NHRA

Pomona: Team Mopar final report

JOHNSON SHOOTS TO SEMIS AT SEASON-OPENING NHRA WINTERNATIONALS Allen Johnson proved once again that he belongs on any list of elite drivers on the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock circuit, as the Team MoparÂ® driver made a strong run to the semifinals ...

Published: Feb 20, 2008, 9:10 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

JOHNSON SHOOTS TO SEMIS AT SEASON-OPENING NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

Allen Johnson proved once again that he belongs on any list of elite drivers on the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock circuit, as the Team Mopar® driver made a strong run to the semifinals today in the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Johnson's goal for his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T team was to gain momentum for the long NHRA Pro Stock campaign right out of the gate, and that's exactly what we did. The veteran HEMI®-powered driver qualified No. 5, then took out fellow Mopar Pro Stocker Matt Hartford in the first round with a pass of 6.645/207.85. AJ then dispatched of Warren Johnson with a run of 6.702/205.54, before bowing to eventual event champ Greg Anderson, posting a solid-but-losing run of 6.654/207.85 to Anderson's 6.643/208.62.

The strong showing was huge for Johnson, who finished fourth in the Pro Stock points in 2007 despite a slow start to the year, which included a first-round exit at Pomona. The fast start bodes well for AJ's championship hopes.

"Any time you can go the semifinals, you have to be happy with that," said Johnson. "It's a good start. We'll to Phoenix and see if we can't improve and go to the final round."

Mopar-powered Pro Stockers joining Johnson and Hartford in the 16-car field were veterans Max Naylor, V. Gaines and newcomer Johnny Gray. All three suffered first-round defeats.

Johnson, a Greeneville, Tenn., native, has already turned his attention to the next event, the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., scheduled for Feb. 22-24, as he attempts to continue his hot start to the 2008 season.

"We'll probably test in the Phoenix area before we race there," said Johnson. "The more you can run, the more you figure out. We'll go out there and try to get faster and faster."

-credit: mopar/dsr

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Phoenix: Gary Scelzi preview

Next article Phoenix: Bob Tasca III preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

NASCAR to allow brake rotor and pad changes after Phoenix qualifying

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

15 min

NASCAR to allow brake rotor and pad changes after Phoenix qualifying

Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

31 min

Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

1 h

Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss

Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 2 h

Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts