The store will not work correctly when cookies are disabled.
We use cookies to make your experience better.To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent to set the cookies. Learn more.
Allen Johnson at the 24th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
NHRA Pro Stock driver, Allen Johnson proved that his team has a tune-up to cover everything from the mountains to the valleys after putting together back-to-back number one qualifiers in Denver and more recently in Sonoma, California, during the 24th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
Allen Johnson and his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger
Johnson and his Team Mopar Dodge Avenger were out of the gate very strong during the first session and posted a stout 6.576 at 210.37. Johnson's elapsed time was nearly a full four hundredths of a second in front of the second quickest effort of Erica Enders and the only car to make it into the fifties during the session.
The Mopar team was far from through and the evening session actually made for some great numbers from many of the NHRA Pro Stock teams. While seven other teams were able to break into the fifties, Johnson continued to lead the way when he made another huge leap to lower his earlier effort by almost three hundredths when he laid down a 6.547 at 210.50.
"We made a good run, the air was about a thousand foot [corrected altitude] and last year it was about four hundred," said Johnson. "That just goes to show you how much power we have picked up in Pro Stock in a year. If it would have been four hundred, we might have gone a 6.49."
Saturday's first Pro Stock session proved to be the best one for the Tennessee resident. Johnson and his team had managed to find just a little more on both sides of the timeslip, gaining just shy of a hundredth of a second all while boosting their MPH numbers. His 6.538 not only became the new Infineon Pro Stock Track ET Record, but Johnson also reset the MPH Track Record for Pro Stock with his 211.56.
"We had to change motors from last night. We came in the morning and had a little problem, so we had to put the back-up motor in," Johnson said after the track record setting run. "So it felt really good to do that."
Johnson is always quick to point out that his dad, Roy, "has got a handle on those Hemis."
"We've got about three or four we can put in there that'll do about the same thing. It's actually the engine we ran at Denver. We had a new one in for the first two runs that was even better. We carry about seven engines with us, and Vincent [Nobile] runs them, also. But just flip a coin which one you want to put in," he added.
During the fourth and final session, Johnson was off his early set pace and while he managed to stay in the fifties, made only the sixth quickest lap of the pack. 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge Champion, Greg Anderson made the best pass of the session with his 6.566, but was unable to improve on his earlier time and remained in the number two slot for Sunday's eliminations.
"That last run we were just a tick off of what we should have done there. We'll put it back like we did this morning and come back out," Johnson remarked of his final qualifying session numbers and thoughts on Sunday's set up.
Nonetheless of the final session, Allen Johnson and his team remained solidly in the top position on the NHRA Pro Stock qualifying sheet. With the feat Johnson gained the maximum qualifying points for the 2012 K&N Horsepower Challenge and moved just thirty points out of number one, behind current leader, Erica Enders. While the points are extremely important to each and every Pro Stock team, so is the $3,000 Low Qualifier Bonus check awarded to the driver who grabs number one at each and every NHRA National Event.
"The K&N Horsepower Challenge is very important and much appreciated by all the Pro Stock teams," said Johnson. "What K&N continues to do for the sport and our class is fantastic. I hold the K&N Challenge in highest regard to everything, with the exception of the Pro Stock Championship itself."
The NHRA Professional teams will wrap up their three-race-in-a-row "Western Swing" this weekend with the 24th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle, Washington. While no Pro Stock driver has a shot a win "sweep" this season, at least Johnson has a shot at sweeping in the number one qualifying department.
Kekich sets getting the ROY title as one of his race goals for 2011.
Growing up, Adam Kekich, the young-gun 410 Sprint Car talent from Hermitage, Pennsylvania, referred to as "Adam Bomb," had racing imprinted on his destiny as he watched his dad and uncles race.
"For as long as I can remember, all I ever wanted to do was race," Kekich told K&N Race News. "When I was eight-years-old I got my first go-cart. My dad (Mike) took me around Pennsylvania and Ohio, where I raced at different tracks every week.
Adam Bomb Kekich says the biggest adjustment moving into the 410 Sprint Car was how much faster it accelerated.
My first year racing we won the track championship at Slippery Rock Raceway.
In winning that first championship, the teenager captured a total of nine wins out of 12 races at the track. Kekich raced go-carts until he was 13 and then he upgraded to racing limited sprints for the next two years. Kekich capped off that experience by winning Rookie of the Year at Sharon Speedway.
"After those two years my dad gave me the opportunity to race the 410. Even though we only have half of the season completed, I have had a lot of fun, and I am enjoying every minute of it."
And why wouldn't Adam Bomb Kekich be enjoying himself, last weekend at Mercer Raceway Park it was a night of firsts for the Agway of Hermitage Sprint Car race team. With each race Kekich is getting visibly more confident and familiar with the 410 and his results continue to reflect that.
The third place finish at Mercer Raceway Park was Kekich's best 410 finish yet.
The No. 5K machine started the last of three heat races on the front row, and that is right where he stayed, leading all eight laps for his first heat race win in a 410 sprint. In his first lap Kekich recorded a blistering 14.98 circuit, one of the fastest laps of the night.
