KJ's First Day with His New Car Nets a Seventh in Brainerd

BRAINERD, Minn. (8/11/06) -- Kurt Johnson had a successful first day of competition with his new ACDelco Cobalt, making two solid passes during Friday's first day of qualifying for the Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, MN. After opening with a 6.802-second, 202.45 mph attempt in the afternoon session at Brainerd International Raceway, Johnson came back in the early evening with an even better 6.770-second, 203.68 mph pass to claim the seventh position midway through the qualifying procedure.

"This ACDelco Cobalt has a totally different combination from what the other car had, and it's fighting me a little bit. For example, we've made a few adjustments and it's still wanting to pull to the right. Even so, it made a pretty decent run tonight, and if we can improve in the bottom half, we should be in good shape. For example, we were off a couple hundredths in the first three hundred feet alone, and if we're able to pick that up, that .77 becomes a .75. It's just a matter of executing, so we'll make some changes to see if we can fix this thing and put it at the top of the chart."