Team Mopar Tops Pro Stock Friday Qualifying at Texas Fall National

September 20, 2012 , Ennis, Texas -  Leader in the ‘Countdown to the Championship’, Allen Johnson, added a few more valuable points and a bit more momentum to his drive for a title and Pro Stock crown by setting the lowest elapsed time with his Mopar Dodge Avenger in Friday qualifying at the NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex south of Dallas.

Fastest in both sessions, Johnson’s initial pass of 6.585 seconds / 211.26 mph was against Jason Line (6.632), who is nipping at his heels in the playoff points race in second spot just three points back. The 17 year veteran driver improved upon his time with an E.T. of 6.568 seconds against Erica Enders (6.586) to maintain his provisional pole position at the end of the day.

“Our game plan with the Mopar Dodge Avenger is consistency and we’ve done that here so far after two runs,” said Johnson who went to the finals last weekend at Nationals in Charlotte and is working towards securing a tenth No.1 Qualifier position so far this season. “Building up those little points in qualifying is what we're shooting for, and we did that today.”

“This is a great track with a great, flat surface and a lot of traction. I can't say enough about my crew. Everything is perfect right now. We're running on eight-and-a-half cylinders. The car is consistent, and we're looking for more of the same on Saturday.”

Fellow J&J Racing driver Vincent Nobile was fifth overall with a low ET 6.592 / 210.14 while V. Gaines sits in seventh in his Mopar-powered Dodge with best effort of 6.600/210.11.

Mopar/JEGS.com driver Jeg Coughlin Jr., posted a 6.618 / 209.10 best pass to put him in 10th spot on his second qualifying run.

Don Schumacher Racing’s Jack Beckman leads the Mopar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car contingent by holding the No. 3 position with a time of 4.109 seconds at 303.98 mph. Beckman, along with his two other DSR teammates Ron Capps and Johnny Gray, will be part of Saturday’s Traxxas Nitro Shootout, eight-car All-Star race in which the winner will earn $100,000 for his team.

Capps, the Funny Car points leader in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, is the top seed in the Shootout and will race rookie Courtney Force in the opening round, while Beckman meets John Force.

The first two rounds of the ‘race within a race’ will coincide with the final two qualifying sessions, with the two Shootout finalists meeting for the title.

DSR teammate and Mopar driver Matt Hagan sits in sixth place after his efforts with a best qualifying run of 4.151 / 296.63.

Two more qualifying sessions for the Pro classes are on tap for Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. CT (noon E.T.) with highlights being shown on ESPN2 Saturday night at midnight and again Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The second set (of six playoff races) of Eliminations rounds in the “Countdown to the Championship” are slated for broadcast on Sunday, Sept 23, 8:30 pm ET on ESPN2.


About Mopar Motorsports
Mopar’s commitment to professional motorsports competition was established in the 1950’s when a partnership ignited with drag racing pioneer, Don Garlits. Combined efforts between Garlits and the Mopar brand resulted in the breaking of numerous speed and performance barriers in a HEMI-powered car over the next several decades. Mopar has remained a fixture on the racing scene in the North America ever since and is currently involved with the NHRA, NASCAR, USAC and TORC series. Mopar also sponsors many motorsports events, including title sponsorship of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Colorado for nearly 25 consecutive years; and it is a proud supporter of amateur racing within NHRA and USAC.

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 consumers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
• 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 a new interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owners a text when the vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car
• Camper trailers: first to introduce off-road camper trailers
• WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
   

About the Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes 280,000 parts and accessories. With the creation of the Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A. partnership, Mopar is extending its global reach, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Combined with Fiat SpA, Mopar’s global portfolio includes more than 500,000 parts and accessories that are distributed in more than 120 countries. Mopar is the source for all genuine parts and accessories for Chrysler Group and Fiat SpA brands.

Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler Group and Fiat S.p.A.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.

75 Years of Mopar
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for an antifreeze product in 1937. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960s — the muscle-car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth “package cars” equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of “special parts” for super-stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use. The brand has expanded to include technical service and customer support.