Allen Johnson wants the Pro Stock world championship title, and he wants it bad.
 
The amount of time left to claim points is dwindling, and after a shocking shake-up at the recent national event in Charlotte where Johnson suffered a major setback when he was disqualified, he knows that every hundredth of a second counts.

In the first round of qualifying for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Johnson -- who was fourth in the Full Throttle Series standings entering the event -- stuttered and stumbled at the hit and watched more points fall through his fingers, but in the second session, he and his team -- including crew chief Mark Ingersoll and Johnson's father, engine builder Roy -- stepped it up just right and picked up the provisional pole. If it holds, it will be the sixth No. 1 of the season for the driver who will finish in the top 10 for the eighth time in his career, regardless of the outcome of the rest of the events.

Allen Johnson wants the Pro Stock world championship title, and he wants it bad.

The amount of time left to claim points is dwindling, and after a shocking shake-up at the recent national event in Charlotte where Johnson suffered a major setback when he was disqualified, he knows that every hundredth of a second counts.

In the first round of qualifying for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Johnson -- who was fourth in the Full Throttle Series standings entering the event -- stuttered and stumbled at the hit and watched more points fall through his fingers, but in the second session, he and his team -- including crew chief Mark Ingersoll and Johnson's father, engine builder Roy -- stepped it up just right and picked up the provisional pole. If it holds, it will be the sixth No. 1 of the season for the driver who will finish in the top 10 for the eighth time in his career, regardless of the outcome of the rest of the events.

"Our first run, we had a tranny problem and didn't get down," said Johnson. "We were trying to go for those [qualifying] bonus points. But the second session, we made a really good run, and the conditions are not optimal but they're good. Tomorrow morning it's supposed to be a little cooler yet, so you may see a .53 if conditions are like they're supposed to be. For tonight, though, that was a really solid run, and the track is really awesome, really smooth. They've done an awesome job on it."

The conditions in both sessions were good enough for a slew of 6.50s, and in the first qualifying round of the day, one run stood above the rest: a 6.557 laid down by Kendall Dodge driver V. Gaines.

"We tested in Tulsa, Okla., before this race and found a problem we could fix. We've got a real fast race car here, and a real fast motor," said Gaines prophetically before the opening round.

At the conclusion of the first qualifying session, Gaines, though not in contention for the championship, claimed three bonus points, Mike Edwards picked up two, and Rodger Brogdon collected one. At the end of the second session, Johnson logged three, Edwards got two more, and Greg Stanfield earned one.

Still outside looking in heading into what all hope will be a very quick Saturday are Greg Anderson, Dave Connolly, and the father-son duo of Warren and Kurt Johnson, among others.

"The Mopar/Dodge Avenger just did perfect," said provision No. 1 qualifier Johnson, whose final pass of the day, the 6.551 at 210.70 mph, reset both ends of the track record. "We're on kill. We're a little down [in points] so we have to do something special now. We've had little mechanical things bite us all year, and we say if it wasn't for bad luck, we just wouldn't have any luck at all. But maybe that's turning around."

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