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Team Mopar®’s Allen Johnson Doubles Up at
Morrison, Colo. (July 25, 2010) – Team Mopar® NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson continued his recent stretch of domination at Bandimere Speedway, claiming his first win of the season and second straight at Thunder Mountain today at the 31st Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Johnson has now earned three wins in four years at his primary sponsor’s headline event.
Johnson, the No. 1 Qualifier, steered his HEMI®-powered Mopar Dodge Avenger Pro Stock car to a first-round win over Bob Yonke, posting a 6.973-second elapsed time (ET) at 197.83 mph. The J&J Racing owner and driver knocked off Greg Anderson with a 6.998/197.59 pass, then dispatched former teammate Johnny Gray in the semis with a 6.997/197.45 run.
Johnson posted a scorching .004 reaction time (.000 is perfect) in his final-round match against Coughlin, his fourth consecutive final-round appearance at the Mopar Mile-Highs. The Team Mopar veteran’s 6.974/198.26 mark was more than enough to beat Coughlin’s 7.858/135.09 pass and earn him his eighth career Pro Stock win in 21 final-round appearances.
“I’ve got an awesome setup here. The engine guys, what they do here is unbelievable,” said Johnson, a Greeneville, Tenn. native. “We made perfect runs every time. I just can’t say enough about our guys. And I was real tickled by how I did my job after the second round. We’ve got to continue this pace, be aggressive and go toward that championship.
“All the folks from Mopar, including the boss, Pietro (Gorlier), and Byron Kearney from Dodge, have been our good luck charms. They’re family to me. It’s not just a sponsor relationship. It’s so special to have them here.”
Mopar-powered NHRA Sportsman racer David Bogner of Kearney, Neb. also brought home a victory for Mopar, taking the Super Stock class win in his 1992 Dodge Daytona with a 10.333/126.46 pass in a final-round match against Henry Sliwinski.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Bogner, whose father is longtime Sportsman racer Marlin Bogner. “Maybe this will carry us through the rest of the year. You can’t pick a better place to win than the Mopar Mile-Highs.”
“The 31st Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals was a resounding success,” said Jim Sassorossi, Director—Mopar Parts, Sales and Marketing. “From the Mopar Big Block Event to the reveal of our Mopar ’10 Challenger to the victories by Team Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and NHRA Sportsman David Bogner, we couldn’t be happier. These Mopar-powered wins at our brand’s headline event are a testament to the durability and performance of Mopar parts.”
Matt Hagan, sporting a special Mopar paint scheme on his Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, knocked off Jack Wyatt in the first round with a 4.231/294.18 run. The Don Schumacher Racing driver, who posted his Mopar Dodge No. 1, then faced his teammate Jack Beckman in a Mopar vs. Mopar quarterfinals battle. Hagan emerged on top with a 4.276/289.69 pass in his Mopar Funny Car to Beckman’s 4.336/285.53 mark. Hagan’s run ended in the semis in a losing 4.237/290.51 effort against Robert Hight.
Mopar also captured a pair of special awards at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Eaton, Ohio’s Keith Lynch took home the NHRA Best Appearing Car award for his Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak vehicle. The Mopar-powered Maddox Motor Co. Super Comp dragster entry of Craig Maddox of Sidney, Neb. was named Best Engineered Car.
Mopar Brand
Mopar is Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand.
Mopar distributes approximately 280,000 parts and accessories in more than 90 countries and is the source for all original-equipment parts for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep® and Ram Truck vehicles. Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram vehicles—a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide.
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts maker, 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 1960s – the muscle-car era. The former 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, in order to enhance speed and handling for vehicles both on the road or at the track.
Mopar-first Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:
Vehicle-information apps: introduced the industry’s first smartphone vehicle-information application, a new channel of communication with consumers
Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format
FLO TV: first to offer live, mobile television
WiFi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
WiTECH: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
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