Marathon Petroleum’s Allen Johnson Primed for Return to Victory Lane at New England Nationals GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (May 30, 2017) – Marathon Petroleum Corporation/J&J Racing Dodge Dart driver Allen Johnson is heading back to New England Dragway this weekend. The Epping, New Hampshire-based track has brought much success for Johnson; he has been in the final round three times since the inaugural event in 2013. Johnson drove his way to the winner circle at the inaugural event in 2013 and returned to the final round two more times in 2015 and 2016. “We always enjoy coming back to Epping,” Johnson said. “The area around the track kind of reminds me of the mountains where I live so I feel at home

Team Marathon Petroleum Makes Big Jump in Performance in Topeka, Hopeful About Upcoming Four-In-A-Row TOPEKA, Kans. (May 21, 2017) – Allen Johnson drove his Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart to the quarterfinals on raceday at the 29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals. No. 10 Johnson had a first round matchup against No. 5 Matt Hartford. Only two hundredths apart between their qualifying positions, Johnson knew if he could do his job at the starting line, there was a very good chance at inking his 451st round win of his career. In first round, Johnson was .029 on the tree and had over four hundredths on Hartford at the launch. Johnson crossed the stripe at Heartland Park T

TOPEKA, Kans. (May 20, 2017) – Allen Johnson powered the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart to the No. 10 position after three rounds of qualifying at the 29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals. On Friday, it was all but considered a wash-out as Mother Nature lingered overhead with dark clouds and persistent rain all throughout the afternoon. With a brief break in the storms, the NHRA Safety Safari was able to dry the track in record time and Pro Stock was able to make one run. Johnson crossed the finish line at Heartland Park Topeka with a 6.697-second pass at 206.13 mph. Saturday’s weather presented a different set of challenges for the Marathon Petroleum team. The Adam H

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (May 16, 2017) – If there was one word to describe Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing driver Allen Johnson’s season, it’d be progress. He is hoping to take that progress and ink his first victory of the season at this weekend’s 29th annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka. “It’s getting to the part of the season where it’s very important to do well,” Johnson said. “We’ve made a few more gains this past week on the dyno so we’re hoping our performance may be just a little better than it was in Atlanta. It’d be nice to get lane choice for first round and start winning some rounds.” In the eighth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Serie

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7, 2017) – In his second race of 2017, Australian Pro Stock racer Shane Tucker came into raceday No. 13 at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals. Although that No. 13 seed was his best qualifying position of his season, Tucker fell in the first round of eliminations. First round, Tucker took on Pro Stock World Champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. Tucker and the Auzmet Architectural/Rob Tucker Racing team did an engine-transplant the night before eliminations in hopes of gaining an edge on Coughlin. Tucker launched in his Chevrolet Camaro and went straight down the boulevard at Atlanta Dragway but at the top end, he had to shove in the clutch because of an engine malfun

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 7, 2017) – Team Liberty Racing duo Cory Reed and Angelle Sampey qualified in the uber-competitive Pro Stock Motorcycle class at the 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals but unfortunately, both competitors fell in the first round of eliminations. Reed qualified No. 15 and raced No. 2 LE Tonglet. Reed ran his fastest pass of the weekend with a 6.922-seconds at 189.95 mph but after a red light in his lane, Tonglet’s 6.811, 195.39 advanced to the second round. “It was definitely the smoothest run we’ve made with my bike,” Team Liberty Racing team owner Reed said. “It’s a step in the right direction but I’m personally mad at myself for going that red because there’s no exc

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6, 2017) – Shane Tucker qualified his season best No. 13 this weekend at the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway despite Mother Nature’s best effort to wash away qualifying on Friday. On Friday, the Pro Stock class succumbed to the persistent rain and qualifying for the day was cancelled. With sunshine on the horizon for Saturday, the Rob Tucker and Tommy Lee-led team knew they had two chances to climb up the ladder and position themselves how they wanted. In the first session on Saturday, Tucker clocked in with a 6.752-second pass at 204.26 mph which was right on base with what they ran one week ago at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Tucke

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6, 2017) – Team Liberty Racing came into the 2017 season with one major goal in mind: qualify both bikes in every race they attend. So far this season, they’ve been able to qualify teammates Cory Reed and Angelle Sampey in all three races. On Friday, Pro Stock Motorcycle had an abbreviated qualifying round before Mother Nature took over and cancelled the festivities for the rest of the day. Before the day was cancelled, both Reed and Sampey were able to take their shot at Atlanta Dragway. Reed clocked in with a 7.004-second pass at 190.06 mph and between drizzling weather, Sampey was able to light the scoreboard on fire with a 6.904, 193.16. Sampey’s run was the last pa

