Mopar Doubles-Up on Wins at Route 66 NHRA Nationals with Mopar Dodge Dart & Charger R/T.
Racing fans from Setauket, Smithtown, Stony Brook, Coram, Wading River and Riverhead, and all over Long Island watched as Mopar earned a pair of national title wins at the 18th annual Lucas Oil Route 66 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Nationals at Route 66 Raceway thanks to victories by Allen Johnson in the Pro Stock class and Tommy Johnson Jr. in the Funny Car categories, driving Dodge Dart and Charger R/T.
"All of us at Mopar are very proud of Allen Johnson and Tommy Johnson Jr. for doubling up today with their wins at Chicago," said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO - Mopar Brand Service, Parts and Customer Care, FCA. "We're very pleased to see both the Dodge Dart and the new 2015 Mopar Dodge Charger R/T in the winner's circle yet again. A lot of time, investment and hard work went into designing and building these two vehicles and we've very pleased at the success they have shown in such competitive fields."
Allen Johnson's well-earned Pro Stock win was the 25th of his career, and came as a relief after flirting with two recent runner-up finishes, a difficult first-half of the season, and finally brought an end to the nearly year-long drought since his last victory at the 2014 Mopar Mile High Nationals.
"I had confidence coming into Chicago but this will give us even more confidence for the western swing and namely the Mopar Mile High Nationals," said Johnson who has sixth wins in eight years at the upcoming nationals in Denver, Colorado, and is working towards a fourth consecutive win for Mopar's signature event at Bandimere Speedway.
The driver of the "Magneti Marelli Offered by Mopar" Dodge Dart was seeded seventh on Sunday's eliminations ladder and used a quick .017-second reaction time to get things started against his first round opponent Bo Butner and then beat him with an elapsed time run of 6.602 seconds at 209.82 mph to a 6.634/209.56 pass.
The next two round wins showed just how hungry the Mopar driver was to get back to winning form as he used a holeshots to defeat both Chris McGaha and Pro Stock points leader Greg Anderson. Johnson had a .028-second reaction time and ran a 6.606/209.62 to cross the finish line just five-thousandths of a second ahead of McGaha's (.043-second reaction time) 6.596/210.280 pass. He then had an identical start in the semifinals with a 6.605/209.88 pass against Anderson's 0.53-second light and quicker 6.588/210.08 for a margin of victory of 0.0088-seconds.
In Johnson's third final round appearance of the year, he once again had the starting line advantage against Larry Morgan and then led all the way to the finish with a 6.624/209.99 run over his competitor's 6.667/210.18 pass.
Tommy Johnson Jr. was the victor in his all-Mopar Funny Car category final elimination battle against Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan who was looking to defend his consecutive title wins at Route 66 Raceway. Johnson drove his Make-A-Wish 2015 Dodge Charger R/T from a No.4 qualifier position through the ladder by beating Brian Stewart, DSR teammate Jack Beckman, and then Cruz Pedregon to advance to the his second final elimination round of the year.