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Knowles’ Runner-Up Finish in Charlotte Re-Ignites Competitive Flame

Courtesy of Kozak Motorsports Marketing
Photo by Roger Richards

Grand Junction, CO – Not only did veteran Pro Mod Racer, Mike Knowles make it to the finals of the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Part Nationals in Charlotte, NC he did it in fine fashion setting a new unofficial record for a Blown Converter Driven Legal Pro Mod at 5.888 seconds and 245 miles per hour.

“Man, I tell you after the start of the week I had and all the stuff that happened in the pits. Our performance here as a team really means a lot; I wish we could have got the win but tuning under the conditions we were faced with is tough. This is a new combination this year and the more experience we get with it the better we will be. I’m just really proud of my guys,” said Knowles.

The trials and tribulations Knowles is referring to is the fact that prior to leaving for the event one of his companies Tractor Trailers burnt to the ground and that while at the event a spectator burglarized the team’s pit space. A member of Knowles crew confronted the man and a scuffle ensued. The man was later escorted from the facility.

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Team Mopar & Johnson Earn 5th Season Title Win at NHRA Texas Fall Nationals

Courtesy of Mopar

Ennis, TX – After topping every qualifying session and earning the No.1 Qualifier honor, Allen Johnson made it a clean sweep by driving his Mopar Dodge Avenger to a title win at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex.

“The Mopar Dodge Avenger was consistent and it was low in all four qualifying rounds, low in two of four rounds today, and got the job done,” said Johnson who collected his tenth pole position and fifth title win of the season along the way. “We’ve got a great crew that makes great decisions. We’ve got great power from Dad (Roy Johnson) and the guys at the engine shop with great support from Mopar. The driver, fortunately, did his job.”

“Congratulations from everyone at Mopar to Allen Johnson on his win at the Fall Nationals in Texas,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We are extremely proud of Allen and the team for earning and maintaining their place atop the NHRA playoffs standings amid such strong competition, including three other HEMI-powered Dodge Avenger entries.”

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Coughlin scores round win in Dallas; sets sights on St. Louis

Courtesy of Jegs
Photo by Roger Richards

DALLAS, TX – Jeg Coughlin Jr. is happy to take the breaks where he and the JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger can get them. On Sunday at the 27th annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals, Coughlin was happy to accept his first round win thanks to a fortunate break against his opponentVieri Gaines.

Coughlin won that race on the starting line when Gaines left -.003 seconds too early and fouled out.

“He was on a heckuva run there,” Coughlin said. “He was on pace to run a 6.59 or 6.60, but he turned it red. It’s a good bit of good luck and we’ll take it any time.”

Coughlin ran a 6.629-second pass at 209.14 mph. Gaines did run a 6.606 at 207.50 mph as it was all for naught after he turned on the red light.

“I felt pretty good,” Coughlin said. “I didn’t think we’d slow down as much in the second round after we cleaned up what we had the first round.”

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Mopar Dominates Pro Stock Qualifying and Earns Pole Position at NHRA Texas Fall Nationals

Courtesy of Mopar
Photo by Roger Richards/Comp Plus

Ennis, TX – After dominating every qualifying session, Mopar Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson earned the Pro Stock pole position with the  lowest quarter-mile elapsed time of 6.550 seconds and set the top speed at 211.99 mph at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals at the famed Texas Motorplex near Dallas. It is Johnson’s tenth No. 1 Qualifier honor this season and the 28th of his career.

“I can remember my first one like it was yesterday and remember wondering if I’d get another one after that,” Johnson reminisced jokingly as a 17 year NHRA veteran. “It’s been a great year for the Mopar Dodge Avenger qualifying no. 1 and earning four wins this year, and hopefully I’ll add a couple more here readily.”

“We’re hitting on all cylinders and we have a very consistent strategy right now,” added Johnson who is maintaining his status as current points leader heading into the second of six playoff races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. “I’m trying to make good clean safe runs on every run, without pushing it at all and we’re still right up front. Hopefully we can take that strategy and work the Eliminations on Sunday. If we need a little more we’ve got a little more and can push the envelope a little bit and that’s a really good feeling right now.”

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Coughlin Jr. hoping for consistent win lights Sunday inTexas

Courtesy of Jegs

DALLAS, TX – Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s qualifying days in the JEGS/Mopar Dodge Avenger at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals can be summed up with one word: Consistent.

“We’ve been running right where we wound up qualifying,” Coughlin said. “We were 11th the first session, moved up to 10th in the second, stayed there Saturday and ended up qualifying there.”

Coughlin’s best pass of 6.601 seconds at 209.01 mph was indeed 10th best in the Pro Stock field this weekend.

“We changed motors going into Q4,” Coughlin said. “We just weren’t happy with the way the back half of the runs were looking in Q2 and Q3. We didn’t get a great start in Q4 but it ran really well from then on.”

In Sunday’s first round, Coughlin will be paired against fellow Dodge driver V Gaines, who qualified No. 7 with a best pass of 6.578 at 210.83 mph.

