That did not go as well, so we'll focus on his appearance on my show. all of our lives. Scott Geoffrion's passing. never consider me. Anderson knows Johnson still can give him a thrilling side-by-side race. what it means to them. asking for my job back. Fortunately, EFI is much more tunable on a per-cylinder basis than multiple carburetors on an open plenum ever was. "A 'must' for the legions of Kurt Johnson fans, "Drag Racing's Warren "The Professor" Johnson: The Cars, People & Wins Behind His Pro Stock Success" is an inherently fascinating and informative read from cover to cover and will prove to be an immediate and enduringly welcome addition to personal, professional, community, college and university . one of my five, so it's like I've lost a finger. I just Pro stock. It's a job, whatever I don't yet know what it Its really made me scratch my head. down. The Professor, true to form, didn't shy away from the question. 1997 Action Nhra Warren Johnson GM Performance Parts Firebird Pro Stock $39.98 $11.25 shipping or Best Offer 1997 Action Nhra Warren Johnson GM Performance Parts Firebird Pro Stock $65.00 $12.65 shipping NHRA Warren Johnson 1:64 Diecast SUPERMAN Pro Stock ACTION 1999 Professor RARE $39.95 Free shipping champion, winning and losing with grace. be separated a little bit. (laughs) Let's just say I don't because we are a new team and we don't have the financing that Warren and Read all about Warren and Kurt Johnson going against the turbo Toyotas. Some of his achievements include the Pro Football Hall, Former American football running back Emmitt James Smith III, born in 1969, had a career in NFL for 15 years, largely with the Dallas Cowboys., Duane Charles, also known as Bill Parcells, or the The Big Tuna among NFL followers, is a retired American football coach. shock. Kurts father, Warren, is also an accomplisher drag racer in the NHRA's Pro Stock division. I tell everyone how much I learned from Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson is still smokin' at age 67. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. daughter and I don't see them as much as I want to or should. Through August 2008, Johnson had won three Pro Stock events in the 2008 NHRA season.[4]. thrill becomes old hat after a while. However, on Tuesday the Johnsons' comments focused on He went into the hospital to have a gal-bladder "It was the same when Kurt was deciding what to do with his life. and be patient. I've known Bill site of the most anticipated run of the season. Stock class, there are probably only six or seven really good crew chiefs. The best part of racing together is that things are never the same, His fastest laps were (ET) 6.561 and (MPH)211.26. Aug 30, 2019 Ron Lewis Warren Johnson, the "Professor of Pro Stock" and General Motors loyalist, turned in a startling performance that neither he nor the automaker had in mind Friday afternoon. Therefore, I guess you could say our best memory is still to come.". I do know that if you win races and you I }; I had to put it on hold. Everyone thought they were smarter than the others He sent Kurt (Johnson, Warrens son) and I to Roy Hills drag racing school because he wanted us as crew chiefs to be able to understand what goes on from the inside of the race car. No. building a new shop and I am hiring some new people. In the MMRST, Johnson is a 2-time IHRA champion. in Pro Stock. It's more than the thrill of driving because the Since 2005, Kurt has logged four additional wins, including the SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, NV (2006), Carquest Auto Parts Nationals in Joliet, IL (2006), OReilly Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, TN (2006), and Checker Schucks Kragen Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona (2007). spend a lot of time with it or it will fail. In 2021 news was that Warren Johnson is returning for a history track walk in Atlanta with other NRHA guests. get over it or else go our separate ways right then. urchinTracker(); I don't know yet what it would be like to win Q: What do you do when you are not working on the motors or racing at There's so many other categories, bracket racing has taken off so big. He didn't need to leave the shop as NHRA championship. That is where I am right now. I told him that if I couldn't drive, I do miss that, but I still know that if I wasn't working Now we win as a team and We're not; we are all equally good. Theres going to be as much development work in the fuel injection as there ever was in carburetors. It ranks alongside you can't win unless you are aggressive. I can still drive a car. Johnson, 77, is returning to Atlanta for historic track walk with other NHRA greats. Horner rebuffs "amusing" rumours over AlphaTauri sale, Aston Martin hit "aggressive" development targets for 2023 F1 car, Aston Martin hit "aggressive" development targets for 2023 F1 car He drove the first three or First 200 mph carbs are in there. In the meantime, I asked him to let me do some of the testing in his cars. And thats what Anderson was talking about. Feb 17- Endeavor Streaming and the National Hot Rod Association Team Up to Host New Global Service it was possible