[coverattach=1]Fallon, Nev. – When Southern California firefighter specialist Johnny Ahten straps into his Ahten Racing / Island Renovations Injected-Nitro Dragster for qualifying at the NHRA Division 7 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Fallon, Nev. this weekend, he will be fighting not only a strong contingent of Blown Alcohol Dragsters, but also the heat and high altitude of the Nevada desert.
“A-fuel cars do not run very well at high altitude race tracks historically,” noted the 38-year old flame chaser from Santa Clarita, Calif. “Top Gun Raceway has a base altitude of 3990 feet above sea level and with temperatures expected in the upper to mid 80’s the corrected altitude is expected to climb above 6,000 feet. The higher the corrected altitude equals less oxygen to blend with our nitro-methane fuel which starves our car of hundreds of potential horse power. But, we gathered some very valuable
data at our last event which we feel will be very beneficial to our team this
weekend in Fallon.”
Ahten is referring to the team’s last on-track experience at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals contested on “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in April, when the Ahten Racing / Island Renovations A/Fuel Dragster dropped a close first round race against Sandy, Utah racer Cody Perkins. After qualifying with a 5.48 second elapsed time, and running another 5.48 in the first round loss, the team found what they believe could be a solution as to why their A/fuel car drops cylinders at higher altitude.
“We have done fairly well in the past at higher altitude tracks and when it got hot, we were able to cool down our fuel to help fire those cylinders down track,” Ahten said. “However, we don’t have that luxury any longer after the NHRA made a rule change which limited the minimum temperature to 50-degrees at the beginning of this season. We’ve looked at our run data and we believe we have found a way to help our A/Fuel car run better at altitude, so this weekend’s race will be a bit of a test session for us, but we have confidence the changes will work well and we can go head to head with those blown cars. I’m really excited about our chances this weekend for our team to receive our first NHRA Wally.”
When not racing, Ahten is employed as a Firefighter Specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He has moved up through the ranks to be the one who drives and pumps the fire engine. He gets to drive fast on and off the track. “Both my racing and my career can be very similar,” noted Ahten.”Both require good people skills and performance under pressure.”
To learn more about Johnny Ahten and his Ahten Racing / Island Renovations
sponsored A/Fuel Dragster team, please visit their team page at
Welcome to CRX Media | Marketing, New Media and Public Relations for the Drag Racing World.
Keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com 1-800-230-3030
“A-fuel cars do not run very well at high altitude race tracks historically,” noted the 38-year old flame chaser from Santa Clarita, Calif. “Top Gun Raceway has a base altitude of 3990 feet above sea level and with temperatures expected in the upper to mid 80’s the corrected altitude is expected to climb above 6,000 feet. The higher the corrected altitude equals less oxygen to blend with our nitro-methane fuel which starves our car of hundreds of potential horse power. But, we gathered some very valuable
data at our last event which we feel will be very beneficial to our team this
weekend in Fallon.”
Ahten is referring to the team’s last on-track experience at the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals contested on “The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in April, when the Ahten Racing / Island Renovations A/Fuel Dragster dropped a close first round race against Sandy, Utah racer Cody Perkins. After qualifying with a 5.48 second elapsed time, and running another 5.48 in the first round loss, the team found what they believe could be a solution as to why their A/fuel car drops cylinders at higher altitude.
“We have done fairly well in the past at higher altitude tracks and when it got hot, we were able to cool down our fuel to help fire those cylinders down track,” Ahten said. “However, we don’t have that luxury any longer after the NHRA made a rule change which limited the minimum temperature to 50-degrees at the beginning of this season. We’ve looked at our run data and we believe we have found a way to help our A/Fuel car run better at altitude, so this weekend’s race will be a bit of a test session for us, but we have confidence the changes will work well and we can go head to head with those blown cars. I’m really excited about our chances this weekend for our team to receive our first NHRA Wally.”
When not racing, Ahten is employed as a Firefighter Specialist with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He has moved up through the ranks to be the one who drives and pumps the fire engine. He gets to drive fast on and off the track. “Both my racing and my career can be very similar,” noted Ahten.”Both require good people skills and performance under pressure.”
To learn more about Johnny Ahten and his Ahten Racing / Island Renovations
sponsored A/Fuel Dragster team, please visit their team page at
Welcome to CRX Media | Marketing, New Media and Public Relations for the Drag Racing World.
Keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on Drag Race Central | Presented by Summitracing.com 1-800-230-3030
