Pomona, California (Nov. 15, 2015) – Allen Johnson ended his 20th season behind the wheel a Mopar-powered National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock car in the perfect spot: winner’s circle. Johnson put on a driving clinic at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona on Sunday, willing his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart all the way from the 11th spot on the eliminations ladder to the event win at the season-ending NHRA Finals. In Funny Car, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Tommy Johnson Jr. scored a runner-up finish, and the 23rd final-round appearance in 24 events overall for the 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T body which debuted this season, while DSR Mopar Dodge driver Jack Beckman set the elapsed time NHRA National record and finished second in the World Championship standings. All four DSR Mopar Dodge Funny Car drivers finished in the top five of the final championship standings and amassed 15 wins aboard the new body.

For Pro Stocker Johnson, the victory was the second for the J&J Racing driver and team owner at the NHRA Finals (the other came in 2012), his second of the season after five final-round appearances, and the 26th overall victory of his career. The triumph makes Johnson the last Pro Stock winner to use a carbureted engine (the class will change to fuel injection in 2016). The win also pushed Johnson, the 2012 Pro Stock World Champion, to third in the final championship standings, his fourth top-five performance in the last five years and his tenth consecutive finish in the top-ten.

“We're very happy to see Allen Johnson drive the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart to a win at the NHRA Finals in Pomona,” said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA - Global. “It was especially nice to have Allen and Roy end the season in the winner's circle with a scheme that celebrates their 20 years competing in Pro Stock aboard a HEMI-powered Mopar vehicle.”

Flying a special “Thank You” graphics wrap on his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart” to honor his two decades with Mopar, Johnson said “You’re Welcome” to the brand by delivering a Wally trophy in dramatic fashion. The lower seeded Johnson upset No. 6 starter Jonathan Gray to begin his day, displaying his quick reflexes off the starting line with a .005 reaction paired with a 6.571-second elapsed time at 209.23 mph, while Gray was disqualified on a red light foul. In the quarterfinals AJ defeated another Gray family member, Jonathan’s brother Shane, leaving first again with a .018 reaction time to his foe’s .032 and posting a winning 6.548/209.82 to Shane’s 6.551/211.76.

In the semis Johnson faced a huge obstacle — No. 2 qualifier and 2015 NHRA Pro Stock champion Erica Enders. The veteran from Greeneville, Tennessee, rose to the occasion, knocking off the champ on a holeshot win with a quick-twitch .005 second reaction time, reaching the line first with a 6.572/209.17 despite Enders’ quicker and faster 6.542/211.56. Matched against former teammate Vincent Nobile in the final — the 56th of Johnson’s career — AJ crowned his weekend with another holeshot win. Johnson’s .011 reaction time overcame his slower 6.541/210.18 pass, besting Nobile’s .033 reaction and 6.540/211.938 run. In all four rounds on his road to victory, Johnson was first off the starting line.

“We dug down deep and got it done to give my family, the team and Mopar the win in the final race of the year and to cap off twenty years like this is special,” said Johnson, who has now advanced to the money round at the NHRA Finals in three of the last four seasons (2012, 2013, 2015). “I had to step up my game for this race day after being up and down through the entire Countdown and I wanted to finish the year on a high. We struggled to get traction in our car through qualifying and even the first three rounds. Right before the final round we found that we had a bent piece on the car and fixed it and ran straight down the track to win it. The Magneti Marelli Mopar team doesn’t ever give up. We’ve been out here for 20 years with Mopar and what a great sponsor they are. The Mopar fans are fanatics and they’ve always been here with us. It’s been an unbelievable ride with my dad (Roy Johnson) for 20 great years. We’re not sure what next year holds for us, but we hope to be out here racing again in the Dodge Dart.”

Pomona, California (Nov. 14, 2015) – Allen Johnson kicked off the final day of 2015 NHRA Pro Stock qualifying by recording a 6.535-second elapsed time run paired with a 211.86 mph speed, and headed into the last session in the 10th position, based on his 6.528/212.06 qualifying effort on Friday afternoon. The “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driver was unable to improve in Q4 with a 6.553/210.97. The 20-year Team Mopar veteran will begin the final race day of the season from the 11th spot against Jonathan Gray.

“We made that same run last night and it was a good run and close to the top five cars before went left and close to the wall but thought it was quick enough that we could build on that,” said Johnson, who will aim for his second win of the season and second career at the NHRA Finals tomorrow. “Last night’s run was quick enough that we could build on it and be within a hundredth of the fastest car for final qualifying but it didn’t quite work out that way for us on the final lap. We’re looking at what we did today and will go back a couple of steps and try to get back to last night’s run, because that racked up pretty good. We’ll change engines and tires and search for the perfect combination. That’s our plan going into race day.”

Pomona, California (Nov. 13, 2015) – In his first Pro Stock qualifying attempt on the final race weekend of 2015, Allen Johnson clicked off a 6.556/211.96 in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart, putting him 11th on the charts. Johnson, carrying a special “Thank You” graphics wrap on his Dart in recognition of his 20 years behind the wheel of a Mopar-powered Pro Stock car, improved in the afternoon session on Friday, moving up two spots to the preliminary ninth position on the strength of a 6.528/212.06 pass.

“The first run, we just missed the set up entirely, but in the second run we really got after it,” said Johnson, who won this race in 2012, putting the cherry on top of the Pro Stock World Championship he also earned that year. “We were only two hundredth off the top car, and we about hit the wall, going to the left.

“We had at least a hundredth left. We’re in the ballpark. Tomorrow it’s supposed to get cooler, and maybe we can jump up in the top half and have lane choice in the first round (on Sunday). That’s our goal.”

Las Vegas, Nevada (Nov. 1, 2015) – Lady Luck was not with Team Mopar veteran and No. 10 qualifier Allen Johnson during NHRA Pro Stock eliminations at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Lined up in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart against Vincent Nobile in round one, Johnson was quicker on the trigger, leaving the starting line first with a .014 reaction time to Nobile’s slower .017. Despite leading until approximately the 1,000 ft. mark, Johnson’s 6.632/208.59 was chased down by Nobile’s quicker and faster 6.625/209.07. Nobile’s margin of victory: approximately 18 inches.

“We were way more conservative than we should have been,” said Johnson, the 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champ, who has one win this season. “We went too light on the clutch. We went 6.60 yesterday in the exact same conditions and then went 6.63 today, so that’s disappointing. We didn’t make the right calls and made a bad run and that’s all she wrote. All we needed was four-thousandths to win that round but we didn’t do the job.

“The fact is that even with the Pro Stock Championship decided, we have a goal to finish in the top-three. That’s what we’re going to be shooting for the finale in Pomona.”

Las Vegas, Nevada (Oct. 31, 2015) – Allen Johnson’s first shot in Saturday qualifying nearly mirrored his attempt in Friday’s first session. The “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart NHRA Pro Stock driver motored to a 6.608 ET (at 208.88 mph), almost identical to his 6.607 on Friday, and remained in the provisional No. 9 position. In Q4, Johnson ran a 6.610/208.81, falling one spot to wrap up qualifying tenth.

The 2012 NHRA Pro Stock World Champion and three-time winner at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will meet No. 7 starter Vincent Nobile in the first round of eliminations tomorrow.

“We made a really good first run and then broke a valve spring on the second run so we missed the good session,” said Johnson, who sported special “Thank You” graphics on his Mopar Dart in recognition of the 20 years he and his father and engine builder, Roy Johnson, have spent competing in Mopar Dodge NHRA Pro Stock cars. “The runs today weren’t stellar by any means, but we’re getting down the track and we have something to work with tomorrow.

“I’ll just have to get up on the wheel tomorrow and earn it. We’ve always done well here but we’re just not making as good a run down low and it seems like we’re still just a little bit off, but tomorrow will be a new day.”

Ennis, Texas (Oct. 18, 2015) – As winner of the 2012 edition of the NHRA FallNationals en route to his first Pro Stock world championship title, Allen Johnson was looking to make a similar move by taking his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart through eliminations in any way he could.

Seeded tenth, Johnson started things off in the opening round by going straight into the starting line beams and “double bulbing” his opponent Vincent Nobile, posting a .022 second reaction time and then running his quickest pass of the weekend with a 6.493/212.96 for the win.

In the quarterfinals, Johnson did the exact same thing to Jason Line this time using a holeshot to turn on the win lights.

“We changed our third engine of the weekend, double-bulbed twice, had a holeshot win and pretty much did everything we could to claw our way through elimination and stay in the championship hunt,” said Johnson who moves up a spot in the Countdown standings from fifth to fourth with the result. “The car is making some of the best runs we’ve made all year but for some reason we’re changing engines and so we have to figure out what’s going on there.

“I actually didn’t mean to double bulb Vincent (Nobile) but then before the second round Jason (Line) came up to me and asked “Are you’re going to do that to me too?”, so I said “I will” and I did,” chuckled Johnson. “He said he’d do it right back to me but in the end he didn’t. It’s just a little bit of fun up there for us and the fans. It makes the Pro Stock racing even more fun and interesting. When you are the underdog you have to do everything you can to get your competitor out of their zone. It wasn’t our day to win but we had a decent day for what we had.”

Ennis, Texas (Oct. 17, 2015) – After two Pro Stock semi-final appearances to kick off the NHRA “Countdown to the Championship”, Allen Johnson lost a little ground in the third playoff eliminations but is looking to make some big Texas-sized gains at the NHRA FallNationals on Sunday to move up from his fifth place position in the championship standings.

After posting the sixth quickest time of the first Pro Stock session at Texas Motorplex with an elapsed time pass of 6.542 seconds at 210.54 mph, the Mopar team battled some tune-up issues but remained in the top-ten each session. The “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart posted its best run of 6.509/211.89 in the third session despite being down on power and will start from the tenth spot on the eliminations ladder.

“We lost a motor in the first session and then another in the third while on an awesome run,” said Johnson who hopes to continue to battle for his second world championship title through to the final elimination in Pomona. “For some reason we are burning up engines. We had three spark plugs with nothing on them when we came back to the pits after the third run so that explains the speed on the back half. We’ve got the car working really well but now we’re having tune-up problems. I’m glad to have it cooler and dry and we’ve been pushing the envelope but engines don’t like to be pushed too much. None of our four runs were clean but the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart is still in the top-ten so we just have to get that figured out.

“The car is actually making some of the best runs we’ve had in a while so if we can just get the engine to cooperate all the way down the track we should be in good shape,” added Johnson who will line up next to Vincent Nobile for the opening round of the FallNationals. “We’ve got a great car ready for tomorrow with a great set up. We just have some adjustments to make to get the e.t. lower and hopefully we can get the engine to perform like it should and see if we can’t go from tenth position all the way to the finals.”

Mohnton, Pennsylvania (Oct. 4, 2015) – In Pro Stock action, Allen Johnson, who had the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart third in the NHRA “Countdown to the Championship” heading into race day, was hoping to make some gains despite getting only one run in to prepare when cold wet weather cancelled three of the four qualifying sessions at Maple Grove Raceway. That run gave the Mopar team a tenth place seeding but also necessitated an engine change for his first round pairing with Jonathan Gray.

The HEMI®-powered Dodge Dart and Johnson came ready to battle, posting a 0.030-second reaction time on the tree, but a 6.524 second elapsed time run at 212.86 mph wasn’t enough to counter his opponent’s 0.022 second start and 6.512/212.73 pass.

