Two veteran Pro Stock racers will release the clutch on their new rides for the first time on Monday, Dec. 14. Larry Morgan will debut his new 2010 Mustang while Allen Johnson will make his inaugural laps behind the wheel of a new Dodge Stratus.

Morgan will first participate in a private Ford Racing test at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP] in Valdosta for two days and then join a score of other drivers including Johnson making laps at Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, Fla.

“I can’t wait to run, I’d run the car today if I could,” said Morgan, who admitted he’s waiting on parts to arrive at his Newark, Ohio shop.

Two veteran Pro Stock racers will release the clutch on their new rides for the first time on Monday, Dec. 14. Larry Morgan will debut his new 2010 Mustang while Allen Johnson will make his inaugural laps behind the wheel of a new Dodge Stratus.

Morgan will first participate in a private Ford Racing test at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP] in Valdosta for two days and then join a score of other drivers including Johnson making laps at Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, Fla.

“I can’t wait to run, I’d run the car today if I could,” said Morgan, who admitted he’s waiting on parts to arrive at his Newark, Ohio shop.

“Not engine parts, that is done and boy we are excited about that engine,” he continued. “I can tell you this engine on the dyno is stronger than the Dodge.”

Johnson will be out to showcase a Dodge Avenger that he says is already an improvement over the Stratus before turning a tire under power.

“We are real excited. Everyone is talking about how sleek the car is,” said Johnson, adding that the new Dodge Avenger is in the wind tunnel at Chrysler this week. “We are expecting some good numbers on it.”

Johnson took delivery of the Avenger in the days leading up to the SEMA show last month. He’s sat in the car a few times since, envisioning what he will experience in those first passes.

“It’s a lot different having the four-door look,” Johnson said. “From the gauges to my eyeballs are nine-inches in difference. It’s that much further away from me just because of the way the body is mounted on the car. I feel like I am sitting in the back seat, so I am going to have to get used to that.

“The car is more -- straight up and down on the sides. I think at the bottom of the A-Pillar is where the big difference is in it and other cars. The Stratus was about five inches wider at that part. We feel that really hurts us. That was a bigger package poking a hole through the air right there. The Avenger is more in line with the GXP, Cobalt and Mustang.”

And that’s what Johnson hopes to prove when he tests along with Morgan, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Rodger Brogdon and a few more during the week after the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Orlando, Fla., next week.

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