Mopar-powered Pro Stocker Johnny Gray moved up to claim the 10th and final spot in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs at the U.S. Nationals. Rickie Jones will join Johnson and Gray as Mopar-fueled representatives in the Countdown to 1.

It was a mixed bag for Mopar HEMI-powered NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock drivers at the 55th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T driver Allen Johnson suffered a first-round loss in eliminations on Monday, Sept. 7, at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, while Johnson's J&J Racing teammate, Johnny Gray, advanced to the quarterfinals and scored the final spot in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Johnson qualified his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge No. 4 and drew Roger Brogdon in the opening stanza. The Team Mopar driver posted the stouter pass of the pair with a 6.646-second elapsed time (ET) at 207.18 mph compared to Brogdon's 6.667/206.86 run. Johnson's reaction time off the starting line (.065 to Brogdon's quicker .025) proved to be his undoing, as the Greeneville, Tenn., native was unable to reel in Brogdon at the finish.

Gray enjoyed a season-changing outing at "The Big Go." The Mopar-powered driver entered Indy in 11th-place, one spot out of the final berth in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs. He was able to secure his playoff spot by qualifying No. 10, paired with Warren Johnson's failure to qualify. Gray then bested Ron Krisher in the first round of eliminations before losing to Jason Line in the quarterfinals.

Allen Johnson will start in the fifth spot in the NHRA Countdown to 1 six-race playoffs, which begin at the next event, the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, scheduled for Sept. 17-20 in Concord, N.C. Mopar-powered Pro Stocker Rickie Jones, ninth in the standings, will join Johnson and Gray in the playoffs. For more information on the NHRA, visit http://http://www.nhra.com.

Charlie Westcott Sr. Wins Mopar HEMI Challenge Event at U.S. Nationals
The Westcott family, of Parma, Mich., pulled off another victory on Friday, Sept. 4, in the Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series event at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind. Charlie Westcott Sr. did it this time, in his 1968 HEMI Barracuda, besting David Barton, of Robesonia, Pa. Westcott needed a lot of help from his son, Charlie Westcott Jr., and a bunch of their competitors.

After Westcott Sr.'s engine dropped a valve in his semifinal bye run, Westcott Jr. reclaimed a Mopar 426 HEMI engine he had just delivered to John Raines, of Santa Paula, Calif. In Californian Jim DeFrank's well-equipped trailer, with the help of many Mopar HEMI Challenge racers, the engine swap took ninety minutes, just in time to get to the starting line where finalist Barton was waiting in his Barracuda.

Westcott Sr. was much quicker off the line as he claimed the Mopar HEMI Challenge Indy title with an 8.626-second run at 156.15 mph. Barton trailed with an 8.802 ET and a speed of 152.87 mph. Westcott Sr. hauled home $10,000 for the victory, his first at the U.S. Nationals. His son had won three out of the last four Mopar HEMI Challenge events at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

"Jason Line came up to me after I won and said, 'You give me something to look forward to when I get old,'" said the 66-year-old Westcott Sr. Line is a veteran NHRA Pro Stock champion.

Westcott Jr. had the same engine problem as his father, preventing him from appearing in an earlier round. He was the fastest Mopar HEMI Challenge qualifier on Thursday, Sept. 3, with an 8.491-second ET in his 1968 HEMI Barracuda. Jim Daniels, of Yardley, Pa., was the second-fastest, recording an 8.519 ET in his HEMI Barracuda. Daniels made it to the third round before losing to Raines, who then lost to Barton in the semifinals.

Twenty-one 1968 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracudas participated in the Mopar HEMI Challenge event at the U.S. Nationals. Entrants came from thirteen states across the U.S. Next up is the Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series event at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals, Sept. 25-27, at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio.

Garlits Debuts Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar at U.S. Nationals; Martin Takes Top Alcohol Funny Car Triumph
The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis is also known as "The Big Go." Appropriately enough, a number of Mopar-powered drivers made a big splash at what is arguably the most prestigious event on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule.

Front and center was "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, an eight-time winner at the U.S. Nationals, making his comeback to NHRA competition for the first time since 2003. Garlits drove his Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar, the first production Drag Pak ever made, in A/Stock Automatic qualifying on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The event marked the competition debut of the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak by Mopar. A parade of Drag Pak by Mopar vehicles was staged on Friday night, Sept. 4, prior to the pro qualifying session. The Drag Paks of Garlits, Randy Warford and Larry Griffith, whose Drag Pak was on display at the Mopar Direct Connection trailer, were paraded up the return road toward the finish line. Fans greeted the new Mopar package cars enthusiastically, standing and cheering while Garlits waved from his Drag Pak.

Unfortunately, the 77-year-old Garlits was unable to qualify for the Stock Eliminator field, posting a run that was 0.868 seconds below the class index. Warford qualified No. 6 in his Drag Pak by Mopar with a 10.013 elapsed time. Irv Johns also qualified in his Drag Pak by Mopar, as did Doug Duell in his production Dodge Challenger race car. The trio was unable to advance deep into the Stock Eliminator elimination rounds.

The Top Alcohol class was witness to a Mopar-powered champion at Indy. Bobby Martin drove his Lane Automotive Dodge Charger all the way to the winner's circle, scoring a Top Alcohol Funny Car victory at Indy. Martin defeated Steve Harker with a pass of 5.670/254.18 in the final round. The triumph was the second of the 2009 season for Martin.

Courtesy of Darren Jacobs