Make no doubt about it, placing your name among the esteemed roll of drivers who have won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is an accomplishment that contributes to a distinguished racing career, and if you are one of the few NHRA competitors with multiple Indy victories, then you have gained admittance to a prestigious club that becomes even more exclusive. Since the inception of the Pro Stock class in 1970, only seven drivers in that division have won more than once at Indianapolis, and only six have won in successive seasons – ACDelco's Kurt Johnson's name can be found in both categories.

Johnson scored his first victory at the "Big Go" in 1996 with round wins over Chuck Harris, Tom Martino and Jim Yates before defeating Rickie Smith in the final round. The following year, Johnson ran the table at Indianapolis, earning No. 1 qualifying honors, setting low e.t. and top speed of the meet and completing the weekend sweep with a final-round victory over V. Gaines. Those wins at Indianapolis are two races the Buford, Ga., resident remembers well.

Make no doubt about it, placing your name among the esteemed roll of drivers who have won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is an accomplishment that contributes to a distinguished racing career, and if you are one of the few NHRA competitors with multiple Indy victories, then you have gained admittance to a prestigious club that becomes even more exclusive. Since the inception of the Pro Stock class in 1970, only seven drivers in that division have won more than once at Indianapolis, and only six have won in successive seasons – ACDelco's Kurt Johnson's name can be found in both categories.

Johnson scored his first victory at the "Big Go" in 1996 with round wins over Chuck Harris, Tom Martino and Jim Yates before defeating Rickie Smith in the final round. The following year, Johnson ran the table at Indianapolis, earning No. 1 qualifying honors, setting low e.t. and top speed of the meet and completing the weekend sweep with a final-round victory over V. Gaines. Those wins at Indianapolis are two races the Buford, Ga., resident remembers well.

"I remember letting the clutch out and getting to the finish line," Johnson said of his first victory at the U.S. Nationals. "I remember everything about that run. It seems that you always remember everything about the really, really good runs, and everything about the really, really bad ones. When we got down to the stripe the difference was only two-thousandths of a second and that was enough. We did everything we needed to do and luckily we were on the winning end of that game.

"Even though we ran well at Indy in '97, the race wasn't that easy. I wasn't on my driving game until the semifinals and that's when everything kind of came together. In the final against V. Gaines, I was still second off the line, but we ended up getting there first, and that's what mattered."

In addition to his back-to-back wins, Johnson was No. 1 qualifier and runner-up to Greg Anderson in 2003, and during the last two years at O'Reilly Raceway Park, the ACDelco driver has qualified No. 5 and advanced to the semifinals.

"Since it's Indy, and with the Countdown just around the corner, everyone seems to be working a little bit harder and everyone seems to be pumped up and ready to go," Johnson said. "The U.S. Nationals is a long race that finishes up on Labor Day – our big event. Everyone goes to Indianapolis with their best equipment and loaded for bear. Everything is done right, and to go there and win on Monday is a career highlight you never forget, especially if you've never done it before. There's nothing like it.

"Right now there are 36 cars entered for Pro Stock, and with that many cars there are going to be one or two that make a home-run hit to squeeze into that No. 14, 15 or 16 spot. That's not where we want to be. We want to be up at the top so we don't get bit, and that's what we're planning on."

This unique four-day event for the Pro classes means extra track time for the Pro competitors, and five rounds of qualifying including an early-evening session right out of the box on Friday night.

"It helps whenever you can hit a home run right off the bat, and be quick and at the top of the pack," said Johnson of the Friday-night qualifying round. "I wouldn't say it's pressure – it's exciting more than anything. There's a packed grandstand, a lot of sponsors, and the excitement level is way up –it's just fun.

"It helps everybody when you get more runs on the track where you're trying to win a race; you have to be ready when you get there. That one extra run isn’t going to make you or break you. Like any national event, it's about being prepared prior to rolling in the gate, and then making the right calls."

Coming into this year's contest, the 46-year-old veteran driver is eighth in the Full Throttle standings and needs to make just one qualifying pass to clinch a spot in the Countdown to 1 for the top 10 in the standings. It would be Johnson's 17th consecutive top-10 finish, the longest streak among active Pro Stock drivers, and among all active Pro drivers, second only to John Force's 25 straight years with a top-10 finish.

"We want to get in the winner's circle," Johnson said. "When you're a racer and you're as competitive as we are, that's what it's all about. I feel that sometimes there's a little luck involved, and there are times when you use it all up at the beginning of the season and don't have any at the end. Well I think it's going to be a different situation for us this year. We're going to have a little luck, we're going to run better and I think things are going to come together on a positive note. That's what I'm hoping for. We also know it's not all about luck, and that mostly, it's a lot of hard work. We've definitely been busting our butt trying to put this car in the winner's circle, and for some reason that hasn't happened yet."

As the first stage of the Full Throttle season enters its final contest, the ACDelco driver is hoping for a win at Indianapolis that would serve as a springboard into the championship phase of the 2009 campaign.

"The biggest thing is track time," Johnson said. "In order to get these cars to go faster you have to spend endless dollars renting race tracks and burning up parts, and that's what it's all about, to look at that e.t. slip. They don't print an e.t. slip here in the dyno room and they don’t print an e.t. slip in the assembly room where you put your car together. It's about being at the track, getting hooked up and going A to B."


 

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