Las Vegas, Nev. (April 2, 2011) – Mopar® Dodge Avenger NHRA Pro Stock pilot Allen Johnson soared to No. 3 in the final day of qualifying at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, leading a three-car Mopar Dodge field into the elimination rounds tomorrow at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
No. 7 after two rounds of qualifying yesterday, Johnson knew he and his Mopar/J&J Racing team could do better—and do better they did. The Team Mopar veteran reeled off a 6.711-second elapsed time (ET) at 206.07 mph in his first qualifying attempt of the day to jump to the No. 3 spot. Johnson experienced problems early in his fourth and final pass and shut the car off, but his first run today was more than enough to secure his qualifying position and set up an opening-round battle with Kurt Johnson (no relation).
“We’re a lot happier today,” said Johnson. “We made some wholesale changes yesterday, and today the car was back to normal, and was very consistent. I got unlucky on that last run with some spark plug problems and had to shut the car off, but overall I’m nothing but pleased with how my team and car performed.
“Lane choice is worth something. We’ll start tomorrow and go for broke and see if we can go some rounds. Neither lane is bad, but the left one is just a little bit better. We made our .711 run from the right, and it was encouraging to run that well from that lane. Mike (Edwards, No. 1 Qualifier today) going from the left to right lane slowed down almost two hundredths, so you can see how much the lane is worth.
“Qualifying high gives the J&J Racing/Mopar Dodge Avenger team confidence and it gives us lane choice, and those are two important things to have on race day. Hopefully, we can take it and come out of that first round with a win and be low ET so we have lane choice for second round, and keep it rolling from there.”
Pro Stock rookie Vincent Nobile will make his first start from the top half of the field tomorrow in his Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger. The young driver qualified No. 6 with a 6.723/205.88 effort and will matchup with Warren Johnson tomorrow in the first stanza. V. Gaines displayed his mettle under pressure, making the Vegas show in his final qualifying pass, recording a 6.755/205.79 mark. He’ll make his first start of 2011 in his Mopar-fueled Dodge tomorrow, drawing Ron Krisher in the first round.
No. 7 after two rounds of qualifying yesterday, Johnson knew he and his Mopar/J&J Racing team could do better—and do better they did. The Team Mopar veteran reeled off a 6.711-second elapsed time (ET) at 206.07 mph in his first qualifying attempt of the day to jump to the No. 3 spot. Johnson experienced problems early in his fourth and final pass and shut the car off, but his first run today was more than enough to secure his qualifying position and set up an opening-round battle with Kurt Johnson (no relation).
“We’re a lot happier today,” said Johnson. “We made some wholesale changes yesterday, and today the car was back to normal, and was very consistent. I got unlucky on that last run with some spark plug problems and had to shut the car off, but overall I’m nothing but pleased with how my team and car performed.
“Lane choice is worth something. We’ll start tomorrow and go for broke and see if we can go some rounds. Neither lane is bad, but the left one is just a little bit better. We made our .711 run from the right, and it was encouraging to run that well from that lane. Mike (Edwards, No. 1 Qualifier today) going from the left to right lane slowed down almost two hundredths, so you can see how much the lane is worth.
“Qualifying high gives the J&J Racing/Mopar Dodge Avenger team confidence and it gives us lane choice, and those are two important things to have on race day. Hopefully, we can take it and come out of that first round with a win and be low ET so we have lane choice for second round, and keep it rolling from there.”
Pro Stock rookie Vincent Nobile will make his first start from the top half of the field tomorrow in his Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger. The young driver qualified No. 6 with a 6.723/205.88 effort and will matchup with Warren Johnson tomorrow in the first stanza. V. Gaines displayed his mettle under pressure, making the Vegas show in his final qualifying pass, recording a 6.755/205.79 mark. He’ll make his first start of 2011 in his Mopar-fueled Dodge tomorrow, drawing Ron Krisher in the first round.
