Kurt Busch debuts his new Dodge Avenger Pro Stocker at the NHRA Gatornationals

Kurt Busch qualified his new Shell-Mopar® Dodge Avenger Pro Stock HEMI® right out of the box at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. March 13 with a clocking of 6.532 seconds at 211.46 mph. However, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion and 22-race winner just barely lost out in the first round of eliminations against Erica Enders in NHRA Full Throttle competition. Enders clocked in with an elapsed time of 6.538 seconds (211.69 mph) to Busch’s 6.541 seconds (211.59 mph). 

“What an experience this whole weekend has been,” Busch said. “I can’t thank my crew and Allen Johnson Racing enough for everything they have done for me. I want to extend a special thanks to the NHRA officials and sponsors, to the media and to all the competitors for the great hospitality I was shown during this memorable weekend.”

Johnson spent a few days with Busch in testing at Bradenton Raceway near Tampa, Fla., just before the race. “It certainly paid big dividends and we felt pretty good going into the weekend. I’m glad that Kurt took the time to do the testing,” said Team Mopar’s Johnson, driver of the Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Avenger. Johnson also went out in the first round.

Teutons are Big Winners at the Jegs.com NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals

Jeff Teuton and his son, Joseph, 30, ran over the competition in their Mopar Challenger Drag Paks to win AA/SA and H/SA, respectively, at the eighth annual JEGS.com Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La. on March 20. Jeff ran his 2011 V-10 Challenger Drag Pak while Joseph piloted a 2009 5.9 Wedge Drag Pak. “We are really proud of the V-10 car,” said Jeff. “It has lots of power and we’re beating on it real hard to make it even faster. The car is really getting a lot of attention for Mopar,” he said. He has spoken for the first ten V-10 Drag Paks for his inventory at Southland Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Houma, La. Teuton has also handled eleven of the original 2009 cars and six of the 2010 version. “My kids think I’ve gone crazy, but that’s okay as long as I get to go fishing.” So far this year he has not found time to do that. He and another son, Frank, recently went deep into the rounds at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. Next up are races in Dallas and Houston.

Don Garlits and Daryll Gwynn (quietly) face off for Charity at the Gatornationals

Don Garlits and Daryll Gwynn piloted electric-powered dragsters in a three-race match during the NHRA Gatornationals. Titled “Garlits vs. Gwynn: Match Races for a Cause,” the matches are designed to raise money and awareness for the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing. The Darrell Gwynn Foundation’s mission is to “provide awareness, prevention, support and ultimately a cure for paralysis,” according to Gwynn who was paralyzed in a dragster crash in 1990. Missing was the ear-splitting exhaust of nitro-burning HEMI engines, but the excitement was there as Garlits took the first two rounds. Gwynn said he considered Sunday’s match a final. “The first two were qualifying runs,” he said. He then won the “final” over Big Daddy. The two battery-powered dragsters will be auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2012 after the “Garlits vs. Gwynn: Match Races for a Cause” series is complete.