One of the more intense rivalries in NHRA Pro Stock class history pitted General Motors envoy Warren Johnson, “The Professor of Pro Stock,” and his former hire, Scott Geoffrion, one of “The Dodge Boys,” back in the 1980s.
During a qualifying session at the 1985 Houston event, the two were paired. And right before they staged their cars, three dogs jumped over the wall onto the track. The drivers were instructed to shut off their cars.
Ever the cleverly sarcastic one, Johnson wisecracked, “I didn’t know what was going on until someone on the starting-line crew told me there were dogs on the track. My response was, ‘I know — he’s in the other lane.’”
The year before, the two engaged in an epic starting-line burn-down in which both pre-staged, then sat without moving for nearly a minute.
Starter Buster Couch reprimanded them, and they tried it again, with Geoffrion winning. At the top end of the drag strip, they chirped at each other and threatened to trade punches.
Johnson said, “I was going to sit there and wait for my Social Security check if that’s what was necessary. It was a game to teach the kid a lesson.”
Geoffrion scoffed and said, “I don’t know what all this lesson stuff is about, since I cut the better light. He’s just a whiner.”
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