Las Vegas II: Allen Johnson Saturday notes

TEAM MOPAR®'S JOHNSON QUALIFIES NO. 4 AT VEGAS

Las Vegas, Nev. (November 1, 2008) -- Mopar®/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson claimed the No. 4 spot after the final two qualifying sessions today at the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Johnson has now qualified in the top half of the field in 21 of 23 events to date.

The Greeneville, Tenn. native's best run came in the second qualifying session on Friday with a pass of 6.717/204.54. Johnson also posted a pass of 6.724/204.94 in his first qualifying effort on Friday, along with runs of 6.731/204.42 and a 6.740/204.39 on Saturday. The Team Mopar veteran will face Vinnie Deceglie in a first round eliminations fight between Dodge Stratus R/Ts powered by J&J Racing-built HEMI® engines.

"We just need to de-tune his car," joked Johnson. "We will really need to be on our game tomorrow because Vinnie's been driving really good. We just really need to be on keel. It's a good thing, though. To have two cars going head-to-head with Mopar HEMI engines prepped by J&J Racing tells us we're doing something good with our program. Throw Johnny [Gray] in the mix next year, and hopefully we'll have three cars battling it out each week."

Johnson, currently seventh in the NHRA Countdown to 1 Pro Stock standings, added, "We had a good last run there. I think that's a good race day set up. We were really close to a home run. So that's got us feeling confident for tomorrow."

V. Gaines qualified his Kendall Oil Dodge Stratus R/T fifth and will face Ron Krisher in the opening stanza. Richie Stevens Jr. slotted his Nitrofish Dodge Stratus R/T 11th and will go up against Kurt Johnson, with rookie of the year candidate Rickie Jones qualified 16th and lining up in his Quarter Max Dodge Stratus R/T against Jeg Coughlin Jr.

"It feels good. I did really well at this race a few years ago with a Mopar," said Stevens. "David Nickens has really been working on the car. We're happy to be in the show and looking forward to tomorrow and maybe being a spoiler."

-credit: mopar