July 25, 2011

Mopar® Dodge Avenger Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson advanced to his fifth straight final at Bandimere Speedway on Sunday, July 24 in the 32nd Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

Johnson qualified No. 1 for the second straight year at his primary sponsor Mopar’s headline event and faced Steve Kalkowski in the opening round. Johnson posted a 6.962-second elapsed time (ET) at 198.06 mph to beat Kalkowski, which was low ET of the weekend — until the Team Mopar veteran set the Bandimere ET track record with a 6.955 run paired with a 198.15 speed to knock off defending Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson.

Looking for this third straight Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals win, Johnson bested Kurt Johnson (no relation) in the semifinals with a 6.988/197.48 pass to advance to the 23rd final round of his career and sixth at the Mopar Mile-Highs. Without lane choice in the final round against opponent Mike Edwards, the Mopar HEMI®-powered racer would see his quest for four wins in the last five years end with a red-light foul off the starting line. Johnson’s stellar runner-up weekend at Denver moved the Greeneville, Tenn. native to sixth in the standings, just four markers out of fifth place.

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Mopar also provided racing fans with a special treat, as NHRA 60th Anniversary legend Shirley Muldowney took the wheel of a 2011 V-10 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak for a demonstration race against Mopar Viper Comp Coupe driver Cindi Lux.

Next up for the Mopar-powered NHRA stars is the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., July 29–31. For more information on the NHRA visit http://www.nhra.com.

Team Mopar driver Allen Johnson advanced to the finals of the 32nd Annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Natioanls at Bandimere Speedway for the fifth straight year.

Shirley Muldowney shown above in action (far lane) took the wheel of a 2011 V-10 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak for a demonstration race against Mopar Viper Comp Coupe driver Cindi Lux (near lane) during the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.