Pumped up by their driver's performance, the crew got busy preparing the car for the feature. "The car is just awesome tonight," Adam commented after his heat race. "It's such a pleasure to race this K&N sponsored, Kriner powered J&J every week."
In the feature Kekich lined up on the third row. After successfully avoiding being taken out in an early racecar flip, the young rookie settled into his rhythm, running a smooth controlled line and navigating through lapped traffic. By lap 19 Kekich worked his way up behind the leaders. He held on to finish in third place, recording his best finish of the year, and his first ever 410 podium.
"The biggest adjustment for me was the initial takeoff when I moved into the 410 Sprint Car," Kekich remarked, "Getting from point 'A' to point 'B' was so much quicker at first, but after a few races it has become just a normal reaction."
Kekich currently holds fourth place in the championship point standings, and he says that he and the crew are looking forward to a strong second half of the season. "These guys just put their heart and soul into this team and I am just so fortunate to be driving this car."
Kekich's goals for the remainder of the 2011 race season include getting his first 410 feature win, and finishing in the top-five, and to earn the Rookie of the Year title. "But, my main goal for every night is to load the car back up in one piece, and to learn something new after each race, to help me get better."
The win was Mans' second national event victory at Route 66 Raceway.
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois is considered the first "True Stadium" of drag racing and it was there, in that electrifying stadium atmosphere, that the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series hosted the 14th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Going seven rounds and coming out uncut with the win in Super Stock was K&N sponsored Michael Mans. Mans took out Chris Chaney in the final pass with a 9.570 ET at 138.86 mph.
In round 7 eliminations in Super Stock at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series it was K&N sponsored Michael Mans taking the win.
Mans told K&N Race News "This was just a great weekend for us in Joliet. Competing in the Jeg's All-Stars event on Saturday, and picking up a 60th Anniversary Wally on Sunday made for one of our most memorable weekends ever!"
"Our car was just unbelievably consistent and predictable all weekend long, and as a driver, that gives you a huge boost in confidence. The track was great, my parents did a terrific job between rounds with cooling everything down, and keeping the car prepped and ready, and I was lucky to find the groove that all of us drivers are searching for every week."
Mans never forgets to credit his parents, from his perspective they have seemly always been heavily involved in drag racing, and they are the reason that he is flourishing with racing today. Mans' father, Randy, started racing in the Stock Eliminator class back in the late '70's and he still successfully races in Super Stock today as well. At a point where most high school seniors are fumbling with peer acceptance and parallel parking, Man's was already winning his first big Stock/Super Stock event.
Mans' mother Dawn and his father Randy are his biggest fans. Jubilation overcame them when they heard the results in the final run.
The win at Route 66 Raceway was Mans second national event victory at the renowned track, commenting on that, Mans stated "It is totally unexplainable, but Route 66 is just one of those places that I really enjoy going to and it seems to have a certain luck factor for me. The facility is great, the people are fun, and winning there is really special."
"After going to just five events so far this year, and picking up two wins, we couldn't be happier with how the hard work is paying off. We are in the top five on the Divisional point's side, and in the top 30 nationally, so it's shaping up to be a decent year for sure."
Mans is race savvy enough to avoid putting a bad mojo on things by declaring his intentions on chasing any type of championship at this point, adding, "It's far too early to ever make that claim. But I will tell you that every race we go to, we are there to win. If we do well, the points will take care of themselves. I can tell you though that we are extremely excited to get down to Cordova, Illinois for the LODRS race in August, and to perhaps start off a four to six week racing streak! Hopefully we can pick up some luck along the way and collect a few more Wally's before the summer winds down."
Just coming off an exciting weekend in Joliet, Illinois during the Jegs All-Stars event, where he was one of only four drivers to be double entered for the elite event, Michael Miller took his TNT dragster to yet another final round of Super Comp competition, and this time it was for a NHRA National event in Denver.
Michael Miller at the 32nd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway
Miller, of Santa Fe, New Mexico recently took out some fellow serious competitors to make his way to the final of Super Comp in the Jegs All-Stars event, where he fell to K&N's Tommy Phillips. It was really at this event where he felt like things were really starting to gel for him in his new TNT dragster and doesn't seem to be looking back.
During the 32nd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway, Miller entered both his 1927-T Roadster Super Gas car and his TNT Super Comp Dragster, both Ford powered. "You know Denver is a very unique race," he said. "I have to spend a day, day and half of work to change my cars over to race there. From the torque converters, to timing, jets and even computer programming."
Where he went out in the early rounds of Super Gas, he more than made up for it by taking his dragster to the championship round on Sunday. "Yeah, I went out in second round of Super Gas," confessed Miller. "He didn't really leave me any room when he was .001 on the tree."
But over in Super Comp, Miller made his way past Adam Chioda in round two which gave him the scheduled bye for round three and on to his next round match up with Tim Parker. Although Parker had the starting line advantage, Miller was able to outdrive him at the stripe and push Parker deeper under the index and on to the quarter-finals.
