Schumacher Racing, dismissed V. Gaines in the first round in a close match against his fellow Dodge competitor (6.766/204.08 vs. 6.796/203.00), but failed to earn lane choice against Kurt Johnson for the second round.

The New Orleans native had the edge over K.J. at the starting line,
launching .030 of a second quicker than his opponent. It looked good for
Stevens at half-track, but Johnson drove around him at the finish, winning
the round with a 6.750/204.42 pass to Stevens' losing 6.792/203.61. Margin
of victory: .0127 of a second.

"I left on him, but it just wasn't enough," said Stevens. "A .35 to his .62.
It looked like enough halfway down the track, but then he started pulling
away on the top end and went around me. It was close. But it wasn't close in
my favor.

"We had a good day. We qualified well (No. 7) and went to the second round.
We stayed alive in points and even moved up a spot."

DSR teammate Coughlin lost first round to Greg Anderson and fell to 10th in
the rankings.

"We were trying to keep it alive for the Dodge fans in the second round," he
added, "because we were the only one left, but it didn't go our way."

Lane choice may have contributed to Stevens' loss. "I think probably the
left lane was a tad bit better. We slowed up a little bit in the right. We
didn't make a picture perfect run, but we didn't make a bad run. I think the
left lane was definitely worth something, but Greg Anderson went a .75 in
the right lane against Warren Johnson. it's kind of a guesstimate, I guess.

"I think we're working in the right direction. The Team Mopar/Valspar
HEMI-powered Dodge has been great, we definitely have the power. But this
track was a little tricky this weekend. It kind of threw everybody for a
loop. So we'll do some more testing. I don't think we'll do any testing
before Topeka, but we'll go to Topeka and get that one down."

Stevens' record in Topeka includes a No. 1 qualifier in 1999. "Hopefully
we'll do well out there. I have a pretty good record there. We'll hope for
the best, and after Topeka we'll get some testing in."

Anderson's Pontiac Claims Fourth Consecutive Pro Stock Win At Columbus; Johnson's Chevy Cobalt Reaches First Finals in Only Third Race

When Pontiac Pro Stock driver Greg Anderson made his professional NHRA debut at National Trail Raceway in 1998, he had no idea that he would quickly come to own the quarter-mile track on the east side of Columbus, Ohio.

Today he drove his Summit Racing Pontiac to his fourth consecutive victory at the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing at National Trail Raceway, his second consecutive win this season. Anderson defeated Kurt Johnson, who qualified No. 2 in his ACDelco Chevy Cobalt with an elapsed time of 6.737 seconds at 204.35 mph to Johnson's 6.787 and 204.20 mph. It was Johnson's first final-round appearance of the season in only his third race in his new Chevy Cobalt, and amazingly he has reached the semifinals or better in all three races with his new Cobalt.

"I was so nervous before that first start at Columbus," said Anderson . "It was almost like an out-of-body deal. I almost felt like I didn't belong there with all of these people that I'd either worked with or watched race for all of these years, and here I was locking horns with them. It was a neat, neat deal. It was so special, but I hardly remember any of it because I was so nervous.

"And now, Columbus, Pontiac, and the Pontiac Performance Nationals, that seems to be what I'm all about. Every time one of my sponsors sponsors a race, I seem to run good. If I don't win it, I have a good showing. Either I need more sponsors or I need my sponsors to sponsor more races, one or the other."

"The track temperature went down 20 degrees before the final," said Johnson, "and even though we tried to compensate for it, we were still a little light in our clutch setting, and it cost us. That's one area of our program that has shown inconsistency throughout the year, so we will go back to our proven setup for the next race. Even so, this was a great weekend. In three races with our new ACDelco Chevy Cobalt, we've gone to a final and two semifinals, and climbed five spots in the points. We're getting closer. The car just keeps getting better, and with enough clutch it could have won today. Unfortunately, it just wasn't our day, so we'll take everything we've learned this weekend to Topeka and see if we can take that final step into the winner's circle."

For the second race in a row it was an all-GM Pro Stock semifinals as three-time defending event champion Anderson met Mike Edwards in a pair of Pontiacs in one semifinals, and for Johnson, reaching the semifinals for the third consecutive race since debuting his new ACDelco Chevy Cobalt, and Jason Line it was déjà vu as they staged a repeat of their semifinal contest last week at Atlanta with different results. Today Johnson got the best of Line to reach his first final of the season with an elapsed time of 6.750 seconds at 204.48 mph to a 6.778 and 202.67 for Line.

After light showers delayed the each class finals by a few hours, Anderson and Johnson settled in for their ninth career final-round with Johnson looking for a breakthrough win. Johnson had defeated Kenny Koretsky in Round 1, Richie Stevens in Round 2, and Line in the semifinals to reach the finals for the first time this season and 55th time in his career. Anderson bested Jeg Coughlin in Round 1, points leader Warren Johnson in Round 2, and Edwards in the semifinals to make his second consecutive money-round appearance.

"It was just a great day," said Anderson. "I really feel good. This is the first race really all year that we really ran well. We had great performance all day and got better every round. We haven't seen that out of this team this year. I can't tell you how proud I am of our team. We certainly dug ourselves in a hole to start out with, but we didn't give up. We got a little bit better every round all weekend, through the qualifying and through race day, and right now I'm pretty proud right now.

"This has always been a tough track to tame. Every time you come here it's hot, the track is greasy, and everybody complains about it. My teammate, Jason Line, hates to come here. He had his wreck here and he's scared to death to come here. Me, I love the place. It just seems like I can't do any wrong here. They changed the date on us and we knew it was going to be cooler, and the track was probably going to be faster because of that. I knew that might throw a wrench into my plans, but there's some kind of "mojo" going on here. I'm not quite sure what it is, but obviously it's great for me. We ought to race here three or four times a year as far as I'm concerned."

