WJ: THERE ARE NO BAD WINS OR GOOD LOSSES
Mon, 2010-05-03 15:30
Rain fell all three days throughout the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway 
International Raceway [GIR] except in one place – the pit space assigned to Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.
Johnson, 66, from Buford, Ga., officially ended his drought Sunday afternoon. Under the threat of rain showers, Johnson essentially soloed for his first national event victory since 2006 when Jeg Coughlin Jr. broke on the starting line. The St. Louis victory marked the 97th of his career.
“Today presented one of those scenarios where everyone else did something wrong and we were just cruising,” said Johnson during the event’s post-race press conference. “It’s a case where you are going to every so often, have everything just go your way. Lots of times it doesn’t happen, so you take the good with the bad.”
Rain fell all three days throughout the NHRA Midwest Nationals at GatewayInternational Raceway [GIR] except in one place – the pit space assigned to Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.
Johnson, 66, from Buford, Ga., officially ended his drought Sunday afternoon. Under the threat of rain showers, Johnson essentially soloed for his first national event victory since 2006 when Jeg Coughlin Jr. broke on the starting line. The St. Louis victory marked the 97th of his career.
“Today presented one of those scenarios where everyone else did something wrong and we were just cruising,” said Johnson during the event’s post-race press conference. “It’s a case where you are going to every so often, have everything just go your way. Lots of times it doesn’t happen, so you take the good with the bad.”
Just one round before topping Coughlin, Johnson scored another improbable victory when Mike Edwards broke before his burnout. In WJ’s world there’s no such thing as a good loss or a bad win.
“If you’re diligent enough and keep your nose to the grindstone it’s going to happen,” said Johnson. “You get off on a performance tangent where you are a little off-center … it becomes a matter of just finding yourself back. We’re slowly crawling ourselves back. We can see the corner; we just can’t see which way it is going right now.”
Johnson certainly hasn’t been working any less in the time since his last victory and understands the competition has been hard at work as well.
“A lot of the guys have picked up a significant amount of performance,” Johnson said. “We were off a little bit and maybe we experimented a little too much. That’s the learning curve and maybe one day we will be back on top of it. This is just evolution.”
During the dry spell a lesser driver might have lost interest and waned in their effort. For the veteran Johnson, quitting was not an option. The reality that drag racing is his livelihood inspired him to keep forging ahead.
“If you’re going to make it at the level you want to be, you have to be diligent about it,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, it looks foolhardy to do it the way we do … at the same time, all of the people at the shop and all of the sponsors who have been behind us over the years – those are the people who deserve [the win].
“K&N has been with us going on four years and they stuck with us even though we had some obvious lean times. I truly appreciate that.”
Johnson’s victory at GIR marked his third career win at the facility, tying him with son Kurt.
International Raceway [GIR] except in one place – the pit space assigned to Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.Johnson, 66, from Buford, Ga., officially ended his drought Sunday afternoon. Under the threat of rain showers, Johnson essentially soloed for his first national event victory since 2006 when Jeg Coughlin Jr. broke on the starting line. The St. Louis victory marked the 97th of his career.
“Today presented one of those scenarios where everyone else did something wrong and we were just cruising,” said Johnson during the event’s post-race press conference. “It’s a case where you are going to every so often, have everything just go your way. Lots of times it doesn’t happen, so you take the good with the bad.”
Rain fell all three days throughout the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway [GIR] except in one place – the pit space assigned to Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.Johnson, 66, from Buford, Ga., officially ended his drought Sunday afternoon. Under the threat of rain showers, Johnson essentially soloed for his first national event victory since 2006 when Jeg Coughlin Jr. broke on the starting line. The St. Louis victory marked the 97th of his career.
“Today presented one of those scenarios where everyone else did something wrong and we were just cruising,” said Johnson during the event’s post-race press conference. “It’s a case where you are going to every so often, have everything just go your way. Lots of times it doesn’t happen, so you take the good with the bad.”
Just one round before topping Coughlin, Johnson scored another improbable victory when Mike Edwards broke before his burnout. In WJ’s world there’s no such thing as a good loss or a bad win.
“If you’re diligent enough and keep your nose to the grindstone it’s going to happen,” said Johnson. “You get off on a performance tangent where you are a little off-center … it becomes a matter of just finding yourself back. We’re slowly crawling ourselves back. We can see the corner; we just can’t see which way it is going right now.”
Johnson certainly hasn’t been working any less in the time since his last victory and understands the competition has been hard at work as well.
“A lot of the guys have picked up a significant amount of performance,” Johnson said. “We were off a little bit and maybe we experimented a little too much. That’s the learning curve and maybe one day we will be back on top of it. This is just evolution.”
During the dry spell a lesser driver might have lost interest and waned in their effort. For the veteran Johnson, quitting was not an option. The reality that drag racing is his livelihood inspired him to keep forging ahead.
“If you’re going to make it at the level you want to be, you have to be diligent about it,” Johnson said. “A lot of times, it looks foolhardy to do it the way we do … at the same time, all of the people at the shop and all of the sponsors who have been behind us over the years – those are the people who deserve [the win].
“K&N has been with us going on four years and they stuck with us even though we had some obvious lean times. I truly appreciate that.”
Johnson’s victory at GIR marked his third career win at the facility, tying him with son Kurt.
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