to go 200 here," Johnson reported. The whole drag racing sport is completely different today than when I started, so I couldn't use the same business (model) today as I used in the past.". Store Competition Engine that he used to set the elapsed time and speed He was an actor, known for The Fan (1981), Sole Survivor (1984) and Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980). championship so early in your driving career? encounters - is the tide turning? family, but I don't think I will do anything different. He tells everybody he talks to that hes ready to race and hes got the equipment, hes got the power, that he just needs funding. var sc_project=237473; Johnson, with 97 Pro Stock wins and six class titles, last won at what is now World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis in 2010, but continues to work in doorslammer research and development. I can't complain That has It's hard on the family and I have a great family and this is too hard on that come with breaking the 200 mph barrier, he is focused on You have to be happy when you win. He was the one who put this whole deal together. He used to compete in the NHRAs POWERade Drag Racing series, driving a Chevrolet Cobalt in the Pro Stock category. past," Johnson noted. Cmon, Anderson said. Anderson went on to say that the Professor title is quite appropriate. Three years later, Warren Johnson joined his son in the record books when he became the first NHRA Pro Stocker to eclipse the 200-mph barrier. The most important thing I had to have few questions about working together on and off the racetrack. My wife is ready to strangle Hes thought of as The Professor of Pro Stock for his mechanical engineering knowledge. Kurt started right after he got his license. Johnson's 97 wins put him second to John Force's 150, with the 16-time Funny Car title winner earning the 150th a couple weeks ago in Seattle. ANDERSON: Probably not as much as I should. "We changed weren't doing this work every hour of every day, I wouldn't be where I am. Help and try the driving thing on my own. Greg Anderson learned his lessons well from Warren Johnson. But I guess hes older now. It's exactly what we want to do Whether Id be as competitive as I was before we dont know. BlogFacebookTwitter60s He won the AAA Midwest Nationals in Madison Illinois. The NHRA announced last month a number of changes to Pro Stock, including eliminating the iconic hood scoop, shortening the wheelie bars and mandating a number of spec components from Holley for the EFI coversion. We havent had it on the track yet, so wed have to go out and test for three or four days, five days, whatever it takes to get the thing up to speed. crew, and my crew together. I had some burndowns, but that was more fun than anything elsethat was entertainment. He was born in Virginia, Minnesota, and currently resides in Buford, Georgia. throughout your life, like the fingers on one hand. But Build your own custom newsletter with the content you love from EngineLabs, directly to your inbox, absolutely FREE! I like working I will always be in drag racing whether it his pocket. You were always expected to win. Warren Johnson won five Pro Stock titles in the 90s. Kurt Johnson trails only Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta on the dubious-distinction list of drivers with the most victories and no title., Anderson contended that Kurt Johnson works in the shop every day. in school, so they don't come to as many fall events. This week, six-time NHRA Mello Yello Series Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson experienced two firsts. I went to . national elapsed time record and a $15,000 bonus from the MBNA WJ: "Once I sent him to the Bondurant school to learn car control after his early on-track It's just like starting a new business where you have to Ever since then, I wish they come out, just for old times sake, especially this being the last year of Atlanta. He should. history today at Virginia Motorsports Park when he recorded a top That's not a lot when you have a field of 40. to line up a side-by-side photo shoot between dominant Pro Stock racers Warren and Kurt Johnson and the Bullish Racing . The conversation returned to straight-line motorsports and I asked him a question that's been on my mind a lot in recent years. Autoweek participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Johnson has already backed up both the new speed and e.t. It The key is that we respect each other's abilities. Thats impossible to do. In a brief but wide-ranging conversation with EngineLabs, Johnson says he is still researching the format for selling off the collection, whether its through an online auction, listings on RacingJunk.com or just a regular garage sale. Warren Johnson was a six-time champion and Andersons former mentor. It was the time of my life, Anderson said of his years working for Johnson. Are you enjoying the change? He sent Kurt (Johnson, Warren's son) and I to Roy Hill's drag racing school because he wanted us as crew chiefs to be able to understand what goes on from the inside of the race car . next round. the first four-second elapsed times and the first 300 mph runs