BRISTOL, Tenn. – Pro Stock veteran Allen Johnson has proven in the past that his team can rise to the occasion and win races when absolutely necessary.
He’s won three of the last four years at Denver’s Bandimere Speedway, site of his longtime partner Mopar’s lone sponsored event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
The nine-time NHRA Pro Stock winner will try to channel that focus and determination this weekend at the 11th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers, June 17-19 at his hometown track, historic Bristol Dragway. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the event which will be televised on ESPN2 HD.
A native of nearby Greeneville, Tenn., Johnson would love to win at Bristol so he could celebrate with a large gathering of his family and friends who will be at the track to support him in his quest to win a race that he’s wanted to win since Bristol was added to the series schedule in 2001.
Johnson sits in perhaps his best position yet to pull off the mission as he’s still riding high from winning the NHRA SuperNationals two weeks ago at Englishtown, N.J.’s Raceway Park.
“Momentum in racing anytime is great, but to have some heading into your home race is even better,” Johnson said. “The car is very consistent right now and we can continue to fine tune it and learn things. We are really looking forward to heading to Bristol and hopefully we can keep it going for Mopar and Dodge, and make it two wins in a row.”
At Englishtown, Johnson beat rookie phenom Vincent Nobile in an all-Dodge final round. The win moved Johnson to seventh in the point standings, up from outside the top 10 earlier in the season. Johnson never panicked due to his team’s slow start which included three first round losses in the first five races, because he knew there would be some growing pains as the team worked diligently to introduce a new chassis for the J&J Racing/Team Mopar Dodge Avenger.
“I was ready for this start,” said Johnson, who has raced full-time in NHRA since 1997. “We knew we had the chassis in the development stage and it was going to take some time. We wanted to be good by this time of the year and be great by the time the Countdown (to the Championship) starts. We’ve had a couple of bad breaks that have cost us, like at Topeka when we had a fast car and the engine gave up on us. Overall we’re pleased.”
As the regular season moves into the second half, only a handful of races remain until playoff time. Johnson, who finished sixth in the standings last year after having one of the most consistently fastest cars in the regular season, wants to change that outcome in this season’s six-race Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. Johnson says his plan for the new car is nearly complete.
“This Mopar Dodge Avenger has been fast, and we always have plenty of power with the Mopar HEMI under the hood,” Johnson said. “We have been taking a different approach this year and have been working into developing a good product with this new chassis. I think we are almost there, but not quite. We are almost where we want to be with six races left until the Countdown. We are still refining things, and continue to work hard each and every day.”
Other pre-race favorites in Pro Stock include series leader Jason Line, a three-time winner this season in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP. Line's teammate, defending world champ Greg Anderson, is a two-time Bristol Dragway winner, as is defending race winner Edwards. Two prominent drivers in the 200 mph category have been running strong this season and are looking for their first career victories, including national record holders Rodger Brogdon (6.495 seconds) and Erica Enders (213.57 mph). Rookie candidate Nobile has been to four finals with one victory and sophomore standout Shane Gray won earlier in the year at Topeka in his Service Central GXP.
In Top Fuel, Funny Car racer turned Top Fuel driver Del Worsham continues to lead the pack in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with three victories this season. He’s followed closely by red-hot Spencer Massey, winner of the last two events in his Prestone/FRAM dragster. Worsham teammate and defending world champ Larry Dixon, Matco Tools dragster driver Antron Brown and four-time Bristol winner Tony Schumacher are also among the pre-race favorites.
Mike Neff has been pulling double duty as both crew chief and driver for his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and all the hard work is pulling off for the former Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner as he currently leads the Funny Car point standings. Neff has a four-race final round streak going and is red hot after winning the last event, in Englishtown, N.J. His championship challengers will need to step up the pace to slow his charge. Jack Beckman and Robert Hight, sit second and third in the point standings and are also multi time winners this season. Cruz Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools Toyota may be the quickest of the category but the two-time world champ is still looking for his first victory of the season after posting two runner-up finishes. You can never count out the top two from last season, defending world champ John Force, a three-time winner at Bristol, and local favorite Matt Hagan, a Christiansburg, Va., cattle rancher who drives the ultra-quick DieHard Dodge Charger on weekends.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 17 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. Final eliminations begin at noon on Sunday, June 19.
* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers. Call Bristol Dragway at (423) 989-6900 or visit www.bristoldragway.com.
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 7 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 18. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours and 30 minutes of eliminations coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 19.
* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals also will feature competition in four categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series gain experience. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 10 a.m. on June 17. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on June 18 and continue through June 19.
* GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its sixth start of the 10-race 2011 season at the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The series features some of the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars, with an eclectic mix of vintage and late-model body styles, in quarter-mile competition. Two of three scheduled rounds of qualifying will be held on Friday, June 17 at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. The final round of qualifying is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday, June 18 at 3:30 p.m. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, June 19 at approximately 3:30 p.m.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
He’s won three of the last four years at Denver’s Bandimere Speedway, site of his longtime partner Mopar’s lone sponsored event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
The nine-time NHRA Pro Stock winner will try to channel that focus and determination this weekend at the 11th annual Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers, June 17-19 at his hometown track, historic Bristol Dragway. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the event which will be televised on ESPN2 HD.
