Johnson wins NHRA K&N Horsepower Challenge

NORWALK, Ohio — Allen Johnson won the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge on Saturday at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, his first victory in the special bonus event for the eight quickest Pro Stock teams from the last year.

If Johnson can wins Sunday he could earn an additional $25,000 from NHRA for sweeping both races, bringing his potential weekend earnings to more than $100,000.

Johnson covered the quarter-mile distance in 6.725 seconds at 204.91 mph in his Dodge Stratus and used a rare perfect reaction time (0.000) to beat Greg Anderson, who posted a quicker, but losing 6.717 at 204.91 in his Pontiac GXP.

“The perfect light in the final, I don’t know where that came from,” said Johnson, the second Dodge driver to win the Challenge and first since Darrell Alderman in 1991.

“I haven’t been driving too good lately. In the second round, I was able to get off my hind and cut a little better light, and then in the final, of course, you’re just sucking up everything you’ve got to really get it close, and fortunately, it was green and perfect. To win this means a lot, especially being the first Mopar driver to win in the last 17 years. I don’t think this will be our last time. Dad (Roy, crew chief) and the crew are just doing such an awesome job.”

In other racing, Rod Fuller, Robert Hight, Jason Line and Eddie Krawiec topped qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event.

In Top Fuel, Fuller earned his first top qualifying effort of the season and second straight at the event with a run of 4.629 at 311.13.

Funny Car’s Hight joined Fuller in posting his second straight No. 1 in the event. He drove his Ford Mustang to a 4.882 at 309.77 to claim his 25th career No. 1 qualifying position and second of the season.

After Saturday’s qualifying; eliminations Sunday

At Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park

Norwalk, Ohio

K&N Horsepower Challenge Results

Round One

Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.726, 205.04 def. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 6.744, 205.10. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.738, 206.04 def. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.762, 204.08. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus, 6.758, 204.29 def. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.754, 205.98. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.754, 204.88 def. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.836, 202.88.

Semifinals

A. Johnson, 6.729, 204.66 def. K. Johnson, 6.794, 205.54. Anderson, 6.748, 204.14 def. Coughlin, 6.745, 204.66.<

Finals

A. Johnson, 6.725, 204.91 def. Anderson, 6.717, 204.91.

Qualifying

Top Fuel

1. Rod Fuller, 4.629 seconds, 311.13 mph vs. 16. Doug Kalitta, 7.369, 120.20. 2. Cory McClenathan, 4.631, 301.81 vs. 15. Morgan Lucas, 6.111, 216.86. 3. Brandon Bernstein, 4.640, 315.86 vs. 14. Luigi Novelli, 5.931, 160.25. 4. Larry Dixon, 4.644, 282.30 vs. 13. David Grubnic, 4.841, 288.09. 5. Doug Herbert, 4.647, 307.30 vs. 12. Troy Buff, 4.831, 289.57. 6. Antron Brown, 4.652, 291.51 vs. 11. Steve Torrence, 4.772, 282.72. 7. Hillary Will, 4.691, 303.78 vs. 10. J.R. Todd, 4.771, 297.94. 8. Tony Schumacher, 4.703, 300.46 vs. 9. Bob Vandergriff, 4.730, 280.54.<

Funny Car

1. Robert Hight, Ford Mustang, 4.882, 309.77 vs. 16. Mike Neff, Mustang, 5.200, 224.43. 2. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger, 4.909, 297.42 vs. 15. Jerry Toliver, Charger, 5.085, 278.12. 3. Tim Wilkerson, Chevy Impala, 4.910, 304.32 vs. 14. Tommy Johnson Jr., Charger, 5.064, 288.95. 4. Bob Tasca III, Mustang, 4.932, 303.64 vs. 13. Tony Bartone, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.007, 260.11. 5. Jack Beckman, Charger, 4.965, 300.26 vs. 12. Cruz Pedregon, Toyota Solara, 4.995, 296.83. 6. Tony Pedregon, Impala, 4.975, 276.35 vs. 11. Jim Head, Solara, 4.994, 295.34. 7. Del Worsham, Impala, 4.977, 302.14 vs. 10. John Force, Mustang, 4.988, 274.11. 8. Ashley Force, Mustang, 4.980, 290.07 vs. 9. Gary Densham, Impala, 4.983, 297.29.<

Pro Stock

1. Jason Line, Pontiac GXP, 6.716, 205.51 vs. 16. Rickie Jones, Dodge Stratus, 6.773, 203.19. 2. Jeg Coughlin, Chevy Cobalt, 6.726, 205.04 vs. 15. Justin Humphreys, Stratus, 6.771, 203.95. 3. Allen Johnson, Stratus, 6.729, 204.69 vs. 14. V. Gaines, Stratus, 6.764, 203.58. 4. Ron Krisher, Cobalt, 6.732, 204.70 vs. 13. Johnny Gray, Stratus, 6.762, 203.92. 5. Kurt Johnson, Cobalt, 6.738, 206.04 vs. 12. Greg Stanfield, GXP, 6.760, 203.89. 6. Larry Morgan, Stratus, 6.739, 204.63 vs. 11. Vinnie Deceglie, Stratus, 6.754, 204.23. 7. Warren Johnson, GXP, 6.740, 206.10 vs. 10. Dave Connolly, Cobalt, 6.753, 204.08. 8. Mike Edwards, GXP, 6.743, 204.29 vs. 9. Greg Anderson, GXP, 6.748, 204.88. Did Not Qualify: 17. Jim Yates, 6.780, 203.16. 18. John Nobile, 6.785, 203.65. 19. Larry Nance, 6.790, 203.43. 20. Max Naylor, 6.793, 202.36. 21. Todd Hoerner, 6.794, 203.16. 22. Richie Stevens, 6.794, 202.79. 23. Dave Northrop, 6.815, 203.46. 24. Kevin Lawrence, 6.827, 201.19. 25. Steve Spiess, 6.831, 202.73. 26. Jim Cunningham, 6.910, 198.99. 27. Lee Zane, 6.975, 196.22.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson, 7.017, 191.02 vs. 16. Joe DeSantis, Suzuki, 7.167, 186.82. 2. Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.045, 191.21 vs. 15. Paul Gast, Suzuki, 7.150, 184.07. 3. Steve Johnson, Suzuki, 7.058, 186.28 vs. 14. Junior Pippin, Buell, 7.137, 186.74. 4. Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.058, 185.23 vs. 13. Hector Arana, Buell, 7.118, 184.72. 5. Matt Smith, Buell, 7.059, 187.23 vs. 12. Wes Wells, Suzuki, 7.111, 188.20. 6. Chip Ellis, Suzuki, 7.063, 188.10 vs. 11. Angelle Sampey, Buell, 7.103, 186.61. 7. Mike Berry, Buell, 7.068, 187.13 vs. 10. Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.098, 189.04. 8. Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.076, 191.19 vs. 9. Chris Rivas, Buell, 7.088, 186.61. Did Not Qualify: 17. Brian DeLong, 7.475, 172.04.

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