Season points leader Warren Johnson drove his GM Performance Parts Pontiac to his 134th career NHRA No. 1 qualifying position for today's eliminations, and he leaves Columbus with a 79-point lead over Anderson after 8 of 23 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing events.

In Funny Car, Cruz Pedregon in his Chevy Monte Carlo reached the semifinals for the second consecutive race, matching his result last week at Atlanta. Here at Columbus he defeated fellow Chevy driver Tommy Johnson Jr. in Round 1 and No. 2 qualifier Tim Wilkerson in Round 2 before losing to Gary Scelzi in a classic side-by-side semifinal duel. Scelzi had an elapsed time of 4.811 seconds at 322.65 mph to narrowly beat Pedregon's 4.812 e.t. and 324.36 mph. John Force went on to defeat Scelzi in the finals for his second consecutive win.

Tony Schumacher won Top Fuel by defeating Doug Kalitta in the finals with an elapsed time of 4.489 seconds at a new national record speed of 336.15 mph.

In the Sportsman ranks, Dan Fletcher of Churchville, N.Y., in a '69 Summit Racing Chevy Camaro won in Stock Eliminator, Steve Cohen of Trilby, Fla., won Super Gas in his '04 Grand Am, and Matthew Albright from Clyde, Ohio, won Super Street in his '66 Chevelle.

KJ Powers to a Runner-Up Finish in Columbus

ACDelco Driver Kurt Johnson added another page to his NHRA resume on Sunday, becoming the first Pro Stock driver to make a final round appearance with the new Chevrolet Cobalt during the final eliminations of the Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.

After qualifying second, Johnson used a very consistent performance to eliminate Kenny Koretsky and Richie Stevens in the opening rounds. The final obstacle between KJ and his first final round appearance of the 2005 season was No. 11 qualifier Jason Line. Using another solid 6.750-second, 204.48 mph run, Johnson trailered Line to reach the second championship round of his career at National Trail Raceway.

Facing rival Greg Anderson in the final without lane choice, Johnson knew he would need a nearly perfect run to score the 29th win of his career. Although he posted his best reaction time of the day to leave in conjunction with his opponent, KJ’s solid 6.787-second, 204.20 mph pass fell just shy of overcoming his opponent’s 6.737-second pass.

“The track temperature went down twenty degrees before the final, and even though we tried to compensate for it, we were still a little light in our clutch setting, and it cost us. That’s one area of our program that has show inconsistency throughout the year, so we will go back to our proven set-up for the next race.

“Even so, this was a great weekend. In three races with our new ACDelco Cobalt, we’ve gone to a final and two semifinals, and climbed five spots in the points. We’re getting closer. The car just keeps getting better, and with enough clutch it could have won today. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t our day, so we’ll take everything we’ve learned this weekend to Topeka and see if we can take that final step into the winner’s circle.”

Fluke Malfunction Occurs in Connolly's Close Quarterfinal Loss

Perhaps the easiest way to explain Dave Connolly's extremely close quarterfinal loss to Mike Edwards during Sunday's Pontiac Performance Nationals would be: a fluke.

The margin of victory was a mere two-thousandths of a second, but it shouldn't have been that close.

Crew chief Terry Adams wondered why the Bullet Motorsports Chevy Cobalt wiggled a bit going over a bump in the left lane, a bump that hadn't troubled the car before. It was a mystery for a few minutes, until the culprit was discovered.

"There's a switch on the steering wheel that turns on the shocks at the hit of the throttle," said Adams. "That switch vibrated loose and turned sideways so it couldn't engage the shocks," keeping the shocks from adjusting to the bump instead of reacting to it. "I've never seen anything like it in all my years of racing.

"It cost us at least one-hundredth of a second. It definitely could've been the thing that cost us the round win, if not the race win," added Adams, a veteran crew chief with more than 20 years experience.

Connolly, who started from the No. 5 position, beat Rickie Smith (6.741 seconds at 204.35 mph to 6.818 at 203.34 mph) before facing Edwards in a classic, side-by-side race. Edwards had one-thousandths of a second lead off the starting line (.037 to .038) and added another one-thousandth at the finish line for the winning margin, 6.783 seconds to 6.784.

"I've never heard of anything happening like that in my two and a half years in Pro Stock," Connolly said. "Some weird things have been happening, and it makes you shake your head. We definitely feel we have a good race car. We had the second-quickest car in the first round."

Only Warren Johnson's 6.736-second time was quicker.

Connolly is third in POWERade Series points with 550.

WJ Reaches the Second Round in Columbus

After being honored as the event’s Grand Marshal during pre-race ceremonies, Warren Johnson looked to double his winnings by taking home the Pro Stock title during Sunday’s final eliminations of the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.

Starting from the No. 1 position for the 134th time in his career, Johnson opened in fine fashion, recording the quickest pass of the first round in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac at 6.736-seconds to defeat Allen Johnson. This set the stage for a quarter-final encounter with rival Greg Anderson.
Although the two cars left the starting line close together and seemed evenly matched in the early stages, Johnson’s pace was slowed by unexpected tire spin midway through the run, resulting in a 6.774-second elapsed time, which allowed his opponent to narrowly edge by at the finish line.

Despite the premature ending to his day, Johnson was encouraged by being able to leave National Trail Raceway with the POWERade Championship points lead. In addition, his 6.723-second elapsed time and 205.13 mph top speed were the best in the Pro Stock category for the weekend, marking the 138th time he has posted the low elapsed time and 201st top speed of the meet in his illustrious career. Therefore, the veteran team will head to Topeka ready to regain their winning stride.

“We made a few adjustments to our GM Performance Parts Pontiac this morning, and had a really good run in the first round. Since the weather was the same for the second round, from the track temperature to the air density rating, we didn’t make a lot of changes for the second round.

“We were as quick as anyone to the 330-foot mark, but it got loose in the middle and spun the tires, which slowed us down just enough. In actuality, everyone slowed down in that round, unfortunately we just slowed down a little more.