“It’s the kind of weekend that leaves you shrugging your shoulders because there really was no way to properly prepare for race day with just one run in these difficult conditions,” said Johnson who remains in contention for the championship with a fifth place position in Pro Stock standings despite the first round loss. “We did the best we could and made a good run but we just got whooped. We took this one on the chin and it hurt. What softens the blow a little is that we only lost 20 more points to the leader. We need to go rounds in the final three events and steal at least a win to be able to make things interesting and that is what we are planning to do. There is still a lot of bite left in this dog and we’re not ready to give up the hunt for that prize.”

Mohnton, Pennsylvania (Oct. 3, 2015) – Cold and wet weather conditions on both Friday and Saturday hampered the Mopar contingent’s qualifying efforts for the 31st annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Keystone Nationals, the third of six “Countdown to the Championship” playoff events, being held this weekend near Reading, Pennsylvania.

With two Pro Stock semi-final appearances in the first two NHRA “Countdown to the Championship” events to move driver Allen Johnson to third place in the hunt for a second world title, the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart driver was looking to make some gains in qualifying and move up on the ladder at the Keystone Nationals to better his chances of getting further through eliminations in the third playoff event in as many weeks. With Mother Nature helping to reduce the number of qualifying sessions to just one in preparation for race day, it didn’t leave much room for error, and unfortunately the single run the Mopar team did have, did not go quite as planned. Their qualifying run was recorded as a 6.573 second pass at 211.30 mph to put the HEMI-powered hot rod tenth on the Pro Stock timing sheet.

“We didn’t make a good run and we hurt a motor in the process but we’ll go up there for first round and try to turn it into lane choice for the second round,” said Johnson who will see Jonathan Gray as his first round opponent. “We qualified tenth and eight in the last two events and went on to the semi-finals, so we’ll be looking to do the same and hopefully go even further. We’ve got something to work with but I just have to go up there and cut a good light and make a good run. The track was overly cold for qualifying and most everyone was overly cautious thinking we might have a second session to improve. Unfortunately we didn’t. Those that had the courage to go after it were rewarded.”

Madison, Illinois (Sept. 27, 2015) – In his battle to contend for a second NHRA Pro Stock championship, Allen Johnson and his eighth seeded “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart had a strong outing and gained a little more ground in the Countdown standings in the second of six playoff events.

In the first round, Johnson took his HEMI-powered ride for a nice 6.559 second elapsed time run at 211.00 mph with a 0.026-second reaction time to advance past Shane Gray who had a red light foul by -0.015 seconds. While that wasn’t quite enough to give the Mopar driver lane choice in the quarterfinals against No.1 qualifier Greg Anderson and his first round low e.t. of 6.492/213.27, Johnson improved his odds with a 0.002-second reaction time and then took his hot rod for a 6.558/211.26 pass for a holeshot win over Anderson’s 0.035-second reaction time and 6.533/211.49 run.

It was a huge round win for the Mopar team, with championship points implications, and the second week in a row that the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart made its way to the semifinals. This time his opponent was the fourth seed and rookie Drew Skillman but a red light start by -0.024 seconds ruined any chance of the Mopar advancing to the final.

“We really needed to win that round and win the title to be able to gain a little bit on (points leader) Erica (Enders-Stevens) who is on fire, but we are still in the thick of it,” said Johnson who moves up from fourth place to third in the Countdown standings and now trails the leader, Enders-Stevens, by 136 markers. “She could have a bad race next race and I’m sure the KB Racing boys and everybody is going to try to qualify against to get her first round and stuff like that, but who knows what can happen. If we can go to the semis every race we’ve got a chance and if we can win one and really give ourselves a chance.

“We still have to qualify a little better,” said Johnson about improvements his team needs to make for the final four playoff events. “Our performance isn’t quite as good as it ought to be. We’ve got to get in with the top three or four cars every run to give ourselves a real chance because there are a lot of good drivers out here and they’re going to stand up and not take holeshot losses. We have to qualify better and run better and just stay the course.

“Against Greg (Anderson) there I told the boys “Ya’ll have to be perfect and I have to be perfect” and then we went up there and I was almost too perfect, but we made a good run and I was able to take him down,” added Johnson. “On that last (semifinal) run (against Drew Skillman)I pushed it a little too hard and red lit but I’m not sure I would have been able to make it down anyways as the car went left and shook the tires. I just pushed a little too hard but that’s what you have to do to win a championship.”

Madison, Illinois (Sept. 26, 2015) - Sitting fourth in the Pro Stock class standings for the NHRA “Countdown to the Championship” and vying for a second career world championship with five races to go, Allen Johnson qualified his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart eighth on the qualifying sheets for Sunday’s Midwest Nationals after he improved steadily through each session posting a best run of 6.524 seconds at 212.16 mph in the final session.

“We’re making really good runs but seems like we’re just not running down the back and speeds like we should be,” Johnson said. “We’ll tune on it a little bit for race day, but we’re consistent and made two really good runs today. We just need to get another hundredth of a second and half a mile an hour out of it and we’ll be in the top two or three cars.

“We’ve got lane choice for first round and while it’s not exactly where we’d like to be but we’ll go digging tomorrow as best we can,” he added. "The testing we did here helped, but they ground the track before this weekend’s event and it changed a bunch. We’re not quite as good as we were in testing but we’re not far. We need to make a really good first run tomorrow against Shane Gray in the opening round and then build on it because it doesn’t get any easier in the second with the possibility of facing Greg Anderson.”

While Johnson knows what to focus on for Sunday’s eliminations, he can’t help but find it just a little bit more difficult to do with a very important element missing from this weekend’s nationals as his father and engine tuner, Roy Johnson, underwent spinal surgery earlier this week and will miss a number of events during his recovery.

“I think Roy maybe missed one race (following a heart attack in 2007) in the 20 years we’ve raced together,” said Johnson. “We’re missing his presence and insight and I’m feeling my focus drifting out of the lane a bit, so to speak, but we have a job to do to put us into contention by the time he gets back.”

Concord, North Carolina (Sept. 20, 2015) – 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champ Allen Johnson made some good gains at the Carolina Nationals in his quest for a second world title in the 20 years he and his HEMI engine tuner father Roy Johnson have been competing in the hot rod class. Johnson started the six-event “Countdown to the Championship” playoff series in fifth place and qualified his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart in tenth spot for Sunday’s elimination rounds.

His opening round opponent, Jason Line, started the playoffs fourth in the standings just ahead of the HEMI-powered hot rod, and Johnson used a stout 0.023-second reaction time on the start line to earn a very important hole shot win with a 6.602/210.05 lap over his competitor’s 0.073 reaction time and 6.564/211.03 pass.

Johnson was once again stellar on the tree in his semifinal match-up against points leader Erica Enders-Stevens, serving up a .010-second reaction time to her 0.031, but in the end, it wasn’t quite enough of an advantage for his 6.611/209.59 pass to hold off her 6.586/210.31 giving his opponent a 0.0048-second margin of victory.

“All things considered, it really was an awesome start to the Countdown for our Mopar team,” Johnson said. “We really need to make an effort to qualify better for the last five races to be in a place to fight and win a championship. That’s hurting us. I told my guys today ‘If you can’t tell, I really want to win this damn thing. Let’s get better in St. Louis.’ That’s the goal. We need to give ourselves the best shot we have on every run and in every session. No one should count us out. We’re in the mix and we’ve got a lot of fight left.”

Johnson’s semifinal appearance puts him fourth in championship standings and 109 markers behind Enders-Stevens who used a holeshot to beat Vincent Nobile for the national title and build a lead in the points.

Concord, North Carolina (Sept. 19, 2015) – Heading into the NHRA “Countdown to the Championship”, Allen Johnson, who won the NHRA Pro Stock world title in 2012, currently sits fifth in the standings behind points leader Erica Enders-Stevens. Following testing sessions in St. Louis and Charlotte in the past few weeks to prepare for the playoffs, Johnson is feeling confident with the improvements his team has made to the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart and his chances to vie for a second championship.

“Our tests went well and we developed our engine program and gained some power even if we aren’t exactly showing that here on a hot track,” said Johnson who is in his 20th season of Pro Stock competition. “We have a really good package right now to enter the playoffs. This track is a little slick and everyone is battling that but I feel like we’re in a really good position for the playoffs. We’re coming in fifth and we want to leave here in that position or better. Lane choice is going to be important to make it through the rounds.”

Johnson’s elapsed time runs improved steadily with each pass posting a 6.585/210.28 to put him seventh in the first qualifying session, then a 6.564/210.73 and a 6.574/209.82 before finishing with his best run of the weekend by posting a 6.571/210.70 to put him 10th overall on the eliminations ladder. The HEMI-powered Greeneville, Tenn., native will see Jason Line as his first round adversary on Sunday morning.

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 7, 2015) – “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson owns a 2012 Pro Stock World Championship ring and victories at legendary drag strips including Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California, and Gainesville (Florida) Raceway, but after Monday the 20-year veteran is still chasing that elusive first career triumph at the U.S. Nationals.

The No. 5 qualifier, Johnson left first in an opening-round race against Larry Morgan, recording a .027 reaction time to his opponent’s .030. The starting line advantage wasn’t enough to boost Johnson into the second round, as his 6.621/209.17 pass was about two hundredths slower than Morgan’s winning 6.603/209.85. The luck of the draw wasn’t on Johnson’s side either — his run was quicker than all but four other cars in the first round.

On the bright side, Johnson ends the regular season in the fifth spot with one win and three runner-up finishes, and will start 60 points behind the leader when the Pro Stock Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin.

“It’s disappointing to run one of the quickest passes of that round and not advance, but that’s how it goes in eliminations,” said Johnson, who competed in his 450th career race this weekend. “We had good, consistent runs all weekend long and you have to take that as a positive and move on. It’s a whole new season now. We’re fifth to start the Countdown and anything can happen. We’ll start the playoffs by doing some testing at Charlotte (zMax Dragway) and getting our Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart ready for a knock-down, drag out fight for the final six events.”

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 6, 2015) – Solidly consistent best describes Allen Johnson’s U.S. Nationals qualifying experience. The 20-year Pro Stock veteran kept his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart in the top five during all four sessions.

After clicking off runs of 6.621/208.78 and 6.576/209.26 on Saturday, AJ stayed No. 5 with a 6.579/210.28 in his first attempt on Sunday, which was fourth-quickest of the round. He closed his qualifying with a 6.617/207.40 to remain fifth on the eliminations ladder and will have lane choice over Larry Morgan to start his bid for a first U.S. Nationals win

“The last qualifying run will probably be closer to what the first round of eliminations will be like,” said Johnson, the 2012 Pro Stock World Champ. “It would have run in the low 60s but we broke a motor right at the end of that run. We’re putting in the motor we ran at the St. Louis test session, which was really strong.

“We have a good set up on the Dodge Dart and it’s acting happy. Yes, it’s the ‘Big Go,’ but you can’t approach it any differently that you would any other race day. For the driver it’s a matter of keeping focus and hitting my shift points. We’ve just got to go out there tomorrow and be consistent and maintain lane choice. That will be big.”

Aaron Stanfield, driving a Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Dart for Johnson’s J&J Racing team, wasn’t qualified after the first two sessions on Saturday. He wasted no time on Sunday in cracking the field with a 6.636/208.84 run, moving to 15th. His final run of 6.683/208.88 was enough to keep him from being bumped from the field. Stanfield will make his second U.S. Nationals start from the 16th place on the eliminations ladder and face No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson in the first round.

