Allen Johnson had stated in a brief interview at Bristol last month that he and his father Roy found success at high elevations with a lot of testing. The signature Mopar race on the NHRA tour outside of Denver at Bandimere Raceway near Morrison, Col., was overshadowed by tragic news events in the town of Aurora, but that took nothing away from one of the most stellar weekends in the Johnson & Johnson’s team history.
By Geoff Stunkard
As always, times were slower than any other location on the NHRA tour, with Pro Stock cars rarely getting past the six-second barrier in years past; corrected elevation levels hovered near 10,000 feet. However, Johnson and several other competitors did run in the 6.9 range during the weekend, Johnson on every pass, and the Mopar Avenger came out on top both Friday and Saturday to give AJ yet another pole position with a 6.951 in what is becoming a stellar season.
Then, in the opening frame Sunday, Johnson clocked an even more stunning track record 6.916 while defeating Paul Pittman. The next two rounds topped the efforts of both Summit drivers, Greg Anderson and Jason line, respectively, to set up the first all-Mopar final at the Mopar Mile High Nationals against V. Gaines’ Kendall-backed Dodge. Gaines had bested Kurt Johnson, Larry Morgan and semifinalist Vincent Nobile enroute to his berth in the money round.
At the green, Johnson left first and never faltered to a winning 6.95, while Gaines had some sort of issue and slowed to 160 mph at 7.14. Not only did Johnson leave with the event title, low ET and top qualifying spot, but what was especially satisifying was using the Mopar-backed race to springboard into the NHRA Pro Stock points lead. This is Johnson’s third win of 2012, and his sixth consecutive final round at Bandimere. Johnson dedicated the win to Mopar, who is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, and stated it sets himself up nicely to run the notorious three races-three weekends Western swing.
Meanwhile, in funny car action, Fast Jack Beckman took his NextGen Valvoline Charger to victory over Courtney Force’s Ford Mustang. Like Johnson, Beckman rode into Sunday’s program from the top spot with a 4.13 best, then beat Todd Simpson, Jeff Arend and patriarch John Force enroute to the meet with Force’s daughter. Ron Capps made it to the semifinals, and is holding steady with the second place in points.
Stephen Hapberg posted runner-up honors in his CC/SA 1964 Savoy in Stock Eliminator.