Pro Stock champion Johnson to retire at season's end

NHRA 2012 Pro Stock world champion Allen Johnson will retire from Pro Stock competition at the end of this season.

"It's been an amazing run for my dad [Roy] and I, but it just felt like now was the right time to step away from the Pro Stock chapter of our careers," Johnson said Friday at the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. "We've celebrated an NHRA world championship, captured wins at historic tracks like Gainesville, Pomona and Bandimere, and basically lived our dream for 22 years. We couldn't have done it without the help and hard work of our J&J Racing team members over the years.

Johnson has 27 NHRA national event wins, ninth in Pro Stock class history. His 37 No. 1 qualifier spots rank sixth all-time in Pro Stock and are tied for 22nd overall in NHRA history. Johnson, whose father Roy builds his engines, has raced to 59 final rounds in 497 races during his 22-year career — all in a Mopar Hemi-powered Dodge Pro Stock machine.

Johnson sits ninth in the Pro Stock standings and hopes to lock up a top-10 spot this weekend at the U.S. Nationals to secure his berth in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs for an 11th consecutive season. He has never missed the postseason dating back to 2007, when NHRA first adopted the playoff format.