Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson will look to return to form and climb the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. The race is scheduled for April 3–5 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Johnson scored a runner-up finish at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. on March 15 and jumped to the second spot in the NHRA Pro Stock standings. The Team Mopar driver then experienced a slight bump in the road with a first-round exit at the recent NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston, dropping to fourth in points. The Greeneville, Tenn. native stated he feels confident the Houston outing was a mere aberration and is prepared to get back on track this weekend at The Strip.
“The qualifying position was what it was all about,” said Johnson, who started ninth at Houston after qualifying No. 3 at the first three events of the year. “The position we qualified in cooked our goose. We’ll go to Vegas and try to get back to qualifying in the top half of the field, in the top three or four with lane choice, as we have done regularly in the past.”
Johnson has been strong in recent Vegas visits, including a semifinals appearance at the November 2008 NHRA Vegas event.
“We have run really well at Vegas the last two or three times out there,” said Johnson. “We have got a really great set up on the car and dad is making excellent horsepower with our Mopar HEMI engines. We’re confident we can go rounds at Vegas.”
Johnson will also team up with other NHRA Pro Stock racers at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championship in Las Vegas on April 2.
Johnson will line up in a different kind of lane when he joins his fellow NHRA racers as special guest competitors at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas on April 2. Johnson will partner up with NHRA Pro Stock competitors Tom Hammonds, Greg Anderson, Jason Line and Jason Gray to form the “NHRA Holeshots” squad. They will do bowling battle with the “NHRA Floppers” and “NHRA Eliminators,” comprised of NHRA Funny Car and Top Fuel drivers, respectively.
Johnson was once a Tennessee Junior State champion bowler, but since then his skills as a kegler have grown rusty. Can he and his Pro Stock compatriots emerge as kingpins over the Funny Car and Top Fuel squads?
“We can pretty much beat those guys at anything,” predicted a confident Johnson.
Johnson statistics
• Qualified No. 4 and advanced to the semifinals at the November 2008 NHRA Vegas event
• Currently fourth in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings
• Advanced to the finals and scored a runner-up finish at the NHRA Gatornationals
• Has a 6-4 round win record thus far in 2009
• Qualified No. 3 at each of the first three events of 2009
• Finished seventh in the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock standings
• One of only ten drivers to qualify for the 2008 NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs
• Has qualified for the Countdown to 1 in each of the first two years since the NHRA adopted the playoff format
• Powered to three No. 1 Qualifier Awards in 2008
• Has six career No. 1 Qualifier Awards
• Made eight 2008 semifinal appearances
• Posted two straight runner-up finishes at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in July 2008
• Racked up a 28-24 round win record in 2008
• Won the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event [June 2008 NHRA stop in Norwalk, Ohio] – recorded a perfect .000 reaction time
• Has 15 career final round appearances
• Finished a career-best fourth in the 2007 NHRA Pro Stock points standings
• One of only four Pro Stock drivers to qualify for the inaugural 2007 NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff
• Recorded five career wins
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals
The SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals is scheduled for April 3–5 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, April 4 beginning at 8 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, April 5 starting at 4 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more info on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.
More than 70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960’s–the muscle car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.
Today, Chrysler LLC’s Parts division is responsible for the distribution of nearly 350,000 authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles sold around the world. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler Engineering standards.
