TEAM MOPAR ELIMINATIONS REPORT FROM THE ACDelco NHRA GATORNATIONALS

ALLEN JOHNSON, MOPAR/J&J RACING DODGE STRATUS R/T:  Without lane choice, No. 9 qualifier Allen Johnson lost a close opening  round of eliminations today at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals against Jeg  Coughlin.

Driving the Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T, Johnson nailed a  near-perfect reaction time of .014 (.000 is perfect) to Coughlin's .042, but  a slight diversion out of the groove resulted in a losing 6.618-second  elapsed time at 208.65 mph to Coughlin's winning 6.582/210.01. Margin of  victory: .0081 of a second!

Johnson's run marked his second-quickest ET of the weekend, and his fastest  speed of his career. His 6.602-second qualifying lap was also his  career-best elapsed time.

"The lanes, of course, were worth a lot," he said. "We lost lane choice that  last run in qualifying. That hurt us. You know, as bad as everything was  this weekend (with teammate Richie Stevens not qualifying and struggling  with car problems), maybe we learned a lot and it sent us in a little  different direction and we'll come out of Houston with a lot of gusto.

"Last year we went the first six races before we got on track. So, maybe we  will cut that in half this year and do well."

Next up for Team Mopar is the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals in Houston,  Texas, March 30-April 1.

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