Championship Drag Racing

Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Denver, Colo.
(July 11-13)

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Driver Profile

Allen Johnson Team Mopar Dodge Avenger

Denver, Sunday: Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson came up just short in his quest to win a second straight Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals title. The defending champ made his first finals appearance of 2008 in his primary sponsor's flagship race but fell in a matchup today with Greg Anderson at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.
 
Johnson took out Warren Johnson in the opening round. He then met up with fellow Hemi-powered driver Larry Morgan in the quarterfinals, taking the win with a pass of 7.043/195.70 on top of a red light by Morgan. The Greeneville, Tenn. native defeated Ron Krisher to set up a face-off with Greg Anderson, the man he beat at the NHRA Norwalk event to win the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge.
 
Johnson posted a superb pass of 7.028/195.79 but it wasn't enough to beat Anderson's run of 7.024/196.39. Anderson's margin of victory was a mere six feet.
 
Johnson's runner-up finish capped a weekend in which the veteran Team Mopar driver qualified No. 3, moved up to the fifth spot in the NHRA Pro Stock standings and saw his J&J Racing team capture the Full Throttle Pit Crew event award.
 
"I think we're on the turnaround mode," said an upbeat Johnson. "We would have really liked to win this one, but we'll take a runner-up here at our sponsor Mopar's race and smile about it. I hope all the folks at Mopar are happy. We've been gaining momentum and I think we proved it today. Last year we won here and went runner-up in Seattle. This year we're going to reverse it."
 
"Allen is a longtime member of Team Mopar, and he has a great history here at Bandimere Speedway, Mopar's Œhome track,'" said Sunil Lahoti, Mopar's Senior Manager, Marketing & Strategy. "We're very proud of Allen's result here today. It's a testament to the performance of Mopar parts and also Allen's skill as a driver. When you put those two together, you're going to have success."

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