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 4, 2015) – Top Mopar qualifier Allen Johnson posted the fourth quickest run of the opening session by taking his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart for a 6.621 second elapsed time run at 208.78 mph on a hot track. The Greeneville, Tennessee, native improved on his second pass with a 6.576 sec/209.26 mph run to put him fifth on the timing sheets.

“That run right there will be the run,” said Johnson, who knows a position in the top half of the ladder and lane choice is key at Indy. “Tomorrow morning (conditions) might be okay, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed to pick up a few spots but our run tonight will probably be our best (qualifying) run. Today’s qualifying run in the heat was probably race day conditions. We’ve got the best of both, we’re top five and we’ll go out there and see if we can do better tomorrow.”

While he looks forward to driving his way to a first final round appearance at the famed drag race, Johnson looks back on his 20 years of chasing a win at the “Big Go” and recalls one opportunity that got away.

“The year we had the fastest car and Jeg Coughlin Jr. beat me in the semi-finals,” recalled Johnson of his 2002 battle in which he lost to his opponent by .004 seconds at the stripe after both cars ran identical 6.945 seconds passes. “That was my first water bottle throwing incident that was caught on camera. When I backed up for my burnout he had already lit up both bulbs and I learned a lot that day. He beat me on a holeshot after we had been fastest in nearly every session and that’s probably the maddest I’ve ever been at myself. I’ll never forget that.”

“I’d love to win this thing,” Johnson added. “It would be a feather in our cap. Anytime you can win Indy, or the championship, or the K&N Challenge, all those things everybody wants to do, it’s big. I’d love to do it before the end of my career, so we’ll see.”

Johnson’s teammate this weekend, Aaron Stanfield, posted a 6.678-second run at 207.46 mph on his first pass to sit 13th. On his second attempt, he clicked off quickly after his ride made a move towards the wall and ended up 18th overall with two more sessions left to improve and try to make the field.

Indianapolis, Indiana (September 3, 2015) – 20-year Pro Stock veteran and 2012 NHRA World Champion, Allen Johnson is also looking to add the coveted U.S. Nationals title to his list of accomplishments. After a difficult start to the season, Johnson and his Mopar team overcame the challenges and have been making consistent runs of late in the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart, building on a win at Chicago’s Route 66 Nationals and a runner-up finish at Denver’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals in July. The team seems poised to end the regular season on a strong note and make a run for the Pro Stock championship.

“We tested this week in St. Louis and feel like we’re ready for the Big Go,” said Johnson who is looking to turn on four win lights on Monday. “The goal this week is to get the Magneti Marelli Mopar Dodge Dart in the winner’s circle and get a good start on the countdown. We’ll have some help with the addition of a teammate with Aaron Stanfield. We’ve worked well together and we’re looking forward to getting in some good runs this weekend.”

Aaron Stanfield, son of Greg Stanfield who joined Johnson & Johnson Racing in May, made his Pro Stock driving debut last year at Indianapolis, qualifying eighth and making it to the quarterfinals.

Brainerd, Minnesota (Sunday, Aug 23, 2015) – In Pro Stock action, after securing a spot in the playoffs with his qualifying runs on Friday and earning the fourth spot on the eliminations ladder, Allen Johnson drove his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart past Dave River in the opening round but gave up lane choice to his next opponent, Jason Line. He did however try to make up for that with a lightning quick 0.012-second reaction time against Line’s 0.031-second start, but Johnson saw tire shake ruin his chances to advance. AJ and the Mopar team remain fifth in points with one race left before the points reset for the playoffs, and the leader will be granted a 30 marker advantage over the No. 2 ranked team and the rest will be separated by 10-point increments.

Brainerd, Minnesota (Saturday, Aug 22, 2015) – In Pro Stock action, Allen Johnson secured a playoff spot just by making a qualifying run in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart. He ran three solid passes, first posting a 6.616/208.20 lap to take second spot in provisional qualifying and then adding a 6.620/208.20 for the third quickest run of Q2, then once again clocking the second quickest pass at 6.616-seconds at 207.43 mph in Q3.

The 20-year Mopar veteran earned a total of five bonus points and put himself fourth on the final timing sheets behind pole sitter Shane Gray (6.607/208.88). Johnson, who sits fifth in the points, will start his Sunday off against competitor Dave River.

Kent, Washington (Sunday, August 9, 2015) – Seeded sixth for Pro Stock eliminations, Allen Johnson exacted a little bit of revenge in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart by sending Larry Morgan home early in the first round after losing a dramatic final to his competitor at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals two weeks ago. Johnson continued his drive past Jonathan Gray in quarterfinals to meet up with former teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr. who is competing part-time this season.

Johnson had a 0.031 reaction time to start the semi-final battle, but was hampered by a sudden move out of the groove on his pass to post a 6.572/211.26 loss to Coughlin’s (0.015) 6.521/212.33. Coughlin later fell to Chris McGaha who earned the national title win to post back-to-back victories after his win at Sonoma last weekend. Johnson remains fifth in the Pro Stock standings.

Seattle, Washington (Saturday, Aug 9. 2015) – In NHRA Pro Stock, Allen Johnson tied his quickest pass of the weekend in his final qualifying attempt with a 6.508-second run in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart. The 20-year Team Mopar veteran will start sixth on Sunday with the opportunity to dish out a little payback — he’ll line-up against Larry Morgan, who won a close final-round battle against Johnson last month in Denver after a dramatic staging duel.

Mopar-powered Dodge Dart pilot V. Gaines (6.552) starts 13th and will meet Greg Anderson to kickoff Sunday eliminations. Deric Kramer (6.559, 14th) squares off against Jonathan Gray.

Sonoma, California (Sunday, Aug 2, 2015) – In Pro Stock action, Allen Johnson lined up his 10th seeded “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart next to Bo Butner for his first round match-up, but lack of lane choice put him at a disadvantage. While Johnson had a stout 0.011-second reaction time to Bo Butner’s 0.024, his 6.537/211.83 run wasn’t quite enough to beat his opponent’s 6.516/211.93 at the stripe.

“We just never did get a hold of this place you know,” said Johnson who sits fifth in the Pro Stock standings. “We just slowed to the eighth mile just never did really make any great runs. Today was close I think there is only two cars that could have beat that round with our package. Some days it’s not your day and some weekends it’s not your weekend. This just wasn’t our weekend. We’ll go to Seattle and try to start off with a good run up there. We have a good car and good power team is doing a great job but it just wasn’t our weekend.”

Sonoma, California (Saturday, Aug 1, 2015) – Coming away from the Mopar Mile-High Nationals last weekend with a runner-up finish after a memorable Pro Stock final round showdown, Allen Johnson drove his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart to a best elapsed time qualifying pass of 6.535 seconds and top speed of 212.56 mph to put him tenth on the eliminations ladder. He’ll be paired up with Bo Butner for the first round.

“This whole weekend has been a bit of a challenge,” said Johnson whose only win at Sonoma Raceway came in 2012 on route to his world championship title. “The first run we had a slow tire on it. The second run we blew the manifold off it. The third run we put an old set of tires on and blew them off and spun. But that last run was a decent race day set up. We’ll take that and work with it. I think there was at least a hundredth left in that one which gets us closer to the low car. Our goal is to try to get out of the first round with lane choice because without it we’ll have to be perfect. If that’s what it will take, that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Morrison, Colorado (July 26, 2015) – It took an epic final round battle against Larry Morgan to end Allen Johnson’s three-year reign at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals (as well as six wins in the last eight years). Still, the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driver can hold his head high after reaching his ninth straight final at his sponsor’s race, and tenth overall. The final round showing was also his fourth of the year and the 55th of his career.

Johnson started from the No. 1 spot for the sixth time in his career at Bandimere Speedway thanks to a track-record 6.877-second elapsed time (ET) in qualifying. The J&J Racing owner/driver had the luxury of an unopposed first round run and used the clock as his competition, recording the second quickest run of the round with a 6.907-second elapsed time at 199.49 mph — his first sub-200 mph pass of the weekend.

In the quarterfinals, Johnson drove to a comfortable victory over Drew Skillman with a 6.905/200.05 to earn a berth in the semifinals. The 2012 Pro Stock series champ ran a 6.930/199.14 to best Shane Gray’s 6.948/199.20 and earn a place in a space he hasn’t been missing from since 2006 — the final round at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

Johnson met Morgan in the money round, a repeat of the final at the most recent NHRA stop in Joliet, Illinois, which Johnson won. The pair waged an old-school “burndown” battle in staging, taking more than a minute-and-a-half to light both bulbs. Morgan left first off the line with an .014 reaction time to Johnson’s still-solid .035, giving him enough to score a holeshot win despite Johnson’s quicker 6.930/199.23 to Morgan’s 6.944/199.02.

“I can assure you that burndown wasn’t planned by either of us, and I guess we both really wanted to go in last,” said Johnson of the dramatic final elimination staging duel. “I had a great weekend. I can’t say enough about the last two races and how this Magneti Marelli crew pulled together and did what they needed to do to put us in a position to win. I want to get that fourth spot in the points, and maybe even the third one, before the Countdown. That’s our goal.

“We went to the final nine times in a row here at Mopar’s event. We have to be proud of that. My car chief Mike Gott said to me, ‘We’re still King of the Mountain. No one’s ever done that before.’ We do that because we respect our sponsor and respect this wonderful facility. This is the place we’re supposed to do this at, and we did it for a tenth time. We just let one get away. It’s very disappointing but it was still a great weekend for us, for Mopar and the fans. We’ve got to hold our heads up.”

Morrison, Colorado (July 25, 2015) – “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driver Allen Johnson kept an iron grip on the top spot at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals on Saturday, wrapping up a majestic qualifying performance. The 20-year NHRA Pro Stock veteran earned his sixth career pole at Bandimere Speedway and collected 11 of a possible 12 bonus points during two days of qualifying. The “King of the Mountain” will attempt to extend his current three-year reign at the drag strip set in the picturesque Rocky Mountains during Sunday eliminations.

The pole was the 37th of Johnson’s career, his first this season and his first since the NHRA Brainerd event last year. The 2012 NHRA Pro Stock world champ has six wins in the last eight years at Bandimere Speedway and has reached eight consecutive Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals final rounds. Johnson will have a bye in the first round on Sunday.

Johnson collected all six available bonus points during Friday qualifying, seizing the provisional pole and setting the elapsed time (ET) track record twice, first with a 6.883- second run and next with a 6.877 ET. Warmer temps on Saturday kept Johnson from further assaults on the record book, but the Greenevile, Tennessee, native was still quickest of the third qualifying session, earning three additional bonus points thanks to a 6.918/200.05 pass.

In his final attempt, Johnson’s 6.894 was second quickest, giving the J&J Racing team owner and driver two more bonus markers. AJ was also fast, clocking speeds of 200-plus miles per hour in each of his four runs — the only Pro Stock driver to do so during qualifying.

“We were really gearing up for race day all day,” said Johnson, winner at the recent NHRA Joliet stop, and a two-time runner-up this season. “The first run, we made a really decent run and were low for the round by a little, but the competition is getting tougher and closer. It’s going to be a knock down drag out tomorrow in eliminations.

“We’ve made up a few points here the last few races, but picking up 11 of 12 points here on the guy behind us is big. But even bigger is coming here and having four consistent good passes at Bandimere, which is what we set out to do, and I think you’ll see that for the remainder of the year from this Mopar Magneti Marelli team.”

Morrison, Colorado (July 24, 2015) – Allen Johnson took a giant step toward extending his rule at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, racing his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart Pro Stock car to the provisional pole and elapsed time track record on Friday at Bandimere Speedway. Johnson will lead the pack entering the two final qualifying sessions on Saturday with a fifth career No. 1 position at “Thunder Mountain” well in reach.

