Stepping out from under the tower and looking down the Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) quarter-mile drag strip, the first thing that comes to mind for most Pro Stock devotees – and many outside the doorslammer class – is the historic run that took place on these hallowed grounds 27 years ago.
The top of the time slip reflects 7:27 p.m., April 24, 1997. The bottom numbers for the left lane show a 6.894-second pass at 200.13 mph – the quickest and fastest pass in the history of the class at the time. The time slip belonged to Warren Johnson, and yes, he still has it.
The 200-mph blast was the first in Pro Stock and came with a $25,000 prize. It also cinched W.J. as the first member of the Speed-Pro 200-mph Pro Stock Club.
“When I ran 199 on my first qualifying run, we realized it was possible to go 200 here,” said Johnson, after recording the historic pass on Friday night in Dinwiddie, Va. “We changed the transmission and rearend gear ratios, tuned the engine for the atmospheric conditions we anticipated in the second session, and adjusted the chassis attitude. I’m sure I wasn’t the only driver gunning for 200 mph tonight.”
According to drag racing historian Rick Voegelin, the run was the last of the six great milestones in drag racing’s modern era, ranking alongside the first 4-second e.t. and first 300 mph runs in Top Fuel and Funny Car, as well as the first 6-second pass in Pro Stock – which was claimed by Johnson’s son, Kurt, for his 6.988 in May of 1994 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown.
The milestone marking 200 mph pass was not even expected to come to fruition at VMP, a racetrack that usually served up warm and humid conditions for the NHRA events. Coming into the event, the track record was a lowly 197.15 mph, but W.J. explained that the three-year-old asphalt was relatively smooth and seasoned.
“We’ve been chasing this for years. When we had good atmospheric conditions, it was simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” said W.J. “It happened just the way I envisioned it, with Kurt first in the sixes and me first to 200 mph. We knew we had the horsepower to run 200 mph. Greg Anderson (then Johnson’s crew chief) made the right call on the clutch and chassis combination. Lo and behold, it all worked.”
Jeg Coughlin Jr. was the second to join the club with a 200.04-mph pass nearly a full year later. Kurt Johnson was third to be granted admission with his 200.13 at Gainesville, the same event where Coughlin got it done.
Ray Franks, Jim Yates, Allen Johnson, Greg Anderson, Richie Stevens, Troy Coughlin, Mike Thomas, Mark Pawuk, Bruce Allen, George Marnell, Tom Martino, V. Gaines, and Ron Krisher round out the 16 members of the prestigious club.
In 2020, while being interviewed for the book, “Drag Racing’s Warren “The Professor” Johnson: The Cars, People, and Wins Behind His Pro Stock Success,” Johnson shared his thoughts nearly 25 years after recording the historic pass.
“It wasn’t significant because it was a milestone,” he said. “It was significant to me because I was determined enough to do it, able to tap into all the technology that’s out there, and able to apply it to what I was doing. That’s what stands out for me more than anything.”
Tip of the cap to The Professor from this weekend’s PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals. History is forever, and he sure owns a bunch.
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