COMMERCE, Ga. (May 6, 2017) – Allen Johnson and the Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart team have smiles from ear to ear after qualifying a season high No. 9 at the 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals. After qualifying got cancelled before any runs were made at Atlanta Dragway on Friday for the Pro Stock class, Johnson knew capitalizing on Saturday’s qualifying would be crucial. “When you only get two runs, you gotta be perfect in qualifying just like you have to be on raceday,” Johnson said. “You gotta be more focused.” On Saturday, the team was greeted with sunshine and no clouds in sight. On the first run, Johnson clocked in with a 6.623-second pass at 208.62 mph which put h

MANTENO, IL (May 2, 2017) – High Performance Lubricants’ (HPL) Chris McGaha took top honors last weekend at the eighth annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in the Pro Stock class. In the uniquely-formatted NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, McGaha defeated competitors like Allen Johnson, Alan Prusiensky, Vincent Nobile, Jason Line, Greg Anderson, Drew Skillman, and Shane Gray on his way to victory. “Each race we’ve won is special in its own way,” McGaha said. “My first win in Sonoma was pretty sweet and each win has its own story and honestly, I always felt like the Four-Wide in 2014 should’ve been our first win. We had a dominate car and won every quad that day until eventually it shook and we blew

CORDELE, Ga. (May 2, 2017) – Team Liberty Victory Magnum riders Cory Reed and Angelle Sampey will be racing at their new home track this weekend. The newly built Team Liberty Racing shop is located in Cordele, Georgia and is only three hours away from this weekend’s 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Atlanta Dragway is a notable track for team owner Cory Reed because this event last year was the location of his first raceday in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition after he qualified in the No. 14 position. “Atlanta is pretty cool because I qualified for my first Pro Stock race there and my dad was there to be there to see it,” Reed said. “The track can be tricky but I

STATESVILLE, N.C. (May 2, 2017) – After racing last weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, Shane Tucker and his Auzmet Architectural/Rob Tucker Racing team will travel a mere four hours down the road and compete for the first time at Atlanta Dragway for the 37th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Southern Nationals. Last weekend, Tucker qualified No. 15 and competed in his first raceday of the 2017 season. Although he did not advance out of his first round quad, Tucker was on top of his game with his driving all weekend and is hoping his skills on track will translate into win lights on Sunday in Atlanta. “The fact that we get to go straight to Atlanta after making such huge gains in Charlotte is

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (May 2, 2017) – Allen Johnson took home the win at Atlanta Dragway fifteen years ago in 2002 and he can’t think of a better time to bring his Marathon Petroleum/J&J Racing Dodge Dart all the way to the winner circle once again. The 37th annual NHRA Southern Nationals is the seventh of 24 races in the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series and as of the last two races, Johnson has found some major performance gains in their engine department. “We made some serious gains in Houston and Charlotte and I’m looking forward to going to this final race in the three-in-a-row to see what’ll happen,” Johnson said. “We’re not 100% there yet but if I had one word for last weeke

Angelle Sampey, Tommy Johnson Jr., Terry Chandler Grant Christopher’s Wish in Charlotte CONCORD, N.C. (May 2, 2017) – Angelle Sampey and Team Liberty Racing (TLR) joined Terry Chandler, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) in granting nine-year-old Christopher Michaelson’s wish of becoming a Pro Stock Motorcycle racer at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Michaelson, from Bellingham, Washington, suffers from Batten’s Disease and is visually impaired but has a deep love for NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle. Sampey and Team Liberty Racing were asked to join Chandler and the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant Michaelson’s wish and they jumped on the opportunity. For his wish, Bates Custom L

CONCORD, N.C. (May 1, 2017) – Fourteen of the top Competition Eliminator racers battled it out this weekend at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The event held at zMAX DRAGWAY was the fourth national event race for the class in 2017. In the first round, Van Puckett launched with a big holeshot over Patrick Ross but had problems down track and was forced to let off the throttle giving the win to Ross. Joe Carnasciale was victorious in his round after Anthony Mangrum went .033-seconds red. Other winners in the first round were David Rampy, Jim Kimbrough, Bruno Massel, Frank Aragona, and Anthony Bertozzi. Second round, Bruno Massel had a bye and took the tree and backed off the starting li