“We’re going to analyze that Q4 run tonight real good,” Coughlin said. “We just want to make sure there weren’t any major issues with the engine on why it didn’t want to accelerate when I let the cutch out on the starting line.”

He said the issue will be a pretty simple fix.

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Team Mopar Tops Pro Stock Friday Qualifying at Texas Fall Nationals

Courtesy of Mopar

Ennis, TX – Leader in the ‘Countdown to the Championship’, Allen Johnson, added a few more valuable points and a bit more momentum to his drive for a title and Pro Stock crown by setting the lowest elapsed time with his Mopar Dodge Avenger in Friday qualifying at the NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex south of Dallas.

Fastest in both sessions, Johnson’s initial pass of 6.585 seconds / 211.26 mph was against Jason Line (6.632), who is nipping at his heels in the playoff points race in second spot just three points back. The 17 year veteran driver improved upon his time with an E.T. of 6.568 seconds against Erica Enders (6.586) to maintain his provisional pole position at the end of the day.

“Our game plan with the Mopar Dodge Avenger is consistency and we’ve done that here so far after two runs,” said Johnson who went to the finals last weekend at Nationals in Charlotte and is working towards securing a tenth No.1 Qualifier position so far this season. “Building up those little points in qualifying is what we’re shooting for, and we did that today.”

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Alaska, North Dakota, Utah drivers selected for IHRA Summit SuperSeries ‘wild card’ spots

Courtesy of IHRA

NORWALK, Ohio – It is one of the most sought after championships in all of drag racing.

Drivers travel from all across the globe just to have a shot at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To some it is a lifelong dream just to qualify. To others winning can change everything. And now the much-anticipated Summit Racing Equipment SuperSeries presented by AMSOIL and Moser Engineering is back and will get underway at the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals October 12-14 at Memphis International Raceway in Tennessee.

Every weekend leading up to that weekend at tracks all across the United States and Canada drivers are doing battle for a coveted spot in the Summit SuperSeries program at Summit Team Finals events across the country. But for drivers at tracks outside of the coverage area of a Team Finals event, they are left waiting for a chance to be selected in the Summit SuperSeries field via a random drawing for three “wild card” spots done at the IHRA World Headquarters in Norwalk, Ohio.

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Roberts Grabs 1st Pro Mod Win in only 2nd Outing with New Ride

Courtesy of WCOPMA

Sacramento, CA – The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association rolled into Sacramento Raceway Park last weekend for the first time in nearly two years and put on an excellent show for the local fans. Nine of the baddest pro mod cars from California came to support the series and it came down to two first time finalist in the final round Saturday night.

There was supposed to be a qualifying session Friday evening but after a bad oil down in the right lane from another class and the track’s curfew closing in the WCOPMA racers decided as a group to call it quits and the track finessed Saturday’s run schedule to allow an early qualifier to make up for the missed opportunity Friday night.

When the cars finally hit the track on Saturday morning it would be none other but Mike Maggio atop the qualifying order with an early lifting 6.093 at only 206.46. Right behind him was Rod Burbage with a 6.140/234.56 pass followed by Rob Cacioppo in third with a 6.319/207.89. Dan Myers, Scott Bailey, Sean Renteria, Rich Roberts, Jeremy Hanger and Monty Berney filled the bottom half.

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Drivers gearing up for Summit Tournament of Champions

Courtesy of IHRA

NORWALK, OH – With the fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions presented by AMSOIL just a few weeks away, drivers are making final preparations and gearing up for the last race of the 2012 season with a shot at over $10,000 to the winner and the title of IHRA World Champion at stake.

This year’s class of TOC qualifiers totals 162 drivers, with seven spots still available at the last-chance Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular presented by AMSOIL one day before the big go all at the Summit Racing Equipment World Finals October 12-14 at Memphis International Raceway.

Among the 162 drivers currently qualified for the field, 17 are former world champions combining for 31 IHRA championships spanning 21 years from 1990 Hot Rod champion Daryl Griffin to 2011 champions Glenn Wright (TS), Gianni Cantusci (SS), Steve Furr (SR) and Chip Johnson (HR).

The 2012 Summit Tournament of Champions will also feature a diverse group of racers from 20 states and four Canadian provinces. North Carolina has the most representatives with 33 drivers, followed by Texas with 21, Florida with 16 and the Canadian province of Alberta with 16. Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, British Columbia, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington, West Virginia and Manitoba will also have representatives in this year’s TOC field.

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Alexander Returning to the Birthplace of his FC Career

Courtesy of Paul Smith Racing

ENNIS, TX – This weekend Funny Car rookie Blake Alexander returns to Texas Motorplex, the place where he earned his fuel Funny Car license, to compete in the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. Tried and true tuning and some experience will come into play for the Auto Service Plus driver.

“There’s something about this that I think is cool, because this is the only track where I have experience making full passes in a Funny Car. I don’t know what that’ll mean, since I was so green when I was here getting my license last year. I’ve learned so much over the course of the season,” Blake said.

The Paul Smith Racing car Blake will be driving experienced success at the Fall Nationals last year, qualifying third and reaching the semifinals. The tune-up that yielded such a finish will be back in the Auto Service Plus car this weekend.

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