Johnson entered his sponsor Mopar’s biggest event of the year holding the quickest elapsed time (ET) ever at Bandimere Speedway. That record was briefly taken away early in the first qualifying session, but Johnson quickly reclaimed bragging rights, clocking a new track-record ET of 6.883 seconds at 200.74 mph and collecting all three qualifying bonus points in a round for the first time this season.

The same exact scenario played out in the second round of qualifying. Just as in Q1, Johnson watched another driver knock him off the top spot. And just as in Q1, the Greeneville, Tennessee, native quickly repulsed the challenger to his throne. In the final pair of qualifiers, Johnson uncorked a 6.877/200.29 to seize the provisional pole, reset the ET track record, and added three more markers for a total of six bonus points.

“We knew there were at least three cars that were really fast and that we had to make perfect runs,” said Johnson, who has dominated at the Mopar brand’s home-away-from-home, with six wins in the last eight years, including a current streak of three consecutive wins. “That last run was perfect up to half-track, and we were getting ready to run a low .86 when the car got out of the groove, but we were still able to pull it off. As our competitors get close, this Mopar Magneti Marelli team just digs down and gets something out of their gut and gets it done.”

Johnson slyly added, “We didn’t run these kind of numbers in testing last week, but we knew we had this kind of performance. Larry Morgan (who was quickest in testing) at the end said to me, ‘Why didn’t you have that motor in when we were testing?’ I said, ‘We did, but we were running 30 pounds heavy so we wouldn’t show what we had.”

Morrison, Colorado (July 21, 2015) – Mopar is getting ready to rumble at Thunder Mountain this weekend for the 36th annual Mopar Mile-High National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals at the Bandimere family’s picturesque quarter-mile drag strip nestled in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. A vast array of fan-friendly festivities and highly competitive drag racing action is set to take place from July 23-26 near Denver, Colorado.

"Everyone at Mopar looks forward to this annual competition at our signature event on the NHRA circuit," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO - Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care, FCA. "And it’s evident that our drivers and teams rise to the occasion as well, judging by the success that we’ve had both on track and with the enthusiasm shown by fans at Bandimere Speedway over many years.

“Mopar has served as the event’s title sponsor for 27 consecutive years, the longest continuous running sponsorship in the NHRA and one of the longest in motorsports. That’s something we are very proud of and is very much in keeping with our long history of showcasing the ultimate power and performance of the Mopar brand,” he added.

For this year’s edition of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, veteran NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Doug Herbert has been invited to serve as the Grand Marshal. Herbert has raced for more than 17 years and is the founder of B.R.A.K.E.S (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe), a nonprofit organization that raises awareness among teens and parents about the importance of safe driving. Herbert transitioned from winning races to helping to save teenage lives when he founded B.R.A.K.E.S following a tragic car accident that killed his two young sons in 2008. Herbert and his organization, which has helped more than 13,000 teens learn safe driving techniques, were also part of the Mopar Road Ready program, sponsored by the FCA Foundation, which launched this year as a collaborative effort with the NHRA Motorsports Museum. Mopar Road Ready helped educate more than 700 teen drivers and their parents on the importance of safety behind the wheel.

Honorary Starter duties will be undertaken by loyal Mopar aficionado and popular Denver-area radio personality Willie B., host of KBPI 106.7 FM’s “Your Morning Show” and “Willie B’s Garage.” A die-hard car lover, Willie B. has claimed “Best of Show” and numerous other car show awards for his stable of more than 20 Mopar muscle cars, which includes six vintage muscle-car era Dodge Charger rides.

Willie B. also will serve as master of ceremonies for the 14th edition of the Mopar Block Party, the annual street festival that kicks off race weekend festivities in downtown Golden, Colorado, on Thursday, July 23, from 6 to 10 p.m. (MT). This popular event takes place between 11th and 13th street and features a large variety of free activities for fans of all ages.

The Mopar Block Party event invites fans to peruse an exhibition of more than 30 classic cars and special display vehicles that include the Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Dodge Charger Hellcat, two of the brand-new Mopar Challenger Drag Pak vehicles, and Mopar NHRA race cars, as well as Mopar product demonstrations. The evening’s fun will include live entertainment featuring the Steve Thomas Band and free face painting for children, with plenty of local Golden vendors offering food and drink, as well as merchandise, for purchase.

The annual block party will include the ever-popular Mopar driver autograph session, an hour-long chance to meet NHRA racers, including six-time defending title winner at Denver and 2012 NHRA Pro Stock Champion Allen Johnson, as well as fellow Dodge Dart driver and hometown favorite, V. Gaines. Current NHRA Funny Car World Champion Matt Hagan will take part in the session and will be joined by his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammates, 2012 Champ Jack Beckman, Tommy Johnson Jr., and DSR Top Fuel drivers Tony Schumacher and Spencer Massey. Also on hand will be Jim Dunn Racing’s Dodge Charger Funny Car driver John Hale.

From July 24-26, Mopar drivers in Pro Stock, Funny Car and Sportsman classes will take to the track, which sits 5,800 feet above sea level, to jostle for position in qualifying and fight for the Wally trophy in Sunday’s elimination rounds while battling the challenge that altitude presents engine tune-ups and aerodynamics.

Mopar’s own Allen Johnson will work to retain his crown as king of Thunder Mountain in his attempt to defend three consecutive Pro Stock wins with his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart. Johnson has earned a total of six wins (2007, 2009-10, 2012-14) in eight years at Bandimere Speedway, along with four No. 1 Qualifier awards, and is looking to advance to his ninth-straight final round appearance at this year’s event. HEMI-powered hometown favorite Gaines will work to take his Dodge Dart to a final round all-Mopar eliminations battle against Johnson for a third time in four years.

A quartet of DSR drivers will hit the track, with Hagan, Ron Capps and Beckman holding the top three spots in the NHRA Funny Car standings, while Tommy Johnson Jr., who sits sixth, comes into this weekend’s competition on the heels of his first win of the season at the previous event in Chicago. After spending a full year in development and since making its competition debut at the start of this season, the new 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T has earned a combined total of ten national titles by DSR drivers, who will look to add to that tally by taking it to a 13th final elimination round appearance in 14 events at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals this weekend.

Mopar’s marquee event also launches the NHRA’s traditional three-week western swing, which includes stops in Sonoma, California, and Seattle, Washington.

Joliet, Illinois (Sunday, July 12, 2015) – Chicago is Mopar’s kind of town after earning a pair of national title wins at the 18th annual Lucas Oil Route 66 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals at Route 66 Raceway thanks to victories by Allen Johnson in the Pro Stock class and Tommy Johnson Jr. in the Funny Car category.

"All of us at Mopar are very proud of Allen Johnson and Tommy Johnson Jr. for doubling up today with their wins at Chicago," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO - Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care, FCA. "We're very pleased to see both the Dodge Dart and the new 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T in the winner's circle yet again. A lot of time, investment and hard work went into designing and building these two vehicles and we've very pleased at the success they have shown in such competitive fields."

For both drivers (who are not related) it was their first trip to the winner’s circle this season and their first national titles earned at the Chicagoland facility.

Allen Johnson’s well-earned Pro Stock win was the 25th of his career, and came as a relief after flirting with two recent runner-up finishes, a difficult first-half of the season, and finally brought an end to the nearly year-long drought since his last victory at the 2014 Mopar Mile High Nationals.

“I had confidence coming into Chicago but this will give us even more confidence for the western swing and namely the Mopar Mile High Nationals,” said Johnson who has sixth wins in eight years at the upcoming nationals in Denver, Colorado, and is working towards a fourth consecutive win for Mopar’s signature event at Bandimere Speedway.

“There were lots of positives today,” Johnson added. “25 wins is just unbelievable and to be put in the record books with some of the top racers in this class forever is an honor. It’s also my first win here and one of the few tracks I’d never won at so that’s another little notch in our Mopar belt. Hopefully we can build on this and turn up the heat on it for the rest of this year.”

The driver of the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart was seeded seventh on Sunday’s eliminations ladder and used a quick .017-second reaction time to get things started against his first round opponent Bo Butner and then beat him with an elapsed time run of 6.602 seconds at 209.82 mph to a 6.634/209.56 pass.

The next two round wins showed just how hungry the Mopar driver was to get back to winning form as he used a holeshots to defeat both Chris McGaha and Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson. Johnson had a .028-second reaction time and ran a 6.606/209.62 to cross the finish line just five-thousandths of a second ahead of McGaha’s (.043-second reaction time) 6.596/210.280 pass. He then had an identical start in the semifinals with a 6.605/209.88 pass against Anderson’s 0.53-second light and quicker 6.588/210.08 for a margin of victory of 0.0088-seconds.

In Johnson’s third final round appearance of the year, he once again had the starting line advantage against Larry Morgan and then led all the way to the finish with a 6.624/209.99 run over his competitor’s 6.667/210.18 pass.

“The Mopar team has really been digging the last three or four races and we pretty much have a handle on the issues that plagued us to start the year,” said Johnson who jumps from seventh to fifth in the Pro Stock standings with today’s efforts. “We’ve struggled more at the start of this season than I think we have at any time in the last ten years but we’re finally back where we should be. I think we had a better car than we’ve shown because of some bad luck so today we really dug in, made some consistent runs and even when the heat came out in the final I was able to hold the track a little bit better than our opponent to pull off the win. Denver is a really important race for us and for Mopar, and this is just what we needed to go there firing on all HEMI cylinders.”

Joliet, Illinois (Saturday, July 11, 2015) – In Pro Stock competition, Allen Johnson, who sits seventh in the standings, has been encouraged by the progress made with the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart after a rough start to his season, and feels like the team now has a much better car than what the time sheets may show. Friday evening’s pair of qualifying runs put Johnson in the provisional seventh spot with 6.567/209.75 and 6.552/210.87 but the Mopar driver was encouraged by posting the third quickest pass in Q3 with a 6.573/209.88.

“Down track that lane was really loose and horrible, so to be third quick that session really said something,” said Johnson who remained seventh on the final qualifying sheets and will see Bo Butner as his first round opponent. “I think we have a really fast car for tomorrow’s racing. I’m tickled to death about how much better the car has been the last few races, but we’ve just had some really bad luck. Here (at Chicago) I think we have a top-two or top-three car now when we make a good run. I think we’re going to break out and do something on raceday.”

V. Gaines qualified his HEMI-powered Dodge Dart 13th on the eliminations ladder with a run of 6.582 seconds at 209.49 mph to meet No.4 qualifier Erica Enders-Stevens in the opening round. The Pro Stock no.1 qualifier position went to Drew Skillman with a track record elapsed time run of 6.528 at 210.97 mph.

Norwalk, Ohio (Saturday, July 4, 2015) – Following two significant Pro Stock final round appearances at Englishtown, New Jersey, and Epping, New Hampshire in recent weeks, Allen Johnson’s “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart has continued to improve its performance after a challenging start to the season that saw the team grapple with adjusting to a new mandated fuel for the class.

Johnson started off the weekend with the second quickest run of the first session with an elapsed time run of 6.571 seconds at 210.05 mile per hour (mph), and then improved his time slightly to a 6.566/210.60 with his second pass to put himself into the top half of the ladder with a provisional eighth place qualifying spot.

In the final two sessions, Johnson posted 6.589/210.67 and 6.575/211.00 passes and dropping to the tenth spot on the Pro Stock eliminations ladder to face Greg Anderson in the first round.

