Johnson and his J&J Racing team had a good day at the office at Topeka. The Greeneville, Tenn. native qualified No. 2 and had the quickest pass in the first three rounds of eliminations, then defeated Mike Edwards in the finals on a holeshot to capture his sixth career win in 16 final rounds. The victory, Johnson’s second finals appearance of the season, marked his 170th career round win and boosted his 2009 round-win record to 12-8.
“We were very, very consistent at Topeka, from qualifying high to maintaining lane choice for the entire race,” said Johnson, currently fifth in the NHRA Pro Stock point standings. “And I drove well. Those factors were pretty much it.”
Sticking to his mantra of working hard, Johnson and the J&J Racing squad were headed back to the grindstone, with two days of test sessions scheduled at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis before heading to Joliet. The quarter-mile near Chicago can be a tricky one, according to Johnson.
“Route 66 is one of those tracks that can get really good, and that’s where we’ve been struggling a little bit,” explained Johnson. “As opposed to working on our set up for the slick tracks, we’ve really been spending a lot more time working on our set up for the really good tracks. Hopefully, our Mopar/J&J team will be able to show that our work has paid off with a victory at Joliet.”
Johnson statistics
* Captured his first win of the 2009 season last weekend at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
* Qualified No. 2 at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, the eighth time in nine NHRA events thus far in which Johnson has qualified in the top half of the field
* Claimed six career NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock wins
* Recorded 16 career final round appearances
* Has claimed 170 career round wins
* Currently fifth in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings
* Has a 12-8 round win record thus far in 2009
* Also advanced to the finals and scored a runner-up finish at the NHRA Gatornationals earlier this year
* Competed in his 300th race at the NHRA St. Louis event
* Qualified No. 3 at each of the first three events of 2009
* Finished seventh in the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock standings
* One of only ten drivers to qualify for the 2008 NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs
* Has qualified for the Countdown to 1 in each of the first two years since the NHRA adopted the playoff format
* Powered to three No. 1 Qualifier Awards in 2008
* Has six career No. 1 Qualifier Awards
* Made eight 2008 semifinal appearances
* Posted two straight runner-up finishes at Mopar® Mile-High NHRA Nationals and Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in July 2008
* Racked up a 28-24 round win record in 2008
* Won the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event [June 2008 NHRA stop in Norwalk, Ohio] – recorded a perfect .000 reaction time
* Finished a career-best fourth in the 2007 NHRA Pro Stock points standings
* One of only four Pro Stock drivers to qualify for the inaugural 2007 NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff
United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals
The United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals is scheduled to take place June 5–7 at Route 66 Raceway. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, June 6 beginning at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, June 7 beginning at 4 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more info on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.
More than 70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960’s – 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.
Today, Chrysler LLC’s Parts division is responsible for the distribution of nearly 350,000 authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicles sold around the world. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler engineering standards.