Allen Johnson
Monday we had our first test runs in the new Mopar® Dodge Avenger. I headed out with my J&J Racing team to Palm Beach International Raceway after the PRI Show in Orlando. We basically just completed some shakedown runs on Monday, making sure nothing fell off the car! We had a decent run at West Palm, clocking a 6.64-second pass, but we really didn’t get after it up there.
Then, of course, the rain set in on Tuesday. That day was a washout, so we convoyed west, straight across Florida, to the drag strip at Bradenton, where the weather was better. We tested there on Wednesday and Thursday. The folks at Bradenton are awesome. They’ll do anything you want, and let you stay as late as you want. We got in about ten runs over two days.
I’m getting real comfortable in the Mopar Dodge Avenger. The new, formed seat deal gave me a little problem in the beginning. I didn’t like the constrictive feeling. I got used to it, though, moved around a little bit, and moved the belts around a little, and it felt better every run. I’ve been cutting consistent lights.
We got after the car a little on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I ran 6.58-seconds Wednesday and Thursday, both with speeds over 210 mph. We’re still not as good off the starting line as we want it to be. I’ve been at .980-seconds at the 60-foot mark, and we ought to be going in the high .960s. So we still have a little work to do there.
I think the Avenger is going to be a really good race car, and take us right up there to the top. I know the team, crew chief Mark Ingersoll, my dad Roy, we’re all very encouraged by this first outing. We still have some kinks to iron out. We’re about two-hundredths-of-a-second slower than we should be, and all of that’s down low, in the 60-foot range. We’ll keep working on it and free it up.
Right now, I’m just gearing up for a Tennessee Christmas at home in Greeneville. My wife Pam and I will get some shopping done and then look forward to spending some quality time with our families, before I go back to work. The plan is to be back at Bradenton in the second week in January for about 15 more runs. We’ll take a brief break after that, and then the team will head west to Vegas to test out there for a few days, then it’ll be time for the Winternationals, and away we’ll go!