Pennzoil Nationals: Pontiac Notes & Quotes Sunday, October 11, 1998

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Pontiac Notes & Quotes Sunday, October 11, 1998

PRO STOCK

Warren Johnson (GM Goodwrench Service Plus Pontiac Firebird), winner:
"Our cars are out of the same shop. Kurt's (Johnson) sponsored by Chevrolet and ACDelco,, we're sponsored by Pontiac and GM Goodwrench Service Plus. There's a little bit of a rivalry there, which is good for the fans. But it's a win-win deal as far as all of the people at the shop. Everything that we do is shared between the two cars and it's a testament to our total overall program. I do all of the cylinder heads and intake manifolds, he does all the short blocks and all of the dyno tuning of the engines. We both have equivalent horsepower. In fact, the engine he has out here has a couple of more horsepower than mine does. It has a different power curve so you have to treat it a little differently. It's just a matter of us getting together and getting all of the stuff right. The only difference is the suspension set up.

"All weekend long and after first round when he got by John Nobile, he listened to what we were saying and then he changed it to where it was running 6.93 or 6.94. He wants to do it his way and I can appreciate that. But at the same time, you have to be realistic. If there's something not working, you have to change it to something that does work.

You still don't want to let Kurt beat you though.
"Absolutely not. You can't let them kids whip you too often. He's coming around. He got to the final on hole shots, but I just couldn't have that happen.

Talk about the .410 reaction time:
"The light was starting to be shadowed so I changed to a different type of prescription glasses that shows the light a little bit better. The track cooled off so the car moved a lot quicker. There's two factors involved in there. We had pretty decent lights all day so we were right in the hunt as far as reaction times were concerned. The worst light I had all day was a .473 and there were guys who did a lot worse than that. There are two types of reaction time. You have the vehicle reaction time and the driver reaction time. The vehicle reaction time is a result of everybody doing their job, and all of us getting together and making the right call on the clutch, the suspension, and everything else involved. It was a total team effort. I get the benefit of a .410 light, but that's the result of every body else doing their job.

How much do you like coming to Memphis Motorsports Park in the fall? Is it better than in the past?
Absolutely. I think every driver out here is indebted to Chris Pook for tuning the track up. It's as good a race track as any we race on all year. That wasn't the case a few years ago. Now with the cooler weather it's better not only for the racers but certainly for the fans.

I'm very fortunate that at 55 years of age, I'm still able to do this at the pace I'm doing it. There's a lot of guys who have given up on life at 55 and I'm out here having more fun than one person should be allowed to have. This is not a job for me, this is an opportunity, and I just love what I'm doing. I don't look at a time clock. I think there may be two percent of the people in the country who absolutely enjoy their job, and to me, this is just an opportunity to succeed."

Jim Yates (Splitfire/Peak Pontiac Firebird), lost in semifinals:
"I think this Splitfire/Peak Firebird is a real fast race car. We got a good engine, we just tuned it a little too hard and knocked the head gasket off second round. In the third round it just laid down a little bit on us and we let Kurt get around us. We got a lot of potential though. We're going to take it home, fix it up a little and get ready for Topeka.:

Mike Thomas (Pennzoil Pontiac Firebird), lost in first round:
"I can't believe the tires let go that far down track. The Pennzoil Firebird had that race won. Everyone knows that we usually win races down track, not lose them. Maybe I should have picked the other (right) lane. I know a lot of the fuel cars oiled the (left) lane down before us and there might have been some residue left on the track. Or maybe something's wrong with the car. I just don't know right now. We are really disappointed. If I had won just one round today, I would have moved up one spot in the points standings. Plus I know the Pennzoil folks are here and I'm sure they would have loved for a Pennzoil car to be in Victory Circle. It just wasn't the right weekend for us I guess. But mark my words, we will finish this season fighting for everything we can get."

George Marnell (Tenneco Pontiac Firebird, lost in round one:
"We're working on it. We just have to put everything together to be competitive on race day. The crew chief did his job. I was just a little late that's the only way to tell it. We just have to put the whole package together. We have to get the Tenneco Firebird to leave better, and the driver has to tune up a little bit. If we get those two factors straightened out, along with the way we're running we'll be competitive. That's what we're shooting for. I wish I could get back in the car right now. It's going to be tough waiting a whole week for Topeka to roll around. It can't come soon enough for me. I want to jump right back in the car and show what I can do."

