This past weekend, the NHRA Pro Stock racers took on the
drag strip of Topeka Kansas for the 24th annual Dollar General Summer Nationals
and when the two cars in the Pro Stock final round crossed the finish line –
Team Mopar driver Allen Johnson (shown above with his car and father Roy)
brought home his second win of the season.
Allen Johnson and the Team Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car
got off to an early start this weekend, setting a track record on his second
qualifying run with a time of 6.618 at 207.85 miles per hour.That time would hold up as the top spot
through all four rounds of qualifying with GM racer Greg Anderson being the
closest to Johnson in qualifying with a run of 6.624 at 208.55mph (positions
are based on ET, not MPH).
Johnson backed up his track record qualifying time in the
first round as he ran a 6.587 (209mph) in beating Ronnie Humphery followed by a
6.570 (210mph) in the second round en route to beating Ron Krisher.In the semi finals, Allen Johnson ran a 6.590
(210mph) to Shane Grey’s 6.648 as he beat his third Pontiac Pro Stock racer of
the weekend.In the final round, Allen
Johnson and his Mopar sponsored and Hemi-powered Dodge Avenger went head to
head with class leader Greg Anderson in the Summit Racing Pontiac G6 GXP.Johnson ran a 6.587 to Anderson’s 6.696 which
was slowed by traction problems as Allen Johnson and the Mopar team went to
celebrate their second class win of the year.
With this second win of the season, Allen Johnson now sits
in third place in the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock class – trailing Greg
Anderson by 132 points with 15 events left in the 23 race season.
Other Dodge Avenger racers in the field included V Gaines in
the Kendall Oil Avenger (qualified 6th, Lost Rd 2 to Jason Line), Vincent
Nobile in the Mountain View Tire Avenger (qualified7th, Lost Rd 2 to Greg Anderson), Jeg
Coughlin in the Mopar/Jeg’s Avenger (qualified 11th, Lost Rd 1 to V
Gaines) and Chris McGaha (qualified 12th, Lost Rd 1 to Erica
Enders).
This is the third Pro Stock win by a Dodge Avenger this
season when factoring in the win at the O’Reilly Spring Nationals by Vincent
Nobile with Johnson’s wins.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
This past weekend, the NHRA Pro Stock racers took on the