- Allen Johnson, on the importance of a victory at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, scheduled to take place Sept. 2-7 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind. Qualifying for the pro classes will begin on Sept. 4.

Team Mopar(R) driver Allen Johnson would like to build positive momentum for his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T NHRA Pro Stock team prior to the start of the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs. A victory in the final NHRA regular season race, the tradition-rich 55th Annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, would provide Johnson the perfect playoff push. The event is scheduled for Sept. 2-7 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Ind., with qualifying in the pro classes set to begin on Sept. 4.

Johnson has secured his playoff berth and can focus on finding a winning setup for Indy and beyond. The Greeneville, Tenn., native doesn't have to look back very far for instances of past U.S. Nationals success. Johnson claimed the No. 1 Qualifier Award at the 2008 Indy event. The veteran Team Mopar driver says he is confident he can rebound from failing to qualify at the NHRA event in Reading (his first DNQ in 61 races) to claim his first U.S. Nationals win and third win of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

"I think we've proven that we're strong and we've gained on the competition," said Johnson. "Even with our little stub of the toe at Reading, we're fine. It's time to start the plan for the Countdown to 1. We're going to bring some new stuff to the table at Indy and get our setup correct for the playoffs. We're going to hone the new setup with test sessions in St. Louis prior to the U.S. Nationals."

The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is scheduled to take place Sept. 2-7 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Qualifying for pro classes will begin on Sept. 4. Qualifying coverage will air on Sunday, Sept. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. An additional two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Sunday beginning at 5 p.m. (EDT). Five hours of eliminations coverage will air on Monday, Sept. 7 beginning at 1 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more information on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits is making a comeback to NHRA competition for the first time since 2003, driving his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar into the heat of NHRA Stock eliminations at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals on Labor Day weekend. His historic first run in the Drag Pak will be on Wednesday, Sept. 2, in A/Stock Automatic qualifying at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. The full U.S. Nationals event is scheduled to begin Sept. 2 with final eliminations on Monday, Sept. 7.

Garlits hung up his helmet after Top Fuel qualifying at the U.S. Nationals exactly six years ago in 2003. He last ran a stock class car in 1963 when he competed in a 1963 Dodge Max Wedge drag package car carrying "Garlits Dodge" graphics. His new Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar has the same lettering emblazoned on its sides, along with the same Mopar graphics from his historic run last year alongside "Miss Mighty Mopar" Judy Lilly in Drag Pak prototypes at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

"I like my Dodge Challenger Drag Pak much better than a dragster," said Garlits, referring to the current way Top Fuel dragsters are campaigned. "It takes 25 people to get a dragster to the line these days. All I have to do with the Dodge Challenger is turn the key and take it there. When the light turns green I have a ten-second ride-which is almost three times what I used to get-and I even have time to look at the tach and shift gears."

"Big Daddy's" 2009 Dodge Challenger is the first Drag Pak by Mopar ever made. He took delivery at the Performance Racing Industry show in December 2008, receiving the keys along with a certificate of authenticity from Mopar. Garlits put the Drag Pak by Mopar through test and exhibition runs at the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Ill., last weekend.

Garlits retired for the first time in 1987, but returned for one race at Atlanta in 1992 and made a 300-mph run at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2001. He then ran a limited schedule of four NHRA National events each year in 2002 and 2003 before he stepped out of Top Fuel at the request of his wife, Pat.

Don Garlits makes his first pass behind the wheel of his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar in a test session during the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova Dragway Park in Cordova, Ill., last weekend. Garlits' historic first competition run in the Drag Pak will be on Wednesday, Aug. 2, in A/Stock Automatic qualifying at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

"I didn't want to come home and find my clothes all over the front yard."

- Don Garlits, posed above with his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar at the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals in July, on why he stopped racing a Top Fuel car. Garlits' wife, Pat, has given the Mopar drag racing legend the home-front green light to run a doorslammer in competition-his Drag Pak by Mopar vehicle.

Charlie Westcott Jr.'s old War Fish may be the winningest Super Stock HEMI in history, surpassing even the '68 HEMI Barracudas of Ronnie Sox (1969 U.S. Nationals winner) and Arlen Vanke (1968 U.S. Nationals winner). Westcott Jr. will debut a new '68 HEMI Barracuda in the Mopar HEMI Challenge at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals later this week.

2009 Mopar HEMI(R) Challenge Race Series Kicks Off at U.S. Nationals

The ninth edition of the Mopar HEMI(R) Challenge at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals pits nearly two dozen of the famous SS/AH 1968 HEMI Darts and Barracudas against each other to see if Charlie Westcott, Jr. will win his fourth HEMI Challenge in the last five years and collect the $10,000 payout.

Westcott, Jr., the usual favorite in these events, has a brand-new '68 HEMI Barracuda named War Fish running for the first time, so all eyes will be on him to see whether he will again be a threat.

"The new car is ready and it's running well," said Westcott Jr. The Parma, Mich., native discussed the HEMI Challenge season opener with SpeedFreaks radio host Kenny Sargent on Sunday, Aug. 30. To listen to Westcott's SpeedFreaks radio interview, visit the SpeedFreaks' Web site, http://www.speedfreaks.tv.

Charlie's father, Charlie Westcott, Sr., is also a fast runner. He holds the top speed record in the SS/AH class at just a tick below 160 mph. The field also includes Melvin Daniels, a Yardley, Pa., dentist who won the most recent Mopar HEMI Challenge. Ohio Chrysler dealer and recent winner Jim Pancake will compete in his '68 HEMI Dart, as will Dodge dealer Darrell Marvel of Big Rapids, Mich. Randy Warford, of Nashville, Ind., will compete in his '68 HEMI Barracuda and he's also bringing a new Dodge Challenger Drag Pak to run in A/Stock Automatic during the weekend.

The Mopar HEMI Challenge Series will visit the Jegs Northern SPORTSnationals, Sept. 25-27, at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, and the Dutch Classic, Oct. 22-25, at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. Each event offers $5,000 prize money to the winner.

Courtesy of Darren Jacobs