Countdown Officially Underway As Team Mopar Takes on Friday Qualifying at Charlotte Nationals

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.”

“When you’re fast, you’re the car to beat and today we were the car to beat,” added Nobile. “It’s a big confidence booster when you have a fast car.”

Johnson, who is looking to maintain his first place position in the Countdown by gathering valuable qualifying points, was disappointed with his two qualifying runs. The driver of the No.4 Mopar Dodge Avenger recorded a pass of 6.574-seconds at 211.56 mph to earn the third spot, and then posted a 6.563 /211.23 on his second run to finish the day as fourth fastest qualifier.

“We’re not where we want to be but we know what the problem is and these guys will fix it for the final rounds of qualifying so we can grab a few points on Saturday,” said Johnson who knows picking up as many qualifying points as possible is key but has his sights set on earning a fifth win this season and a championship. “We’re not aiming for fourth that’s for sure. We’ll work harder, focus on every single run and try not to get ahead of ourselves.

“Points are important but we still have six races and while we want to get the points every single run, today we weren’t very good at that,” acknowledged Johnson. “We’ll go out and be a little more aggressive Saturday as we work on our race day set-up.”

Mopar/JEGS.com Dodge Avenger driver Jeg Coughlin Jr., who sits 10th in the playoff standings was 8th after posting a 6.616/209.65 pass on his second qualifying run. V. Gaines sits in 14th place in his Mopar-powered Dodge with best effort of 6.611/209.46.

In the NHRA’s Funny Car class, after setting an E.T of 4.084 / 309.56 mph, HEMI-powered Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Jack Beckman had the provisional pole snatched from him by Tim Wilkerson by a 4.048 (309.70) effort.

DSR teammate and Mopar Dodge Charger R/T driver Matt Hagan sits in sixth place after his efforts Friday with a best run of 4.123/301.54, while current Funny Car points leader and Mopar DSR pilot Ron Capps ended the day in 12th.

Two more qualifying sessions for the Pro classes are on the docket for Saturday beginning at noon ET while the first eliminations rounds in the “Countdown to the Championship” are slated for Sunday broadcast on ESPN2.