“We’ll analyze the data, figure out what went wrong, fix it and go on to Topeka. We’re driving back to the shop tonight to get a head start on getting ready. The weekend was not a total loss by any means. We did get the car to go straighter than it has been in the first 330 feet, and consequently our sixty-foot times have been plummeting. We keep gaining on it every week, so it should only get better from here.”

Hometown heartbreaker for Jeg Coughlin

If NHRA drag races were won with fan support, than Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T driver Jeg Coughlin of nearby Delaware, Ohio, would have taken home the trophy at driver introductions. Unfortunately, Coughlin ran into red-hot reigning champ Greg Anderson in Sunday's opening round of the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals and just couldn't match-up to Anderson's best quarter-mile pass of the race.

With hundreds of family members, friends, and Jeg's Mail Order employees urging him on, Coughlin was beaten in the opening round when Anderson uncorked a 6.744 at 204.17 mph against Coughlin's 6.792 at 204.05 mph.

"There's not much to say other than Greg had the better car today and we got beat," Coughlin said. "It's disappointing in the fact that we're at home and so many people wanted us to do well. We wanted to show them all a good time and maybe even a winner's circle celebration but obviously that's going to have to wait.

"I continue to be impressed by the hard work of our two-car race team. My teammate Richie Stevens and I have identical racecars now and the results we've both been posting are more and more encouraging each week. Eight races into this arrangement with [team owner] Don Schumacher it's impossible to be anything but pleased. Of course, that's hard to say when we just lost a race."

Coughlin, a 45-time winner on the NHRA tour with three world titles to his credit, will now shift his attention to next weekend's Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. Coughlin won that race in 2000, the same year he won his first of two Pro Stock championships.

Columbus - Saturday

WJ Powers to the No. 1 Position in Columbus

Warren Johnson combined performance with research and development to capture the No. 1 starting position for Sunday’s final eliminations of the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. This is the 134th No. 1 position of Johnson’s stellar career, fourth of the 2005 season and ninth at National Trail Raceway.

After posting the quickest elapsed time during Friday’s opening sessions, the GM Performance Parts Pontiac driver came back on his first attempt on Saturday to take advantage of the improved conditions, resetting both ends of the Columbus track record with his 6.723-second, 205.10 mph pass. This allowed “The Professor” to edge his son Kurt, who had stepped up with a 6.724-second run of his own, for the top spot by one thousandth of a second.

With the afternoon’s warmer temperatures virtually guaranteeing him the top starting spot, W.J. took advantage of his final run to test a new combination under national event conditions. As a result, he bettered his own top speed mark with his 205.13 mph blast.

“We were rooting and digging out there this weekend,” said Johnson. “We came to Columbus with the idea of running this fourth DRCE III, which we had just completed earlier in the week. Since we felt the conditions on Friday would not be the best, we opted to use the new motor. To be honest, we were somewhat surprised to run low e.t. in the evening session.

“We then came back this morning, put our normal race motor in and proceeded to reclaim the No. 1 spot. On our last attempt, we went back to the original motor with new carburetors, and ran top speed of the meet so far. It seems to have a lot of potential, but still needs to be ironed out, so we’ll plug our proven combination back in for tomorrow and see what this GM Performance Parts Pontiac can do.”

This also marked the 33rd time in their careers that Johnson and his son Kurt qualified in the top two positions, having last accomplished this feat at the 2003 Houston race.

“From a team aspect, it’s very gratifying to be qualified in the top two spots,” stated Johnson. “Basically, it shows that Kurt and I are getting the most out of our particular cars, which is a testament to the hard work by both our teams here at the track, as well as the guys back at our shop in Sugar Hill. Today’s result is due to their diligence and dedication.”

Warren Johnson Drives GM Performance Parts Pontiac To 134th Career Raceday Pole; Professor Of Pro Stock Establishes E.T. And Speed Track Records

Warren Johnson captured his 134th career pole today at the 41st annual Pontiac Performance Nationals after setting both ends of the National Trail Raceway track record with a run of 6.723 seconds at 205.13 mph. It is the fourth time this season that the 61-year-old Georgia resident has claimed top qualifying honors, and the ninth time at this event including his first career pole in 1978. Johnson has more raceday poles than any professional driver in the history of the sport.

"For that last session we put a set of carburetors on the car that we hadn't run before," said Johnson. "Since we didn't feel we were going to get bumped off the pole we elected to gamble looking for another combination just in case we need it tomorrow. The speed on the last run was actually better than the first run this morning, so we know that engine with that particular set of carburetors runs good high rpm power. Now it's just a matter of figuring out exactly what the engine wants with that set of carburetors because it was really lazy from the 60 (foot marker) to 330, and from the 330 to the eighth-mile. Most of the e.t. is gained in the first eighth-mile so we have to work on that."

The change of date for the Pontiac Performance Nationals from June to May hasn't seemed to bother the six-time NHRA champion, as he ran the quickest elapsed time in two of the four sessions of time trials. The GM Performance Parts Pontiac driver has won this event four times (1985, 1999, 1999, 2001) and has been runner-up on five occasions (1976, 1986, 1991, 1995-96). This is also the 30th time that Warren Johnson and son Kurt have qualified one and two at a national event with Warren taking the top spot 23 times and Kurt seven times.

"We knew the conditions were going to be good this morning," said Johnson. "That's why we went back to a known combination we've already qualified No. 1 with at number of races this year. We felt that if the conditions were better then we'd improve incrementally in relation to everybody else and stay at the front of the pack.

"From a team aspect the fact that we've been one and two so many times means that both of us are getting about as much out of our particular cars that we possibly can. That's a result of all the guys in our program working with the kind of diligence that they do."

