“Our Mopar crew is on top of the world right now,” said Johnson. “We were just so strong and consistent all weekend. I’ve been talking about consistency all season and it’s really paying off now. The HEMI engines that we build are putting out plenty of power, and we have a great set-up on our Mopar Dodge Avenger.”

Johnson earned the 21st No. 1 Qualifier award of his career on Friday, May 18, with a pass of 6.618/207.85, which established a new track elapsed-time record and track speed record at Heartland Park Topeka. The second-generation driver has topped the charts in qualifying three times this season, and has been among the six-fastest drivers in qualifying in all eight events.

Johnson has now advanced to at least the semifinals in five consecutive races and is currently third in points, just 39 markers out of the second spot, as he chases his first career Pro Stock title.

“We’ve been after the two guys ahead of us (Anderson and Jason Line) for the last few races and finally got the win and gave them a run for the money," said Johnson. “This Pro Stock battle for the rest of the year will be a knock-down drag out.”

Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team continued their strong 2012 campaign on Sunday, scoring a runner-up finish. Starting from the second position, he defeated Richard Freeman, Vincent Nobile and teammate Jason Line in the early rounds before squaring off against Johnson in the final round.

Although he was able to gain the advantage at the start with a near-perfect .004 reaction time, Anderson’s hopes for a fifth Topeka win were quickly shattered by severe tire shake, which found him fighting to maintain control of his race car, with the resulting 6.696-second, 210.21 mph run allowing his opponent to use a 6.587-second, 210.54 mph pass to get around him for the win.

“My Summit Racing Pontiac made seven of the best runs it’s made this season, but we needed eight,” said Anderson. “From the moment we rolled it off the trailer, it ran great, and we never lost the tune-up, giving me the best hot rod I’ve had all year. Unfortunately, we made a minor mistake in the final round, missing on the starting line and it shook the tires almost immediately. Naturally, we’re kicking ourselves for giving one away like that, but it was still a great weekend, and we’re very proud of everything that happened. We just picked the wrong time to make a bad run.”

As they plan to switch to a new Chevrolet Camaro for the next NHRA national event in Englishtown, Anderson and the KB Racing crew had hoped to give their venerable Pontiac GXP a proper sendoff at Heartland Park Topeka.

“Even though we didn’t win, we still had a lot of bright spots here in Topeka,” said Anderson. “This entire KB Racing team did a great job all weekend, with both Jason and I qualifying in the top three, getting both cars running well and making it to the semifinals today. In fact, up until the final, it was just about perfect, so we can’t leave here too unhappy. Besides, we’re heading back to North Carolina to work on our new cars.

“I am absolutely looking forward to getting our Summit Camaros on the racetrack. Although it would have been really cool to retire this Pontiac in the winner’s circle, whether we won today or not was not going to change our decision to switch to the Camaro. The good news is that this GXP went out in style and now it’s time to move on to the next chapter, which we are all really excited about. I can’t wait to get back home so we can start testing the new car, getting ready to roll her into the staging lanes in Englishtown.”