Johnson qualified No. 1 for the second straight year at his primary sponsor Mopar’s headline event and faced Steve Kalkowski in the opening round. Johnson posted a 6.962-second ET at 198.06 mph to beat Kalkowski, which was low ET of the weekend — until the Team Mopar veteran set the Bandimere ET track record with a 6.955 run paired with a 198.15 speed to knock off defending Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson.
Looking for this third straight Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals win, Johnson bested Kurt Johnson in the semifinals with a 6.988/197.48 pass to advance to the 23rd final round of his career and sixth at the Mopar Mile-Highs. Without lane choice in the final round against Edwards, the Mopar HEMI-powered racer would see his quest for four wins in the last five years end with a red-light foul off the starting line. Johnson’s stellar runner-up weekend at Denver moved the Greeneville, Tenn., native to sixth in the standings, just four markers out of fifth place.

“The whole Mopar/J&J Racing team was strong, and we have to be happy with our performance,” said Johnson, who joined NHRA legend Lee Shepherd as the only Pro Stock drivers to advance to five consecutive final rounds at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

“One little boo-boo all weekend, in the semis, and it cost us lane choice and the race. But five straight finals, three wins in five years – I just love coming to the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.”

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

After finishing runner-up three times this season, Karen Stoffer is finally Queen of the Mountain.

Stoffer and the GEICO Suzuki knocked out Shawn Gann, Gerald Savoie, Eddie Krawiec and Michael Phillips on the way to victory at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

"Hats off to the GEICO Powersports crew," Stoffer said. "We've been struggling with mechanical problems the last few races. This is a tough mountain to come to and race, and to get where with mechanical problems on top of it is very trying. They did a great job, diagnosed everything, and gave me such a phenomenal bike for Saturday and Sunday. Now here we are!"

It's her first win of the season in four Pro Stock Motorcycle final rounds and her first since the Atlanta race in 2007.

"I was hoping everybody would forget that count but it kept coming up over and over again," Stoffer said. "But you know what? Patience, fortitude. This is a tough sport. There are awesome teams out there. We knew we had a good team, we just had to work through a lot of issues. Patience, strength, tenacity – that's what the GEICO team's about.

"I was really not thinking about how long it's been. Our focus has been on consistency, not the numbers, not the points, not the win lights, but just being consistent. And you know what? We've been able to achieve that, and that's props to the team and the bike they give me."