THE WARREN REPORT: 1998 Season Review
CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION
Warren Johnson received applause, accolades, and a $125,000 bonus check atthe NHRA Winston Championship Awards Ceremony at the Cerritos Center forthe Performing Arts on November 17. After runner-up finishes in 1996 and1997, Johnson was crowned the Pro Stock champion for the fourth time inthe last seven seasons.
"This trophy is almost taller than I am," Johnson quipped as heaccepted the prize. "What a difference a year makes. I knew we had thenucleus of a winning team this season if we were willing to make thecommitment and sacrifice. The crew at the shop gave us the parts we neededand my crew chief Mike Stryker let me concentrate on driving. GMGoodwrench Service Plus, ACDelco, GM Performance Parts, and Pontiacprovided the consistent support that we needed to win consistently. I alsohave to thank my wife Arlene and son Kurt for putting up with me when Igot too focused on racing."
Johnson's 1998 campaign was one for the record book. The Professor wasat the head of the Pro Stock class in every performance category. In 22events, he had the most wins (9), the most final-round appearances (12),the most No. 1 qualifying positions (13), the most Low ET's (13), and themost Top Speeds (21).
WINSTON FINALS WRAP-UP
Johnson obliterated the Pomona Raceway track records in qualifying for theseason-ending Winston Finals. He posted the first 6.8-second elapsed timeand the first 200 mph run in the track's history when his GM GoodwrenchService Plus Pontiac stopped the timers at 6.891 seconds and 201.02 mph inthe first qualifying session. Warren eclipsed the two-year-old event e.t.record by .066 seconds and bettered the event speed record by almost threemiles per hour. He now holds the speed record at every event on the NHRAcircuit.
Johnson defeated Troy Coughlin in the first round of eliminations andTom Martino in the second stanza. He advanced to the semi-final round forthe 16th time in 1998 where he faced Jeg Coughlin, Jr. Coughlin won therace on a holeshot, 6.946 to 6.932.
"I don't know whether we've got a bad batch of clutch discs, but wecan't seem to get them to function like they did earlier this year," Warren reported. "Now we've got a couple of days off before the new seasonbegins, so we'll get it figured out before we come back to Pomona."
THE KURT CHRONICLES
Three was the number for Kurt Johnson at the Winston Finals. Kurt came toPomona Raceway aiming for his third win of the season, and qualified hisACDelco Camaro in the No. 3 spot at 6.914/199.55 mph. "We won this racelast year, so we know we can do it," said Kurt, "but there are 15 otherguys out there who want to win, too!"
Kurt set the pace in the first round of eliminations, defeating JohnNobile with the quickest e.t. of the round at 6.928 seconds and thefastest speed at 199.64 mph. In the second round of racing, K.J. was upsetby Richie Stevens, 6.959 to 6.965.
"We just made a poor run, and Richie made a good run," Kurt confided."You've got to give him credit." Rookie Stevens went on to defeat JegCoughlin in the final round to score his first national event win of hiscareer.
A loss by Jim Yates in the second round assured Kurt of his secondconsecutive third-place finish in the points standings. Kurt has finishedin the Top 5 in the championship for six straight years, and his Camarowill carry the number "3" again in 1999.
"Well, at least we don't have to put new numbers on the car nextyear," Kurt noted.
POMONA POST-RACE NOTES
* Warren topped 200 mph on three of his four qualifying runs at theWinston Finals. He has now posted 25 of the 28 Pro Stock passes at over200 mph in NHRA history; no other driver has broken the 200 mph barriermore than once.
* W.J. ended the season with the 17 fastest Pro Stock speeds, ranging fromhis record-setting 201.34 mph run at the Texas Motorplex to a 200.40 mphpass in Gainesville, Fla. Ray Franks has the 18th fastest speed at 200.22mph.
WRENCH OF THE YEAR
Mike Stryker, crew chief for W.J.'s GM Goodwrench Service Plus Pontiac,won the Parts America "Mechanic of the Year" award in a runaway. Strykerearned 182 points in the season-long competition, the highest total amongcrew chiefs in NHRA's five professional classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, ProStock, Pro Stock Bike, and Pro Stock Truck). He received a check for$62,500 at the NHRA Winston Awards Ceremony.
"I want to thank Warren for having confidence in me," said Stryker,"and I thank my teammates for all their help. I also have to thank my wifefor letting me go to the races all year!"
Jeff Perley, crew chief for Kurt Johnson's ACDelco Camaro, was thirdin the Pro Stock "Mechanic of the Year" standings with 82 points.
SEASON STATS
* Warren and Kurt Johnson dominated the Pro Stock division in 1998. In 22races, the father-and-son team tallied 11 wins (50%) and made 17final-round appearances. The pair squared off in final rounds in Seattleand Memphis; W.J. won both intramural contests.