Kurt Johnson's ACDelco Chevy Cobalt will start Sunday's race from the No. 2 position after covering the quarter-mile in 6.724 seconds at 205.01 mph. It is the best qualifying effort thus far for the new Chevrolet since its introduction to NHRA Pro Stock at Bristol, Tenn., in April.

"We found a good spot in the car at Atlanta last Sunday but haven't had a chance to change it until this last run," said Johnson. "Then this Chevy Cobalt just took off. To go 6.723 in the heat like that, .991 to 60-foot, smooth as silk, we're pretty pleased. It's good to find a spot that you can run down a hot racetrack, or a cold racetrack, without making a lot of changes to the suspension, and you can just tune with the clutch and the gear. I think we got it - we're pretty pleased."

The new Chevy Cobalt Pro Stock cars continued to shine during day two of qualifying for the Pontiac Performance Nationals. Ron Krisher's Valvoline Chevrolet ended up in the third spot after a strong run of 6.736 seconds at 204.45 mph.

"We're a little upset," said Krisher. "We missed it a little bit this morning on transmission, and the last run we just got out of the lane, so it looks like we're going to be okay. We just got conservative, but nobody's really outrunning us by very much. The track was just its usual challenging self the first couple of rounds. It was hard to get down, but we got down it."

Mike Edwards Young Life Pontiac is qualified in the fourth position with a 6.741 e.t. at 204.45, and he'll start ahead of No. 5 qualifier Dave Connolly whose Chevy Cobalt ran an identical time as Edwards', but a slightly slower top speed at 204.26 mph.

"We've run good here," said Edwards. "Every one of our runs would've qualified, and I think our worst session was fifth for the round, maybe even fourth. We're happy. We missed it a little bit today with the tune-up, and then I tried some things in that last session, but we're happy. We made four really nice runs here and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

"Not only did we sneak in the field, we snuck in the top half," said Connolly. "We just keep trying things, picking away at this Cobalt. In fact, it's acting real good right now. (Grumpy) Jenkins went back and got his steam back, so it definitely helps with some horsepower under the hood and it really helped us out making better runs.

"You've got to put on a good show," added Connolly who's from Elyria, Ohio, and calls National Trail Raceway home. "We've got lots of friends and family here, so hopefully we can put it in the winner's circle for them tomorrow."

Greg Anderson has the Summit Racing Pontiac qualified in the No. 8 position with a run of 6.751 seconds at 204.45 mph and teammate Jason Line is qualified 11th in a Pontiac.

"We've been busy so far this weekend," said Anderson. "We've been changing motors, changing parts on the car, just doing a lot of things to try and catch up with the racetrack. And we did hurt a motor, so it's been a busy weekend. The good thing about it is that the last qualifying round we made we were closer to the top than we've been on any other run, so that shows we're going in the right direction and that's the encouraging part. The part that's a little bit bothersome is that we haven't done it quicker than the last try, and we didn't qualify where we needed to qualify. We've got one car on the bottom of the ladder and one in the right in the middle, so that's the discouraging part. But it did show that we're on the upswing, and we think we're learning what this track wants. Hopefully tomorrow, first round, we'll have a better setup than we had today. If it continues like it is, we think we're gaining on what it needs out there."

Rickie Smith is 12th in a Chevrolet and Jim Yates will start tomorrow's race from the No. 13 spot. The bump was 6.774 seconds and all 16 qualified Pro Stock cars finished under the previous track record of 6.790 seconds.

KJ Steps Up, Will Start Second in Columbus

Kurt Johnson completed an impressive qualifying effort on Saturday at the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, posting two of the three quickest passes of the day. In the morning session, Johnson’s ACDelco Cobalt blasted through the quarter-mile in 6.724 seconds with a top speed of 205.01 mph, missing the top qualifying position (which, ironically, was held by his father, Warren Johnson) by one thousandth of a second.

Johnson then came back on his final run in the heat of the day to show he was ready for Sunday’s final eliminations, recording a 6.737-second elapsed time, quickest of the session among the 26 cars making an attempt.

“The ACDelco Cobalt was better today than it has ever been,” I believe we found the sweet spot in Atlanta, and we’ve continued in that direction this weekend. We made some changes this afternoon to test a few things in the heat, and it really panned out.

“I was really pleased to go .991 in sixty feet on a 109 degree race track, and the run was as smooth as silk. The graph looks good, the clutch looks good, everything looks good. We’re trying not to get too excited because anything can happen tomorrow. From the first round against Kenny (Koretsky) on, we’ll be racing some very good cars, so we all have to make sure we do our jobs. Fortunately, we know we have a great race car in our ACDelco Cobalt.”

STEVENS QUALIFIES SEVENTH IN OHIO

After four solid Pro Stock qualifying runs for the NHRA Nationals at National Trail Raceway, Richie Stevens Jr. is No. 7 in the field of 16, based on the 6.748-second pass at 204.51 mph he posted in the third qualifying round today in relatively cool conditions.

The final session, in the heat of a 70-degree-plus day, produced a 6.750-second pass at 204.29 mph, the second quickest of that round for the Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock.

"Not a bad run at all. We were second for the session," said the New Orleans native who has qualified for each of the eight races so far in his first season with Don Schumacher Racing, including a No. 1 in Phoenix. "I was hoping we could pick up a little. It was out there. I think we were still a little bit light in the clutch area, but that was not a bad run.

"Second for the session definitely shows that we're ready for tomorrow. We have V. Gaines in the first round. We'll give it a shot. We have lane choice and I don't think that's all that important this weekend because both lanes seem to be pretty equal.

"We're here on another Sunday and we have both cars in, Jeggie and myself, and we're ready to roll."

Stevens' teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. qualified No. 9 and faces Greg Anderson in first round of final eliminations on Sunday.

Jeg Coughlin to battle familiar foe in Round 1

A pair of two-time POWERade Pro Stock champions, Jeg Coughlin and Greg Anderson, will meet up for the third time this year when the elimination rounds of the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals begin Sunday morning. The two pros, sponsored by rival mail order parts companies, will likely be the first pair of Pro Stock cars on the racetrack at National Trail Raceway as they qualified in the eighth and ninth positions.

