Mopar Friday Elimination Notes from Columbus
Mopar Motorsports NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series National Trail Raceway Hebron, Ohio Qualifying Notes & Quotes HEBRON, Ohio (June 13, 2003) Mopar NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series drivers completed the first day of qualifying for this weekend¹s national event at National Trail Raceway. Rain moved into the area and washed out the second round of qualifying, but not before Allen Johnson and Darrell Alderman made the provisional field. Darrell Alderman, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Morehead, Ky. Age: 53 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.920 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 199.46 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 8th NOTES: Darrell Alderman and his Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T grabbed the provisional eighth slot with a 6.920-second elapsed time at 199.46 mph. The three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion was pleased with his effort. ³We could have run a little better in our 60-foot time,² Alderman said. ³However, we were the quickest car in that right lane with our 60-foot time. We¹re going to work on some transmission ratios and see if we can¹t pick it up a bit. ³It¹s the best track conditions we¹ve ever had here,² Alderman added. ³This track is traditionally real hard to get down. You usually have to baby the clutch and just finesse your way down the track. The track seems to be tight this weekend.² Allen Johnson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Johnson & Johnson Racing Hometown: Greeneville, Tenn. Age: 43 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.909 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 198.67 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 3rd NOTES: Allen Johnson brought out the new Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T this weekend. The Greeneville, Tenn., resident impressed with a 6.909-second elapsed time at 198.67 mph, taking home a solid place effort after day number one. ³You¹re talking about a car this works this Stratus here,² Johnson said. ³We really hit the set up to half track. We¹re still not sure if we can totally dial it in, but the elapsed time was pretty good so we brought it back out. We sure didn¹t have a lot left after that run though. We¹ll see if we can tune it up just a little bit, and I think we can run a little better in the back half. We¹ll see if we can stay where we¹re at or if we can¹t improve. ³It looked like we¹re one of the top four cars out there,² Johnson added. ³D.A. looked pretty good in the right lane, so I¹m not sure if there¹s a lot of difference right now.² Larry Morgan, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T Larry Morgan Racing Hometown: Newark, Ohio Age: 48 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.975 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 197.22 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 19th NOTES: Hometown hero Larry Morgan put together a solid opening round of qualifying today. The Newark, Ohio resident, who drives the Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, barely missed the top 16 with a 6.975-second elapsed time at 197.22 mph. ³We started out well,² said Morgan, who recorded the third-quickest 60-foot time 1.014 seconds. ³If we could have just continued on down the track. It jumped and dropped a thousand rpms. If we can get a hold of the track, which we think we can, we should be in good shape to get in the show. I¹m pretty excited.² Gene Wilson, driver of the Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Larry Morgan Racing Hometown: Adairsville, Ga. Age: 30 Current Weekend Best Qualifying Time: 6.979 seconds Current Weekend Best Speed: 198.50 mph Current Weekend Qualifying Position: 21st NOTES: Gene Wilson wasn¹t pleased after the first day of qualifying in his Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T. The reigning NHRA rookie of the year clicked off a 6.979-second pass at 198.50 mph. ³Our run this evening was less than spectacular,² Wilson said. ³We had a couple of major problems but, we think we found a handle on that. We have good power this weekend and we want to do well here in Columbus. We just have to go out there and use what power we have.²