Allen Johnson Grabs Precious Points at Dallas for the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge
- Sep 30, 2010
One thing that sets the NHRA Pro Stock class apart from all other pro classes is the K&N Horsepower Challenge. Drivers and teams put an extra importance on their event qualifying position to gain as many points possible in their quest to be one of the elite eight who will get to compete for the largest payday in all of NHRA Pro Stock and the massive $50,000 check. In addition to racking up the maximum points per event for the Challenge, K&N also provides a $3,000 bonus to the number one qualified driver at each race and a nice little shot in the arm of team's coffers. No stranger to the pole position as of late, is Greeneville, Tennessee native, Allen Johnson, and his Team Mopar/J&J Dodge Avenger. After missing out on gaining any points during the previous race in Concord, North Carolina, Johnson and his team slowly worked their way to the top of the heap during the latest NHRA event in Ennis, Texas and the O'Reilly SuperStart Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals. Things didn't start off the way Johnson was hoping for during the first session on Friday and was only able to settle into the number four spot to start the weekend. "Actually, we had a mechanical issue," Johnson explained. "I had something break that caused us not to perform every well." That breakage was quickly fixed and when Johnson returned for session two, it was a whole new ballgame. Johnson blasted off the line with a very nice .979 sixty foot time and carried that power through the quarter mile to post a 6.632 at 208.04, picking up more than four hundredths over his first attempt and right to the top. "On Friday, man it was humid," exclaimed Johnson. "We usually perform pretty good under humid circumstances with our car and we were able to capitalize on that. You could cut that air with a fork." "We have a setup that just seems to work in high altitudes and bad air," he added. "We were happy with the second session, but it was the third session on Saturday, that we really hit a home run," he said. With heavy dark clouds threatening for the third session, Johnson and his team "got out the big bat" and laid down what would end up being the quickest and fastest pass of all four qualifying sessions, just edging out Mike Edwards by .008 for the number one spot. Johnson wasn't able to repeat during session four, as his car made a hard left shortly after the launch. "That track has a very narrow groove and that time is just didn't agree with us," noted Johnson. "We were in the left lane for that pass and it slopes to the left just a little. If you don't get it just right on the start line, you are always going to go left and we did and just got out of the groove, then spun and shook the tires a little bit all the way down the track." Allen Johnson is now sitting third in the prestigious 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge standings after his number one qualifier at Dallas and just 105 points behind the current leader, K&N's Mike Edwards. "If we don't have another [non-qualifier], I think we can still get back up there in the top two," said Johnson of his chances to move up in the K&N Challenge. Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