“We had a great start and then last night we got over against the wall and didn’t make a great run to take advantage of the night conditions,” Johnson said. “Today we actually had clutch problems and ended up having to put in a whole new clutch pack for that last run and just blew the tires off of it on the starting line. The good thing is we probably ran No.1 or No.2 down the back half with good speed, but just missed it big time on the startline. We’ve got something to work with tomorrow with a good engine. We just got behind the eight ball after that first run and couldn’t catch up in time.”

Bristol, Tennessee (Sunday, June 21, 2015) – Hometown favorite and Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson will have to wait until next year for another attempt at a much coveted win at Bristol Dragway as a Father’s Day gift for his dad and engine tuner Roy after the disappointment of a first round holeshot loss in the opening round of eliminations.

“We had a great weekend and yes, I wanted a win for my dad on Father’s Day at home, but we’ll keep working on it and we’ll get it someday,” said Johnson who hails from nearby Greeneville, Tennessee. “I told dad (Roy) that I’m sorry but he’ll have to settle for a case of wine again this year. We had fun racing at home no matter what and we had a good weekend with our Magneti Marelli Mopar Dodge Dart. We had our best qualifying weekend of the year. We had a great run but it just wasn’t our day.”

That disappointment, however, was tempered by the fact that the fifth seeded “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart posted the second quickest run of the first round with a 6.692 elapsed time run at 206.42 mph and a 0.034-second reaction time to Larry Morgan’s 0.006-second reaction time and slower E.T. of 6.708/206.92.

“I had a good light. He had a great light. I was good. He was great,” Johnson added. “He stepped up and had a psychic light, and you can’t take anything away from him. I had a good light, a 30 light, and I’ll take it 80 percent of the time and win the race. He was just better and it wasn’t our day.”

Johnson was further bolstered by the significant performance improvements made by his Mopar team in this latest stretch of three consecutive national events in which his Dodge Dart finished runner-up twice at nationals event in Englishtown, New Jersey, and Epping, New Hampshire after battle fuel issues to start the season. He was especially optimistic after posting the fourth quickest pass in every qualifying session at his home track this weekend.

“I feel like the team is back on top, Johnson said. “We just lost a close race today. I feel like at the next race we can battle to get no.1 qualifier and win the race. We had a great weekend can’t find fault with it. We had fun racing at home. I love being with my dad on Father’s Day. I loved everything about the weekend. It was great to have Richie (Stevens) here with us with a second car. He was also quick so we really have the combinations and the engine program coming together and I think we’ll be something to deal with the rest of the year.”

Seeded 11th, Johnson’s teammate Richie Stevens had an unfortunate red-light foul to spoil a quick 6.708/ 206.16 pass against Vincent Nobile’s 6.702/206.95 run in the first round.

Bristol, Tennessee (Saturday, June 20, 2015) – Mother Nature intermittently interrupted Saturday qualifying with rain at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Thunder Valley Nationals, pushing sessions into the cooler evening hours under the lights at Bristol Dragway and providing the opportunity for lower elapsed time runs and a reshuffling of the positions for the elimination ladders. That changed things up a bit for a pair of Mopar drivers who are both starting in the top-five in front of their hometown fans and both looking to earn their first title wins on their home turf on Father’s Day.

Meanwhile, local favorite Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, who hails from nearby Greeneville, Tennessee, consistently posted the fourth quickest pass in each session aboard his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart, but ended up fifth overall after the final qualifying run on his home track with his best effort of 6.652 sec. at 206.80 mph.

Instead of running in the heat of the afternoon, simulating expected race day conditions, Saturday’s two Pro Stock qualifying sessions were also shuffled to later in the day with a cooler track and air temperature. The “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driven by Allen Johnson was fourth on the qualifying sheets in Q3 with a 6.674/ 206.89 then improved on that time in the final session and was fourth quickest again with a 6.652 sec /206.80 mph run in some pretty nice conditions. But apart from lane choice, it did little to help the Mopar team prepare for Sunday’s battle.

“We are going to have a lot different conditions for race day than from these last two days,” Johnson said. “Tonight’s track got really good and we were just a little bit too conservation with the Magneti Marelli Mopar Dodge Dart. We should have gone after it a bit more in hind sight but we were still in the top four or five every run this weekend and you have to take that as a positive. We probably left a couple of positions on the table but if we can run in the top four or five we can win on race day.”

After advancing to two consecutive final rounds, both against Greg Anderson, at the last two events, Johnson will see another familiar face in Sunday’s opening round as he faces Larry Morgan for a third time in as many weeks.

“I’m really looking forward to race day because it’s going to be a hot nasty track tomorrow and will probably play more to us and know we’ll have something for them (competitors),” Johnson added. “We’re happy with the progress we’ve made this weekend from even the previous two events. We may not quite be back to where we are number one or two on every run but I think the next race or two you’ll see us up there. Just to have two good days of qualifying and making good runs and being in the top-five speaks volumes of the team and the work these guys have put in.”

Johnson’s HEMI®-powered teammate Richie Stevens qualified 11th with his best run of 6.685/205.76 and will see Vincent Nobile in the first round. Fellow Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines qualified 15th with a 6.739 /205.82 run and will see points leader Greg Anderson as his opening round match-up. The No.1 qualifier position was awarded to Erica Enders-Stevens for her 6.632 /207.59 pass.

Bristol, Tennessee (Friday, June 19, 2015) – Coming off two runner-up finishes at the last two National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) events, Allen Johnson came home to Bristol Dragway and kicked off the Thunder Valley Nationals with a better start to a race weekend than he has had in the first ten races this year, making two passes that have him in the provisional fourth place spot on the Pro Stock eliminations ladder.

The local favorite, whose Mopar team had been battling issues stemming from a change of fuel and tires for the class since the start of the season, is feeling good about the improvements they have made and the two final round appearances at Englishtown, New Jersey, and Epping, New Hampshire in the last two weeks. And it couldn’t have come at a better time — He’s racing in front of his home crowd this Father’s Day weekend and working to give his dad Roy a win that has eluded them for 15 years.

Johnson and the HEMI-powered Dodge Dart, tuned by his dad Roy, was fourth quickest in both Friday qualifying sessions with an elapsed time run of 6.678 seconds at 206.83 mile per hour (mph) on the first run, and a 6.658/205.94 on the second.

“That’s the best start we’ve had all year, so it’s something to build on,” said Johnson. “The guys are doing a great job on the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart. Dad and the engine guys are doing a great job getting this thing adapted to the new fuel, and the car guys are getting it down the track correctly. We’ve gained on it a bunch the last two races, and I’m not sure we’re 100 percent, but we’re getting close.”

For a sixth straight year the Thunder Valley Nationals take place on Father’s Day, and Johnson would like nothing more than to give his dad that win as a gift. While both father and son have won at Bristol Dragway as sportsman racers, a Pro Stock win at their home track has eluded them. Roy had two wins in the early 1970s in Stock and Super Stock classes, while Allen won a Super Stock race at home in 1981.

This is the 20th season that the duo has been racing in the NHRA pro ranks and this will be their 15th attempt at a title win at their home track. They came as close as you can possibly get to a win without leaving with a Wally in 2012 on their way to their first NHRA Pro Stock World Championship when they were part of the closest finish in NHRA history, finishing runner-up by less than .0000 of a second to Mike Edwards.

“We've gotten close,” Johnson said. “First and foremost it would be a great way to give your father a present, but there's a lot more history here at Bristol, our home track, than anyone knows. It's where my dad got his first big win and it's where I got my first big win in the sportsman ranks growing up. It's where he really got his teeth into racing while racing stock eliminator back in the late '60s and early '70s. I was just playing around on wagons and bikes on the pits watching him. There's a lot of rich history here, also.

“It would be special to do it together here and to enjoy the benefits of having our family and friends here to see it,” added Johnson who is also looking to score his first win of the season. “This year has been a tough year so far, and it even brings out some more feelings there, you know, trying to get back to where you were.”

Johnson has some company this weekend with teammate Richie Stevens back on track in his Dodge Dart to be able to compare data and reinforce efforts. Stevens posted a 6.694/206.16 in the first session with the sixth quickest pass of the session, and then a 6.685/205.76 in the second session to put him provisionally tenth.

Epping, New Hampshire (Sunday, June 14, 2015) - Winner of the inaugural NHRA New England Nationals in the Pro Stock class two years ago, Allen Johnson came close to being the first repeat victor at New England Dragway. After a rough start to the season, hampered by issues brought on by a change in fuel and tires for the category, Johnson and his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart finally seem to have made some good headway with a solid showing in the first two of three consecutive nationals events.

From his eighth place position on the ladder, Johnson defeated Larry Morgan, Chris McGaha and Erica Enders-Stevens to advance to a second consecutive final round appearance and a rematch of last week’s showdown against Greg Anderson in Englishtown, New Jersey. While the Mopar driver had the better reaction time (0.024 sec to 0.032 sec), his 6.530-second elapsed time run at 213.50 mph wasn’t quite enough to beat his opponent’s 6.512-second pass with the top speed of the meet at 214.72 mph.

“The Mopar team has done such a great job to overcome challenges and frustration and just keep plugging away and it’s finally starting to pay off,” said Johnson, who made a significant jump from tenth in the points standings two weeks ago into the top-five for the first time this season. “We just kept digging with every run and we’re getting closer. It’s got us looking even more forward to the next race at home.”

The results are especially welcome because Johnson and his Mopar crew prepare to head to their home track of Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee, next weekend. It’s where he and his father Roy Johnson are still working towards their first trip to the Pro Stock winner’s circle in front of family and friends on Father’s Day.

Epping, New Hampshire (Saturday, June 13, 2015) – Pro Stock winner of the inaugural NHRA New England Nationals and last week’s runner-up finisher in Englishtown, Allen Johnson is chasing his first win this season from the eight place spot on the eliminations ladder after a best lap of 6.563/212.26. Johnson’s Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar Dodge Dart will face off against Larry Morgan in the first round.

V. Gaines will start from the 13th spot after his Dodge Dart posted a 6.643/ 211.00 and will have Erica Enders as his first round opponent. The third HEMI-powered entry in this weeken’s competition is the Dodge Avenger of Alan Prusiensky who will start from the 14th spot in his fourth career Pro Stock start. He’ll see Jason Line in the opening round. Chris McGaha was the Pro Stock No.1 qualifier with a lap of 6.520/212.66.

Englishtown, New Jersey (Sunday, June 7, 2015) – While Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson was disappointed by his 11th place qualifying performance leading into eliminations at Englishtown this year, the 2012 world champ was bolstered by the improvement and results posted by his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart on race day. After being plagued with issues stemming from a change in fuel and tire suppliers for the Pro Stock class to start the year, a much needed breakthrough was made by the Mopar team in the opening round by posting their quickest pass of the weekend, a 6.519 second elapsed time run at 213.87 mph against Larry Morgan.

Subsequent solid runs against Alan Prusiensky and Shane Gray lead to Johnson’s first final round appearance of the year. Johnson’s final pass of 6.537/213.87 wasn’t quite enough to beat Greg Anderson’s 6.504/214.31, but the disappointment was short lived.

“I feel like we won the damn race today even though we didn’t,” said a relieved Johnson. “We really showed that we made some huge gains in figuring out the issues that have haunted us from the start of the year. Having a day like this helps everything. It helps pick everyone’s chin up off the floor and hopefully we can start consistently running even better.”

