AJ Bows Out in Mopar® vs. Mopar Matchup with Rickie Jones at Vegas
Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson suffered a first round loss on a hole shot to fellow Mopar HEMI®-powered Dodge Stratus R/T driver Rickie Jones in final eliminations Sunday for the Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver posted a 6.682/205.85 pass, but played catch up all the way down the track after Jones cut a near-perfect .011 reaction time at the start (.000 is perfect). Johnson came up five one-thousandth of a second short at the finish to Jones' 6.708/205.19 run.
"I've been saying for a while that I need to get down in the 20s (.020) consistently on the tree," said a disappointed Johnson, who cut a .042 light against Jones. "There are too many good drivers out here. The car is running good enough to win, now I just have to do my part as the driver."
Jones advanced to face season point leader Jason Line in the second round, but lost traction off the starting line to end his day. Fellow Mopar HEMI-powered driver Larry Morgan also won his first round matchup, beating Tom Hammonds with a 6.709/205.19 run. Morgan bowed to Greg Anderson in round two.
Johnson is now fifth in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings, with Jones ninth and Morgan tenth. Next up is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Raceway, April 16–19. For more info on the NHRA, visit http://www.nhra.com.