Despite sunshine and increased temperatures, Coughlin managed to improve his previously posted numbers by a considerable margin Saturday morning. His 6.759 at 203.55 mph in the Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T was two hundredths of a second quicker than his Friday night pass.

"We're in the field and ready to do battle," Coughlin said. "Today was a 'lesson's learned' kind of deal. The conditions changed quite a bit from yesterday to today. We went from almost too cold to get down the track to the usual hot conditions we have had here in the past. It was a day of adapting to change and I'm pleased with the way the Jeg's Mail Order team responded."

Although he improved his elapsed time Saturday, Coughlin actually slipped four spots on the elimination ladder to the No. 9 position, meaning he'll yield lane choice to Anderson, who qualified eighth with a 6.751 at 204.45 mph. The two have split their first two races this season. Last year, Anderson beat Coughlin five times en route to his second POWERade title.

"We didn't make perfect passes in either of our runs today," Coughlin said. "We'll be doing plenty of investigating tonight to see how we can improve this car and get it ready to run Greg tomorrow. Greg had our number last year, but he had everyone's number last year. We've split our two races this year so we're certainly closer to his performance than we were last year. The fact we're eighth and ninth tells me we're close. It'll be a driver's race and we'll do what we can to take the win light."

Columbus - Friday

Jeg Coughlin cruises on opening day

Much to the delight of a partisan hometown crowd, Jeg Coughlin proved he had one of the quickest race cars in the Pro Stock category Friday by posting two of the quickest passes of opening day. Coughlin opened with a third-best 6.783-second run at 203.09 mph and improved to a 6.771 at 203.98 mph to finish Day 1 of the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals a lofty fifth in the standings.

"That was a pretty good start for us," Coughlin said. "But there's some room to improve. We see a few areas we can tweak and get this Jeg's car to run quicker and hopefully move up the pack. Who knows what the weather will bring but I'm confident that if it's better conditions, we'll be ready to take advantage of them."

Tune-ups were at a premium as cool temperatures wreaked havoc for many crew chiefs. Only a handful of nitro-powered cars managed to get down National Trail Raceway and many of the Pro Stockers were equally perplexed. But Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T crew chief Bob Glidden, a veteran racer with 10 NHRA title and 85 event victories, including nine here in Columbus, knew how to handle the conditions.

"Bob's the best," Coughlin said. "He's seen it all and he's done it all. Pro Stock cars love it when it's cool like this but sometimes you can over try too hard or go up there too soft. I think we saw a little of that today. Some people weren't expecting it to be this good. But we've tested a lot here and Bob's been racing here for years so we were ready."

Pontiacs Set Pro Stock E.T And Speed Track Records At National Trail Raceway

The change of date for the Pontiac Performance Nationals from June to May hasn't seemed to bother six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson. The driver of the GM Performance Parts Pontiac captured the provisional pole for Sunday's eliminator after setting the National Trail Raceway elapsed-time track record today with a run of 6.749 seconds at 204.46 mph.

"We actually lost the first run when we had a throttle linkage malfunction," said Johnson. "We were basically operating on one carburetor, and part of the other one so consequently the power level wasn't where it needed to be. It shook the tires on the burnout, and on that first run we didn't have a computer, so there was some malfunction as far as the engine rpm input was concerned. When you don't have the engine rpm input, consequently you don't get any of the other information.

"Even though Kurt was the No. 1 qualifier going into that session we really didn't look at his run. We did use Kurt's (Johnson) setup from some testing we'd done at Atlanta Dragway with the Cobalt and we felt this would be an ideal opportunity to try it. I can't say it was perfect in my car but it was pretty decent. For us we had a pretty good 60-foot time and from there the GM Performance Parts Pontiac ran pretty smoothly."

The 61-year-old Johnson has already earned top qualifying honors at three of the first seven races this season and has been the No. 1 qualifier at this event eight times, including the first of his 133 career pole awards in 1978.

"The air conditions can actually support better times than what we ran here tonight," said Johnson. "The track, with all the rain on it, I think everybody is just a little intimidated. They don't really want throw everything at it because if you go over the edge, you get no run at all, you can get up to the edge and make a pretty decent run. We just don't know how far we can go on this particular racetrack but it is pretty good considering all the rain that was on it.

"I can't say that we're the car to beat. When you look at how the category has tightened up this year, the top half of the field is so close that any one of those cars could jump up and be No. 1. We're happy with the performance we have but we're certainly not sitting on our laurels. We have to work a lot harder because we know everyone else is."

Mike Edwards has the Young Life Pontiac qualified in the No. 2 position, ..003 of a second behind Warren Johnson's category leading car after running 6.752 seconds at a track-record top speed of 204.85 mph.

"That's a good start, a good start to the weekend," said Edwards. "We made two really nice runs today, so we're happy about that. Most of it's because of Frank (Iaconio). He's got my motor program to where it's the best stuff I've ever had since I've been racing. Just glad to be hooked up with him, and I just want to say thanks to all of my guys - Al, Josh, and Don, and everybody involved, especially Pontiac for all of their support. I'd also like to thank Mac Tools, A.R.T., Just everybody that's been a big help to me. But it's a good start, and now we've got to build on that. Hopefully tomorrow we can get better, and then we need to go some rounds on Sunday. That's what we're looking for. We're ecstatic about how we're running. We've got a good car. Now I just hope the driver shows up on Sunday."

Kurt Johnson has the quickest Chevy Cobalt in the field and is qualified in the No. 3 spot after running 6.761 seconds at 204.26 mph. Ron Krisher is fourth in a Cobalt with a 6.767 e.t. at 203.98 mph.

