Team Mopar® Driver Allen Johnson Prepares to Defend His Title at the 29th Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
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Center Line, Mich. — Team Mopar® driver Allen Johnson hopes to follow up his $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge win at last weekend’s NHRA Norwalk event with a second-straight victory at the 29th Annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals. The race will be held at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison , Colo. on July 11–13.
Johnson was in a class of his own during NHRA Pro Stock competition at the 2007 Mopar Mile-High Nationals, claiming the No. 1 Qualifier award and the Sunday race win in his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T. The Greeneville, Tenn. , native and longtime Team Mopar hotshoe will return to Mile-High to defend his title on a hot streak. Johnson drove to the race-within-a-race K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event victory at Norwalk on the strength of a .000 reaction time in the finals against Greg Anderson. He also qualified No. 3 and advanced to the quarterfinals in Sunday eliminations.
“Heading back to Denver after you won last year is always a confidence builder,” said Johnson, currently seventh in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings. “We feel like our set up is really good. We’ve been getting a lot of help with parts and engineering from the folks at Mopar. We’ve really got the HEMI® engine in the Mopar/J&J car firing on all cylinders. We’ve been here testing at Denver and we’ve been the fastest car the past few days. We feel confident for next weekend.”
Mopar’s long-running sponsorship of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals makes a win at Denver that much sweeter for Johnson, Mopar’s factory-backed NHRA Pro Stock driver. The event brings out a large Mopar contingent headquarters [Centerline, Mich. ]. Johnson sent them home happy last season and thinks he can do so again this year.
“Coming back here as the Mopar-sponsored driver puts a little extra added pressure on you to do well,” Johnson remarked. “I feel like we can do that. I feel like we turned the corner the last few weeks with the car and me. I’m up to the challenge.”
The Norwalk event, where Johnson posted the quickest elapsed-time of the race on Sunday in addition to his K&N win on Saturday, seems to have sparked the Mopar-fueled J&J Racing team.
“We just kept working at it. Through hard work and testing we turned it around,” said Johnson. “The $50,000 win in the K&N Horsepower Challenge was huge for me and the whole Mopar team. We want to keep this run of success going and bring home a second-straight win at Denver for the Mopar folks. I know this race is important to them.”
Johnson stats
The Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals will kickoff with the Mopar Big Block Party on the streets of downtown Golden, Colo. on Thursday, July 10 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. NHRA POWERade Drag Racing action is scheduled for July 11–13 at Bandimere Speedway. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, July 12 starting at 10 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, July 13 starting at 8 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more info on the NHRA, log on to NHRA.com.
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.
Originally used in the 1920s, Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It was also widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – 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 Global Service & Parts division is responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of nearly 250,000 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.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/Moparlogo.jpg" alt="Moparlogo" align="left"borders="0"/>
Center Line, Mich. — Team Mopar® driver Allen Johnson hopes to follow up his $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge win at last weekend’s NHRA Norwalk event with a second-straight victory at the 29th Annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals. The race will be held at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison , Colo. on July 11–13.
Johnson was in a class of his own during NHRA Pro Stock competition at the 2007 Mopar Mile-High Nationals, claiming the No. 1 Qualifier award and the Sunday race win in his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T. The Greeneville, Tenn. , native and longtime Team Mopar hotshoe will return to Mile-High to defend his title on a hot streak. Johnson drove to the race-within-a-race K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event victory at Norwalk on the strength of a .000 reaction time in the finals against Greg Anderson. He also qualified No. 3 and advanced to the quarterfinals in Sunday eliminations.
“Heading back to Denver after you won last year is always a confidence builder,” said Johnson, currently seventh in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings. “We feel like our set up is really good. We’ve been getting a lot of help with parts and engineering from the folks at Mopar. We’ve really got the HEMI® engine in the Mopar/J&J car firing on all cylinders. We’ve been here testing at Denver and we’ve been the fastest car the past few days. We feel confident for next weekend.”
Mopar’s long-running sponsorship of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals makes a win at Denver that much sweeter for Johnson, Mopar’s factory-backed NHRA Pro Stock driver. The event brings out a large Mopar contingent headquarters [Centerline, Mich. ]. Johnson sent them home happy last season and thinks he can do so again this year.
“Coming back here as the Mopar-sponsored driver puts a little extra added pressure on you to do well,” Johnson remarked. “I feel like we can do that. I feel like we turned the corner the last few weeks with the car and me. I’m up to the challenge.”
The Norwalk event, where Johnson posted the quickest elapsed-time of the race on Sunday in addition to his K&N win on Saturday, seems to have sparked the Mopar-fueled J&J Racing team.
“We just kept working at it. Through hard work and testing we turned it around,” said Johnson. “The $50,000 win in the K&N Horsepower Challenge was huge for me and the whole Mopar team. We want to keep this run of success going and bring home a second-straight win at Denver for the Mopar folks. I know this race is important to them.”
Johnson stats
- Captured the event win at the 2007 Mopar® Mile-High NHRA Nationals – and scored the No. 1 Qualifier award
- Banked $50,000 with the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event win [June 2008 NHRA stop in Norwalk , Ohio ] – recorded a perfect .000 reaction time to beat Greg Anderson
- Currently seventh in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings
- Advanced to the semifinals in the inaugural running of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in 2007
- Has two semifinals appearances through the first 11 events in 2008
- Qualified in the top half of the field in 11 of 12 2008 NHRA POWERade events to date
- Has advanced to at least the quarterfinals in eight of 12 2008 NHRA POWERade events to date
- Claimed his fourth career No. 1 qualifier award at the 2008 Phoenix event
- Has a 10-12 round win record through 11 events
- Reached the semifinals in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona , Calif.
- Finished fourth in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock points standings
- One of only four Pro Stock drivers to qualify in the inaugural NHRA Countdown to 1 title playoff
- Captured his 5th-career win at the 28th Annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals in July 2007
- Posted two runner-up finishes in 2007
- Advanced to 12 career final rounds
The Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals will kickoff with the Mopar Big Block Party on the streets of downtown Golden, Colo. on Thursday, July 10 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. NHRA POWERade Drag Racing action is scheduled for July 11–13 at Bandimere Speedway. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, July 12 starting at 10 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, July 13 starting at 8 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more info on the NHRA, log on to NHRA.com.
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.
Originally used in the 1920s, Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It was also widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s – 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 Global Service & Parts division is responsible for the manufacturing and distribution of nearly 250,000 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.
