Each of the top four NHRA Pro Stock drivers thinks this weekend's Charlotte race, the second of six stops on the Countdown to the Championship tour, is where he'll perform well. And each has a strong case.
 
But with 87 points separating No. 1 Mike  Edwards from No. 4 Jeg Coughlin, the playoff picture could become scrambled in a hurry. And they can't all four run in the final round this time.
 
In the spring race at Concord, N.C.'s zMAX Dragway, the pro classes run four-wide at this unusual and unusually beautiful facility that owner O. Bruton Smith calls "The Bellagio of Dragstrips."
 
Edwards figured he had a perfect visit there in his visit last September. How can he improve on perfection?  Second-place Allen Johnson and third-place Greg Stanfield, the newly crowned U.S. Nationals champion, have something to prove, as does Coughlin, whose four victories this year are second in the class after Edwards'  eight.

 
Each of the top four NHRA Pro Stock drivers thinks this weekend's Charlotte race, the second of six stops on the Countdown to the Championship tour, is where he'll perform well. And each has a strong case.
 
But with 87 points separating No. 1 Mike  Edwards from No. 4 Jeg Coughlin, the playoff picture could become scrambled in a hurry. And they can't all four run in the final round this time.
 
In the spring race at Concord, N.C.'s zMAX Dragway, the pro classes run four-wide at this unusual and unusually beautiful facility that owner O. Bruton Smith calls "The Bellagio of Dragstrips."
 
Edwards figured he had a perfect visit there in his visit last September. How can he improve on perfection?  Second-place Allen Johnson and third-place Greg Stanfield, the newly crowned U.S. Nationals champion, have something to prove, as does Coughlin, whose four victories this year are second in the class after Edwards'  eight.
 
"We know we've got some of the stiffest competition ever in this category this year," Coughlin, a four-time Pro Stock champion, said.
 
And missing from the top quartet are Greg Anderson and Jason Line, who collectively have four series titles for KB Racing/Summit Racing Equipment. So when the champion is crowned at Pomona, Calif., in mid-November, the winner will know he has earned his crown.
 
Leader Edwards is hoping history is on his side, saying "If it is anything like  2009, it might be a huge one to our final goal -- that championship."
 
He can repeat that September 2009 sweep, when it was the first event in the Countdown and he and his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Pontiac GXP hogged all the honors. Edwards earned the maximum number of points, pacing every qualifying session, winning the race, and taking the points lead for the first time in his long career. He remained No. 1, capturing his first championship.
 
Edwards has back-to-back Charlotte triumph, with the Wally trophy at the 2009 fall race and another this March 28.
 
"That 2009 run in Charlotte was easily one of those perfect weekends at the track," Edwards said. "Anything and everything we tried worked and not only got us down the track, but we were running better than we even thought we could. Looking back, it was that one event every single racer is trying to have where it all falls into place that one weekend and you can do no wrong.
 
"We hope the 2010 version can come even remotely close to last year's feeling," he said after finishing as runner-up to Stanfield at the first Countdown race two weeks ago at Indianapolis. "The track has been real good to us, and we have some solid data to make our Pontiac fly. Now we just need to hit it hard from the start and not look back and hopefully help our points lead."
 
Johnson has other ideas.
 
A semifinal finish at the U.S. Nationals certainly was respectable, but Johnson sad he wasn't happy with the set-up in his J&J Racing/Team Mopar Dodge Avenger. So he and his team, including father and engine builder, Roy Johnson, and crew chief Mark Ingersoll, tested at zMAX Dragway last week.
 
“We tested our car, along with Vinnie’s (Deceglie, who uses J&J Racing engines in his Dodge Avenger),” Allen Johnson said. “I made six runs, and we felt like when we left there on Wednesday afternoon the cars were actually pretty dang good.”
 
Roy Johnson not only tuned his son's car, but he also warmed up his own  Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak car. He'll compete in the Stock Eliminator class this weekend in this car that Allen gave him for Christmas. Roy Johnson, ending an almost 30-year hiatus, rolled the car out for the first time in June at Bristol, on Fathers Day weekend, and reached the semifinals.
 
But the semifinals aren't all that appealing to either father or son at this O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.
 
"It was very special to have Dad out racing with us at Bristol, and I’m looking forward to having the chance again this weekend,” Allen Johnson said. “I think he can match his performance at Bristol. He tested at Concord when we did, so he’s got a few runs down that track already. I think he’ll come out of the box pretty stout. If I could take the win in Pro Stock and he could do it in Stock Eliminator — well, that would be a dream.
 
“Any win in this Countdown is going to be huge," Johnson said. "We’ve got to have a couple of wins to take the championship. I’m confident of that. To get one early on going into Dallas (the third race in the Countdown to the Championship) would be such a confidence booster."
 
But Stanfield rather enjoyed putting the Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP in the winners circle Labor Day and would like to do that at Charlotte. Besides, he wants to erase the annoying memory of having his day end early at zMAX in March. He was one of the finalists in the first four-wide spectacle, but he was unable to give his best performance because of a piece from a plastic bag blew into his carburetor and flooded it.
 
"You always learn something in this sport," Stanfield said. "We have a filter on the carburetor now to stop that."
 
After improving from eighth place to third with the Indianapolis victory, he's 82 points off Edwards' pace. Dedicated to gaining even more ground, the Bossier City, La., driver said, "We didn't take a week and a half off [to celebrate]. We went right back to the engine shop and went to work. We want to keep our momentum going. We’ve run well at Charlotte and we want to build off that."
 
Stanfield preps his own motors, and he said he's ready to show his potential. "We are going in the right direction," Stanfield said. "Now is the time to peak. I’m excited."
 
Coughlin cooled off at Indianapolis after heading into the Countdown with a pair of victories in three straight final-round appearances. His Victor Cagnazzi-owned Jegs.com Chevy Cobalt got no farther than the quarterfinals at the U.S. Nationals, and now he said he and his team are "more focused than ever before."
 
"The track conditions (at Indianapolis) just caught us a little off guard, and we pushed the tune-up over the edge ever so slightly, and it cost us," he said. "The best news of all is we're now heading into Charlotte, a track where we've had a lot of success in the past, and one that's home to Victor Cagnazzi Racing. The entire gang will be there, along with their families and friends, and we all want to do our very best.
 
"My father (Jeg Sr.) also will be there and he's the smartest guy I know when it comes to racecars. His influence will be a big bonus, as always. We're excited to get back after it and put this JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt back in the winner's circle," Coughlin said. "We're ready for the fight."
 
He said zMax Dragway is one of his favorite facilities, but it's the only NHRA track where Coughlin hasn't won. He was No. 1 qualifier at the previous event at Charlotte and set the track elapsed-time record. He was No. 2 qualifier at the inaugural zMax event in 2008. "We've only had three national events there, so hopefully it just hasn't been our time yet," Coughlin said.
 
"We need to be on our toes and avoid any mistakes. We've won two out of three championships since the NHRA went to a playoff system. And it's always been the team that limits those little errors that ultimately comes out on top.
 
"We know we've got some of the stiffest competition ever in this category this year. Mike Edwards has been a monster for two years now. Allen Johnson is right there with him. Greg Anderson and Jason Line are champion drivers. Then you see a guy like Greg Stanfield pop up and win Indy. It really is a case of anyone can win one of these races. The talent level is incredible."

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