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LAS VEGAS - Team Mopar driver Allen Johnson qualified sixth at Vegas but suffered a first-round defeat in a battle with Jeg Coughlin. Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson saw a sudden end to his outing at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals on Sunday, Nov. 1, losing to Jeg Coughlin in the first round. The final saw an all-Mopar HEMI-powered matchup between Larry Morgan and Rickie Jones, with Morgan claiming the win. Johnson posted his Mopar-fueled Dodge No. 6 after two days of qualifying, drawing No. 11 seed Coughlin as his first-round foe. The Greeneville, Tenn., native recorded the quicker and faster run of the round with a 6.706-second/205.76 mph pass to Coughlin's 6.715/205.54 mark. Unfortunately, Coughlin's blazing reaction time off the starting line, .007 to Johnson's .053 time (.000 is perfect) resulted in a holeshot defeat for A.J. "We did make a decent run that round," remarked Johnson. "I don't think we had enough to overcome the magical light he [Coughlin] had. We made a little headway there with the car. The motor ran well. "We're just going to throw everything at it at Pomona, and I'm going to go home and work on that practice tree a little more to get quicker on my starts." Mopar power ultimately emerged victorious at Vegas, as Morgan drove to his tenth career win and first since the 2002 Sonoma event. Morgan posted a winning pass of 6.720/205.69 to Jones' 6.794/203.16 run. The appearance in the final was a career first for the 22-year-old Jones. Along with Allen Johnson's victories earlier this year at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver and the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Morgan's triumph marks the third for a Mopar-powered Pro Stocker this season. Johnson is now seventh in the NHRA Countdown to 1 standings. Next up for the Mopar-powered Pro Stock contingent is the final race of the season, the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15, at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. For more information on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com
Mopar-Powered Beckman is Runner-up in Vegas No. 8 qualifier Beckman dismissed Mike Neff and his Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) teammate Matt Hagan, then survived a .006 reaction time by Del Worsham in the semifinal round to his .083 (.000 is perfect). Beckman crossed the finish line first with a 4.359/262.90 winning pass. Beckman next faced arguably the hottest car/driver combination in the class in the finals, and took off first with a .058 reaction time to Hight's .075. It was oh-so-close, but Hight nipped Beckman at the finish stripe by .0127 of a second (or six feet) to claim the win with a 4.125/304.46 to Beckman's 4.154/303.16. "We have nothing but positive to take from this," said Beckman. "I know our Valvoline/MTS guys are frustrated, but they performed the best recovery of the day to put this car down the track quickly in the final." Beckman is now fourth in the Countdown to 1 standings, with DSR teammate Ron Capps fifth after a second-round loss today. Next up for the Mopar-powered DSR trio is the final race of the season, the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15, at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. For more information on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com. Mopar HEMI-powered Don Schumacher Racing driver Jack Beckman earned a runner-up finish at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Mopar Sportsman David Bogner Crowned Super Stock Class Champ at Vegas Bogner posted a run of 9.657/139.07 to defeat another Mopar, the 1969 Road Runner steered by Chuck Stubeck of Chatsworth, Calif. The triumph was Bogner's second career NHRA national event win. "It was a long weekend. There were a ton of cars," said Bogner, 32, and son of longtime Mopar Sportsman racer Marlin Bogner. "I was happy with the way I drove. The Mopar W2 heads that we put on this car are really stout. We're one of the fastest cars in the nation with the W2 heads. My dad was given this car to race by Mopar back in 1992. Many of the Mopar parts on the car were also given to him as well. Mopar is all I know." David Bogner, a proud second-generation Mopar Sportsman racer, displays his trophy after his Super Stock class win on Sunday, Nov. 1 at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.
Johnson Joins Fellow NHRA Stars at Vegas NHRA Fan Fest The Vegas NHRA Fan Fest drew an impressive crowd to the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, as fans lined up in droves to meet their favorite drivers. Attendees also enjoyed a special video recognizing drivers competing in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs shown on the 12.5 million LED Viva Vision screen and 555,000-watt sound system. Team Mopar driver Johnson has been a regular participant in the NHRA Fan Fest events and said he relishes the opportunity to interact with NHRA fans. "Racing here at Vegas is always a huge deal," said Johnson. "The Vegas Fan Fest always attracts huge crowds. You see fans from all over the country out here. They love coming out for this race on Halloween." For more information on the Fremont Street Experience, visit http://www.vegasexperience.com.
Chrysler Group LLC to Showcase Four Mopar Image Vehicles at 2009 SEMA Show Four Mopar-customized vehicles will steal the show this week at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, Nov. 3-6. Mopar's in-house team of creative customizers developed a slew of high-performance image vehicles that feature the brand's innovative performance parts and accessories. "Our Mopar vehicles demonstrate this company's passion and enthusiasm for the automotive aftermarket," said Pietro Gorlier, President and Chief Executive Officer - Mopar Service, Parts and Customer Care, Chrysler Group LLC. "We will gauge reaction to these vehicles and explore new directions as we develop Mopar performance parts and accessories for our vehicles." Led by Mark Allen, Head of Jeep Design, Chrysler Group LLC, the Mopar design team developed four head-turning vehicles for next month's SEMA show: The Mopar Dodge Challenger 1320, Mopar Dodge Ram Bianco, Mopar Jeep Wrangler Overland and Mopar Jeep Lower Forty Image Vehicles. The Dodge Challenger 1320 is a sure bet to pique the interest of the drag racing set. It began life as a Mopar Drag Pak Dodge Challenger. The current Drag Pak option is a light-weight, stripped-down, race-only, special-order version of the Dodge Challenger designed for competitive drag racing. For the street-legal design, Mopar's design team took the vehicle back to its roots with styling reminiscent of vintage Mopar muscle, updated with today's technology. The Dodge Challenger 1320 image vehicle, named for the 1,320 feet on a quarter-mile drag strip, features Mopar's 426 cubic-inch, all-aluminum, HEMIR V-8 crate engine that generates 556 horsepower. The engine is equipped with unique Mopar-designed valve covers and a dress-up kit. Mopar's long-tube headers and exhaust system allow the cubic inches to breathe. Electric cutouts allow the exhaust to bypass the muffler system, which exits through custom side pipes for added rumble at the drag strip. Power is put to the ground via a six-speed manual transmission through a custom Dynatrac rear housing with Mopar Dana 60 internals and a selectable, ARB locking differential. Mopar police wheels, widened in the rear, are strapped with Mickey Thompson street-legal drag radials to provide extra grip at launch. A four-corner, adjustable coil-over kit is provided by Mopar as an option for the Dodge Challenger. This system improves the handling of the vehicle under extreme loads of 556 horsepower and 540 lb.-ft. of torque. Additional "Moparized" Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Car and Ram Truck vehicles that will be on display at the Mopar exhibit at SEMA are the 2010 Chromed Ram Heavy-Duty Crew cab, 2010 Ram Heavy-Duty Ultimate Tow Machine, 2010 Ram Heavy-Duty Work Truck, "Moparized" Dodge Challenger, Extreme Off-Road 2010 Jeep Wrangler, Family-Friendly, Off-Road 2010 Jeep Wrangler and a "Moparized" Chrysler Town & Country. For a recap of Mopar's activities at the 2009 SEMA show, visit http://www.moparspeed.com on Monday, Nov. 9. "The aftermarket is not an after-thought in our design studio. Our vehicles are designed and built by the same passionate automotive enthusiasts within our company who are designing and engineering new Mopar parts and accessories for vehicles in our product pipeline."
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