Mopar Harvests Both Positives and Negatives in Qualifying at NHRA New England Nationals

June 21, 2014 , Epping, New Hampshire -  It was a good news and bad news kind of day for the Mopar entries at New England Dragway after four qualifying sessions were completed to set the eliminations ladder for Sunday’s 2^nd Annual National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) New England Nationals.
 
The good news for Mopar driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. was that he left his mark at New England Dragway by setting the track record for speed in both Friday Pro Stock sessions in the JEGS.com Dodge Dart and added two bonus points to his tally for running second quickest in the first qualifying session. His best 6.497 elapsed time under the lights on Friday at a track record 214.25 mph also put him fifth on the eliminations ladder. Another positive is that Coughlin has been riding a hot streak with two wins, a runner-up and a semifinal in the four events leading up to this weekend for a 13-2 round-win record in that span.
 
It was a tougher qualifying effort for defending Pro Stock title winner, Allen Johnson, who after posting an elapsed time run of 6.538 sec (212.79 mph) for his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart’s first lap on Friday for a provisional fifth place spot had a spark plug issue and lost traction on his next two attempts. The good news is that Johnson recovered in the final session to run his quickest and fastest lap with a 6.528-second (213.40 mph) e.t. but it was only good enough to give him the 12th spot in qualifying. The bad news is that means he’ll face his HEMI-powered teammate Coughlin as his first round opponent in Pro Stock eliminations.
 
It has been either feast or famine for Johnson this season. The good news is he has had four final round appearances this season and three of them were wins. The bad news is he has also had five first-round losses, one of which was to his teammate in Atlanta where Coughlin’s hot streak started last month.
 
“The only time you really want to face your teammate is in the final round and that happened in Topeka with my last win not too long ago,” Johnson said. “Jeggie (Coughlin Jr.)’s been on a roll here lately but I’m not ready to give up so easy and lose a third first round in a row. Those really hurt our points and we need to go rounds and play a bit of catch up on Erica (Enders-Stevens) who has a good lead on Jeg and me right now. I’m defending winner here and I’m not ready to give that title up just yet.”
 
Fellow HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines made some good gains through qualifying, posting the third quickest time of the third session to improve his e.t. to 6.525 second (213.23 mph) which seeded him 11th behind pole winner Shane Gray. Gaines will face Vincent Nobile in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations.
 
Riding the positive momentum from last week’s Funny Car title win at the Thunder Valley Nationals title winner, Don Schumacher Racing’s Tommy Johnson Jr. put his Dodge Charger R/T fourth on the final qualifying results sheets with his 4.033-second e.t. at 318 mph and will have Bob Tasca III for his first round match-up.
 
In contrast, DSR teammate Jack Beckman’s ride has been more like a roller coaster of good and bad results. While he didn’t advance past a second round until the sixth national event this season and has five first round losses, he has more recently had a runner-up finish at Houston and semifinal at Englishtown and is looking to go rounds on Sunday.
 
"There is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel,” said Beckman who was third quickest in final qualifying session to earn a bonus point and sits in the No.6 spot and will meet Del Worsham as his first round opponent. "We've run well. We've already been to a final round. But, until you close the deal and win a race, you can't call the season successful. Tommy Johnson was the first of the four DSR Funny Cars to do that this year and I'm hoping that opens up the flood gates for the rest of us."
 
Also making some positive gains after a rough stretch, Matt Hagan added four valuable bonus points with his efforts in posting the second quickest laps in both the first and third qualifying sessions. The DSR Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T had a best elapsed time pass of 4.073 seconds to give Hagan an eighth place position on the eliminations ladder. He’ll face ninth seeded driver and 16-time NHRA Funny Car champ John Force in the first round.
 
"It's a big first round, that's for sure," said Hagan who finished runner-up to Force in the 2014 NHRA championship battle and has one round-win and two losses to him this season. "But I won't lie, I love it. It's two good race teams battling it out in the first round. That should be a final round match-up, for sure, but we're ready to get after it.”
 
DSR teammate Ron Capps qualified 10^th with a best pass of 4.102-seconds to pair him up with Tim Wilkerson in the first round. The Funny Car No.1 qualifier position is held by Robert Hight.
 
Elimination rounds for the 2nd annual NHRA New England Nationals will be broadcast live on ESPN starting at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 22.
 
 
2014 NHRA Points Standings
(Following Bristol NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals)
 
PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Erica Enders Stevens – 952 (3)
2.         Jeg Coughlin Jr. – Dodge Dart – 789 (2)
3.         Allen Johnson – Dodge Dart – 736 (3)
4.         Jason Line – 733 (1)
5.         Shane Gray – 693
6.         Vincent Nobile – 651
7.         Dave Connolly – 629
8.         V. Gaines – Dodge Dart – 520
9.         Chris McGaha – 492
10.        Rodger Brogden – 390     
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Robert Hight – 950(4)
2.         John Force – 673 (1)
3.         Tommy Johnson Jr. – Dodge Charger R/T – 662 (1)
4.         Alexis DeJoria – 656 (2)
5.         Del Worsham – 625
6.         Courtney Force – 618
7.         Ron Capps – Dodge Charger R/T – 603
8.         Cruz Pedregon – 579 (1)
9.         Tim Wilkerson – 569
10.        Matt Hagan – Dodge Charger R/T – 564
11.        Jack Beckman – Dodge Charger R/T– 547
 
About Mopar Motorsports
Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer Don Garlits, resulting in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in HEMI®-powered vehicles over the next several decades. In 2014, Mopar celebrates the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the GEN III 426 Race HEMI® and looks to defend back-to-back NHRA World Championship titles (2012-2013) in the Pro Stock class and battle for another Funny Car World Championship after wins in 2011-2012. While Mopar remains involved in a various professional motorsports series, it continues to honour its roots by being a proud supporter of amateur racing within the NHRA with its sponsorship of the HEMI Challenge and Mopar Sportsman Cup.
 
Mopar Brand
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product but truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support.
 
Today, Mopar is FCA’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 130 markets, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands.

Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for FCA vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com.
 
Mopar-first Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with customers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format. First to offer complete vehicle-information kits in Spanish
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Wireless charging: first to introduce in-vehicle wireless charging for portable devices
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• wiAdvisor: first to provide factory-connected tablet technology in the service lane for instant vehicle diagnosis
• wiTech: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car