NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson is getting restless. The Team Mopar drag racer has yet to visit the winner's circle in 2009-a circumstance that doesn't sit well with the Greeneville, Tenn. native. Johnson will attempt to get the job done this weekend at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals. The event is scheduled for May 29-31 at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kan.

Johnson's impatience follows a valiant effort two weeks ago in the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at his home track of Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite using a makeshift front end necessitated by a crash suffered during testing, Johnson qualified No. 5 at Bristol and advanced to the quarterfinals. He also moved from sixth to fifth in the NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings. But those small victories were cold comfort for Johnson, who is focused on raising an NHRA Wally trophy in triumph-and as soon as possible.

"We had a few minor issues still lingering from the wreck," said Johnson. "We stayed two days afterwards at Bristol and tested and really worked our butts off to get this stuff out of our system. We need to be winning races. My patience is about done. We're working overtime.

"Any time you can do that [move up in the standings], it's good. But we need to be going to the semifinals right now and get back up in the top four and win some races."

A bright spot for Johnson has been his continued consistency in qualifying. The Mopar HEMIR-powered pilot has qualified in the top half of the Pro Stock field in seven of eight NHRA events thus far. Johnson said any remaining issues with the front end of his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T will be resolved prior to Topeka, putting him in perfect position to qualify high in the field, maintain lane choice and seize his sixth career Pro Stock win.

"Our Mopar Pro Stock car went to the body shop last week," said Johnson. "The front end was fitted to our car correctly and the correct Mopar paint scheme was applied. The car will be back to normal at Topeka. The track is an altitude track like Bristol, where you're not making a lot of horsepower. The track is really awesome. I think what we learned testing at Bristol last week will pay dividends at Topeka."

Johnson statistics
* Currently fifth in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock point standings
* Competed in his 300th race at the NHRA St. Louis event
* Advanced to the finals and scored a runner-up finish at the NHRA Gatornationals earlier this year
* Has a 8-8 round win record thus far in 2009
* Qualified in the top half of the field in seven of eight NHRA events thus far
* Qualified No. 3 at each of the first three events of 2009
* Finished seventh in the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock standings
* One of only 10 drivers to qualify for the 2008 NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs
* Has qualified for the Countdown to 1 in each of the first two years since the NHRA adopted the playoff format
* Powered to three No. 1 Qualifier Awards in 2008
* Has six career No. 1 Qualifier Awards
* Made eight 2008 semifinal appearances
* Posted two straight runner-up finishes at Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in July 2008
* Racked up a 28-24 round win record in 2008
* Won the K&N Horsepower Challenge bonus event [June 2008 NHRA stop in Norwalk, Ohio] - recorded a perfect .000 reaction time
* Has 15 career final round appearances
* Finished a career-best fourth in the 2007 NHRA Pro Stock points standings
* One of only four Pro Stock drivers to qualify for the inaugural 2007 NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff
* Recorded five career wins

O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
The O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals is scheduled to take place May 29-31 at Heartland Park Topeka. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, May 30 beginning at 8 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, May 31 beginning at 4 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more info on NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.

More than 70 Years of Mopar
When Chrysler bought Dodge in 1928, the need for a dedicated parts manufacturer, supplier and distribution system to support the growing enterprise led to the formation of the Chrysler Motor Parts Corporation (CMPC) in 1929.

Mopar (a simple contraction of the words MOtor and PARts) was trademarked for a line of antifreeze products in 1937. It also was widely used as a moniker for the CMPC. The Mopar brand made its mark in the 1960's - the muscle car era. The Chrysler Corporation built race-ready Dodge and Plymouth "package cars" equipped with special high-performance parts. Mopar carried a line of "special parts" for super stock drag racers and developed its racing parts division called Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use.

Today, Chrysler LLC's Parts division is responsible for the distribution of nearly 350,000 authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, JeepR and Dodge vehicles sold around the world. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler engineering standards.

Courtesy of Darren Jacobs