Mopar® Dodge Avenger Driver Allen Johnson’s Vegas Visit Ends in Quarterfinals
Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson came up empty in his bid to win the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 18, losing a quarterfinals battle with Greg Anderson. Johnson’s finish marked the first time he has not advanced to at least the semifinals in his Pro Stock Mopar Dodge Avenger since debuting the car at the season-opening event in Pomona, Calif.
The Greeneville, Tenn. native qualified his Mopar HEMI®-powered Dodge Avenger No. 4 and drew former partner Johnny Gray in his first matchup of the day. Johnson took the victory handily with a stellar 6.738-second pass at 205.35 mph to Gray’s 6.790/204.51 mark. The J&J Racing team owner and driver earned lane choice in his second-round fight with Anderson—which actually turned out to be a disadvantage.
After watching the car in the left lane get loose during the first two pairs of the round, Johnson and his team decided to switch to the right lane. The move backfired, however, as Johnson’s Mopar Dodge wiggled early in his 6.850/204.91 run, far short of Anderson’s 6.763/204.73 winning pass.
"We were so pumped up after the first round. We made almost a perfect run," Johnson said. "We got up there in the second round, and we just messed up. We let the two guys in front of us make our decision for us when we should have run our own race. We should have taken the left lane, because the right hadn’t been good all weekend. The decision bit us. Hopefully we’ll learn from this mistake."
Mopar-powered NHRA Pro Stockers Vinnie Deceglie and V. Gaines exited in the opening round, with Deceglie also falling to Anderson and Gaines losing to Rodger Brogdon. Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA Pro Stock contingent is the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill., April 30–May 2.