* The Johnsons claimed a total of 16 No. 1 qualifying spots (73%) andnotched 15 low elapsed times (68%). W.J. horsepower monopolized the TopSpeed chart: Kurt had the fastest speed at the VisionAire NorthStarNationals in Brainerd, Minn. Warren was the fastest Pro Stock driver atthe other 21 races on the NHRA tour.
* Warren competed in 69 rounds of racing in 1998, posting a 56-13 win-lossrecord (81% winning average). He won two rounds on holeshots, and wonthree rounds when his opponent redlighted. He lost twice due to breakageand red-lighted once after a clutch malfunction. W.J. lost three timeswith a quicker e.t. than his opponent - a significant improvement over his13 holeshot losses in 1997.
* The Johnsons were the only Pro Stock drivers to qualify at every eventin 1998. W.J. never qualified lower than eighth; his average qualifyingposition was 2.27. Kurt's average qualifying spot was 4.41.
WARREN'S WORDS: LOOKING BACK
When did Warren begin to think that he could win the championship? "Ithought we had a shot at winning the title after we tested in Tucsonbefore the start of the season. We knew we had a fast race car that hadthe potential to produce a championship."
What was the highlight of his season? "I never look at any one race asbeing more significant than another. Every round pays the same points. Ifyou win four rounds, you win the race. If you win enough races, you winthe championship. We bring the same intensity to every race regardless ofthe results."
Did the year go as he expected? "I predicted at the beginning of theseason that we would have problems when the weather turned hot and steamy. That's pretty much how it worked out because we didn't have any data onhow to run this car under those conditions. At the race in St. Louis, weclearly had the car to beat, but we broke an air line fitting. You have nocontrol over those kinds of things."
LOOKING AHEAD
What are Warren's plans for 1999? "Rick Jones will refurbish the car thatwon the championship, and we'll have a new Jones car for next season aswell. Our plan is to compare the two cars in the GM wind tunnel and thentest them both in Tucson before the start of the season. We'll show up atthe Winternationals with what we think is the best race horse."
What will W.J. concentrate on during the off-season? "We're hot and heavyon trying to build more power so we can get serious about this. Enginedevelopment has taken a back seat over the last two years while we'veworked on chassis development. The engine I ran this season was originallybuilt in 1995. It's got the same cam and cylinder heads that we ran threeyears ago.
"Now that we have a race car that can handle the horsepower, we can goback to work on the engines. We also have 1,320 new transmission gears inprocess which will give us a wider selection of gear ratios for varioustrack conditions." What will he have to do to repeat as champion in 1999?"We have to be better than we were this year - in all areas."
W.J.'s 1998 RECORD Warren Johnson had a winning record against every ProStock driver he faced in NHRA competition in 1998:
Opponent Won-Lost Alderman 1-0 Allen 1-1 Anderson 2-0 Benza 1-0 Collins1-0 Coughlin, J. 6-5 Coughlin, T. 2-0 Edwards 2-2 Gaines 2-0 Geoffrion1-0 Grant 1-0 Johnson, K. 3-0 Krisher 1-0 Marnell 2-0 Martino 6-1 Morgan2-1 Nobile 3-0 Osborne 4-1 Patrick 1-0 Pawuk 3-0 Schmidt 2-1 Stevens 2-0Thomas 1-1 Williams 1-0 Yates 5-0
Overall 56-13
NEXT RACE: AutoZone Winternationals February 4-7, 1999 Pomona, Calif. TV: ESPN2, Sunday, February 7, 9:30-11:30 p.m. Eastern
LAST RACE: NHRA Winston Finals November 15, 1998 Pomona, Calif.
Qualifying: Warren Johnson qualified No. 1 at 6.891/201.02 mph KurtJohnson qualified No. 3 at 6.914/199.55 mph
Eliminations: Round 1: Warren defeated Troy Coughlin Kurt defeated JohnNobile Round 2: Warren defeated Tom Martino Richie Stevens defeated KurtSemi-Final: Jeg Coughlin, Jr. defeated Warren Final Round: Richie Stevensdefeated Jeg Coughlin, Jr.
Low ET: Warren Johnson, 6.891 seconds (track record) Top Speed: WarrenJohnson, 201.02 mph (track record)
POINTS RACE: FINAL PRO STOCK STANDINGS (after 22 of 22 events) DriverWins Points 1. Warren Johnson 9 1973 2. Jeg Coughlin 4 1533 -440 3. KurtJohnson 2 1416 -557 4. Jim Yates 1 1390 -583 5. Mark Osborne 1 1066 -907
