WJ'S FIRST HOUSTON WIN - 1990

Race Car: 1990 ACDelco Oldsmobile Cutlass
Performance: WJ Qualified Second, 7.234 seconds, 189.67 mph
Defeated Steve Schmidt, Gordie Rivera, Kenny Delco and Bruce Allen

In Warren's Words:

"It takes a minimum of one round of good luck to win a race, and that day, we were fortunate enough to have two, with both Rivera and Delco red-lighting. Although I don't have any specific recollections from our winning that weekend, for some reason, I do remember Pawuk setting the record. However, we were fortunate to also have a very fast and consistent race car that weekend, and we came away with the win."

Notes of the time:

* This win was the 21st of Warren's Pro Stock career, and came in only his second Houston Raceway Park final round appearance.

* No. 1 qualifier Mark Pawuk, who had edged WJ for the top spot with a national-record ET of 7.220 seconds, was upset on a holeshot by veteran Rickie Smith in the first round. Darrell Gwynn, who had reset the Top Fuel record in qualifying with a 4.90-second, was also eliminated in the opening round.

* With his 7.234-second run in qualifying and 7.241-second pass in eliminations, WJ recorded two of the three quickest runs in Pro Stock history, trailing only Pawuk's 7.22.

* Johnson's performance advantage played a significant role on Sunday, as both Gordie Rivera and Kenny Delco left the starting line early, giving the automatic win to "The Professor".

* The field consisted of Olds Cutlasses, Chevy Berettas, Pontiac
Grand Prix and Trans Ams and a Dodge Daytona, a Buick Regal (driven by current Barry Grant crew chief Buddy Ingersoll) and Bob Glidden's Ford
Probe.

* Current Pro Stock regulars also competing that weekend included Bruce Allen, Mark Pawuk, Jerry Haas, Larry Morgan, Kenny Koretsky and Jim Yates.

* Other winners that weekend were current Larry Dixon crew chief Dick LaHaie, who beat Gene Snow in the Top Fuel final, and John Force over Bruce Larson in Funny Car for the sixth win of his career.

"THE GRANDFATHER OF ALL STAGING DUELS" - 1994

In 1994, defending Pro Stock champion WJ, behind the wheel of the GM Performance Parts Olds Cutlass, was involved in a bitter championship fight with the "Dodge Boys", Darrell Alderman and Scott Geoffrion, with each time these three would meet on the race track turning into a war. Never was this more evident than in the final round of the O'Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Having already eliminated Alderman in the semi-finals, WJ squared off against Geoffrion (who ironically drove for Johnson in 1991) for the win. In what has become one of the most talked-about staging battles in the category's history, neither driver would stage first, sitting at the line idling until they were sent to the "penalty box" by then NHRA starter Buster Couch. When they returned to the line, WJ was able to defeat Geoffrion for his second win at HRP, 7.071 to 7.101.

In Warren's Words:

"I believe that still stands as the best staging duel ever. Wayne County (who campaigned the Dodge entries at the time) had a book on every driver in the category listing whether they staged first or not. I plainly told Geoffrion that there was no way I would stage first.

"I went up there with the engine dead cold, knowing I was not going to stage first. In fact, we had ice in the motor to keep it cool, knowing we would be there a while. After the burnout, the engine temperature still wasn't above 90 degrees. I don't remember who pre-staged first, but I went into pre-stage and we both just sat there until Buster got excited and put us in the penalty box, making us wait until everyone else ran.

"After all the other cars had run, they pulled us back up without giving us time to cool the motors down. I waited long enough staging that there was steam coming out of the Dodge, and I believe he blew the head gaskets out of it, and we won. I guess you could say our plan worked."