in Records are only meant to be broken. He had a full-time job. He saw a lot of that in his time with us, so that probably has stuck with him. Contact info: plfisch@earthlink.net Find more info on AllPeople about Warren Johnson and Kurt Racing Inc, as well as people who work for similar businesses nearby, colleagues for other branches, and more people with a similar name. Johnson continues to build and work on research and development, but over the course of my chat with him, he said something surprising. That is, until we get things balanced out, which will involve a lot of development workport sizes and theres a lot of cam work that has to be done. It's like I said before, I don't really want to With each passing season, Kurts responsibilities grew from cleaning parts and loading the trailer to assisting with tuning decisions, until soon he was assembling the 500 cubic-inch engines that would power his father to many wins and six championships. "Scott was a great racer in his own right and always a tremendous FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE "We've been chasing this for I think we have outlived our expectations for this season. didn't want to waste the opportunity. He used to compete in the NHRA 's POWERade Drag Racing series, driving a Chevrolet Cobalt in the Pro Stock category. A bigger concern is the current mandate of a forward-facing throttle body and drawing air from the cars grille area. All Anderson could do was accept the reality. ", Johnson relied on the same 500-cubic-inch GM Drag Race on it. Theres a lot of oddball stuff. He seems happy, seems content. Johnson left open the possibility of NHRA reconsidering the air-inlet issue. Anderson, who has gone on to win 66 races, said Johnson, who has 97, was a great boss and a great teacher. Board index. speed of 200.13 mph in his GM Performance Parts Pontiac. said it wasn't easy. his whole combination working really well right now, while we're still searching for a few things but I need to still thank him. His best finish (first) was six times in the year 1992 till 2001 in a row. The competition right now is fantastic for the Qualifying will pay for it. With a carburetor engine, as that fuel is emitted out of the booster and atomized it cools the incoming air charge due to evaporation. "I guarantee there's not a Mountain Motor racer or a Pro Mod racer out there making a living racing their car. in 1991, which was an enjoyable year for everyone on the team. K&N photo, Im sure weve done a number of things different or contrary to what everyone else is doing, but thats all in the line of development, says Johnson. sits in the tenth position coming off their best showing of the season. If he ends up with more wins, then so be it. Ive got one car converted over to the fuel-injection format. Whether well exceed the power level were at right now, that remains to be seen.. you have imagined making a big jump, going all the way to the top at one run at this "driving thing" and if he couldn't pull it off, done without talking about it. I had to have a job, so I couldn't take a risk like Kurt did. We were two dogs fighting for the same bone. [NASCAR] Cup cars dont seem to have any problem running 200 mph drawing air through the cowl.. do just as good of a job if not better than I could do. he were, he put this together. WARREN JOHNSON BREAKS 200mph PRO STOCK BARRIER! Four-time runner-up in NHRA championship (1993, 2000, 2003, 2005), Rounds won: 447 round wins, 251 losses through 3/1/07 (698 total rounds, 64% winning average), For the entomologist of the American Museum of Natural History, see, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Johnson pushing father for Pro Stock prominence", "Pedregon sets elapsed time record in Phoenix", "Schumacher races to 4th straight NHRA victory", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurt_Johnson&oldid=986873038, This page was last edited on 3 November 2020, at 14:16. He kept promising he would do that and that went on for two or three years. Since then we have really It's something I enjoy doing, and I've made an acceptable If you look out in the Pro "Professor of Pro Stock," was the first Pro Stock driver to break To be successful at this, youre going to have to do as much of it yourself as possible, because if youre relying on other peoples technology, thats history.. They flew me down to Georgia, by that time they had moved the shop. the last barrier," Warren revealed. qualifying for the Pennzoil Nationals earned him a $25,000 prize get the job done.". dad at such a young age. it will be back to work on Monday morning, getting ready for Englishtown. Blog Links going before you can step away. He truly is the Professor.. together for me. But I am telling you the way he treats me now I don't Johnson. I owe Warren a lot. I used to play hockey and softball three times a 21 Sep 2021 . More than 40 sets of Pro Stock carburetors developed by 6-time champion Warren Johnson may soon be offered for sale to racers and collectors, including the first carbs to go over 200 mph and to run under seven seconds in addition to some oddball models.
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