Seattle Intensifies Determination for Ahten
Kent, WA – The Ahten Racing wrap-up of the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways is not adorned with sunshine and 
lollipops. The weekend started out with tire smoke and ended with tire smoke. Motivation and determination is now front and center for Johnny Ahten and the team.
Friday’s first qualifying session saw an angry Stump Puller haze the tires. Simple enough, the track was not able to handle the power. The Ahten Racing crew returned to the pits and backed it down. With only twelve entries, getting to the top half of the ladder was the goal. For the second qualifying session the plan was to run strong but not blow the tires off. At the hit, Johnny launched skyward. Amazingly, the tires stared smoking during the wheel stand before hitting the wheelie bar.
As the car came back down, the tires hooked up and the injected nitro engine made powder of its internals. A long night was now in store for the team lead by Al Ahten and Ahten Racing partner Howard Katano. Johnny, along with crew-members Kevin Colvell and Chuck Costabile, attacked the motor swap with vengeance. When they rested their weary heads upon the pillow that night, the car was whole again. High praise came from Johnny himself for this all-volunteer crew. “My guys did an amazing job getting things put back together and ready for Saturday,” complimented Ahten.
All was on track and spirits were high going into Q3. After the burnout, the car was unable to back up and the run had to be aborted. Johnny ended up in the 11th qualifying position out of twelve cars. Ahten’s first round opponent was #2 qualifier and CleanBoost Performance Oil teammate Chris Demke. When the tree came down, all the hard work and anticipation was dashed in a cloud of vaporized Goodyears.
