JOHNSON SCORES TENTH 2012 NO. 1 QUALIFIER

The enormity of scoring his 28th career No. 1 qualifying position was not lost on Pro Stock veteran driver Allen Johnson.

The reality of winning the top spot in the Pro Stock division at the AAA Texas Nationals left him feeling a bit sentimental.

“I can remember my first like it was yesterday,” said Johnson, whose first came in Columbus, Ohio in 2006. “I wondered if I would get another one after that. It’s been a great year for the Mopar Dodge Avenger; qualifying number one 10 times and four wins. Hopefully we can add a few more here this season. We’re hitting on all cylinders. We have a very consistent strategy right now. We are just trying to make good, clean and safe runs. We’re not pushing it and it is still coming out right.

“Hopefully, we can take the strategy and go through eliminations tomorrow. If we need a little more, we can still push the envelope a little bit. It’s a good feeling.”

Johnson’s 6.550 run at 211.99 miles per hour held through a tough second day of qualifying.

With four races remaining after this weekend, Johnson isn’t counting points yet, nor is he abandoning the game plan which brought him to the dance.

“My strategy as a driver through this Countdown is to focus on racing one round at a time,” said Johnson. “I just need to race myself. I challenge myself to have .020 lights, at the worst. That was my strategy and I’m not going to pay attention to who is in the other lane. I’m going to race myself and just try to stay consistent.”

Johnson's first round in Sunday’s eliminations at the Texas Motorplex is against No. 16-seeded Warren Johnson, a cagey veteran of the Pro Stock wars.

“Warren has been an idol all of my life and we have raced a bunch of times,” said Johnson, who estimates they’ve raced 50 times in the last 17 seasons. “He’s probably got the winning record. It’s always good to race him, he’s a good racer.”

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