MONSTER ENERGY FUNNY CAR TEAM MAKES VALIANT EFFORT AT ATLANTA

COMMERCE, Ga. (April 26) -- Despite a gallant effort by the Monster Energy Funny Car team, at the end of Saturday’s qualifying sessions they fell just .054-seconds short of the top 16 that would transfer to Sunday’s Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals elimination field at Atlanta Dragway.

Crew chief Jimmy Walsh made countless adjustments over the course of the two days with minimal results.

“I came here with a positive attitude to try to beat this racetrack,” said driver Tommy Johnson, Jr. “We gave it a good fight. We went down the track every run. But the Funny Car class is so tough and so close that if you do have a problem throughout the weekend then you’re really in trouble. With as many cars as there are, there is no room for error right now. When there’s a glitch in the system, your back is against the wall.

“It’s frustrating to know you have such a good team and we have some little problem we just can’t seem to find. We’ll keep after it until we do figure it out.”

The NHRA circuit heads to St. Louis for the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals May 2-4 where the Monster Energy team will continue to battle back.