"We're pretty pleased," said Johnson. "On the 6.76 run, the car kind of bogged so it didn't feel like it was as quick as it was. I thought it was a 6.86, so to be No. 1 after that pass, we had big expectations for our second run tonight. We thought we could tune up the ACDelco Cobalt and easily run a 6.74, but that just wasn't the case. We're only .015 of a second off the lead, and that doesn't sound like much but that's the difference between winning and losing. We can't see anything that's telling us why we ran slow tonight, but a 6.76, 6.77, quit whining, we're happy."

WJ Rolls to the No. 1 Position on Friday in Columbus

On paper, the first day of qualifying at the Pontiac Performance Nationals seemed to be a routine affair for Warren Johnson and the GM Performance Parts Pontiac Racing Team. Their 6.749-second, 204.48 mph pass in the evening session placed them atop the 26-car Pro Stock field. However, making this accomplishment even more impressive were the trials and tribulations the veteran crew had to overcome in order to determine the set-up that allowed them to make that particular run.

“We had a few problems on our first run that could have had an adverse effect on the evening session. We had a malfunction with the throttle linkage which prevented the second carburetor from fully opening, which was compounded by our not getting any computer data from the run. Therefore, we pretty much had to wing it for our second attempt.

“We actually made a significant amount of changes based on something Kurt (Johnson’s son and driver of the ACDelco Cobalt) had done with his car in testing. Considering our predicament, we felt it was a good time to try it, and fortunately, it seems to have worked well enough to place us in the No. 1 position at the moment. Overall, I was pleased. It was a good, straight run, and our sixty foot time was back in the hunt, so I think we’re getting this GM Performance Parts Pontiac to where it needs to be.”

KJ Starts Strong, Sits Third Midway Through Columbus Time Trials

ACDelco Cobalt pilot Kurt Johnson made the most of his two attempts during the first day of qualifying at the Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. After opening with a class-leading 6.761-second, 204.26 mph pass, KJ came back on his second run to record a consistent 6.775-second elapsed time. This placed the second-generation racer in the third position entering Saturday’s final sessions. Although pleased with his effort, Johnson was already looking for ways to improve even further.

“We’re certainly pleased with our ACDelco Cobalt’s consistency, but seeing what Dad’s car (Warren Johnson, who currently sits No.1) ran tells us we should have been up in the 6.75 range tonight. Looking at the data, it was just a little off to the 330-foot mark, and that was the difference. It was probably a couple minor items that we’ll look to address tomorrow.

“However, it’s encouraging that we’re able to make good, consistent runs on a cold racetrack. If it’s warmer tomorrow, we’ll make a few changes and see if we can learn a little more about what this car wants, as well as trying to pick up the pace.”

Columbus - Preview

Under pressure, Jeg Coughlin hopes to please

Pressure is a part of drag racing. There is the pressure of lining up your car against the best drivers in the world. There is the pressure of keeping your engine program up to par with the other teams. There is the pressure of maintaining your focus through a 23-race season. There is the pressure of traveling and being away from home.

But perhaps the biggest pressure of all is the one that will be faced by three-time series champion Jeg Coughlin when he brings his Jeg's Mail Order Dodge Stratus R/T to National Trail Raceway for the 41st annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals - the pressure of racing at home.

Every drag racer has to deal with it at some point. For Coughlin, a race in his backyard means a pit-full of old high school and college friends, the massive extended Coughlin family, and hundreds of employees from Jeg's Mail Order, who all live in the greater Columbus area and support their favorite driver with gusto.

"It's always a great deal of fun because this is the race all your friends and family come out to and they're always fired-up for the event," Coughlin said.
"There is a certain level of pressure that comes with that because, although you want to win every race you enter no matter where it might be, you tend to really push yourself extra hard at home because you want everyone to have the best time possible."

Coughlin came through big in 1998 when he scored his first hometown win as a professional in his first full year behind the wheel. He followed that victory up with a strong runner-up showing the following season.

"We know what it takes to win here," Coughlin said. "My crew chief, Bob Glidden, has nine wins at this track, way more than anyone else in any professional category so it'll be a big advantage to lean on his expertise and experience.

"Both of our team cars are running really strong now. Richie [Stevens, his teammate at Don Schumacher Racing] and I have both had our moments this year and we couldn't be happier with where our program is at the moment. You have to remember, this group was assembled in a very short amount of time in the off-season. We're still growing.

"Will I feel some pressure this weekend? You bet. But I've always prided myself on being able to turn that pressure into a positive driving force."
The Coughlin name has been synonymous with winning at what the family and local fans describe as their "home track". The four Coughlin brothers have combined to win 8 NHRA national event titles at National Trail Raceway.

STEVENS SEEKS GOOD RESULTS IN TEAMMATE'S HOMETOWN

Don Schumacher Racing teammates Richie Stevens Jr. and Jeg Coughlin Jr. are tied in eighth position in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock point standings as the series travels to National Trail Raceway this weekend. This track is just outside of Columbus, Ohio, Coughlin's hometown, and hosts the eighth round of the 23-event schedule and the second of three back-to-back events.

"This is Jeggie's home race and we'd like to show well here, now that we're teammates," said Stevens, who's a New Orleans native and is driving the Bob Glidden-tuned Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T in his first season with DSR.

Stevens, who was runner-up in Bristol, Tenn., on May 1, was bitten by the weather conditions last weekend at Atlanta Dragway, losing in the first round after the rain showers cleared. Although he had lane choice as the No. 8 qualifier, he was in the first pairing to go down the quarter-mile after the track was dried, and feels he may have selected the wrong lane for the conditions.

"We'd like to get past first round this weekend," he laughed. "We qualified really well in Atlanta. I'm happy any time we get in the top half. We had four good runs during qualifying, but on Sunday we just chose the wrong lane. We had lane choice, but we were the first pair down and we didn't really get a chance to watch any other Pro Stock cars run before us. We just picked the wrong one.

