Allen Johnson can’t help it.

The veteran driver from Greeneville, Tenn., has a legitimate chance to
contend for the 2008 NHRA Pro Stock title and the status has him
counting points.

“This gives us almost a half of a round,” Johnson said, speaking about
his third No. 1 qualifier of the season during this weekend's NHRA Mid South Nationals in Memphis. “We just have to do something
with it on Sunday.”

Make no bones about it; winning a championship would provide an incredible experience for Johnson.

ELLIS TAKES TOP SPOT ON HOT SATURDAY; BERNSTEIN, A. FORCE, JOHNSON REMAIN NO.1 AT MEMPHIS MOTORSPORTS PARK

Pro
Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis rode to his second consecutive No. 1
qualifier in Memphis on a day when it seemed all Friday night times
would rule.

Brandon Bernstein, Ashley Force and Allen Johnson kept their No. 1
qualifying positions in their categories following strong runs Friday
night at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by
Pennzoil, the third of six events in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Ellis rode his Schumacher Electric Suzuki to a blistering 6.910 seconds
at 191.10 mph during Saturday’s late-morning session. It’s Ellis’ first
No. 1 qualifier of the season and the 13th of his career.

An icepack falling from the body of his Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle
during a run was enough for the NHRA to disqualify rider Shawn Gann
from the event. They deemed the incident as a safety hazard.

Team owner Blake Gann said the team uses an icepack while sitting in
the lanes to keep the gas tank temperatures down while they run. Such a
procedure ensures a bike will perform at its highest potential when the
time comes to run.

Gann said their team has a ritual when they fire the bike they
automatically remove the icepack. He said a crewmember forgot this
time.

In 2007 Nitro Funny Car Driver Jack Wyatt won the IHRA's most
prestigious award: IHRA Sportsman of the Year by being an outstanding
member of the IHRA racing family. For Jack, the best part of receiving
the award was that he was nominated by his peers for his outstanding
contributions to the brotherhood that is IHRA drag racing.

In 2008 the IHRA has taken the voting out of the pages of Drag Review
Magazine, and onto the Internet. So now all of the racers and fans can
make their voices be heard in deciding who was the very best in IHRA
Drag Racing in 2008.

Allen Johnson has been around drag racing long enough to know one can never say never in this sport. However,
the Mopar-sponsored driver feels pretty confident in saying that his
6.591 elapsed time during first day qualifying at the NHRA Mid South Nationals will stand throughout Saturday’s qualifying.

Simply put, the weather at Memphis will be the deciding factor.

There was something about being thrown back in the seat of his Budweiser dragster that let Brandon Bernstein know that Friday evening’s conditions at the NHRA Mid South Nationals weren’t the norm for Memphis.

He’s used to nasty, hot and humid conditions.

This time the front wheels were in the air en route to what could be
his second No. 1 qualifier of 2008 and 13th of his career. The
3.825-second run at 313.88 miles per hour was a pleasant surprise.

Hard as it is to believe, the 2008 racing season is drawing to a close. The good news, however, is that the off-season will get a
high-powered kick-off when the IHRA faithful gather at the Great Wolf
Lodge to honor this season’s champions and do a little howling at the
moon in the process.

Located north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, adjacent to Kings Island,
Great Wolf Lodge is a first-class, full-service family destination
resort and conference center, designed to capture the atmosphere and
adventure of the north woods.

Dad might have seen Elvis at 1,000 feet in Memphis, but his daughter didn’t see a thing other than her Ford Mustang moving down the course faster than her fellow competitors during first day qualifying at the NHRA Mid South Nationals.

Ashley Force’s 4.079-second run at only 298.87 miles per hour put her
in an incredible position to score her second career No. 1 position.
This was her anniversary present to her dad, John Force and mom Laurie,
who when asked how long they had been married commented, “If you ask
mom she’ll probably say 100 years.”

Chris Rivas will be the first to admit changing everything combination-wise on the Drag Specialties/G2 Buell was a huge gamble. He’ll also tell you that it was a gamble that is still delivering a jackpot.

If you ask Rivas what change led to his recent victory at Dallas and
provisional No. 1 qualifying effort at Memphis, he’ll simply say the
changes.

No details. No one particular part.

There’s a good reason for those answers. He doesn’t know.

BERNSTEIN, A. FORCE, JOHNSON AND RIVAS PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFIERS IN MEMPHIS

Four
playoff contenders lead the packs after what some crew chiefs called
the best weather conditions Memphis qualifying sessions have ever
yielded.

Ashley Force, Brandon Bernstein, Allen Johnson and Chris Rivas were the
provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park, the third
of six events in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.