FUNNY CAR

Al Hofmann (GM Performance Parts Pontiac Firebird), winner:
"The win was great. We needed a win really bad for our sponsors, GM Performance Parts and Pontiac Firebird and everybody who stuck by us. After taking Force out, the win didn't matter. That makes my day. Actually, it makes my year. Taking him out in the first round at Sonoma and then the second round here. Especially since I've been giving him a hard time about this Elvis car that he brings out. I think he's going to finally figure out that Elvis has left the building. It's over! What do you think about him leaving the body on for the rest of the year? Well, I guess we'll just have to keep beating it up. He should have known better than to bring a Ford to a Pontiac race anyhow.

Where did the consistency come from today?
"We were really impressed with what the Safety Safari has done out here this weekend. We went out there and ran 4.95 in the right lane and 4.95 in the left lane. What they've put up with oil out there is incredible. They have more oil out there right now than they have in Texas. They managed to do an excellent job preparing the track, fixing it and keeping it right there for all of the racers. My hat's off to the Safety Safari this weekend. I don't think we would be there if not for them. Our GM Performance Parts Firebird is a big horsepower car. We started out at the beginning of the year proving that and then we got into a slump with the clutch disc deal. It just really attacked our car hard. We got off on other things thinking it was that. One thing led to another until we got a car that was out of balance. It's just been a tough time finding our way back to where we need to be."

Tim Wilkerson (JCIT Pontiac Firebird), lost in first round:
"Today didn't turn out like we wanted but we're actually happy with the progress of the JCIT Firebird. We have a new clutch scenario again, and we hate to keep using that excuse, but we have enough of that stuff to last until the end of the year and we're making progress with it. We're finding out what it likes and what it doesn't like and we think in a couple of runs we're going to be right back where we need to be. I think in Topeka we'll probably struggle that first session trying to find the right combination. I hope by the first round on Saturday we're running in the 4.90s again."

Del Worsham (Checker's/Schuck's/Kragen Pontiac Firebird), lost in first round:
"That stinks! When Hofmann smoked the tires we went another 50 feet or so before tire shake busted our car loose. Then, when it was a tire smoke duel, I never considered that we'd lose. But it started to drift right on me, and on the third punch of the pedal I had to wait to settle it or it would have crossed the centerline. That would have been it. We had the right idea, we knew that being seventh pair we'd be sitting in the staging lanes for a long time, watching the clean ups from Top Fuel. Every second we sat, the track got hotter, and we were ready for that. But as much as we anticipated, we waited even longer and it got even hotter.

"The Checker's'/Schuck's/Kragen Firebird shook the tires first, I pedaled it once, then it blew the tires off and Al and I were just hanging on out there. I'm glad we have to go back to Topeka now. I want to get right back out there. If we'd would've had 10 days off, I'd have gone nuts."

Dale Creasy (Creasy Racing Pontiac Firebird), lost in first round:
"We don't know why the Creasy Racing Firebird shook. It left the line good and I had him on the line, but it just shook. I pedaled it, saw him smoke the tires and thought sure I could catch him. I stayed with it to the end, and he beat me, but on race day, you have to do everything you can to win. I broke the clutch. When I pedal it, it uses a lot more clutch and it ate the clutch pack up. It wasn't for lack of trying. You hate to sacrifice parts, but on race day you leave nothing on the table. We'll go back home and put the clutch back together. I don't think we hurt the motor, so if everything looks good when we get home, we'll be in Dallas. We'll race Dallas and Houston and maybe even Pomona. I think we're getting better at what we're doing and I'm learning how to drive more and more with each run we make down the track. That's what held us back a little bit at the beginning of the season. We were learning a new combination and now the two are starting to come together. I think things are going to work out fine."

TOP FUEL
Shelly Anderson (Parts America Pontiac), lost in second round:
"It was my own fault why we lost. The boots are a little big and I just got hung up. It's frustrating, but I'm glad the Parts America Pontiac got as far as it did. I almost forgot what it felt like to win a round. I remember now. It feels great! The whole team has been working so hard. This is a lot of fun. There's not much left of the season, but I'd like to finish strong. Hopefully this will be the start of good things for us -- finally! "

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