Warren Johnson Looks to Marshal a Win in Columbus

Throughout his illustrious career, GM Performance Parts Pontiac pilot Warren Johnson has accomplished just about everything one could as a competitor in the NHRA’s POWERade Drag Racing Series. A six-time Pro Stock champion, his 94 wins are the most in the history of the category, and his 133 No. 1 qualifying performances lead all professional categories. In addition,

“The Professor” has set numerous records and has been responsible for various innovations, with the most recent being the third generation General Motors Drag Racing Competition Engine (DRCE III), which only he and his son Kurt are currently using in competition.

However, at this weekend’s Pontiac Performance Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, Johnson will experience something completely new, as he has been named the event’s Grand Marshal.

“I guess they’ve found another hat for me to wear in this sport,” joked Johnson. “I’m not quite sure what the position entails, but I guess we’ll be able to live through it. One thing is for certain – it will be different than anything else I’ve experienced at a racetrack, and that’s saying something. In all seriousness, I do appreciate Pontiac for recognizing me in this fashion, but I hope they understand that my attention will be focused elsewhere throughout the weekend.”

Ever the opportunist, Johnson sees an extra benefit in this latest honor, as it offers him the potential of adding yet another distinction to his stellar racing resume. Considering the combination of his four prior wins in the Buckeye State and his GM Performance Parts Pontiac’s strong performance in the season’s first seven races, the possibility of being the first Grand Marshal to pull his race car into the winner’s circle certainly exists. However, as he readily admits, the assignment is not an easy one.

“I’m not sure if a Grand Marshal has ever won the race he was honored in,” said Johnson. “I guess I can see it as yet another challenge, although the racing surface in Columbus in itself a stern test.

“National Trail Raceway has always been somewhat of an anomaly on the NHRA circuit. You never run as fast as the weather conditions, the track elevation and the racing surface indicate you should run. Part of that may have been due to our running there in the summer, when it was hot and muggy.

“Now that we have returned to racing in Columbus in the spring, we will have to see how it affects the performance in all categories. If the weather cooperates, I believe you will see everyone pick up. Of course, we are all dealing out of the same deck, so we’ll just go there and see what we can do.”
This race will also mark the first time in 2005 that the straight-line set will be racing on consecutive weekends. Although the short week puts extra pressure on the teams, it poses an advantage for those competitors who have a handle on their race car. With two wins, three final rounds and six semi-final finishes in the first seven races, WJ is therefore looking forward to getting back on track this weekend.

“If you have a race car that is relatively predictable, it certainly eases the decision making process when you look to improve its performance,” explained Johnson. “Therefore, when racing on back-to-back weekends, it is a plus to have a consistent race car. Fortunately, our GM Performance Parts Pontiac has been responding well to our adjustments, even as we continue to learn its performance parameters. Therefore, I believe we should be in pretty good shape in Columbus. After all, I plan on being the fastest Grand Marshal this race has ever seen!”

KJ Zeroes In on a Winning Combination for Columbus

For the first time during the 2005 season, the POWERade Drag Racing Series will be competing on consecutive weekends, heading to Columbus, Ohio immediately after the race in Atlanta. Under normal circumstances, this presents a tremendous challenge for the race teams, as they must perform their between-race maintenance and complete the travel to the next event in the space of a few days.

However, this assignment takes on added significance for Kurt Johnson and his crew as they prepare for this weekend’s Pontiac Performance Nationals. As only the third national event with their new ACDelco Cobalt, the team’s database remains extremely limited, especially when considering the varying weather conditions encountered over the last two events. In addition, the compressed schedule prevents additional testing which could help answer any questions.

Therefore, the team will continue to walk a fine line during this weekend’s race, combining their competitive efforts with their pursuit of additional knowledge of their still unfamiliar race car.

“Naturally, we can use all the information we can gather on this new ACDelco Cobalt, making every run that much more important,” said Johnson. “Unfortunately, when you have back-to-back races, there’s no time for testing, so we have been forced to try things in qualifying.

“It’s certainly not the best way to do things, and you never want to jeopardize your chances for Sunday, but at this point, we really don’t have an option. We are still working on determining its exact tuning window, for which we need time on the track.

“So far it seems to like an ugly, slippery race track, and should we encounter those conditions in Columbus, we can certainly tune for it. However, we still need to figure out exactly what it needs to run on a good racing surface. Right now, it wants to wheel stand, which means it has too much bite. Fortunately, as we go through the learning curve, we know we have the power to run up front once we get things straightened out, so we’re not too concerned.”
One fact further fueling Johnson’s motivation for this weekend’s race is that National Trail Raceway is one of the few stops on the NHRA circuit where he has yet to reach the winner’s circle.

“They repaved Columbus last year, and the surface didn’t really come around until Sunday,” said Johnson. “Hopefully, this year it will be good right off the bat. Of course, a lot will have to do with how it is prepared. The date change should also help, because when we raced here in June we could run into either very hot weather or rain.

“I was the runner-up there as a rookie in 1993, but have yet to win. However, I think it’s time for this crew to change our ways and park this ACDelco Cobalt in the winner’s circle. It’ll take a combination of everyone on the team doing their job and a little luck, but I’m confident we can get it done.”

It's Homecoming for Dave Connolly, Bullet Motorsports Team at Columbus

It's homecoming time for Dave Connolly and the Bullet Motorsports Pro Stock drag racing team this weekend at National Trail Raceway, in nearby Kirkersville, site of the Pontiac Performance Nationals.

Connolly's hometown is Elyria, Ohio, and team owner Mike Dzurilla bases the team in Mansfield, Ohio, where Dzurilla also owns Mansfield Speedway.

They wouldn't mind saying, "There's no place like home," Sunday evening in the winner's circle, either. It's a scenario that would help assuage some of the disappointment of not qualifying last week at Atlanta.

