Historical Day for Mopar Drag Racing

TELEVISION TIMES: (ALL TIMES EASTERN)
QUALIFYING:    Sat., Aug. 3; 9-10 p.m.; ESPN2
FINAL ROUND:    Sun., Aug. 4; 7­10 p.m.; ESPN2
FINAL ROUND:    Tues., Aug. 6; 2:30-5:30 a.m.; ESPN2

Historical Day for Mopar Drag Racing
Six Hemi-Powered Pro Stock Cars Qualify; First Time Since Early 1970¹s

SONOMA, Calif . (Aug. 3, 2002) -- Almost 30 years ago, Hemi-powered
Chargers, Darts and Challengers dominated NHRA Pro Stock competition. And at
this weekend¹s Fram Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
Calif., history could repeat itself.

For the first time since the early 1970¹s, six Mopar-powered Pro Stock
entries have qualified for a 16-car NHRA field. Gene Wilson led the way by
driving his factory backed Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T into the fourth slot
with a 6.799-second elapsed time at 202.24 mph.

³We are starting to see the fruits of our labor,² said Brett Fischer,
DaimlerChrysler Drag Racing Program Manager. ³We debuted the Hemi engine at
the beginning of the 2000 NHRA season, and came out with the Neon halfway
through the 2001, so this is quite gratifying. I have to hand it to our
Mopar engineers and all of our race teams; they have done a tremendous job
getting Mopar to this point.²

The Hemi-powered Dodge Neon R/T of Allen Johnson took home ninth and the
Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T of Darrell Alderman was 10th. Larry Morgan,
driver of the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, grabbed 11th while Johnson¹s
teammate Thomas Lee took home 12th. Last but not least, Greg Stanfield and
his DBP Motorsports Dodge Neon R/T nabbed the 14th slot, bumping into the
field 

³The teams have really prospered a lot over a short period of time,² said
David Nickens, team owner of Nickens Brothers Racing and the Mopar Parts
Dodge Neon R/T¹s of Darrell Alderman and Gene Wilson. ³We still feel like
there is a lot of room for improvement, especially with our program. We hope
we continue the way the things are going right now.

³We already put so much pressure on ourselves,² Nickens added. ³I think a
lot of these new Dodge Neon teams prospered because of the hardships that we
went through early on. We worked on the parts and helped get the performance
to where these other teams can have success. We knew there was going to be
growing pains when we started, and we¹re happy that everyone has gone out
there and done very well.²

Morgan came on board prior to the 1999 season.

³I joined the program because I knew this is what would happen,² Morgan
said. ³I knew it would turn around if we all worked together to make this
happen. It¹s definitely worked out well. And I really think this is only the
beginning.²

The following are a set of quotes after the final round of qualifying.

GENE WILSON, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T

Gene Wilson tied a career-best qualifying effort in the fourth slot after
running a 6.799-second elapsed time at 202.24 mph. The Mopar-backed rookie
also took home the fourth-qualifying slot in Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.),
earlier this season.

³We¹re really happy with our qualifying efforts this weekend,² Wilson said.
³I feel like that we have two good cars to race on Sunday. I¹m really
looking forward to eliminations because we have good cars underneath us now.
It will also give me a chance to redeem myself after red lighting in
Seattle. I¹m really pumped.²

Wilson has a round one match up with V. Gaines.

LARRY MORGAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T

Larry Morgan and the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T wound up the weekend in
the 11th slot. The Newark, Ohio, resident logged a 6.821-second elapsed time
at 202.39 mph; setting up a round one match up with Mark Whisnant.

³I couldn¹t be happier with our race car,² Morgan said. ³We¹ve struggle with
the tune up lately; and it¹s finally all coming together. We pout some
clutch discs in there that last time because we knew it would be hotter.²

DARRELL ALDERMAN, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T

Nickens Brother Racing has worked out the bugs on Darrell Alderman¹s Mopar
Parts Dodge Neon R/T. The three-time POWERade Pro Stock World champion
collected the 10th-qualified slot with a 6.818-second lap at 202.45 mph.

Alderman will go against Kurt Johnson in the first round of eliminations.

³We made two good runs today,² Alderman said. ³We were a tad heavy on that
last pass, but I¹m pretty pleased with the Rick Jones car. I feel like we¹re
back in the groove with the car. We¹re going to go out and run well
tomorrow.

³The track is awesome,² Alderman added. ³It¹s such an improvement over last
year. It¹s real smooth and it launches good. You couldn¹t ask for a better
race track and facility.²

GREG STANFIELD, driver of the DBP Motorsports Dodge Neon R/T

The heat of the day never slowed Greg Stanfield and the DBP Motorsports
Dodge Neon R/T. The Bossier City, La., resident was outside the top 16
heading into the final-qualifying session before cutting a 6.830-second lap
at 202.06 mph. 

Stanfield will take on Jim Yates in the first round of eliminations.

³We figured out first gear,² Stanfield said. ³We lost a little in second and
third when we spun the tires, but our good launch helped put us in the show.
We¹re pretty happy with it and we know that we have a lot of power. We made
a 202.61 mph pass earlier in qualifying, which was the third fastest for the
weekend.²

DEAN SKUZA, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T

Dean Skuza picked up during the last qualifying session and nabbed the
12th-qualifying position. Skuza ran a 4.971-second elapsed time at 296.96
mph and will take on Cruz Pedregon in the first round of eliminations. The
Brecksville, Ohio, resident defeated Pedregon in the second-round of
eliminations at the most recent Lucas Oil Products NHRA Nationals at Pacific
Raceways in Kent, Wash.

³We have had little things break on us all weekend,² co-crew chief Lance
Larsen said. We made a nice pass on that last one and we knew what we needed
heading into it. We¹re pretty pleased with what we did today.²

-Mopar.com-