Johnson Earns No. 2 Spot in U.S. Nationals Qualifying, Betters Track Speed Record

Posted on September 6th, 2010 • by Bill Cawthon

Allen Johnson moved his Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car up to the No. 2 spot in the final day of qualifying yesterday at the 56th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. The Team Mopar driver also set the track speed record at storied O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis for the third consecutive day.

Johnson powered to a pass of 6.580-seconds at 210.28 mph under excellent conditions (99 degree track temps) in the morning session today, jumping from No. 4 to the top spot and besting the track speed marks he established on Friday (209.46 mph) and Saturday (209.75 mph). The Greeneville, Tenn. native was bumped to No. 2 by just a thousandth of a second by eventual top qualifier Mike Edwards. Johnson’s car shook the tires and shutdown shortly after leaving the starting line on his final qualifying run.

“The Mopar/J&J Racing team had a decent day,” said the modest Johnson, who has been a top three qualifier in 10 of the last 11 events and will seek his second NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series victory of the season tomorrow. “We didn’t want to do that (shut down) in the last session. That right lane gets everybody. Hopefully, we’ll stay in the left lane tomorrow.

“I’m happy at how the Mopar Dodge Avenger is running. We’ll go into tomorrow with a little bit of advantage at the No. 2 spot. If I drive good we’ve got a shot to start off the Countdown playoffs right.”

Johnson, currently second in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship standings, will meet Steve Spiess in the first round of eliminations tomorrow. V. Gaines, the No. 5 qualifier in his Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car, will go heads-up with Kurt Johnson in the opening stanza.