“The strength of that first run and that win did a lot for morale,” Johnson added. “It was like pumping air into a deflated balloon. This team is used to winning and running up front. It hasn’t sat well with anybody getting the kind of results we’ve had this year to date. Hopefully we’re past that. We just need to start qualifying better and get up there where we should be.”

Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines started his race day as the 12th seeded driver on the Pro Stock eliminations ladder and then scored a first round holeshot win over Jason Line thanks to a quick .025-second reaction time over his opponent’s .064, and then ran a 6.538/212.36 lap to beat a 6.510/215.17. That set up a match-up against Kenny Delco in which both drivers contended with severe tire-shake on the start, but Gaines pedaled it to get the round win and advance to his first semi-final round of the season.

Gaines ran a stout elapsed time pass at 6.531/213.43 against Greg Anderson, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat the new Pro Stock points leader’s 6.499/214.14.

Local favorite Alan Prusiensky (6.643/209.95), in only his third Pro Stock class start (Gainesville and Atlanta), earned his very first round win when his 14th seed Dodge Avenger was first to the finish against No. 3 qualifier Erica Enders Stevens who clicked off early with an engine problem. Prusiensky’s success, however, was cut short by a loss to fellow Mopar driver Johnson in the quarterfinals.

Englishtown, New Jersey (Saturday, June 6, 2015) – Last year’s Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier at Englishtown, Allen Johnson, didn’t see the gains he was hoping for after four qualifying laps aboard the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart produced a best run of 6.534/12.46 to put him 11th on the eliminations ladder, but the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart made two clean runs, and with a few more adjustments, the team expects to see better results on Sunday.

“We’re not quite showing the same improvements that we made over the last two events but we did make some big changes throughout the weekend,” said Johnson who will see Larry Morgan as his first round opponent. “We just have to keep adapting to this new formula and that takes some time. We fell behind because it affected our HEMIs differently than our competitors, but we’ve got to keep trying to make gains until we get back to where we should be. We made a good run today and we should have a good setup for race day.”

Englishtown, New Jersey (Friday, June 5, 2015) – In Pro Stock qualifying, Allen Johnson has seen some improvement with the performance of the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart since beginning a collaboration with four-time Super Stock world champion and Pro Stock national event winner, Greg Stanfield, two races ago in Atlanta. Stanfield is back in the Mopar camp this weekend, but Johnson acknowledges that the team may be playing a bit safe.

“We are being just a bit too conservative,” said Johnson who ran a 6.550/212.63 in the first session and improved to 6.534/212.46 in the second to sit eighth behind provisional No.1 qualifier Erica Enders-Stevens (6.508/213.06). “We’ve picked up a little and we’ll keep digging.”

Johnson was the top qualifier at Englishtown last year, won the national title in 2011, and finished runner-up in 2006 and 2013. A win this weekend would give the team their first title win of the 2015 season and would help Johnson reach a milestone of 400 career round wins in this his 20th year of competing in the Pro Stock Class.

Topeka, Kansas (May 24, 2015) – Three-time Topeka winner and defending event champ Allen Johnson was hoping for another strong performance at the venue, but unfortunately his day would end prematurely. Johnson, the No. 6 qualifier, recorded a 6.651/207.46 pass in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart but was beaten to the finish line by first-round foe Vincent Nobile’s 6.616/208.75.

“We made some real good progress all weekend,” said Johnson. “The weather changed today and we just miscalculated. We had a misfire again that’s been plaguing us, but every time we encounter it we learn, so we won’t encounter it again in the same condition.”

Topeka, Kansas (May 23, 2015) – “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson is feeling good heading into eliminations from the No. 6 spot, with a best pass of 6.537. The 20-year Team Mopar veteran’s optimism is well-founded — Johnson is the defending event champion at Topeka, with two wins and three final-round appearances at the venue in the last three years.

“We’re becoming more and more satisfied with the Magneti Marelli Mopar Dodge after each run,” said Johnson, who is paired against former teammate Vincent Nobile in the opening round. “We were fourth quick in Q2. We’re gaining ground quick and improving each run.”

Commerce, Georgia (Sunday, May 17, 2015) – In Pro Stock eliminations action, Allen Johnson and his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart posted a holeshot win in an all-HEMI first round match-up against V. Gaines. While Gaines posted his best lap of the weekend with a 6.579-second elapsed time run at 210.70 mile per hour, Johnson had the better reaction time, 0.060 seconds to his opponent’s 0.093 second, giving him the round win after posting a 6.586/210.28. Johnson’s slower time was reason enough for the Mopar team to decide on an engine change before his quarterfinal match against Roger Brogdon. However, while working to add a win to the one he earned at Atlanta Dragway in 2002, Johnson’s day ended with at the 300 foot mark.

“We had him by two hundredths at the 60 foot mark but our transmission broke,” said Johnson who remains tenth in points with this weekend’s result, but leaves feeling more optimistic. “We had a much better qualifying than we’ve had in a while but race day wasn’t so easy when we had to make a motor change between the first and second round. However, we are walking away feeling a bit better because it was a good weekend for us directionally.”

Commerce, Georgia (Saturday, May 16, 2015) – In Pro Stock Action, things were looking a lot more positive for Allen Johnson and the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart with a fourth place qualifying effort at Atlanta Dragway, tying his best starting position for eliminations this season in Phoenix, after the team has been grappling with tuning issues resulting from the introduction of a new fuel for the class this year. Johnson earned the fourth seeded position with his run of 6.556 /210.87 on Friday evening and remained in the top-five in both sessions on Saturday. He’ll face his fellow HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driver, V. Gaines, in the opening round of eliminations.

Commerce, Georgia (Friday, May 15, 2015) – The Mopar Pro Stock entries are also anxious to get back on track after the two week break, but for a somewhat different reason. 2012 champ Allen Johnson and his Johnson & Johnson Racing team are hoping to rebound from a challenging start to the season. The “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart has been battling tuning issues as a result of the newly mandated fuel for the class since the start of the 2015 season, hampering the HEMI-powered vehicles from competing at the level to which they are accustomed. Johnson, who earned a win in Atlanta in 2002, would love to see this season’s dry spell come to a quick end so that he can work to move back up in the points standings from his current tenth place spot. V. Gaines and his HEMI-powered Dodge Dart are in a similar situation in 13th place.

Baytown, Texas (Sunday, April 26, 2015) –In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson and his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart faced a difficult first round match-up against the current NHRA champ and defending event winner, Erica Enders-Stevens, after qualifying 13th, the lowest the Mopar driver has been seeded since 2011 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Johnson’s quick 0.004 second reaction time off the starting line against Enders-Stevens (0.005) wasn’t quite enough to give him an advantage at the other end of the racetrack. Johnson posted a 6.617/209.36 pass to Enders-Stevens’ lap of 6.562/209.46. Enders-Stevens went on to defend her national title at Houston and take the lead in the Pro Stock standings.

“Fuel got us again even though we thought we had it figured out last night,” Johnson said. “It’s got us by the cahoochies. We thought we fixed it and then on that run it came right back. We’re going to have to go test somewhere in humidity (where the problem seems more evident) and run until we wear everything out and get it worked out. We don’t give up but right now this problem is like a big sledgehammer on the head. I knew if we made a good run, I could beat her and I got everything but the running part done. It’s not one person’s fault. It’s just something with this new fuel that seems to be plaguing the HEMI engines worse than any other motor. We’re being methodical and hunting in every direction to get this solved. We won’t give up.”

Johnson’s new teammate Richie Stevens Jr., who was seeded 15th for eliminations, was seemingly a little too anxious to get going in his first elimination round match-up against Shane Grey and turned on the red right fouling out by -0.011 seconds.

“I knew I had to go up there and push it because he was faster than us in qualifying and I was pretty good on the tree all weekend,” Stevens Jr. said. “I wasn’t nervous or overly excited heading in and I felt good on the tree but evidently I was 11 thousandths too quick. I threw it away before it started. We’ll be back for Englishtown where I’ve had a lot of success so I’m looking forward to that one.”

After qualifying sixth overall, the HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driven by V. Gaines (6.581/210.47) didn’t fare any better with a first round loss to Larry Morgan (6.559/211.53).

Baytown, Texas (Friday, April 24, 2015) – In Pro Stock action this weekend, Allen Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Racing got some much anticipated company as the Mopar team adds a second entry with the addition of Richie Stevens Jr. to the field for the first of at least ten events this season. The New Orleans native took the wheel of a new Dodge Dart chassis, prepared by Jerry Haas and a HEMI® engine tuned by Roy Johnson, to mark his return to Pro Stock competition since Reading, Pennsylvania, where he posted his career best elapsed time run of 6.506 seconds and best speed of 212.25 mph.

On Friday, Stevens was the first car out in the first qualifying session and posted an elapsed time run of 6.676 seconds at 208.91 mph then improved on his second run with a 6.629 /209.39 to sit in 14th spot heading into Saturday’s two qualifying session.

Last year’s No.1 qualifier, Allen Johnson, finished runner-up in 2014 for a third time in his career at Houston. His Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart ran a 6.609/210.34 in the first session then moved up from tenth to the provisional seventh spot with a clean 6.574 /210.34.

The HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driven by V. Gaines was provisionally 11th after posting a 6.598/210.37.

Las Vegas (Sunday, April 12, 2015) – In Pro Stock action, things started off on a positive note for the two Dodge Dart entries of Allen Johnson and V. Gaines as both won their opening round match-ups with hole-shot wins.

Johnson’s “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart posted a .027 reaction time and an elapsed time run of 6.699/206.20 against Drew Skillman’s 0.68 reaction time and 679/206.99 pass.

The next round saw V, Gaines fall to Greg Anderson, while another win-light turned on for Johnson against No.1 qualifier Jason Line who had a red-light foul to advance the Mopar to the next round. However, after feeling like his ride was down on power for both of those runs, Johnson and his team made the decision to change the motor before a semifinals match-up against Vincent Nobile.

“We decided not to take a chance and change the engine but when we reached the staging lanes, we suddenly realized that we had an ignition box problem that couldn’t be resolved in time and that could cause us some grief,” said Johnson who didn’t get more than a few feet from the tree before the issue ended their day. “We’re going to head to Baton Rouge to test before we head to Houston because we’re not happy. We’re not where we need to be at all but we’re going to work our butts off to get there.”

With his semifinal appearance Johnson moves up a spot into ninth place in the Pro Stock standings.

In a rematch of Saturday’s K&N Horsepower Challenge, Nobile went on to the final elimination against Erica Enders-Stevens, who for a second year in a row, not only took home the national title but also the $25,000 bonus for doubling up.

Las Vegas (Saturday, April 11, 2015) – Saturday’s Pro Stock qualifying sessions doubled as the annual K&N Horsepower Challenge, the race-within-a-race with a lucrative $50,000 payout. Two-time winner (2008, 2013) Allen Johnson was seeded fourth but encountered tire-shake off his start against Vincent Nobile in the first round to end his hopes of taking the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart any further in the Challenge. Nobile went on to face defending K&N Horsepower Challenger champion Erica Enders-Stevens, who scored back-to-back wins and the cash prize.

With the focus back on preparing for Sunday’s elimination rounds, Johnson’s last qualifying lap was a good, clean pass at 6.683/ 207.21 and the seventh quickest run of the session. AJ ended up in the top half of the qualified field on the basis of Friday’s 6.645/208.39 effort to put him eighth on the eliminations ladder where he will see Drew Skillman as his first round opponent.