A native of nearby Greeneville, Tenn., Johnson would love to win at Bristol so he could celebrate with a large gathering of his family and friends who will be at the track to support him in his quest to win a race that he’s wanted to win since Bristol was added to the series schedule in 2001.
Johnson sits in perhaps his best position yet to pull off the mission as he’s still riding high from winning the NHRA SuperNationals two weeks ago at Englishtown, N.J.’s Raceway Park.
“Momentum in racing anytime is great, but to have some heading into your home race is even better,” Johnson said. “The car is very consistent right now and we can continue to fine tune it and learn things. We are really looking forward to heading to Bristol and hopefully we can keep it going for Mopar and Dodge, and make it two wins in a row.”
At Englishtown, Johnson beat rookie phenom Vincent Nobile in an all-Dodge final round. The win moved Johnson to seventh in the point standings, up from outside the top 10 earlier in the season. Johnson never panicked due to his team’s slow start which included three first round losses in the first five races, because he knew there would be some growing pains as the team worked diligently to introduce a new chassis for the J&J Racing/Team Mopar Dodge Avenger.
“I was ready for this start,” said Johnson, who has raced full-time in NHRA since 1997. “We knew we had the chassis in the development stage and it was going to take some time. We wanted to be good by this time of the year and be great by the time the Countdown (to the Championship) starts. We’ve had a couple of bad breaks that have cost us, like at Topeka when we had a fast car and the engine gave up on us. Overall we’re pleased.”
As the regular season moves into the second half, only a handful of races remain until playoff time. Johnson, who finished sixth in the standings last year after having one of the most consistently fastest cars in the regular season, wants to change that outcome in this season’s six-race Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. Johnson says his plan for the new car is nearly complete.
“This Mopar Dodge Avenger has been fast, and we always have plenty of power with the Mopar HEMI under the hood,” Johnson said. “We have been taking a different approach this year and have been working into developing a good product with this new chassis. I think we are almost there, but not quite. We are almost where we want to be with six races left until the Countdown. We are still refining things, and continue to work hard each and every day.”
Other pre-race favorites in Pro Stock include series leader Jason Line, a three-time winner this season in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP. Line's teammate, defending world champ Greg Anderson, is a two-time Bristol Dragway winner, as is defending race winner Edwards. Two prominent drivers in the 200 mph category have been running strong this season and are looking for their first career victories, including national record holders Rodger Brogdon (6.495 seconds) and Erica Enders (213.57 mph). Rookie candidate Nobile has been to four finals with one victory and sophomore standout Shane Gray won earlier in the year at Topeka in his Service Central GXP.
In Top Fuel, Funny Car racer turned Top Fuel driver Del Worsham continues to lead the pack in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster with three victories this season. He’s followed closely by red-hot Spencer Massey, winner of the last two events in his Prestone/FRAM dragster. Worsham teammate and defending world champ Larry Dixon, Matco Tools dragster driver Antron Brown and four-time Bristol winner Tony Schumacher are also among the pre-race favorites.
Mike Neff has been pulling double duty as both crew chief and driver for his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang and all the hard work is pulling off for the former Auto Club Road to the Future Award winner as he currently leads the Funny Car point standings. Neff has a four-race final round streak going and is red hot after winning the last event, in Englishtown, N.J. His championship challengers will need to step up the pace to slow his charge. Jack Beckman and Robert Hight, sit second and third in the point standings and are also multi time winners this season. Cruz Pedregon’s Snap-on Tools Toyota may be the quickest of the category but the two-time world champ is still looking for his first victory of the season after posting two runner-up finishes. You can never count out the top two from last season, defending world champ John Force, a three-time winner at Bristol, and local favorite Matt Hagan, a Christiansburg, Va., cattle rancher who drives the ultra-quick DieHard Dodge Charger on weekends.
* SCHEDULE: Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 17 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. Final eliminations begin at noon on Sunday, June 19.
* TICKETS: Tickets are available for the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Tri-Cities Area Ford Dealers. Call Bristol Dragway at (423) 989-6900 or visit www.bristoldragway.com.
* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 7 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, June 18. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours and 30 minutes of eliminations coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 19.
* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals also will feature competition in four categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series, where the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series gain experience. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 10 a.m. on June 17. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8 a.m. on June 18 and continue through June 19.
* GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES: NHRA’s popular Pro Mod touring series will make its sixth start of the 10-race 2011 season at the Ford NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The series features some of the world’s fastest and most unique doorslammer cars, with an eclectic mix of vintage and late-model body styles, in quarter-mile competition. Two of three scheduled rounds of qualifying will be held on Friday, June 17 at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. The final round of qualifying is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. The first round of eliminations is scheduled for Saturday, June 18 at 3:30 p.m. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, June 19 at approximately 3:30 p.m.
* ON THE WEB: Get live timing, scoring, multimedia and the latest news updates from every NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event on the Internet at www.nhra.com. Visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
