Johnson Provisional No.1 Pro Stock Qualifier for Mopar in Seattle
 

July 31, 2014 , Kent, Washington -  The third and final stop on the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) western swing got under way at the scenic tree-lined Pacific Raceways near Seattle, Washington, with Allen Johnson driving his “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart straight to the top of the Pro Stock category timing sheets to earn the provisional pole position in Friday qualifying.
 
Johnson posted the quickest pass in the first two rounds of qualifying with an elapsed time pass of 6.535-second at 211.86 mile per hour, but the “Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar” Dodge Dart was also the quickest of the factory hot rods in the second session by posting a 6.537 sec./211.83 mph pass to earn a total of six bonus points for his efforts on Friday, along with the provisional No.1 qualifier moniker. Following a sixth Mopar Mile High Nationals title at the first race of the western swing, Johnson is hoping to “bookend” the three race stint with his 25^th career win this Sunday after the Mopar team worked on making some adjustments to the Dodge Dart set up after a challenging race day in Sonoma.
 
“We made two really good runs today, collected some important little points and we’re happy with the set up after making some wholesale changes from Sunday at Sonoma to here to try to make the car a little more race-able,” said Johnson who is looking for his first win at Seattle since 2006. “It seemed to really help so we’ll get after it again tomorrow and see what we can do. The goal is to collect as many qualifying points that we can and win this to try to close the gap on (points leader) Erica Enders-Stevens before the Countdown (to the Championship) begins.”
 
Reigning NHRA Pro Stock World Champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. drove his JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Dart to a runner-up finish at Pacific Raceways last season and is looking to earn a third season win this Sunday. In preparation, he drove his Mopar to a 6.553 sec / 210.97 pass to put him fourth in provisional qualifying, then was fourth quickest again for his second run by posting a 6.555 /211.13 pass.
 
Mopar teammates Johnson and Coughlin are second and fourth in the very competitive Pro Stock standings behind points leader Erica Enders-Stevens who is not competing this weekend.
 
Fellow HEMI-powered Dodge Dart driver V. Gaines, who made his third final round appearance of the season last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, was sixth quickest with a 6.561 /211 pass. Two Dodge Avengers are also in the mix at the Northwest Nationals as Matt Hartford sits in 10^th place with his best run of 6.597/ 210.67 while Deric Kramer currently holds the 12^th spot on the score sheets with a 6.615 second pass and best speed of 209.39 mph.
 
Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver Matt Hagan is the defending Funny Car winner Pacific Raceways and hoping to repeat that performance to post a second win this season. Hagan looks to be on the right track as he followed up last weekend’s semifinal appearance at the Sonoma Nationals by leading the charge in the first session with his HEMI 50^th Anniversary tribute Dodge Charger R/T and a 4.121 second / 295.79 mph run, then improved with a 4.100/302.41 to take the No. 2 spot in the provisional qualifying and five of six bonus points. The provisional No.1 position was taken by competitor and defending NHRA Funny Car world champ John Force on his second run with a 4.085/308.07 lap.
 
Tommy Johnson Jr. and his Make-A-Wish Mopar improved from a 10^th place spot to fourth on his second attempt with a 4.123-second elapsed time pass at 297.94 mph while Ron Capps, who leads the DSR clan in the points battle with a third place position, was sixth quick with his Dodge Charger R/T after running a 4.131/300.53 on his second pass.
 
Jack Beckman took his DSR Mopar out for a 4.256 /282.48 run in the first session to post the seventh quickest pass but had some mechanical issues on the second run and ended up 15th.
 
Racing action from the 27th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries will be broadcast on ESPN2 with a two hour qualifying show Saturday, August 2, starting at 10 p.m. (ET) and three hours of elimination round coverage will air on Sunday, Aug. 3, starting at 7 p.m. (ET).
 
2014 NHRA Points Standings
(Following the NHRA Sonoma Nationals Race Final)
 
PRO STOCK (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Erica Enders-Stevens – 1229* (4)
2.         Allen Johnson – Dodge Dart – 1107* (4)
3.         Jason Line – 1074* (1)
4.         Jeg Coughlin Jr.  – Dodge Dart – 1073* (2)
5.         Dave Connolly – 1023* (1)
6.         Shane Gray – 911
7.            Vincent Nobile – 931 (1)
8.         V. Gaines – Dodge Dart – 628
9.         Chris McGaha – 686
10.        Jonathan Gray – 548   
 
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1.         Robert Hight – 1216* (5)
2.         John Force – 1097* (2)
3.         Ron Capps – Dodge Charger R/T – 957 (1)
4.         Courtney Force – 941 (2)
5.         Tommy Johnson Jr. – Dodge Charger R/T – 938 (1)
6.         Alexis DeJoria – 883 (2)
7.         Matt Hagan – Dodge Charger R/T – 868 (1)
8.         Cruz Pedregon – 840 (1)
9.         Del Worsham – 816
10.        Tim Wilkerson – 762
11.        Jack Beckman – Dodge Charger R/T – 743
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