Drag Racer Johns Finds Life & Love In Fast Lane
For someone whose arrivals are usually measured in seconds, her tardiness was especially conspicuous.
The morning luncheon had become an afternoon affair Tuesday by the time drag-racing's Lori Johns showed up more than an hour late. What competitors couldn't do, a fourth-string quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks did. Rusty Hilger had put the brakes on the newest star for the National Hot Rod Association.
The two have been dating for five months, and Johns spent as much of Tuesday with Hilger as she could before he departed for Tokyo, where the Seahawks will play the Denver Broncos Saturday in an exhibition game.
``Isn't it awful?,'' she asked. ``I finally come to race in the town where he plays, and he leaves the country.''
Johns, fourth in the Top Fuel standings, is here for the Northwest Nationals at Seattle International Raceway, the 13th stop on the NHRA tour. A victory this weekend would be her first since May, when she won for the third time in the season's first six events.
Since then, the quarter-mile strip has been a long road for her. From the top spot, she has gradually slipped to fourth, dropping out of third last weekend after an early-round elimination at the California Nationals in Sonoma.
``We just haven't been up to par,'' said Johns, 24, who finished sixth in the standings last year, her first in Top Fuel.
She has had engine problems, including the time two weeks ago in Denver when her engine exploded in a spectacular blaze and she escaped with minor burns. She blames the recent decline on her team's inexperience.
``We started thinking we were as good as everyone out there, and it's not that we're not,'' she said, ``but there's a lot more that goes into it (winning consistently) than one year of experience.
``Only half a round behind No. 3. It's a heated battle,'' she said. ``A No. 2 or No. 3 finish would be a dream come true.''
Hilger will try to make Sunday's finals, Johns said, even if he has to challenge her qualifying speeds when he drives from the airport.
They met at the NHRA opener in February in Pomona, Calif., where Hilger raced in a celebrity event. After Johns beat Dick LaHaie in the final for her first Top Fuel victory, Hilger asked her out. She couldn't make it, so Hilger told her he was scheduled to be in Houston when the NHRA stopped there in March. Johns accepted.
``I'm going to become a big Seahawks fan,'' said Johns, a Corpus Christi, Texas, native. ``I never really paid much attention to them before. I guess this is going to be my new second home.''
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DRAG RACING
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- What: 3rd Annual NHRA Northwest Nationals (formerly Seafair
Nationals), 13th of 19 Winston Drag Racing Series events.
- When: Tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.
- Where: Seattle International Raceway, Kent.
- Defending champions: Top Fuel - Joe Amato, Old Forge, Pa.,
278.98 mph. Funny Car - Bruce Larson, Dauphin, Pa., 271.08.
Pro Stock - Warren Johnson, Duluth, Ga., 185.26.
- Records: Top Fuel, ET, 5.015 seconds, Amato, 1989; Top Fuel,
mph, 287.72, Shirley Muldowney, Mount Clemons, Mich., 1989.
Funny Car, ET, 5.290, Don Prudhomme, Granada Hills, Calif.,
1989; Funny Car, mph, 278.89, Kenny Bernstein, Dallas, 1989.
Pro Stock, ET, 7.319, Bob Glidden, Whiteland, Ind., 1988; Pro
Stock, mph, 189.59, Glidden, 1988.
- Purse: $663,100, including contingency awards.
- TV: ESPN (delayed), Aug. 19, 6 p.m.
- Tickets: General admission - $11 tomorrow, $22 Saturday, $27
Sunday. Children under 12 free to GA area with adult. Pit pass
- $6 each day. Reserved seats - $34 Saturday, $39 Sunday
(includes pit pass, reserved seat and general admission).
Children under 12, $12 each day. Ticketmaster, (206) 628-0888,
or SIR office, 631-1550.
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WATCHING THE DRAGS
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SCHEDULE
- Tomorrow
8 a.m., gates open.
9:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m., qualifying and time trials.
Noon-4 p.m., pro qualifying sessions.
- Saturday
7 a.m., gates open.
9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m., qualifying and time trials.
Noon-4 p.m., pro qualifying sessions.
- Sunday
7 a.m., gates open.
10 a.m., pre-race ceremonies.
11 a.m.-5:30 p.m., final eliminations.
FANS' GUIDE
- How to get there: Track is located 10 miles east of Kent. Take
Interstate 5 to exit 142-A, go east 10 miles on Highway 18 and
follow SIR signs to entrance. For Metro bus transit
information call 447-4800.
- Tickets: General admission, tomorrow, $11; Saturday, $22;
Sunday, $27. Pit pass $6. Grandstand seating also available.
- More information: Call SIR information line, 631-1550, or
Ticketmaster, 628-0888.