NHRA: The Warren Report: Northstar Nationals Edition
21 August 1998
WARREN JOHNSON NEWS AND NOTES for the NHRA VisionAireNorthstar Nationals
Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 21-23
* WARREN'S WORDS
"I want this championship just as bad as I wanted the first one. I'm just as hungry and determined. This is how I make my living. If there are any crumbs left on the table, I'm going to take them!"
* HOW THE WEST WAS WON
Warren Johnson came out of the three-race "Western Swing" with a commanding 294-point lead (15 rounds) over Jeg Coughlin, Jr. in the race for the Winston championship. W.J. utterly dominated the series that took the NHRA tour to Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle on three successive weekends.
Johnson advanced to the final round in all three races. He was runner-up to Coughlin in Denver, and scored back-to-back wins in Sonoma (over V. Gaines) and Seattle (over his son Kurt). Johnson was the No. 1 qualifier at all three races, and set track records for elapsed time and top speed at every event. Warren tallied 334 out of a possible 354 points in the three-race series.
"I'd have to say this was our best 'Western Swing,'" said Johnson. "We came to Denver with a 139-point lead, and left Seattle 294 points in front."
* NUMBER ONE ON THE CHARTS
With his 69th career victory at the Prolong Northwest Nationals, Johnson became the winningest active driver in NHRA competition. He moved ahead of seven-time Funny Car champion John Force, who has 68 career wins. Only Bob Glidden, who retired in 1997 with 85 wins, has more victories than W.J.
"It may be possible to eclipse Bob's total number of wins, but I don't
think anyone will ever match his ten championships," Warren conceded. "To win ten championships in this day and age is next to impossible. When Bob was in his prime, he was racing against fields that were two or three tenths of a second behind him. That doesn't exist now. We have 16 cars that qualify within four or five hundredths of a second. But you have to give Glidden credit. He was tenacious enough and had the work ethic to achieve those records."
* BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
The final round of the Northwest Nationals was an intramural contest between Warren's GM Goodwrench Service Plus Pontiac and the ACDelco Camaro driven by his 35-year-old son, Kurt. In was the 32nd time that the two have raced in national event competition, and the ninth time the Johnsons have squared off in a final round. Warren was first off the starting line with a quicker reaction time (.499 to .541 seconds) and he stretched his advantage at the finish line with a quicker e.t. (6.967 vs. 6.990 seconds).
With lane choice in the final round, Warren put Kurt in the difficult position of having to stare into the sun to see the Christmas Tree. "At that time of day, the sun is almost directly behind the Tree," Warren explained.
"You can hardly see the lights in the right-hand lane, so I put him there. I guarantee he would have done the same thing to me if he had lane choice!"
* MAN ON A MISSION
Kurt Johnson continued his steady climb in the championship standings on the Western Swing. A semi-final finish in Denver and a runner-up in Seattle boosted him to within 46 points of second-ranked Jeg Coughlin, Jr. with eight races remaining on the schedule.
"I think there's time left for us to climb up to No. 2 in the points race," Kurt predicted. "You always want to go for No. 1, but Dad's way out in front right now!"
In 1993, the Johnsons became the first father-and-son to finish 1-2 in the Winston championship. W.J. believes they have a good chance to repeat that feat. "Our mission right now is to finish first and second in the championship, and I think we have the equipment to do that," Warren reports. "We just have to keep our focus on what we're doing."
* 200 MPH RECORD CHANGER
Three years ago, Warren Johnson set the Seattle International Raceway track records at 6.964/197.93 mph -- the oldest marks in the NHRA record book. With the help of a refurbished track surface and favorable weather conditions, Johnson obliterated those records with SIR's first 6.8-second e.t. (6.884) and its first 200 mph run (200.53) in the third qualifying session.
Warren now holds the elapsed time record at 13 of the 22 events on the NHRA schedule; Jim Yates is a distant second with five e.t. records, and Kurt Johnson is third with three. In the top speed department, it's no contest: Warren holds 19 out of 22 event speed records!
Johnson came within a heartbeat of eclipsing his 6.873-second national elapsed time record at SIR. "On the 6.88 run, I felt the engine start to tighten up and clutched it early," Warren noted. "If I'd been under power all the way to finish line, I think it would have been a 6.86."
Johnson's 200.53 mph pass was the 16th time he has exceeded 200 mph in national event competition. Three other drivers--Kurt Johnson, Jeg Coughlin, and Ray Franks--have each made one 200 mph run.
* ALL-STAR TEAM
Car Craft Magazine has announced the finalists for the 1998 All-Star Drag Racing Team. Warren Johnson is the only finalist in two categories: he's up for All-Star honors in "Pro Stock Driver" and "Pro Stock Engine Builder." W.J. has previously been named the "Driver of the Year" in 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1996. In 1993, he was honored as the "Person of the Year."
GM Performance Parts is a finalist in the "Pro Stock Sponsor" category. The winners will be announced at an awards banquet at the Westin Hotel in Indianapolis on September 5 in conjunction with the U.S. Nationals.
* NORTHSTAR NATIONALS HIGHLIGHTS
The Northstar Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway is a homecoming for Warren Johnson, who was raised in Minnesota. He has four wins in 16 previous races for a 25% winning average at BIR. Surprisingly, W.J. has never been a runner-up at the Northstar Nationals.
Kurt Johnson is the defending Pro Stock champion at Brainerd. He defeated Jim Yates in last year's final to end the frustration of four runner-up finishes in 1997. K.J.'s victory in Minnesota started a hot streak that carried him to his second straight U.S. Nationals title two weeks later in Indianapolis.
* NORTHSTAR NATIONALS RECORDS
Warren Johnson's year-by-year results at the Northstar Nationals:
Year Qualified Result
1982 3 Second Round
1983 4 Semi-final
1984 3 Winner (over Shepherd)
1985 3 Semi-final
1986 3 First Round
1987 7 Semi-final
1988 2 Semi-final
1989 16 First Round
1990 3 Semi-final
1991 1 Second Round
1992 2 Semi-final
1993 2 Winner (over Morgan)
1994 2 Second Round
1995 2 Winner (over Yates)
1996 2 Winner (over Schmidt)
1997 1 Semi-final
Total 16
Wins 4
Runners-up 0
Semi-Finals 7
Second Round 3
First Round 2
Kurt Johnson's year-by-year results at the Northstar Nationals:
Year Qualified Result
1993 3 Semi-Final
1994 7 First Round
1995 5 Second Round
1996 10 First Round
1997 3 Winner (over Yates)
