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Mon, 21 Dec 2009, 08:02 PM

Johnson Feeling 'Real Comfortable' After First Test Sessions in Mopar® Dodge Avenger

Courtesy of MOPAR Speed

Allen Johnson

Allen Johnson successfully began a new chapter in Team Mopar®'s long and storied history in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series last week. The veteran drag racer blazed a new trail as he broke the seal on his new 2010 NHRA Pro Stock Mopar Dodge Avenger.

Johnson inaugurated his Mopar Dodge Avenger during test sessions last week at Palm Beach International Raceway (PBIR) and Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. The seven-time NHRA event winner went easy on the Avenger in the initial test runs at PBIR on Monday, Dec. 14. Johnson put the car through a number of shakedown runs before recording one full-out run in his new Pro Stock ride, posting a solid 6.64-second pass in the Avenger on Monday afternoon.

Rain came to PBIR on Tuesday, forcing Johnson and his J&J Racing squad to scramble across the state to continue with testing on Wednesday and Thursday at Bradenton. Johnson, in his words, "got after" the Mopar Dodge Avenger at Bradenton, making ten runs in two days. The Greeneville, Tenn., native was pleased with the results after making two 6.58-second passes on Wednesday and Thursday in his new Avenger, both with speeds clocked at over 210 mph.

"I'm getting real comfortable in the Mopar Dodge Avenger," said Johnson. "I think the Avenger is going to be a really good race car, and take us right up there to the top. I know the team, crew chief Mark Ingersoll, my dad Roy, we're all very encouraged by this first outing. We still have some kinks to iron out. We're about two-hundredths-of-a-second slower than we should be, and all of that's down low, in the 60-foot range. We'll keep working on it and free it up."

Johnson and his J&J Racing crew plan additional test sessions at Bradenton and at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the Mopar Dodge Avenger makes its competition debut at the 50th Annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., Feb. 11-14, 2010.