{"id":55641,"date":"2021-09-13T06:24:05","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T10:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=55641"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:21:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:21:04","slug":"johnson-jr-drives-mopar-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-to-winners-circle-at-mopar-express-lane-nhra-nationals-presented-by-pennzoil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/uncategorized\/2021\/09\/johnson-jr-drives-mopar-dodge-charger-srt-hellcat-to-winners-circle-at-mopar-express-lane-nhra-nationals-presented-by-pennzoil.html","title":{"rendered":"Johnson Jr. Drives Mopar®<\/sub> Dodge Charger SRT®<\/sup> Hellcat to Winner\u2019s Circle at Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Mopar\u00ae<\/sub> machine roared its way to the winner\u2019s circle at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals Presented by Pennzoil as the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) kicked off the \u201cCountdown to the Championship\u201d seven-event playoff series at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, Pennsylvania. Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. powered the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT\u00ae<\/sup> Hellcat to victory as a reserve driver for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) after defending Funny Car world champion Matt Hagan was unable to compete as he continues his recovery from COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mopar<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In rising to the occasion, Johnson secured his 23rd career win and took\nhome the Wally trophy while the points earned from the victory were awarded to\nDSR and Hagan. The result moved the Mopar Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat entry from\nfifth to second place on the Funny Car leaderboard with six events left to\nbattle for the world championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations to Tommy Johnson Jr. for his win at the Mopar Express Lane\nNationals Presented by Pennzoil,\u201d said Mark Bosanac, North America Vice\nPresident, Mopar Service, Parts & Customer Care. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see Tommy\nstep in and skillfully drive to the winner\u2019s circle at a key event representing\nthe Mopar and Dodge\/\/SRT brands.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Johnson, who finished the 2020 NHRA season runner-up to Hagan in the Funny Car world championship and who had not since been behind the wheel of race car, slipped into the driver\u2019s seat of the HEMI\u00ae<\/sup>-powered DSR entry and promptly drove it to the second quickest pass in Friday\u2019s provisional qualifying session with a 3.895-second run at 333.82 mph to record his career-best speed and put himself in the No. 4 position for eliminations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

From there, Johnson and the Mopar team made their way through the rounds,\ndefeating Jim Campbell, DSR teammate Ron Capps and J.R. Todd to advance to a\nfinal showdown against John Force. With a solid 3.926-second elapsed time run\nat 330.23 mph, Johnson turned on the win lights ahead of Force\u2019s 3.946-second\npass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“It’s pretty amazing, actually,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI got a call a week\nago after I’ve been sitting on the sidelines for 10 months, saying \u2018we need\nyou.\u2019 To come back and up your game that good, I mean, (Crew Chief) Dickie\n(Venables) and the guys have been racing all season, while I haven’t been doing\nanything. I thank them for the opportunity. They rose to the challenge and dove\nin and made me fit in this car and made everything happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Tommy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Watching the action live on FS1 from home, Hagan was pleased with the\nresult for both his stand-in and his team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am so proud of my guys,\u201d said Hagan. \u201cThey got it done today. T.J.\ndid a phenomenal job in the race car. He’s a wheelman. We battled each other\nthe last two years and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he could get it\ndone. Everybody adapted to adversity and the driver change and I’m just so\nproud of what these guys accomplished today. We weren’t able to race in Indy\nand it was a setback, but that just goes to show, you can dig right back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The points earned by Johnson\u2019s efforts puts Hagan within one round win of\nthe Funny Car points lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can’t say thank you enough to T.J. for stepping in and bringing his\nA-game,\u201d added Hagan, who awaits clearance to return to competition for the\nbalance of the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ron<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DSR teammate Ron Capps, who came into this first playoff event of 2021 as the top seed in the hunt for the championship after a runner-up finish at last weekend\u2019s Dodge\/\/SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals, qualified his NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat No. 5 and drove it to a holeshot win over Blake Alexander in the opening round. For his quarterfinal match up, Capps found himself paired with Johnson and while he took the early lead, the eventual event winner edged him at the finish to dethrone him from the points lead. Capps will drive his HEMI-powered machine to the next event ranked third in points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cruz<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon began his race day by taking his Snap-on\nTools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car for a solid 3.908 seconds\/318.62 mph\nbye-run win to advance to the quarterfinals where he would battle No. 7 seed\nTodd. Pedregon put in another respectable pass at 3.981 seconds but it wasn\u2019t\nenough to pass Todd and his 3.931-second pass to take the win. With this\nweekend\u2019s performance, the Cruz Pedregon Racing team moved up a spot in the\nstandings to seventh place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leah<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the hunt for a Top Fuel championship for a sixth consecutive season, Leah Pruett began this playoff series ranked fourth in the points standings and qualified her white and blue Mopar dragster next to DSR teammate and No. 7 seed Antron Brown. While both had traction issues, Pruett stayed with it for the round win. That set up a quarterfinal battle against No.1 qualifier Brittany Force, against whom Pruett lost traction halfway through the run to end her hopes of advancing further. The result puts her Mopar Dodge\/\/SRT dragster fifth in the Top Fuel standings. The \u201cCountdown to the Championship\u201d continues next weekend with the second of the seven NHRA playoff series events, the Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, North Carolina, Sept 17-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n