Allen Johnson Captures Attention in Qualifying, Starts No. 3 at Brainerd NHRA Nationals

Allen Johnson Captures Attention in Qualifying, Starts No. 3 at Brainerd NHRA Nationals

BRAINERD, Minn. (August 19, 2017) – After four rounds of competitive qualifying, Allen Johnson catapulted the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart to a season-high No. 3 qualifying position at the 36th annual NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

In the first qualifying session, Johnson started out with a solid 6.658-second pass at 206.46 mph landing him in the No. 5 spot. The 2012 Pro Stock World Champion came back in the Friday evening session and crossed the finish line at Brainerd International Raceway with an impressive 6.622, 206.86; that run awarded him one bonus point and his second bonus point for the 2017 season.

“We were only a hundredth off the fastest car; that run was real great,” Johnson beamed. “We’re not having to make any big changes and we’re able to run the same motor and all the same parts. We’re in the finessing part of our tune-up right now and it feels really great to not have to make big changes with our tune-up every run.”

On Saturday, the Roy Johnson and Adam Hornberger-led team guided Johnson right in the middle of the groove and the Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart clocked in with a 6.651, 206.73. It was a 6.648, 207.18 that closed out qualifying for the red, white, and blue team and landed Johnson as the No. 3 seed going into raceday.

Johnson will take on Mark Hogan in the first round of eliminations on Sunday morning.

“Going into raceday that high up the ladder, it really puts us in a good mood,” he added. “You can’t take anyone lightly in the first round so we’re really gonna go after it. We gotta give it everything we’ve got.”