Courtesy of Mopar
Photo by Roger Richards

Concord, NC –Friday Qualifying at zMax Dragway officially launched the start of the NHRA six race playoff known as the ‘Countdown to the Championship’ and it was the Mopar Dodge Avenger of Vincent Nobile that led the Pro Stock field for the first time. Mopar Dodge Avenger driver and current points leader Allen Johnson wasn’t quite as excited about his start to first playoff weekend, taking the provisional fourth spot after two qualifying runs at the Charlotte strip.

Nobile’s initial pass put him second on the scoring sheet with an elapsed time of 6.573 seconds and speed of 210.44 mph. His second run in the no.5 Dodger Avenger against Jason Line lowered the ET to 6.548 / 211.03 and gave him his first career provisional pole position.

“We’re always striving to be number one but it’s definitely a surprise and I’m definitely new to this,” said Nobile who is running with HEMI power supplied by Johnson’s J&J Racing team and is currently fifth in the Pro Stock playoff race. “It felt great in the car and I was shocked how fast we went. I knew it was a great run but I’ve never been a No.1 Qualifier.”

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Courtesy of Mopar

Auburn Hills, MI – As the Countdown to the Championship begins this weekend with the fifth annual NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., Team Mopar Pro Stock drivers Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin Jr. take on unfamiliar roles as hunted and hunter in the final six races of the season.

Allen Johnson starts the playoffs in his Mopar Dodge Avenger as the no.1 seed for the first time since the adoption of the playoff format in 2007, but relishes the task of staying atop the standings by doing the same thing they’ve been doing all season; gathering as many points as possible along the way.

“When you have a bulls-eye on your back, you’re out in front, it is sort of a strange feeling,” said Johnson whose top billing gives his Mopar-powered Dodge a 30 point advantage over second place.. “There’s a lot more pressure than I thought there would be but it’s something you got to get in your mind and enjoy.  I’m trying to have fun with it. The whole team is. We definitely have something for them during this Countdown.  It’s going to be intense.  Everybody’s going to feel that intensity, including the fans.  That’s what makes Pro Stock exciting.”

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Courtesy of Mopar

Clermont, IN – Two final qualifying sessions reshuffled the ladders for eliminations as the re-scheduled  58th Annual NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis got back underway under cooler and faster conditions than the previous rain shortened weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway.

The 16 car field is now set with Mopar Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson starting fourth in Pro Stock eliminations on Sunday, and thus locking up the No. 1 spot in the Pro Stock Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoff that will begin at the next NHRA event in Charlotte.

The Team Mopar veteran was one of four Mopar-powered Dodge drivers to make the prestigious U.S. Nationals field in Pro Stock, along with four Mopar Dodge Chargers in the Funny Car class.

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Courtesy of Mopar

Clermont, IN – In a wet and rain-delayed second day of qualifying at the 58th Annual NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Team Mopar® driver Allen Johnson held on to the third spot in qualifying on Saturday at Lucas Oil Raceway in his Mopar Dodge Avenger NHRA Pro Stock car. Johnson enters final qualifying on Sunday with his eye on a class-best tenth No. 1 spot this season and second career pole at Indy.

Johnson, ranked first in the point standings, put up a pass of 6.639-seconds at 208.20 mph in the first qualifying session, which featured an hours-long delay due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, which brought intermittent rain showers to the Indianapolis area. Johnson’s run was the second quickest of the session. The second Pro Stock qualifying round under the lights was cancelled due to safety concerns regarding track conditions due to condensation and excess humidity.

Needing to merely qualify for the U.S. Nationals to earn the No. 1 position in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship Pro Stock playoffs and a 30-point bonus, the Team Mopar veteran tripped the timing lights with a 6.634/208.42 to take the third spot in the single qualifying session on Friday.

