Ahten Goes Round at Woodburn

Woodburn, OR – No, Johnny Ahten is not switching to a Nitromethane powered outlaw sprint car. What Ahten did do at the second NHRA LODRS Regional race at Woodburn Dragstrip last weekend was qualify in the number five position with 5.392/268.73. A difficult but satisfying first round victory followed. In the second round battle with Joey Severance, the Stump Puller experienced some tire shake and that concluded the weekend’s festivities.

“We were happy with the Island Renovation / Combust Filters dragster’s performance, but we know there is more,” said Ahten. “We are creeping up on the right combination.”

Right out of the box in Saturday’s first qualifying session the Stump Puller launched a 5.392/268.73 on a clean run. In the second session, a slow-starting 5.464/265.80 was posted. The last qualifying session of the day saw the fastest speed of the weekend with a 268.89 mile per hour charge, but the 5.411 elapsed time was no help. Johnny finished the day in the number five position, which meant raceday would start against the number four qualifier Megan McKernan.

Sunday’s first go-round saw Johnny battle McKernan’s 5.445/269.94 with a 5.425/266.35 to advance to the second round. Joey Severance was Johnny’s familiar foe in a supercharged alcohol verses injected nitro contest. Severance got the win with a well-proportioned 5.319 /267.22 to a tire-shaking 5.547/254.09 run for Ahten.

“It’s always easy to second guess ourselves on the ride home, but I know we are close,” added Ahten. We are bringing the car to the shop where we will review all the run data and prepare for Vegas. The decision to upgrade the chassis is going to pay off. Vegas sounds like just the right place to hit the jackpot, and we are all-in. Thanks to all our fans who support us on social media.” – www.facebook.com/JohnnyAhtenRacing