St. Louis: Allen Johnson Saturday notes

Team Mopar® Pro Stocker Johnson to Start 5th in 300th Career Race

Madison, Ill. (May 2, 2009) --Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson will line up 5th Sunday, as he competes in his 300th career race -- the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

The Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver recorded the second-fastest run in round two qualifying at 6.586/209.92 to jump into the top half of the field. Johnson will face fellow Mopar-powered driver Rickie Jones in the first round of eliminations after Jones qualified 12th with a run of 6.62/208.39.

"I never thought we would race this long. But I have to say now that we're here, I could see us going on and getting to the 500-race mark." said Johnson of reaching the 300-race mark. "We've been very lucky to have Mopar as a sponsor for almost our entire career, so obviously that partnership has paid dividends. To sustain a team for that long and to be a productive team, that's really something."

Other Mopar-powered Dodge racers to make the Pro Stock field at Gateway include Johnny Gray in ninth, Larry Morgan 10th, and Dave Northrop in 16th.

Johnson has reached one final this year, at the NHRA Gatornationals in March, taking away a runner-up finish. The Team Mopar driver has also experienced his fair share of previous success at the Gateway drag strip, located on the outskirts of St. Louis, claiming runner-up finishes in 1999 and 2003. The Greeneville, Tenn. native is banking on a third trip to the finals at Gateway this weekend, but with a different--and decidedly better-- outcome.

-credit: mopar