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Courtesy of Mopar

Clermont, IN – Charlie Westcott Jr. of Parma, Mich., powered to the No. 1 spot in qualifying on Thursday in his 1968 “Warfish” Plymouth Barracuda at the 12th Annual Mopar® HEMI® Challenge at the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Westcott Jr. banked the Mopar top qualifier $500 bonus with his second straight pole at the Indianapolis Mopar HEMI Challenge event, and will look to capture his second straight Indy win on Friday and fifth overall at the venue.

An impressive field of 23 Mopar-powered Super Stock A/HEMI (SS/AH) 1968 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas battled it out at Lucas Oil Raceway. Westcott Jr. paced the pack with an elapsed time of 8.386-seconds in his HEMI machine. Clocking in at No. 2 was Jim Daniels of Bristol, Pa., in his 1968 Dodge Dart with an 8.458 mark, followed by Charlie Westcott Sr. in the third spot in his ’68 Plymouth ‘Cuda with an 8.488. Taking the fourth spot was former Indy Mopar HEMI Challenge champ Rick Houser of Pasadena, Calif., with an 8.491 effort in his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, and Wendell Howes of Rathesay, Neb., rounded out the top five with an 8.510, also in a 1968 Barracuda.

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Courtesy of Mopar

Auburn Hills, MI — The equation is pretty simple for Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson. Just qualify for the 16-car field in the regular season finale, the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, and the Team Mopar driver will be locked into the No. 1 position to open the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs. The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals take place at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 29–Sept. 3.

Johnson, leader of the Pro Stock standings, heads to Indy fresh off his sixth final round appearance of the season in the most recent NHRA event in Brainerd, Minn., on Aug. 19. The driver of the Mopar Dodge Avenger is tied for the Pro Stock lead with four victories this season and has a class-best nine No. 1 Qualifier awards, as he gears up for the six-race Countdown.

“We always look forward to going to Indy for the U.S. Nationals,” said Johnson. “It’s a long weekend, and a little bit different of one than a normal event, but we always have fun there. The U.S. Nationals rank right up there, prestige-wise and money-wise, as one of the biggest events of the year. It would certainly mean a lot to win it.”

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Courtesy of MOPAR
Photo courtesy of Competition Plus

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson has one goal over the next two events heading into the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs — gain as many points as possible. The native of Greeneville, Tenn., who currently leads the NHRA Pro Stock standings, returns to the track this weekend in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 16–19.

“I’m definitely ready to get up to Brainerd and back on the track,” said Johnson. “I was ready last Thursday to head up for qualifying, and didn’t want to take a week off. We have some good momentum right now and our Mopar Dodge Avenger is very fast.”

Johnson enters this weekend’s event with four wins on the season, including in two of his last three starts. The J&J Racing driver/owner opened the NHRA’s Western Swing with a victory in the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, and backed that up with another win at Sonoma the following week. In his career at Brainerd, the Team Mopar veteran has reached the semifinals twice, and has qualified among the top half of the field six times, as he chases his first win at the venue.

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Courtesy of Mopar PR

Auburn Hills, MI — The 2012 Mopar® HEMI® Challenge will take to the track for the 12th consecutive year during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Aug. 30–31. For the second straight year, $15,000 will go to the winner of the Mopar HEMI Challenge, which pairs Mopar-powered Super Stock/A-HEMI (SS/AH) competitors against each other in a high-stakes quarter-mile showdown.

• 2012 Mopar® HEMI® Challenge to once again feature $15,000 top prize
• $18,000 total purse up for grabs for Mopar HEMI Challenge participants
• Super Stock/A-HEMI (SS/AH) Mopar HEMI Challenge drivers to do battle for 12^th consecutive year at Indy

The Mopar HEMI Challenge began as a one-race shootout at the 2001 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, and returned to that format last year, after a number of seasons as a multi-event mini-series. The race features 1968 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas — the classic package cars that helped build the Mopar brand’s impressive reputation at the drag strip — engaged in quarter-mile battles.

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