Third Consecutive Semifinal Appearance Leaves Allen Johnson Wanting More

TOPEKA, Kans. (May 22, 2016) – Allen Johnson made it to the semifinals for the third consecutive race this weekend at the 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals in his Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart. After qualifying in the No. 7 spot, Allen Johnson took out Aaron Strong and Bo Butner on his way to the semifinals.

In the first round, Johnson had a first round matchup against Aaron Strong. Johnson cruised right down the boulevard and clocked in with a 6.655-seconds at 208.20 mph; Johnson took the win over Strong’s 6.692, 205.19.

With lane choice over Bo Butner in the second round, Allen had a .013-second reaction time at the starting line and with that huge advantage on the tree and his consistent horsepower, Johnson took the win with a 6.676, 207.02 over Butner’s 6.716, 199.37.

A massive oil down before the semifinals left the left lane in questionable condition. Without lane choice against his semifinal round opponent Greg Anderson, Johnson knew they needed to give it their all to advance to the final round. Johnson had a solid .022-second reaction time but had to shove in the clutch at half track because his Dodge Dart lost traction, giving the win to Greg Anderson.

“The car ran well this weekend and that feels good but it’s a damn pity that the track decided the final race,” said Johnson. “We ran so good this weekend and unfortunately we just couldn’t beat the track in the semis after the oil down. We were gonna give them all we had.”

This coming weekend is an off weekend for the NHRA Mello Yello teams and that allows J&J Racing to regroup and prepare for a grueling four back-to-back races in the month of June.

“We’ll head home and hit the dyno before Epping,” he added. “We’re working on some new combinations for the engine and hopefully we will be a little bit better next race.”