“It was disappointing to not to battle for another K&N Horsepower challenge win, but we fought a worn out set of tires that we didn’t know were worn out and that bit us the first three runs,” said Johnson. “We put another set on for the last run but then the set up was way conservative. I think we have something to work with and to be able to get after it. We’ve been a little behind the eight ball this weekend, but the positive going into tomorrow is we have lane choice.”

Fellow HEMI®-powered Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines remained 11th overall with his best qualifying run of 6.682/207.91 posted on Friday. He’ll see Shane Gray in the first round. The No.1 qualifier position was retained by Jason Line with a low E.T. of 6.606 at 208.75.

Las Vegas (Friday, April 10, 2015) – In the Pro Stock class, drivers not only worked on their qualifying efforts for Sunday’s eliminations rounds but they also prepared for Saturday’s K&N Horsepower Challenge, a kind of All-Star race-within-a-race with an eight-racer field made up of the seven drivers who have accumulated the most points in qualifying since this same event last season, along with a final spot for the driver added in by a fan vote. The winner of the event will earn $50,000, and the runner-up will take home $10,000.

For this year’s edition, Allen Johnson is seeded fourth in the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart, while the HEMI-powered entry of V. Gaines will start eighth after the driver was voted in as a fan favorite. Johnson last won the K&N Challenge race-within-a-race bonus event in 2013, then doubled-up by also winning the Las Vegas National title to take home the additional “Sweep Bonus” of $50,000. A two-time winner of the challenge, Johnson is the only driver in its history to win the final round on a hole-shot using a perfect 0.000-second reaction time in 2008 aboard a Dodge Stratus. His second win came in 2013 aboard the Dodge Avenger, and a victory this weekend would be the first for a Dodge Dart since its introduction last season.

In the first round of Saturday’s K&N Horsepower Challenge, Johnson will face off against fifth seed Vincent Nobile, while Gaines will see number one seed Shane Gray. Erica Enders-Stevens, seeded second, will battle seventh seed Chris McGaha, while Jason Line (3) and Jonathon Gray (6) will be paired up.

In preparation for the qualifying showdown, Johnson ran his best elapsed time run at 6.645 seconds at 208.39 to put the Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart eighth on the timing sheets. Fellow Mopar driver V. Gaines ran a 6.682/207.91 to sit provisionally 11th with two qualifying sessions left to set the ladders for Sunday’s eliminations.

Concord, North Carolina (March 29, 2015) – The first round of Pro Stock elimination rounds proved to be noteworthy. The good news was that Allen Johnson drove his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart to not only career best numbers and a track record elapsed time run of 6.464 seconds at 214.42 miles per hour, but it was also the quickest pass in class history. The record time also gave the Mopar driver the coveted National record as it backed up his run in qualifying.

The not-so-good news is that Johnson’s record run was all for naught as two hole-shots by competitors Greg Anderson (6.467/215.13) and Jonathan Gray (6.465/214.11) ended any chance to advance to the next round. To add insult to injury, just moments later Jason Line took away Johnson’s record pass by setting his own at 6.455/214.48, which also backed up a record run on Saturday to steal away the National record as well.

“We had the record for about one run but I just didn’t do my job as a driver on the line,” said Johnson whose .065-second reaction time wasn’t enough against .033 (Anderson) and .024 (Gray). “We’re making very big strides with the Dodge Dart right now and that run right there, setting the record, proves it. Still fighting the fuel a little and unfortunately it bit Buddy (Perkinson) but having a second car helped us this weekend. We tried a few things and seemed to overcome most of the issues we’ve been having. We’ll just keep after it.”

The second team car Johnson referenced was that of driver Buddy Perkinson II aboard the Johnson & Johnson Racing team’s 2012 championship-winning Dodge Avenger for this weekend’s event. Perkinson was second off the starting line in the first round but crossed the finish last after encountering fuel issues.

Concord, North Carolina (March 27, 2015) – With just two chances to make the field for the sixth annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Four-Wide Nationals after rain washed out Friday’s sessions, qualifying opportunities took place in unseasonably cool air temperatures in the 50s, setting the stage for a scramble to tame a newly renovated track hovering in the 80 degree range in order to find an appropriate set up and a good spot on the eliminations ladder. Funny Car drivers Ron Capps and Matt Hagan along with Pro Stock pilot Allen Johnson all found places for their Mopar rides in the top-five of their respective class for Sunday’s competition.

The unique Four-Wide Nationals format will see the 16 qualifiers in each category split into four waves with competitors battling across all four lanes simultaneously at the purpose-built zMAX Dragway. Only the top two finishers of each wave will advance to the next round of eliminations. With only three heats necessary, the final elimination quad will determine the winner, runner-up and two semi-finalists.

In Pro Stock action, the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart of Allen Johnson made two solid passes, running an elapsed time lap of 6.513/213.77 and a 6.527/213.74, to end up with the fifth quickest lap despite taking a somewhat cautious approach to a new track, cool temperatures and limited qualifying runs. Johnson’s fifth place qualifying position put him in a quad with fourth place qualifier Greg Anderson (6.502/213.64), Jonathan Gray (6.545/211.73) who was 12th, and fellow HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driver Gaines (6.683/206.48) who ended up in 13th on the eliminations ladder.

“Green track, cold track, lost yesterday’s two warm-up runs; these are all factors that made it so you had to be conservative today,” Johnson said. “Everyone was for that first run today, with the exception of those cars whose teammates ran up early. On that first pass we were probably too conservative but we got down the lane cleanly and then got decent runs out of both cars on our second outing. We’ll try to tune up that run for tomorrow. I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot.”

The second car Johnson referenced was that of driver Buddy Perkinson II who joins the Four-Wide fun aboard the Johnson & Johnson Racing team’s 2012 championship-winning Dodge Avenger for this weekend’s event. Perkinson’s first run didn’t go quite as planned when an electronic glitch surfaced after the burnout and hampered his efforts to get his first four-wide pass under his belt.

“We had a wiring issue on that first run but went back, changed a bunch of stuff, and must have got it because everything worked fine on the last run,” said Perkinson who posted a clean 6.528/212.49 for the ninth quickest run overall on his final attempt. “It was a actually a pretty good run considering we were in the dark 100% and made it into the top ten. If feels good to get rid of the butterflies I had with losing two sessions because of rain and the issue in the first session. Nobody wants to go into race day with just one qualifying pass but I think we’re fine. I finally got my first taste of the four-wide staging and saw how the lights work and had a .037 second reaction time. I’m going to be in a pretty tough group for the first round so it should be pretty interesting.”

Perkinson’s ninth place qualifying position groups him with No.1 qualifier Chris McGaha (6.474/213.70), eighth place qualifier Shane Gray (6.525/211.99), and defending world champ, Erica Enders-Stevens, who qualified 16th without making a run down the track.

Concord, North Carolina (March 27, 2015) – Mopar fans and drivers will have at least four good reasons to look forward to this weekend’s National Hot Rod Association’s sixth annual Four-Wide Nationals, the only event to feature four vehicles competing at the same time across four lanes instead of the usual two. Apart for this event’s unique side-by-side-by-side-by-side format, there are a number of items that should make this edition particularly interesting for Mopar aficionados; A newly resurfaced race track at zMAX Dragway that could produce record breaking speeds, a chance to see the Don Schumacher Racing 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car extend its season long win-streak, the addition of a championship-winning Dodge Avenger to the Pro Stock line up for this event, and a live eliminations broadcast on ESPN on Sunday.

An entirely new concrete surface has been laid out in all four racing lanes from the starting line to the 700-foot mark, with new asphalt covering the rest and extending beyond the finish line. Another improvement removes the level “launching pad” and the declining grade of the old race track and replaces it with a continuous one percent grade change from behind the starting line to the quarter-mile finish line. However, while the welcome changes could translate into a faster race track, it will also prove to be a challenge for all competitors as they contend with a brand new surface for which they have little to no data.

Adding to that challenge is the loss of two qualifying laps after a persistent drizzle and temperatures in the low 50 degrees forced the cancellation of Friday’s sessions. The skies are expected to clear up for the final two qualifying sessions on Saturday, but both drivers and fans can look forward to faster qualifying speeds with a forecast that calls for cool air temperatures to remain in the 50s.

In the Pro Stock class, the Dodge Dart entries of Allen Johnson and V. Gaines will have some company with the addition of a third Mopar for this weekend’s competition. Joining the HEMI-powered lineup at the wheel of Allen Johnson’s 2012 championship winning Dodge Avenger, is 23-year old driver, Buddy Perkinson II.

“I’d been talking to Allen (Johnson) last year and through the winter hoping to put something together,” said Perkinson who was last competed aboard a Pro Stock vehicle in 2013. “The timing finally worked out right to come to Charlotte. We’re hoping to run a couple of races this year but we’ll likely remain on the east coast, so if all goes well we’ll be in Atlanta as well. This is a good race to start because with the new track everyone is on an even playing field.”

“We did test here last week to get ready and it went great,” Perkinson added. “We put in five good passes with our best run on our last outing. I’d like to get in some good qualifying lasp and go at least one round because this is a tough field, but the team knows this car well and we should be fine.”

Gainesville, Fla. (Saturday, March 14) — Mopar fans will see another Dodge Dart hit the drag strip this season in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock class, as driver Ritchie Stevens Jr. prepares to take the wheel of his Mopar for at least ten events as a teammate to 2012 NHRA Pro Stock World Champion Allen Johnson.

The New Orleans native will field a new Dodge Dart chassis prepared by Jerry Haas and a HEMI® engine tuned by Roy Johnson of Johnson & Johnson Racing, to mark his return to Pro Stock competition this April at the NHRA SpringNationals in Houston.

“I’m really excited and just can’t wait because my best times on track were racing with Allen [Johnson] as a teammate, and I’m really happy to get back to that,” said Stevens, whose last full season of NHRA competition was with Don Schumacher Racing in 2007 aboard a Dodge Stratus with Johnson as his Mopar teammate.

Johnson & Johnson Racing’s Adam Hornberger will perform double duty as crew chief for both Allen Johnson and Ritchie Stevens, while Tom Pierson will take on duties as car chief for the additional Dodge Dart entry.

“The last couple of years have been up and down racing-wise but I’m really looking forward to working with Allen again and with [crew chief] Adam Hornberger, who is talented and just as laid back as I am,” Stevens said. “The cars will be the same, but we’ll try different things and try to help AJ compete for another championship by running at as many events as we can. I’ll definitely be racing to win and I expect to have some fun out there.”

Stevens has six career Pro Stock wins (Pomona 1998, Englishtown 1999 and 2001, Seattle 2000, Dallas 2006, Las Vegas 2006), 11 final round appearances, three No.1 Qualifier honors, and a career round record of 117-139. He also competed in four Pro Stock events during the 2014 NHRA season (Indianapolis, Charlotte, St. Louis, Reading) posting his career best elapsed time run of 6.506 seconds and best speed of 212.25 miles per hour (mph) at Reading, Pennsylvania.

“It’ll always be interesting to face my wife when the occasion presents itself, but we’ll race heads-up like we did last year when we were on the same team for a few races,” adds Stevens, in reference to possible on-track battles against his wife and 2014 NHRA Pro Stock champ, Erica Enders-Stevens.

It’s a win-win situation for Mopar, one that adds a past winner to the fold for the 2015 season, even on a limited basis, to gather more data and help both drivers be more competitive on race days. The move also improves the chances of bringing home another NHRA Pro Stock World Championship for the brand after back-to-back championship wins by Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin Jr., respectively, in 2012 and 2013.

