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Team Mopar Driver Johnson Looks to End Season in Victory Lane at Pomona

November 7, 2011 Posted By


Nov. 07, 2011

Team Mopar Driver Johnson Looks to End Season in Victory Lane at Pomona

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Mopar® Dodge Avenger NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson would like nothing more than to finish 2011 with a win. Following final round appearances in each of the past two events, the Team Mopar veteran will wrap up the season at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. in the 47th Annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 10–13.
Johnson enters the season finale fifth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, after five of the six rounds, just six points out of the fourth position and well within striking distance of third. Johnson recorded the 250th round-win of his career in the previous event at Las Vegas en route to reaching the final.
“Our goal all season has been to get in the top three in points and we are getting closer,” said Johnson. “We have to have a really good race at Pomona to do it. We have some momentum right now and we have to keep that up and hopefully get to that final round.”
Johnson, who has reached the semifinals twice in his career at Pomona, was the No. 3 qualifier at the track in the spring. The native of Greeneville, Tenn. has been among the top-five in qualifying in each of his past five starts at the venue including No. 1 last fall, and has been one of the most consistent drivers this season on the clock, with starts among the top half of the field in 19 of 21 races.
“Pomona has been good to me in the past,” stated Johnson. “We have a lot of experience there and that always helps. We have a veteran team and I am very happy with how hard everyone is working right now and how things are going.”
Johnson has been one of the fastest drivers down the stretch, as evidenced by his two consecutive final-round appearances. Following the first race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs, the second generation driver and his J&J Racing team switched to a new Mopar Dodge Avenger, with a special Mopar Express Lane paint scheme. They also welcomed Jim Yates to the team before the fourth round of the Countdown, to help fine tune the new car. The addition paid dividends right off the bat as Johnson reached the final at Phoenix and then followed it up with another trip to the final round at Las Vegas, to bring his tally to four final round appearances this season.
“We’re very close to where we want the new car to be,” noted Johnson. “We are working hard at it and I think we are close to being at the top of the charts. We seem to keep getting better each run we make with the new car.”

Johnson’s Statistics of Note
2011 Season

  • Clinched a spot in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs
  • Fifth overall in the NHRA Pro Stock point standings
  • Posted a 26-20 Round-win record through 21 events
  • Scored a win in the NHRA SuperNationals at Englishtown
  • No. 1 Qualifier at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
  • Advanced to the finals of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
  • Reached the final-round of the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix
  • No. 1 Qualifier at Sonoma, setting a track record
  • No. 1 Qualifier at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol
  • Advanced to the semifinals at the U.S. Nationals
  • Reached the semifinals at the Southern Nationals at Atlanta
  • Advanced to the semifinals at the NHRA Thunder Valley NHRA Nationals at Bristol
  • Johnson and his J&J Racing team aided Dodge Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Kurt Busch in qualifying for the NHRA Gatornationals in his very first Pro Stock even
  • Broke the 6.50-second barrier in a February test session at Bradenton Motorsports Park, uncorking a 6.498-second elapsed time, an unofficial record for a Pro Stock car
  • Advanced to the finals of the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals at Las Vegas

2010 Season

  • Finished sixth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship Pro Stock playoff standings
  • Claimed four consecutive No. 1 Qualifier Awards (Dallas, Reading, Las Vegas, Pomona 2) to end the season
  • Scored a victory at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, his second straight win and third in four years at his primary sponsor’s race
  • Advanced past the first round at 21 of 23 events
  • Posted a 37-21 round win record, the most round wins of his career
  • Advanced to at least the semifinals in 12 of 23 events
  • Advanced to the final round at the NHRA event in Norwalk,Ohio
  • Scored his second final-round appearance of the season at the NHRA event inTopeka
  • Claimed his 200th career round win at the NHRA St. Louis race
  • Advanced to four straight semifinals to start the season in his new Mopar Dodge Avenger
  • Banked his first final-round appearance of the year at the NHRA Houston event

2009 Season

  • Clinched a spot in the 2009 NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs 
  • Captured wins at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver and NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka
  • Finished seventh in NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings
  • Made three finals appearances, scoring a runner-up finish at NHRA Gatornationals
  • Captured seventh career No. 1 Qualifier Award at NHRA event in Seattle, reaching the semifinals
  • Made eight semifinals appearances
  • Posted a 30-20 round win record for the season

2008 Season

  • Finished seventh in NHRA Pro Stock standings
  • One of only 10 drivers to qualify for NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs
  • Won K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event at Norwalk, recording perfect .000 reaction time to defeat Greg Anderson for victory
  • Powered to three No. 1 Qualifier Awards
  • Made eight semifinals appearances
  • Posted two straight runner-up finishes at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals
  • Racked up 28-24 round win record 

2007 Season

  • Finished career-best fourth in NHRA Pro Stock point standings
  • One of only four Pro Stock drivers to qualify for inaugural NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff
  • Claimed win at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver 

2006 Season

  • Finished sixth in NHRA Pro Stock standings, scoring win at Seattle

Career

  • Qualified for Countdown to Championship in all five years since NHRA adopted playoff format in 2007
  • Claimed nine career NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock wins
  • Captured 18 career No. 1 Qualifier Awards
  • Claimed more than 250 career round wins
  • Has a career best elapsed time of 6.538-seconds and a career best speed of 211.73 mph
  • Recorded 23 career final round appearances
  • Competed in 300th race at 2009 NHRA St.Louis event
  • Scored second career win at Atlanta in 2002 and finished eighth in point standings
  • Seized first career win in 1999 at Richmond and went on to claim first top 10 finish in standings
  • Made NHRA Pro Stock debut in 1996, driving a Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger

 47th Annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
The 47th Annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals is scheduled to take place Nov. 10–Nov. 13 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, Nov. 12 beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, Nov. 13, beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more information on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.

Mopar-First Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

  • Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
  • Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with consumers
  • Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
  • Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
  • 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
  • Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
  • WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network

About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand.
Mopar distributes approximately 280,000 parts and accessories in more than 90 countries and is the source for all original-equipment parts for Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge and Ram Truck vehicles. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles—a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at http://www.mopar.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 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.

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