Team Mopar® Driver Allen Johnson Will Pursue a Third-Straight Western Swing Finals Berth and First ’08 Win at Sonoma
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Center Line, Mich. — Mopar®/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson wants to become only the fourth driver in NHRA POWERade Pro Stock history to advance to the finals at all three stops on the NHRA’s Western Swing in the same calendar year at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals. The race will be held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. on July 25–27.
Johnson posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in the first two legs of the Western Swing – Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver and Schucks’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle. Greg Anderson, Warren Johnson and Jim Yates are the only Pro Stock drivers to advance to the finals at all three events in the same year.
The Mopar HEMI®-powered Johnson would love to join that elite club by finishing out the three-race swing with his first win of the season and sixth of his career.
“It would be a real accomplishment to go to the finals at all three stops on the Western Swing,” said Johnson. “Not too many Pro Stock drivers have ever done that. It would be great to add my name to that list, hopefully with a finals win this time as the result.”
Johnson added, “We’re just racking up points now. To come out of the Western Swing in the top four, we’re going to have to go to the finals at Sonoma. We love it there. The area is beautiful. The whole Western Swing is just a really great experience.”
It certainly was a great experience last year for Johnson. He made a semifinals appearance and clinched a spot in the inaugural NHRA Countdown playoff at the 2007 Sonoma race. Another finals run at Sonoma would go a long way toward locking the Greeneville, Tenn. native into the 2008 NHRA playoff, but Johnson remains cautious about any early prognostications.
“I don’t feel really good about saying we’re okay or secure yet,” said Johnson. “A lot can happen. We have put a lot of distance between us and the tenth spot [the points cutoff for the six-race NHRA Countdown to One playoff, which will be set following the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals next month]. My main goal is to get up there in the top four. That’s our focus right now, just going rounds.”
Johnson’s Western Swing hot streak continues a trend that has held true for him and his J&J Racing crew for the last three years: When the NHRA heads out West, the J&J Racing team heats up.
“I think we’re sort of like a sprinter,” remarked Johnson. “The first part of the year we’re trying a lot of stuff. About this time of year we settle in on a really good combination and get the bugs worked out. Then the whole team goes to work on the finish stroke. We’re about to that phase right now, and it would be awesome to start it rolling with a Sonoma victory.”
Johnson stats
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Center Line, Mich. — Mopar®/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson wants to become only the fourth driver in NHRA POWERade Pro Stock history to advance to the finals at all three stops on the NHRA’s Western Swing in the same calendar year at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals. The race will be held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. on July 25–27.
Johnson posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in the first two legs of the Western Swing – Mopar Mile-High Nationals in Denver and Schucks’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle. Greg Anderson, Warren Johnson and Jim Yates are the only Pro Stock drivers to advance to the finals at all three events in the same year.
The Mopar HEMI®-powered Johnson would love to join that elite club by finishing out the three-race swing with his first win of the season and sixth of his career.
“It would be a real accomplishment to go to the finals at all three stops on the Western Swing,” said Johnson. “Not too many Pro Stock drivers have ever done that. It would be great to add my name to that list, hopefully with a finals win this time as the result.”
Johnson added, “We’re just racking up points now. To come out of the Western Swing in the top four, we’re going to have to go to the finals at Sonoma. We love it there. The area is beautiful. The whole Western Swing is just a really great experience.”
It certainly was a great experience last year for Johnson. He made a semifinals appearance and clinched a spot in the inaugural NHRA Countdown playoff at the 2007 Sonoma race. Another finals run at Sonoma would go a long way toward locking the Greeneville, Tenn. native into the 2008 NHRA playoff, but Johnson remains cautious about any early prognostications.
“I don’t feel really good about saying we’re okay or secure yet,” said Johnson. “A lot can happen. We have put a lot of distance between us and the tenth spot [the points cutoff for the six-race NHRA Countdown to One playoff, which will be set following the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals next month]. My main goal is to get up there in the top four. That’s our focus right now, just going rounds.”
Johnson’s Western Swing hot streak continues a trend that has held true for him and his J&J Racing crew for the last three years: When the NHRA heads out West, the J&J Racing team heats up.
“I think we’re sort of like a sprinter,” remarked Johnson. “The first part of the year we’re trying a lot of stuff. About this time of year we settle in on a really good combination and get the bugs worked out. Then the whole team goes to work on the finish stroke. We’re about to that phase right now, and it would be awesome to start it rolling with a Sonoma victory.”
Johnson stats
- Posted two straight runner-up finishes – Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals
- Qualified No. 2 and advanced to the semifinals at the 2007 Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals
- Currently fifth in the NHRA Pro Stock standings
- 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, Johnson’s J&J Racing team leads the points standings in the NHRA Pro Stock Full Throttle Pit Crew Championship
- Qualified in the top half of the field in 12 of 14 2008 NHRA POWERade events to date
- Has advanced to at least the quarterfinals in 11 of 14 2008 NHRA POWERade events to date
- Has appeared in 14 career final rounds
- Claimed his fourth career No. 1 qualifier award at the 2008 Phoenix event
- Has a 16-14 round win record through 14 events
- 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