“The benefits for our Mopar team are exponential because we now have two cars to try stuff with,” Allen Johnson said. “Having Richie [Stevens] as a teammate and a second car will give us more experience and help us try things to take us further than we could as a one-car effort with just the Magneti Marelli/Mopar Dodge Dart. Any time we can have more Mopar cars in the field to go to battle with, the better it is.”

Stevens’ HEMI-powered Dodge Dart will carry a familiar Mopar brand livery look with support from Blue Emu, as well as a continued relationship to bring awareness to Serving Orphans Worldwide. Familiar supporters such as Pierson Construction, Penske Shocks and Stevens Collision Center will also be onboard. A longtime silent and committed partner will also be along for the ride for the 2015 races, but Stevens and his team will continue to seek out additional sponsorship opportunities in order to compete in additional events this season.

Stevens joins Allen Johnson in flying the Mopar banner aboard their Dodge Darts, with Vieri Gaines and Deric Kramer rounding out the HEMI-powered entries competing this season in the NHRA Pro Stock category.

Gainesville, Florida (March 13, 2015) – “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, the 2013-2014 NHRA Gatornationals champ, began his bid for a third consecutive event title with two strong qualifying runs, opening with a 6.539/212.03 effort. The 2012 overall NHRA Pro Stock champion, in his 20th season behind the wheel of a Mopar-powered Dodge Pro Stock car, improved in his second qualifying attempt with a 6.534/212.90 to hold on to the provisional sixth spot.

“I’d say that we were very conservative on both runs and that we expect to be a bit more aggressive with our final two qualifying sessions,” said Johnson, who enters Gainesville with 698 career elimination round appearances. “We got in some good testing this week just down the road in Bradenton, so we picked up today right where we left off in testing.

“Our new crew chief, Adam Hornberger, is very methodical and kind of eases into a set up instead of going for the jugular with his approach. As a team, we all agree this is a good way for us to work. I’m pretty happy with our progress today to make this Dodge Dart pretty raceable, so we’ll kick it up a notch tomorrow.”

V. Gaines’ quickest run (6.648/211.33) came in his first attempt on Friday in his Mopar HEMI-powered Dodge Dart, while Alan Prusiensky (6.662/208.94) saved his best for the final Friday session in his Dodge Avenger. The pair was ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, heading into final qualifying on Saturday.

Gainesville, Fla. (Friday, March 13) — They say “good things come in threes” and there is a trio of Mopar drivers each hoping to prove the validity of that statement during this weekend’s 46th annual NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, the third race of the 2015 National Hot Rod Association Mello Yello Drag Racing series season.

Part of the festivities leading up famed race is the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame dinner held on Thursday evening. At this year’s event, racing icon and innovative engineer, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, was presented with the Mopar President’s Award in recognition of his career long contributions to the brand, both on and off the track. The award was created to recognize motorsport pioneers and legends who have been affiliated with Mopar throughout their career.

“Don Garlits is a true gentleman, a racing pioneer and has been Mopar’s greatest brand ambassador for more than six decades, and this President’s Award is our way to express our gratitude for everything he has done for us,” said Pietro Gorlier President and CEO – Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care. “Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s because of our partnership with Don, and together we spent the next several decades breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles. His name has become synonymous with Mopar and this award is meant to recognize individuals like Don who truly epitomize our brand’s core values.”

Previous recipients of the Mopar President’s award include Allen and Roy Johnson (2013), and the man regarded as the “Father of the HEMI”, Tom Hoover (2014).

Chandler, Arizona (Friday, Feb. 22, 2015) – In Pro Stock competition, Mopar’s Allen Johnson posted a 6.588/210.05 run in the first round to beat Jimmy Alund’s 6.615/210.14 before seeing his Phoenix title defense come to an end in the quarterfinals against Chris McGaha. Johnson’s “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart had the starting line advantage with a .024 reaction time to his opponent’s .067, but then saw severe tire shake ruin his run.

“We were way conservative with our set up on the Dodge Dart for being the first pair out and the tire got square,” said Johnson. “The good news is that this team is really talking and listening to one another and examining the problem when there is one. We had a really good meeting and we all decided to go one way with the set up for first out and next time we’ll go the other way. This team is really gelling and learning from our mistakes and it’s great to have a team communicate this way. We sure did have a car that could have won the race today. We’ll take it as a positive going forward."

Tire shake also claimed the Dodge Dart of V. Gaines in the first round against Chris McGaha, while the Deric Kramer’s HEMI-powered ride turned on the red light against Rodger Brogdon who went on to win his final elimination match-up against Erica Enders-Stevens for his third career Pro Stock victory.

Chandler, Arizona (Friday, Feb. 21, 2015) – Defending Pro Stock winner Allen Johnson is feeling confident about the work that his Johnson & Johnson team has put in this weekend through their four qualifying runs with the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart. AJ ran the fourth quickest time of the third qualifying session with a 6.572 second run (211.20 mph) and the fifth best pass of the final lap with a 6.577/210.18 to remain fourth on the eliminations ladder on the basis of his 6.551/211.36 run Friday in Q2. He’ll have lane choice over Jimmy Alund for the first round.

“I feel like we were really consistent through qualifying this weekend,” Johnson said. “We have been making some good runs with our Dodge Dart and even if we may have been a bit conservative in our approach, that’s what it is going to take tomorrow. We just need to stay in the top four or five runs like we have and we have a good shot at defending our title here at Phoenix.”

V. Gaines put his Dodge Dart 12th on the ladder with Friday’s 6.620/209.95 pass and will see Chris McGaha as his first round opponent, while the Deric Kramer (6.643/208.65) sits 15th and will line up his Dodge Dart against Rodger Brogdon for the opening round.

Chandler, Arizona (Friday, Feb. 20, 2015) – Last year at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, Allen Johnson took his Dodge Avenger to the Pro Stock winner’s circle before its retirement to make way for the new “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart that made its debut at the following event at Gainesville in 2014. This season new tires and new fuel have changed things up for the Pro Stock teams, and along with new Crew Chief Adam Hornberger the J&J Racing team is getting the bugs worked out. Johnson and his Mopar team made gains in Friday qualifying to move from a sixth quick 6.567 sec / 210.64 mph in the first session to a provisional fourth place spot on the eliminations ladder with a 6.551 /211.36.

“We’re sneaking up on it little by little as the crew is working conservatively and that’s something we decided to do as a team from the start of the year,” said Johnson who is coming off a quarterfinal finish in Pomona and looking to defend last year’s win at this venue. “We are getting a handle on the car and on the new fuel. One more run and we might just take that number one away from them so that’s our goal.”

V. Gaines has his Dodge Dart qualified 12th with a 6.620/209.95 pass while the third Dodge Dart in the field sits 14th with a 6.637/208.55 driven by Deric Kramer.

Pomona, California (February 8, 2015) – Denied a chance to move his “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart up from the No. 12 spot after the final Pro Stock qualifying session was cancelled, Allen Johnson faced former teammate and No. 5 qualifier Vincent Nobile to begin his day. The 20-year Team Mopar veteran was quicker off the line than Nobile, with a .013 reaction time compared to his opponent’s .036, reaching the finish first despite a slower 6.574 elapsed time to Nobile’s 6.561.

AJ came out on the losing end of a close quarterfinals finish. The Greeneville, Tennessee, native and event runner-up Drew Skillman were dead even with 6.595 elapsed times (with Allen Johnson owning the faster speed at 211.10 mph), but Skillman was just a touch quicker at the starting tree, with a .028 reaction time to AJ’s .033. Skillman’s margin of victory was approximately 20 inches.

“Being first pair out has been a problem for us in the past, but today we actually made some progress,” said Johnson, who competes with HEMI powerplants supplied by his father, Roy Johnson, engine builder for the Johnson & Johnson Racing team. “We always seem to shake the tires, or the car does something crazy and doesn’t get down the track cleanly, but instead we made some gains today. Our new crew chief, Adam Hornberger, made some changes, and as first pair out for the second round we lost a very close race, but we figured out how to get down the track. Even if it was a loss, I feel like we made some momentous, fantastic gains today with the new fuel, a new crew chief and a team that is working really well together. It’s a good start.”

No. 13 qualifier and Team Mopar Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines also fell to Skillman in the first round and Deric Kramer was unable to race his Dart past first-round foe Rodger Brogdon. Jason Line took the Pro Stock title win over Skillman in the final round of eliminations.

Next up for Team Mopar competitors is the second of 24 events on the 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule, the NHRA Nationals at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park near Phoenix, scheduled for February 20–22.

Pomona, California (February 7, 2015) – Inclement weather also bit “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart driver Allen Johnson. Despite being just a tick quicker during Pro Stock Q3, bettering his 6.546 run from Friday with a 6.545, AJ dropped to 12th after others in the field made bigger improvements during the session. The 20-year Team Mopar veteran anticipated moving back up the charts in his final attempt, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Up first for AJ in eliminations is former teammate Vincent Nobile.

In addition to the weather, the loss of the final qualifying run, as all teams are working to adjust to the introduction of a new fuel formula this weekend, also played a part in shuffling the Pro Stock ladder.

“We didn’t go the right way with the new fuel tune up,” said AJ, seeking his second final-round appearance and first victory at the Winternationals. “I talked to several people and everyone seems to be guessing at it right now. Some hit on it and others didn’t, and we didn’t. That hurt us in this morning’s session, so we really wanted to get in a last run because we went way the other way with our adjustments and were hoping to be a lot faster. We’ll go out there tomorrow and do our best.”

“We wanted another shot at it just to answer some lingering questions we have on fuel and tune up,” said Adam Hornberger, in his first race as crew chief on the Magneti Marelli/Mopar Dodge. “The car set up was close and conservative because we shook the tires on our first run (on Friday), but we were slowly creeping up on it. We were hoping to finalize everything for tomorrow’s first round, but hopefully the weather is pretty close to what we had today so we can keep the same set up and just go with our gut feeling on the tune up.”

Pomona, California (February 6, 2015) – 2012 NHRA Pro Stock champion Allen Johnson will begin his 20th season of competition along with his HEMI-engine tuner and father Roy Johnson after closing out 2014 with his ninth consecutive finish in the top-ten of the standings.

“I can't believe it has been 20 years since my dad, Roy and I, started on this road,” said Johnson who made his Pro Stock debut aboard a Mopar in 1996. “To stay on top gets harder each year, but this team will push to be the best. In those two decades, the highlight has of course been our hard fought 2012 Championship, but another world title is always the goal.”

In 2014, Johnson raced to four wins in six final round appearances and posted a 36-20 round-win record to finish sixth in the final standings. Mopar teammate and 2013 NHRA Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. finished last season with a semifinals appearance at Pomona and fifth place finish in the Countdown, but will be on hiatus from being behind the wheel on a full-time basis this year to focus on his family. That made preparations for the new season more of a challenge for the Johnson & Johnson Racing crew.

“We worked hard this off-season and testing has been a little different with new tires, new fuel, and relearning how to run both for optimum performance takes time,” Johnson said. “The biggest challenge has been working as a one-car effort but we are working hard to rectify that. I think the KB and Elite teams will be back with a vengeance, but so will we, which means there will be at least eight cars that can win each race.”

The Mopar team will have a new crew chief for the new-look yellow and black “Magneti Marelli Quality Auto Parts Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart this season. Adam Hornberger, who was Coughlin’s crew chief last season and spent 14 years with Penske Shocks, will join car chief Mike Gott who has been with J&J Racing for 14 years, and assistant crew chief Mike Earl.