Johnson Nabs Provisional Seventh in Las Vegas
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series 4th Annual Summitracing.com Nationals The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Qualifying Notes & Quotes LAS VEGAS (April 4, 2003) In a city where fortunes can be made or lost on the roll of the dice, the Mopar NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams worked feverishly throughout the first day of qualifying in an effort to leave nothing to chance. Below is a rundown of how the barbwire-wrapped machines fared in preparation for Sunday¹s fourth annual Summitracing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Allen Johnson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Greeneville, Tenn. Age: 43 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.916 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 200.86 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: Seventh ³We made a pretty decent run out there. I believe we would have been close to the pole if we had made some corrections. The car did a little dance in the wind when we got towards the end of the track, but we held on. We¹re going to work on the rpm range and make some other minor corrections.² Greg Stanfield, driver of the DBP Enterprises Dodge Neon R/T DBP Enterprises Hometown: Bossier City, La. Age: 37 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.936 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 198.79 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 16th ³We¹re happy with the run considering that this was the fourth pass with a new car. It¹s going to take some work to get it better, but considering that we were able to baseline it in the top 16, that says a lot for this team. We got some good information that we¹ll work with tonight and hopefully show improvements tomorrow.² Darrell Alderman, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Morehead, Ky. Age: 53 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.937 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 198.93 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 17th ³We were a little light in the rpm range. We need to work on that and add a little more clutch. The track is awesome. We just have to find the combination for the car to really take advantage of it. The little improvements will add up and we¹ll make a better run tomorrow.² Gene Wilson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Larry Morgan Racing Hometown: Canton, Ga. Age: 30 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.953 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 199.43 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 22nd ³ The car ran the center line pretty well, but we left a little bit out there. We made a fairly decent run as far as the clutch goes and I think we¹re making better and better runs. We¹ll make a difference tomorrow. The wind out here has been atrocious. The runs are fine until the car gets past the grandstands and then we get hit with a pretty solid crosswind. I try to focus on getting the car down the track as fast as I can and in a straight line, but when that winds hits, it¹s tough to do.² Larry Morgan, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Larry Morgan Racing Hometown: Newark, Ohio Age: 48 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 7.028 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 196.62 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 29th ³The key for this new Stratus is going to be track time. We¹ve worked real hard over the off-season to get the right people in place to be as competitive as possible. We¹ve done that, now it¹s a matter of test and track time for the car. We just need more time.²