Johnson Moves to Fourth in Countdown at Texas; Gray Advances to Final
Team Mopar(R) NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson advanced to the quarterfinals and moved to fourth in the Countdown to 1 playoff standings while his J&J Racing teammate Johnny Gray scored a runner-up finish at the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Johnson, driving his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T, started from the No. 13 spot at Texas Motorplex near Dallas, matching up with No. 4 seed Tom Hammonds in the opening round. Johnson knocked off the higher-seeded Hammonds with a pass of 6.666/207.40 to Hammonds' 6.699/206.32 run.
Johnson's day ended in a quarterfinals drag race with Greg Anderson that couldn't have been much closer. Anderson led off the starting line, but Johnson quickly took the lead during his 6.668/206.99 pass, only to see Anderson drive around him at the finish line. Anderson's margin of victory was a mere one inch.
J&J Racing driver Gray advanced to the semis, defeating two fellow Mopar HEMI(R)-powered drivers, Larry Morgan and Matt Hartford, and Johnson's Countdown competitor Jeg Coughlin before losing to Anderson in the final. Hartford also aided Johnson's playoff hopes, defeating Countdown driver Jason Line in a first-round holeshot win.
Johnson moved from fifth to fourth in the Countdown standings, with Gray jumping to seventh. Next up is the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Oct. 2–4. For more information on the NHRA, visit http://www.nhra.com.