Fire Up
An impressive lineup of Mopar®-powered competitors throughout a number of racing series are prepared to blast off in pursuit of titles and trophies during the 2010 season.
Words: Darren Jacobs
It’s time.
Yes, once again Mopar®-powered drivers and teams are poised to mix it up on the drag strip and at the track, on drift course and dirt oval alike. Race series have reawakened across the country—a new season has dawned. Mopar-powered drivers figure to be in the thick of the battle, vying for trophies and championships. Here’s a heads up on the drivers and teams who will be campaigning with Mopar power and making headlines in 2010. See you in the winner’s circle!
NHRA FULL THROTTLE PRO STOCK
The 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season presents a case of “back to the future” for Team Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson. The veteran, who made his Pro Stock debut way back in 1996 driving a Mopar-powered Dodge Avenger, will campaign a new 2010 NHRA Pro Stock Mopar Dodge Avenger during the coming season, his 15th on the NHRA Pro Stock circuit.
Johnson scored his first career victory in 1999 at Richmond while driving an Avenger, which he competed in through the 2000 season. Johnson and his J&J Racing team, led by crew chief Mark Ingersoll and engine builder Roy Johnson, Allen Johnson’s dad, dialed in his new Avenger during multiple pre-season test sessions at Palm Beach International Raceway and Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida. The Greeneville, Tenn., native hopes his new Avenger is locked, loaded and ready to lead him to a fifth consecutive top-10 points finish and his first NHRA Pro Stock championship.
“It’s like déjà vu,” said Allen Johnson, “to be with Mopar after all these years and also to be back in the Avenger. This new version of the Avenger puts us in something that is going to be ultra-competitive as far as aero goes. We’re as good as the other guys. I feel like it’s the best car we’ve had ever.”
Johnson, owner of seven career NHRA wins and seven No. 1 Qualifier Awards prior to the start of the 2010 season, will also partner up with Vinnie Deceglie during the 2010 season. Deceglie and team owner Nick Mitsos plan to compete in at least 15 events this season, with Roy Johnson supplying the engines and the J&J Racing team and Deceglie’s squad sharing all-important data.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT NHRA.COM
NHRA FULL THROTTLE FUNNY CAR
The formidable Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) NHRA Funny Car trio of Ron Capps, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan will return to the cockpits of their Mopar HEMI®-powered Dodge Charger R/Ts in 2010. All three enjoyed stellar outings in 2009 and each will be a strong threat to clinch a first Funny Car championship in 2010.
Capps has finished in the top-10 of the point standings for five years running, coming up agonizingly short in his elusive quest for a Funny Car championship. He and his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T crew chief Ed “Ace” McCulloch will try to remedy the situation this year, with a little help from their Mopar HEMI.
“When you think of Dodge and Chrysler and HEMI, it makes you want to pump your chest a little bit to be able to actually be part of that history and run a HEMI-powered Dodge Funny Car,” said Capps. “When you look back at all forms of racing, and especially drag racing, the word HEMI pretty much says performance in racing. And when you’re making 8000 horsepower like we are it’s all about performance.”
Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger R/T driver Beckman is another Mopar HEMI-powered performer to watch for in 2010. In three full Funny Car seasons, Beckman has never finished worse than fifth. Hagan, the youngest DSR hotshoe, finished No. 11 in his rookie season, earning consideration for the NHRA rookie of the year award, and has the talent to capture the title in his sophomore year on the circuit.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT NHRA.COM
MOPAR® HEMI® CHALLENGE RACE SERIES
The Mopar HEMI Challenge Race Series will celebrate a significant milestone in 2010—for the tenth consecutive year Super Stock/A-HEMI (SS/AH) 1968 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas will duke it out in thrilling head-to-head matchups in Mopar’s popular sportsman racing series.
The 10th anniversary season will kickoff at the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky., June 18–20, before heading to the site where it all began—the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Sept. 1–6. The three-event 2010 HEMI Challenge schedule will conclude with a stop at the JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 24–26.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT www.moparspeed.com
USAC MOPAR MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Mopar will celebrate its third straight year as primary sponsor of the USAC Mopar Midget National Championship Series during 2010. The 2010 campaign might also witness a celebration by Kasey Kahne Racing (KKR) driver Brad Sweet, who will look to steer his No. 49 Mopar-powered midget car to a series championship.
The 24-year-old Sweet missed the 2009 USAC Mopar Midget National Championship crown by only eight points last year, finishing second in the standings. The California native will attempt to break through this year and pencil his name alongside past Mopar-fueled Midget National champions, including Josh Wise (2005) and Jerry Coons Jr. (2006–2007). The KKR driver is just one of many that will utilize Mopar powerplants in both USAC Mopar Midget National Championship Series and USAC Amsoil Sprint Car National Championship competition during the 2010 season.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT www.USACRACING.COM
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Kasey Kahne Racing will field two full-time Mopar-powered teams with a mix of experience and youth on the 2010 World of Outlaws Sprint Series. Veteran driver Joey Saldana, who led the World of Outlaws with 20 A-Feature wins last season, will join forces with up-and-coming rookie Cody Darrah.
Saldana returns for his fifth season with the team owned by NASCAR star Kahne, piloting the No. 9 Mopar-powered sprint car. The veteran owns 59 A-Feature series wins, ranking ninth on the all-time win list. Darrah made his debut for KKR last year at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in New York, finishing sixth in that event. The native of Red Lion, Pa., will drive the No. 91 Mopar-fueled Maxim during his rookie tilt.
KKR USAC Mopar Midget National Championship Series driver Sweet will also compete in as many World of Outlaws events as his USAC schedule allows, steering the No. 49 Mopar-powered sprinter.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WORLDOFOUTLAWS.COM
FORMULA DRIFT
Formula DRIFT (FD) star Samuel Hübinette’s plans for 2010 were up in the air following the tragic death of his team owner, NuFormz Racing leader Shaun Carlson, in October 2009. Recent developments have turned prospects bright that the coming season will see Hübinette field a Mopar-powered Dodge drift car.
Hübinette has announced the formation of his self-owned team, Samuel Hübinette Racing (SHR), for the 2010 FD campaign. Details were not final at press time, but the two-time FD champion hopes to unveil his Mopar-powered Dodge squad at the season-opening event on the Streets of Long Beach.
ldquo;Nothing is official yet, but it looks like we will have a new sponsor on board for the coming season,” said Hübinette. “I’m looking forward to heading up my own organization and if everything works out, even fielding a two-car team. Stay tuned.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT FORMULAD.COM
MOPAR CONTINGENCY PROGRAM
Multitudes of Mopar-powered Sportsman racers compete at quarter-miles across the country weekend after weekend, often on their own dime. These unsung grassroots racers who run with the Omega M and are the lifeblood of the sport can once again count on the Mopar Contingency Program to offer financial rewards—and with even more Mopar parts eligible for financial rewards under the 2010 program.
New parts covered under the 2010 Mopar Contingency Program are Mopar Manifolds, Mopar Oil Filters and Mopar Batteries, joining the Mopar Engine Assembly, Mopar Cylinder Heads, Mopar Ignition, Mopar Valve Cover and the Mopar Center Section as parts eligible for financial rewards.
Drivers who score a victory or a runner-up finish while competing with eligible Mopar parts in a number of classes in the NHRA Full Throttle and Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series are eligible for rewards under the Mopar Contingency Program.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT NHRA.COM/COMPETITION/CONTINGENCY.ASPX
