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Gainesville NHRA Friday Chevy Notes

6 March 1998

PRO STOCK

KURT JOHNSON, ACDELCO CAMARO Z28 (No. 1 qualifier, 6.944/198.58) -- the quickest and fastaest runs by a Chevrolet in Pro Stock. Kurt has been working on adapting his Camaro Z28 body to the chassis this season. "It's been kind of a scramble. We qualified 11th at Pomona, fourth in Phoenix an now we're on the pole and fighting to stay on the pole. Things are picking up with the Chevrolet Camaro, that's for sure." ON THE TRACK SURFACE: "The track has been a little bit tricky out there. I remember when Dad (Warren Johnson) won here in '84; he was in the left lane, and it threw up against the guardrial after the finish line. My car made the same kind of move here last year, and then again today on the first run. The sunshine will probably deteriorate the rubber and the elevated track temperatures will kill the traction up there. It looks a lot easier from the grandstands."

FUNNY CAR

RON CAPPS, COPENHAGEN CAMARO Z28, (No. 6 qualifier, 5.048/290.88): (Ron won the Chief Auto Parts Winternationals in the 1997 Camaro body). Capps has two 1998 bodies here at Gainesville, with a third one being mounted. "The third one will be shipped to our shops in Indianapolis where it will remain as a spare," said Leong. The Camaro bodies are built by Hairy Glass in Jacksonville, Fla. CAPPS, ON THE '98 CAMARO BODY: "It's really, really cool. It's like a completely different car. I heard Etchells' was glad his vision was a lot better going from his Dodge to his Camaro as far as seeing the track. Even from the '97 to the '98 body there's a big difference around the blower. The window seems to come down lower, and I can see the track better. It feels like there's more area in the cockpit and I can hear the echo of the motor better."

CHUCK ETCHELLS, KENDALL/MA MA ROSA'S PIZZA/SUPERWINCH CAMARO Z28 (No. 2 qualifier, 4.965/311.20). Chuck had low e.t. in this morning's session. ON LOSING THE POLE TO TONY PEDREGON: "That doesn't really bother me. We stayed number two and that put John Force (Pedregon's teammate) No. 4. The first thing we're thinking is if it would rain tomorrow, Tony and John would be on the same side of the ladder (on Sunday), and one of them would lose. We're good right where we are, a really good position. If we run tomorrow it won't hold. There are too many good cars that will run better than that." WHEN CRUZ PEDREGON DID THE 4.96 YOUR CREW STARTED TO WORK ON YOUR CAR: "They went into the box behind the fuel tank with all the clutch mechanisms. They changed the jet to make the clutch more aggressive because they thought the track would take it." WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN TONY PEDREGON THEN RAN THE 4.92? "We expected that. We were behind Tony in the staging lanes and after John made his run (4.978), they all but changed the engine in Tony's car, they changed so many things. They got information from John's run, changed jets and the weight on the clutch. I expeccted to see a big number from them."

CHEVY KICKS OFF CAMARO HERITAGE TOUR . . . The Camaro Heritage Tour, an evolution of last year's Camaro Anniversary Tour, kicked off last weekend and runs through Feb. 28, 1999. It made its debut at "Carnival," a GM-sponsored activity in South Beach, Miami, that celebrated Miami's Hispanic heritage. This traveling exhibit will feature a product display, a cutaway LS1 all-aluminum Gen III engine (Corvette); a 3800 Series V6 engine display (Monte Carlo and Camaro); Camaro Racing USA video game; heritage wall showing 2-3 pictures of every year of Camaro's 31-year history, with interesting facts and figures; an NHRA drivers' wall featuring Camaro's three Pro-Stock drivers, two Funny Car drivers and two Top Fuel drivers; a Goodyear Tire display; cold air balloon and Camaro merchandise and collectibles. Focus vehicles include the 1967 Replica Indy Pace Car, the 1970 Z28 and the 1982 and 1993 Indy pace cars. The purpose of the tour is to gain exposure for Camaro and to create retail selling opportunities for Camaro across the country.

"Few cars at GM have such a deep and abiding heritage as Camaro," said Scott Settlemire, assistant brand manager-marketing for Camaro. "Camaro has remained true to its brand character and is really the purest of the breed. This tour allows Chevrolet to support many of the hundreds of Camaro clubs across the country, as well as allowing dealers to host a turnkey function in order to increase floor traffic."