Mopar Scores No.1 Qualifiers Honors in Both Pro Stock and Funny Car at NHRA Route 66 Nationals

June 28, 2014 , Joliet, Illinois -  It was a strong qualifying effort for Mopar at the 17th annual Route 66 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals near Chicago, that saw Allen Johnson earn his third Pro Stock No.1 qualifier honor of the season, and had Tommy Johnson Jr. drive his Funny Car to his first 3-second run for the pole position.
 
Allen Johnson followed up the Friday qualifying performance that put him atop the time sheets with an elapsed time run of 6.574-seconds (209.43 miles per hour), with two more strong passes in his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart to give him a total of 11 all-important bonus points for his efforts and provide him his 34th career pole position.
 
“Conditions today weren’t as favorable as they were last night; it was a bit warmer and more humid but the track stayed awesome,” said Johnson, who second quick on his third run and then fastest on his final run. “Our Magneti Marelli Mopar team did a heck of a job with consistency and we were No. 1 in three out of the four runs, so that speaks volume of their talents.”
 
“We’re feeling more comfortable with the new car after having run in great conditions and bad conditions,” said Johnson who has three wins to date this season, two of which were aboard the new Dodge Dart. “We’ve gotten good notes on it and we’re feeling very comfortable.”
 
Mark Hogan will be Johnson’s opponent in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.
 
Defending winner of this national event, Jeg Coughlin Jr., remained third on the score sheets behind his Mopar teammate with his e.t. of 6.604 seconds (209.04 mph) in the JEGS.com Dodge Dart, and will be looking for his sixth win at Route 66 Raceway, where he already has more wins than any other NHRA driver. He’ll face Larry Morgan as his first opponent on the eliminations ladder.
 
"We've put one of our team cars (Allen Johnson's Magneti Marelli Dodge Dart) on the pole and we're No. 3, so I'd have to say we're pretty pleased,” said Coughlin who has two wins and is second in Pro Stock standing, just one point ahead of his teammate. “Hopefully, Allen and I can race through the ladder tomorrow and meet each other in the final round. That's always the plan and so far it's set up that way with us being on opposite sides of the ladder. We'll see how it goes; one round at a time."
 
Fellow HEMI-powered driver, V. Gaines, who had two runner-up finishes early in the year, qualified his Dodge Dart 12th with his best e.t. run of 6.643 seconds (209.01 mph) and will see Shane Gray in the first round.
                                                              
Tommy Johnson Jr. drove his Don Schumacher Racing Mopar machine to his first career 3-second pass, becoming the tenth Funny Car driver to do so. His 3.999-second run at 317.19 mph put the Make-A-Wish Dodge Charger R/T atop the qualifying sheets to earn his first No.1 qualifier honor of the season and the tenth of his career.
 
“The conditions out here are difficult,” said Johnson in reference to the heat and humidity that were still prevalent for the final Saturday night qualifying session. “To be honest, I didn't think we could do it – but the guys were swinging for the fence. I'm extremely happy for all the guys on the team. Our crew chief John Collins and all the guys have been working for this for a long time."
 
“Our car has been really consistent no matter what conditions we are running in,” added Johnson who took home his first Wally of the season two events ago at Bristol Dragway. “In the heat in Bristol, we were able to run really well and now to get out here where the conditions get good, we improved. Right now, my confidence in the team is really high. No matter what the conditions are tomorrow, I’m positive they have a tune up for it. The car is running well.”
 
The six bonus points he earned in qualifying helped put him third in the Funny Car standings just ahead of his DSR teammate Ron Capps heading into tomorrow’s first round where Johnson will meet Tony Pedregon.
 
Last weekend’s title winner, Capps will be seeded sixth for Sunday’s eliminations on the merit of his Friday evening 4.040 seconds (312.50 mph) run that had initially put him in the provisional third spot. He will put his Dodge Charger R/T to the test against Tim Wilkerson in the opening round.
 
Qualifying in the seventh spot was Jack Beckman with his 4.048 seconds pass at 315.64 mph which set him up for a first round match-up against his teammate Matt Hagan. It is the second time this season that the two HEMI-powered teammates are battling each other in the first round.
 
Hagan’s Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T was the quickest Funny Car in the third qualifying session, giving him three of the five bonus points earned in qualifying, but unfortunately that didn’t help improve his tenth place seeding. Hagan is still chasing his first title win of the year after finishing runner-up in the 2013 NHRA championship.
 
ESPN2 will be providing three hours of elimination round coverage for the 17th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals starting at 3 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, June 29.
 
2014 NHRA Points Standings
(following NHRA Route 66 Nationals Final Qualifying)
 
PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Erica Enders Stevens – 1016 (3)
2.         Jeg Coughlin Jr. – Dodge Dart – 826 (2)
3.         Allen Johnson – Dodge Dart – 825 (3)
4.         Jason Line – 770 (1)
5.         Shane Gray – 749
6.         Dave Connolly – 742
7.         Vincent Nobile – 705
8.         V. Gaines – Dodge Dart – 552
9.         Chris McGaha – 525
10.        Jonathan Gray – 432    
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Robert Hight – 1012 (4)
2.         John Force – 749 (1)
3.         Alexis DeJoria – 747 (2)
4.         Tommy Johnson Jr. – Dodge Charger R/T – 726 (1)
5.         Capps – Dodge Charger R/T – 718 (1)
6.         Courtney Force – 692
7.         Del Worsham – 684
8.         Cruz Pedregon – 631 (1)
9.         Tim Wilkerson – 603
10.        Matt Hagan – Dodge Charger R/T – 601
11.        Jack Beckman – Dodge Charger R/T– 581
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