missed a golden opportunity,
but clearly that wasn't the
case.
"The [rider] that was here
on Friday and Saturday; he
was atrocious," Johnson
said, referring to himself.
"The weather was so fantas-
tic, and everyone was count-
ing on fast, record-setting
times. I just got sideways,
and everybody said to go
back to fundamentals. I was
out here for a long time be-
fore racing started just work-
ing on the fundamentals.
You can always learn. I was
really, really bad on Friday and
Saturday, and everyone was go-
ing fast. That's a classic example
of riding a bike or driving it, and
the driver was here on Sunday."
Johnson also defeated Jim
Underdahl, Scotty Pollacheck
and number-one qualifier
Angelle Sampey. Johnson's re-
surgence in the class coincides
with the NHRA rules revision that
gave the Suzuki entries a four-
valve cylinder head. Johnson
has enjoyed perhaps the biggest
benefit, with career-best elapsed
times and three final-round ap-
pearances.
Johnson's timing could not
have been more perfect. Not
only did he snap a seven-year
winless drought, but he also
took over the points lead in the
Countdown to the Champion-
ship, NHRA's six race playoff to
determine season champions.
Johnson has never won a cham-
pionship in his long career, but
he's now among the favorites to
do just that. Johnson currently
enjoys a 12-point lead over reign-
ing and four-time champion Matt
Smith, while Krawiec is third in
points, 36 behind Johnson.
For Krawiec, the news wasn't
all bad. Three weeks ago, he
was close to the bottom of the
standings after missing the first
two races of the season. A week
ago, he won NHRA's biggest
event, the Dodge SRT U.S.
Nationals for the third time in his
career. Krawiec, seeking a fifth
NHRA title, carried the momen-
tum of his Indy win into Read-
ing where he rode to the 78th
final round of his career with
wins over Kelly Clontz and the
husband-wife team of Angie and
Matt Smith.
Matt Smith dominated the
early part of the season with his
Denso Buell but struggled in
Reading with a mechanical issue
he's yet to diagnose. Despite
the loss, Smith remains a strong
contender to win a fifth title.
The Reading event was also
a mixed bag for three-time world
champ Angelle Sampey. Return-
ing to the site of her first career
win in 1996, the Vance & Hines
Buell rider was the top qualifier
with a 6.745 run and scored
wins against Jianna Salinas and
Karen Stoffer. Sampey slowed
to a 6.860 in the semifinal round
and lost to Johnson.
The Camping World NHRA
Drag Racing Series is in the
middle of a grueling stretch of
three races in three weeks with
the tour set to move to zMax
Dragway near Charlotte, North
Carolina next week.
Kevin McKenna
FINAL
1. Steve Johnson (Suz)
2. Eddie Krawiec (Bue)
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 P65
Johnson defeated Eddie Krawiec in the final.
