"I have good memories there," said Johnson, who earned his first career NHRA victory at Richmond in 1999. "I like the track. It's close to home and it's always fast. It should be really fast this weekend if the weather keeps up."

Johnson realizes that to keep up in the hunt for the Pro Stock championship he must capture his third win of the season and eighth of his career.

"We have to win the race and Mike [Edwards, the Pro Stock points leader] needs to stub his toe," emphasized Johnson. "He sort of did that at Memphis but we didn't get to the final. We could have made up a few points. This is pretty much a do or die deal here. We have to go out there and win the race."

Johnson qualified in the top half of the field (No. 6) at the previous event in Memphis, giving the Greeneville, Tenn., native 18 berths in the top half in 21 NHRA events thus far. Yet he's far from satisfied with his J&J Racing team's performance in qualifying as of late.

"We're not happy with the way we are qualifying at all," said Johnson of his team, which includes his father and engine builder, Roy Johnson, as well as co-crew chiefs Mark Ingersoll and Jeff Perley. "We've got more than what we're showing. We're not making very good runs right now. We're testing today at Budds Creek, Md., to see if we can sort things out."

Allen Johnson remains confident his team can bring home the Pro Stock title.

"I'm still optimistic," said Johnson. "Dad is making great horsepower with our Mopar HEMIR engines, and I know we can find some more. We're going to continue to fight to bring home the championship for Mopar."

Virginia NHRA Nationals
The Virginia NHRA Nationals is scheduled to take place Oct. 9-11 at Virginia Motorsports Park. Two hours of qualifying coverage will air on Saturday, Oct. 10, beginning at 11 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. Three hours of eliminations coverage will air on Sunday, Oct. 11, beginning at 7 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD. For more information on the NHRA, log on to http://www.nhra.com.

The Mopar Brand: Authentic Motor Parts and Accessories for Chrysler, JeepR and Dodge 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 1960s-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.

In addition to its proud muscle-car heritage, Mopar established a solid reputation as a one-stop shop for proven, quality-tested, reliable and original parts. Just this year, in 2009, Mopar has introduced more than 200 new parts and accessories.

"Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same team that creates all of our factory-authorized vehicle specifications for Chrysler, JeepR and Dodge vehicles," said Pietro Gorlier, President & CEO, Mopar Service, Parts & Customer Care, Chrysler Group LLC. "At Mopar, we offer more than 280,000 parts and accessories for customers who want to customize and refresh their rides."

Today, Mopar is responsible for the distribution of authentic Mopar replacement parts, components and accessories for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles sold in more than 90 countries. To assure quality, reliability and durability, all Mopar parts and accessories are designed in strict adherence to Chrysler engineering standards.

Courtesy of Darren Jacobs