Pomona: Mopar Motorsports Saturday summary

Mopar driver grabs pole and sets pace for NHRA's quickest field.
Teammates Alderman and Johnson qualify third and fifth, respectively.

POMONA, Calif. (Feb. 8, 2003) -- Mopar pilot Greg Stanfield set a new Pomona Raceway low elapsed-time record with a career-best pass of 6.772 seconds at 203.77 mph, while the rest of the 15-car NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock contenders filled out the quickest field in series history.

While Stanfield will take on Brad Jeter in tomorrow's first round of eliminations, Mopar teammates Darrell Alderman and Allen Johnson qualified their Neons in the top five.

"This is a kid's dream," said Stanfield, who captured his first No. 1 qualifier of his career."But a lot of what we did today was due to preparation. And, even after that, there's being in the right lane at the right time. We were in that last session. We spent a lot of time last year developing what we knew we would need to go after this year's points chase. We've hired a crew chief (Mike Stryker) that has taken a lot of the load off of me since I build the engines and drive the car and I think in due time we'll be a team to reckon with.

"Mopar has been a great part of our program and they do the job right," the Bossier City, La., resident continued. "We're proud to represent them like this in the first race of the season. Setting a new track record speaks for what we are capable of doing."

Alderman, a three-time NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Pro Stock champion, secured his third-place qualifying effort with a run of 6.779 seconds at 203.43 mph. Alderman will line up against category newcomer Steve Johns in the seventh match of the morning. Alderman ran an identical elapsed time with 2002 NHRA Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin, Jr., but his Hemi-powered rocket provided the speed to claim the higher qualifying slot -- Coughlin produced a top speed of 203.09 mph to Alderman's career best 203.43 mph run.

"We're making good gains this weekend," Alderman said. "That run proves we're heading in the right direction and keeping this team competitive. It takes some time to jell with a new team, but Allen (Johnson) and his family have all the right resources to field competitive cars."

Johnson's return to the Mopar camp has been a successful effort when he clocked a time of 6.780 seconds at 204.08 mph and rounded out the field's top-five cars. The Greeneville, S.C., resident, will take on V. Gaines in first-round activity.

"That was one of the better runs I've had with this car," Johnson said. "We keep getting better and better and making the right adjustments. The track came to us this morning and I'm looking forward tomorrow rounds because the track should be in better shape."

Larry Morgan and Gene Wilson, who debuted the new Hemi-powered Dodge Stratus R/T's over the weekend, failed to crack the top 16.

-Mopar.com-