"We need to redeem ourselves," said Connolly, who was barely nudged out of the starting lineup by 13-hundredths of a mile an hour. "We consider National Trail to be Bullet's home track. It's just one hour from the shop. We want to come back and do well there."

This is the track where Connolly made it to the finals a year ago, where he made many laps while driving in NHRA Sportsman categories, and where he expects to have a large following of friends and fans from northern Ohio cheering for him Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"We definitely don't want a performance like the one we had last weekend," Connolly said. "It was just one of those deals where we didn't make one good run during qualifying, but we'll put things together and come back stronger."

A traction problem on Connolly's final qualifying attempt at Atlanta forced the 22-year-old driver to abort the run, preventing him from qualifying for the Southern Nationals. At the time, he was second in POWERade Series points, 50 behind Warren Johnson.

When the rain-troubled race was completed Sunday night, Connolly was still second (496 points), although the margin between he and Johnson is now 118 points.

There was the usual amount of dejection Saturday, but there was a much stronger dose of determination. There was no need to dwell on the past. The next race is just a few days away.

Connolly has won twice this year (Pomona, Calif., and Las Vegas) and finished second once. He was the No. 1 qualifier at Bristol, Tenn. He was a three-time winner last year in eight final rounds.

Connolly drove the team's new Chevrolet Cobalt last weekend, but noted it wasn't the car's fault he didn't qualify.

"The car cooperated," he said, "but there was a little bit of everything going wrong. We didn't make good runs and Grump's (engine builder Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins) motors were down on power a little bit and they'd been good all year. We are going to put everything together and come back stronger.

"We never thought in a million years that we wouldn't qualify. We've never had a question about qualifying. It's usually about whether we're going to win or not."

"There's no quit in us," said crew chief Terry Adams. "We'll keep fighting. Mike Dzurilla wants to win races . . . we all do. We'll be back. Grump took both race motors back to his shop. We'll be OK if we get a little power back."

Pawuk Gearing Up For Pontiac Nationals

After a disappointing outing at the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway this past weekend, Mark "Cowboy" Pawuk is already looking towards this coming weekend’s Pontiac Performance Nationals presented by Summit Racing at National Trail Raceway in Ohio.

"Even though the race dates have changed over the years, when qualifying begins on Friday afternoon it’ll be my 21st ‘birthday’ in Pro Stock," Pawuk said from his office at Empaco Equipment Corporation. "I wish I could look back on the first 20 years of my professional drag racing career and see the kind of numbers that Bob Glidden and Warren Johnson have put up, but even though I’ve never come close to their Hall of Fame-type careers, I’ve never been discouraged. I’ve always felt that I’ve given drag racing a 100% effort, and our team is going to continue to do that as long as we’re racing.

"We’re really excited about this week for a number of reasons. Without question it’s the single busiest seven day period of the year for our team. The rig is on the way back from Atlanta so we can go through our engines quickly, and we definitely need to do that. We ran better in Atlanta than we have in the last few weeks, but it still wasn’t good enough, so there’s more work to be done in the engine shop.

"While that’s going on we’re also getting ready to host the employees of Ohio CAT and the CAT Rental Stores at National Trail Raceway this weekend. Through Empaco we’ve had a long term relationship with Ohio CAT and the CAT Rental Stores because we regularly use Caterpillar construction machinery in our work. Ohio CAT provides exceptional service and products, and we couldn’t be happier about the fact that they’ve signed on as sponsors for this coming weekend’s race. Ohio CAT and the CAT Rental Stores include 18 branches, mostly in Ohio, and about 950 employees, and with a rooting section like that I think we’ll be looking pretty good."
In addition to hosting Ohio CAT at the track, Pawuk and his Pontiac Grand Am will also appear at the annual Dave Gil Pontiac Autograph Party on Columbus’ East Side on Wednesday evening just a few hours after he participates in the event’s press conference at the track. On Thursday Pawuk and a number of other drivers will make their annual visit to Columbus Children’s Hospital, an outing "The Cowboy" is looking forward to.

"All it takes is one glance at the face of a youngster who’s fighting his way through a major physical problem to put everything we do into perspective," said Pawuk. "The kids are amazingly responsive, and I think the other drivers share my feeling that we actually get as much out of our annual visit as do the youngsters."

Following the outing at Children’s Hospital Pawuk will head back out to the track where he’ll assist with the running of the Corporate Challenge, a race matching members of the aftermarket, sponsorship and media communities with fresh-off-the-showroom-floor 2005 Pontiacs in special drag race. "I get a kick out of working the Challenge races," admits Pawuk. "For a lot of the participants the Challenge is their first real drag race, and even though the cars aren’t as fast as my Pro Stock Grand Am, they get at least a taste of how tough our sport really is, at any level."
From Friday through Sunday it’ll be all business for Pawuk and his team.

"This is an important race for us," he admits. "We’re determined to perform well in front of our supporters from Pontiac, Summit, Mr. Heater and Ohio CAT.

"Yeah, you could definitely say this is a high pressure weekend!"

Jim Yates Looking for Success at National Trail Raceway

Jim Yates and his fellow Pro Stock drivers go into this weekend's Pontiac Performance Nationals at National Trail Raceway, in nearby Hebron, with few tuning notes on a track that's hosted a NHRA national event since 1972.

Nothing has changed at the track. It's still in the same place, and the racing surface hasn't been altered in any way. The primary difference: This is the first time the event will be contested in May. Tired of fighting inclement weather in the first few weeks of June, NHRA officials opted to switch.

"Typically, Columbus has always been a hot, slippery race track," said Yates, who has two second-place finishes (1994, 1998) and two low qualifier awards (1997-98) to show for 15 visits.

"A lot of cars have run good there, but we haven't been able to put anything together yet. Some drivers are good, some are lucky and some are neither when it comes to success at the different tracks on the circuit.

"Maybe we're due for a change in fortune."

That may coincide with what Yates described as a successful test session Monday at Atlanta Dragway.

"