*  WJ's 7.331-second, 188.16 mph pass in qualifying also set low elapsed time and top speed of the event in the Pro Stock category.

*  Mark Pawuk was the No. 16th qualifier with a 7.447-second time.

*  Other current Pro Stock competitors in the field that weekend included Larry Morgan, Kenny Koretsky and Jerry Haas.

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*  WJ raced in Sunday's eliminations with five stitches in his left thumb, the result of a mishap on Saturday night when the crew was swapping engines.

*  Warren also seemed ready to eliminate Alderman in the second round, pulling away from Alderman when his car suddenly slowed and allowed his opponent to edge him at the stripe. The unlikely cause for this rare malfunction was a piece of hay getting stuck in the carburetors' high speed air bleed.

*  Alderman went on to defeat Joe Lepone in the final.

*  The Pro Stock field consisted of Oldsmobile Cutlasses, a Chevy Beretta, Dodge Daytonas, Pontiac Firebirds, Trans Ams and Grand Prix, and Bob Glidden's Ford Probe.

*  Other winners that weekend included current Larry Dixon crew chief Dick LaHaie in Top Fuel, in a dragster tuned by his daughter Kim (now Kim Richards, a key member of Brandon Bernstein's team) and Mark Oswald in Funny Car.

WJ's FIRST TOPEKA FINAL - 1991

Race Car: 1991 ACDelco Olds Cutlass
Performance: WJ Qualified Second, 7.213 seconds, 192.71 mph
Defeated Joe Lepone, Mark Pawuk, Scott Geoffrion
Lost to Darrell Alderman

In Warren's Words:

"For some reason, I have no real recollection of this race, although I do remember that this was in the middle of our battle with Wayne County Speed Shops entry. Ironically, Scott Geoffrion, who would join the Mopar clan a year later, was in our team car at the time and couldn't get the car into reverse in the semifinals against us. We were using the Lencos then, and their reversers were notoriously fragile. Other than that, nothing much stands out, but we obviously were running pretty well to make it to the final."

Notes of the time:

*  This was the 50th final round appearance of Warren's career, and tenth of the 1991 season.

*  WJ's 7.229-second elapsed time was the quickest pass of Sunday's eliminations

*  WJ ran uncontested in the semi-finals, as then-teammate Scott Geoffrion could not get his car into reverse following his burnout.

*  Geoffrion, driving a Johnson-powered Cutlass, set the HRP top speed track record at 192.84 mph.

*  Alderman was the No. 1 qualifier with a 7.206-second time, while Gordie Rivera captured the 16th and final position with a 7.320-second pass.

*  The Pro Stock field was made up of nine Olds Cutlasses, three Chevy Berettas, two Pontiac Trans Ams, and a single Ford Probe and Dodge Daytona.

*  Other winners in the NHRA professional categories that weekend included Pat Austin, who upset Joe Amato in the Top Fuel final, and Mark Oswald, who defeated John Force and his Castrol Olds Cutlass in the Funny Car final.