‘Professor’ teaches doubters a lesson

Friday, April 15, 2005 | 10:29 a.m.

Thursday

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open.

9 a.m. -- Sportsman qualifying.

7-8 p.m. -- Free NHRA driver autograph session at ESPN Zone (New York New York Hotel & Casino).

Friday

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open.

8 a.m. -- Sportsman qualifying and eliminations.

9 a.m. -- Sport Compact qualifying.

Noon -- Sport Compact qualifying.

1 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying.

2:30 p.m. -- Pro Modified qualifying.

3 p.m. -- Pro Stock (car) qualifying.

3:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying.

4:30 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying.

5:30 p.m. -- Pro Modified qualifying.

6 p.m. -- Pro Stock (car) qualifying.

6:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying.

Saturday

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open.

8 a.m. -- Sportsman eliminations.

11 a.m. -- Sport Compact qualifying.

Noon -- Pro Stock (car) qualifying.

12:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying.

1:30 p.m. -- Pro Modified qualifying.

2 p.m. -- Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car qualifying.

3 p.m. -- Pro Stock (car) qualifying.

3:30 p.m. -- Top Fuel Dragster and Funny Car qualifying.

4:15 p.m. -- First round of Pro Modified eliminations.

4:30 p.m. -- First round of Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car eliminations.

5:15 p.m. -- First round of Pro Modified eliminations.

Sunday

7 a.m. -- Pit and spectator gates open.

9 a.m. -- Sportsman eliminations.

10 a.m. -- Pre-race ceremonies.

11 a.m. -- Final eliminations.

Toward the end of the 2004 NHRA season, as Warren Johnson turned 61 and was in the midst of his first winless season as a Pro Stock driver since 1981, there were those in the sport who had written off the six-time NHRA champion.

So when Johnson earned his 93rd career victory last weekend in Houston, he couldn't help but paraphrase Mark Twain.

"The reports of my demise were highly unfounded," Johnson said with a hearty laugh. The victory, which snapped a personal 29-race winless streak, was especially sweet "based on the premise that everybody said that I was dead and buried already."

Johnson's victory in Houston also moved him into the Pro Stock points lead -- a position he hadn't held since the opening race of the 2003 season -- heading into this weekend's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. At 61 years and 9 months, Johnson became the oldest driver to win a race in the NHRA's pro ranks.

Johnson has qualified in the top half of the highly competitive Pro Stock field in three of the first four races in 2004 and his final-round appearance last weekend was his second of the season. While some observers might be surprised at Johnson's resurgence this year, Johnson is not.

"We know last year, obviously, was an anomaly as far as our team was concerned," Johnson said. "We knew what we had to work on, what we had to fix during the off-season, and we accomplished about 90 percent of that."

Johnson's biggest task last season and during the winter was to continue development of the third-generation General Motors Drag Racing Competition Engine that has powered his GM Performance Parts Pontiac since early last season. While developing the new engine, Johnson failed to qualify for a career-high eight national events in 2004 -- including the final four races.

"Every so often you get caught behind and you've got so many development projects you have to do and sometimes you've got to bite the bullet and do it all at once," Johnson said. "The car we had last year was built for the old Goodyear tire and then when the 16-inch beadlock rear tire and wheel combination came along, there was just way too much traction for that chassis and we couldn't pull enough out of it to make it consistent.

"I would have built a car to replace it earlier, but then NHRA and GM were vacillating back and forth as to what body style they were going to run ... and there was no sense in building a car that maybe was going to be good for one race. There were just a lot of circumstances that all went the wrong way. But we survived it."

Johnson, nicknamed "The Professor" because of his studious approach to racing, announced last November that 2005 would be his final season behind the wheel of the GM Performance Parts Pontiac. Although he is four races into his "School's Out" farewell tour, Johnson hinted that race fans still might see him pull up to a staging lane in a national event in 2006 in selected races.

"I never eliminated the possibility of doing some driving in '06," Johnson said Thursday. "The only real statement that was made last year was that ... I was not going to be driving the GM Performance Parts car next year; that doesn't preclude me from driving a third car. Whatever we need to do to fortify both teams -- if I've got to do some test driving on a limited basis, that's fine with me.

"If you look at all of the people who have been involved in sports and tried to make a comeback, I don't think there ever was a successful one and very few of them retired as a champion. The best-case scenario would be if we could conceivably win this championship this year, we could retire as a champion -- that's absolutely the best-case scenario."