"I had to race a guy named Mitch Mustard, who is a local guy," Miller pointed out. "He races at Bandimere every weekend and he's good. I kinda thought if I won that round, I could win the race. He's just one of those guys that is dialed and he's going to go fifty [9.50 adjusted index for Bandimere]. Just a matter of trying to manipulate that situation."
Miller once again showed his strong finish line driving skills and even though he was behind at the hit, he knew just the right time to let Mustard have the stripe and stay on the better side of a double breakout.
Even though it was quite hot for the Denver race, with 93 degrees and an adjusted altitude of nearly 10,000 feet, Miller kept his cool in the semi-finals and only took the amount of margin he needed at the finish line [.009] to send Jacky King packing and himself into the championship round where he would meet up with Dave Crawford.
Miller just didn't have the light he was looking for in the final and gave Crawford the window he needed to win his very first NHRA National Event, in his first final round.
"It was just his day," Miller said of his runner-up to Crawford. "When a guy takes out [Gary] Stinnett in the first round, then Brad Plourd and me all in one day, he deserves the win. I am just really happy with the way this new dragster combination is working now, it was great getting into the final."
Miller had lots of thanks to give to his mom and dad, his wife Timberly, his brother John and to the folks at K&N Engineering. "I have had a longtime relationship with the K&N folks," he noted. "Steve Williams, Bob Harris, [pauses] they just get it and totally understand racing. K&N goes above and beyond what you could ever ask a racing type company to do. I don't know of any other company that offers contingency for three products. That's huge for the sportsman racers. K&N's support of racing is second to none."
Miller also pointed out that he was excited to add K&N composite scoops to both of his cars for 2011. The scoops include the specially designed K&N race high performance air filters, which he added the Pro Stock style to his 1923 T Roadster and the 2nd Generation Dragster scoop to his Super Comp entry.
Scott Burton wins NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series - 32nd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
One of the neatest attributes that can be found in the NHRA Stock Eliminator ranks is that one will see as many different makes and models of cars take to the quarter-mile, as you will personalities. Scott Burton, of Golden, Colorado, covers a little bit of both worlds and recently plowed his way through the rounds to take his B/SA 1970 Formula 400 Firebird to the Stock Championship during the 32nd annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
Scott Burton's B/SA 1970 Formula 400 Firebird
Since he didn't get a chance to race with his son, Brad Burton who is the defending NHRA Stock Champion, Scott didn't need to watch where he qualified for the event at Bandimere Speedway, like he would so they could stay away from each other. "This particular race, he wasn't there so I didn't really pay a lot of attention to where I qualified," he explained. "I wasn't really trying to qualify high on the sheet. But when I saw the final qualifying and the ladder, I felt that I probably had the more favorable side of the ladder."
"As it turned out, the first several rounds I had were pretty tough races," he confessed. "They ended up being pretty close and I had to work it pretty hard. Then it actually got easy from there, which is the opposite of the way it usually is."
Burton, who is a regular competitor at Bandimere Speedway in their weekly bracket program where he currently sits number two in his Pro ET, points out that his first round was surprisingly difficult. "You know everybody likes Bob," Burton said of his first round competitor, fellow K&N racer Bob Unkefer. "Well, he had a good light and came close to running his dial. I just had a better package than he did that round. I worked the finish line on him little bit and just didn't take too much stripe."
That would move Burton on to defeat Mike Jeffery in round two and Dic Geary in round three which would set up a very pivotal quarter final round with Rod Neugebauer. If he could get by Rod, it would award him a bye run straight into the Stock Eliminator final.
"The fourth round was pretty critical because of the shot at the bye in the semi's," he said. "Rod red lit and it was a big sigh of relief knowing that I was going to the final. But not knowing just yet who I would be facing in the final, well I knew it could be interesting should we end up with a heads up final round."
And that's exactly what it was, good ol'drag racing at its best. Burton would face Dwight Machael in his B/SA 1962 Fury and give the fans an exciting final round.
"I had Machael in the final and he's my investment advisor, how about that," chuckled Burton. "He's a good driver and a good person, but I kinda felt like I had the performance advantage going into the final. I had taken a little weight out of the car and hopped it up a little bit, but not too awful much. My frame of mind going into the final was, 'Scott don't be stupid and redlight.' So, I didn't have a tremendous light, but I didn't intend to."
"It all worked out," he continued. "While he had the light advantage, I had the performance. All my buddies had been over there trying to help him hop up his car. Which we do. I know that seems crazy but it's the way we are in this game. We always come to the aid of anybody you can."
While Burton didn't have the kind of light you would want to write home about, as he mentioned he had tons of horsepower to chase down Machael and easily take a whopping .09 at the stripe in turn, denying Machael of his first NHRA National event victory for a little while longer.
Burton was last in the Stock Eliminator final at the Mile-High NHRA Nationals back in 2006 and where he wasn't able to seal the deal then, he certainly took care of the unfinished business by grabbing the 2011 event championship.
Both Burton and his son Scott have been using K&N products for years and in 2011 welcomed the company as a part of their team. "We sure appreciate the help that K&N has supplied us with," he said. "They are such a super company to work with. We are running the K&N air filters and the oil filters on both of our race cars and it really does make a difference in what filter products you use. K&N is the World's Best Air Filter."
