The fans have spoken and Warren Johnson is in the K&N Horsepower Challenge.

The bonus event for the Pro Stock class is June 26 during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Johnson, the winningest Pro Stock driver in NHRA history with 97 national event wins, was chosen as the eighth and final competitor for the race by an online fan vote. This will be the 24th time Johnson will compete in this special bonus event.

The fans have spoken and Warren Johnson is in the K&N Horsepower Challenge.

The bonus event for the Pro Stock class is June 26 during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Johnson, the winningest Pro Stock driver in NHRA history with 97 national event wins, was chosen as the eighth and final competitor for the race by an online fan vote. This will be the 24th time Johnson will compete in this special bonus event.

“It’s gratifying that they (the fans) voted for me and voted for all of the competitors,” said Johnson, who has won the K&N Challenge three times. “I had no idea what the total vote count was, but we’re happy we won it. I have to congratulate Steve Williams and K&N for putting this program on, and the fans. The fans are the most important people out here, there’s no doubt about it.”

Johnson narrowly won the fan vote over Erica Enders to get the wild card spot. Johnson had a 1,440 total, while Enders, who was leading the fan vote on Saturday afternoon, came in at 1,337.

Having the eighth competitor for the race chosen by an online fan vote was a new wrinkle for the K&N Challenge this year.

The top seven competitors who qualified for the K&N Challenge were Mike Edwards, Greg Anderson, Allen Johnson, Jason Line, Jeg Coughlin Jr., Ron Krisher and Rodger Brogdon.

Those seven competitors amassed the most points during qualifying at each NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event during the 25-race K&N Challenge series. The fans then chose Johnson as the eighth competitor, who will be competing for the $50,000 winner’s purse at the bonus event.

Edwards, the reigning Pro Stock world champ, will meet Johnson in the first round of the K&N Challenge. That suits Edwards just fine because he’s on record as saying he wanted Johnson to be voted into the challenge.
The online fan vote put many Pro Stock drivers in an unfamiliar campaign mode.

Rickie Jones and Johnny Gray were letting fans know about the K&N Challenge vote through links, message boards and social networking sites. The 23-year-old Jones admitted using Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to get in touch with fans.

The 57-year-old Gray said his campaign received a boost from his crew led by Jason Laimonis, who was putting the word out for Gray all over the internet.

Brogdon actually put together the “Top 10 reasons to vote for Rodger Brogdon,” list to get the fans behind him. The humorous list concluded with Brogdon stating “I am Rodger Brogdon, and I approve this message. Unless I get in trouble. Then, it’s someone else’s fault.”

Brogdon qualified on his own for the K&N Challenge, and now Johnson, thanks to the fans, will join him.