A lone victory is rarely a big deal for a driver that has 26 career NHRA Pro Stock victories and a world championship already on his resume, but for veteran driver Allen Johnson, his win on Sunday in Denver was reason to party like it was 1999 (that’s the year he captured his first NHRA Wally trophy).

Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Johnson, like the rest of the Pro Stock class, has played second-fiddle to the duo of Greg Anderson and Jason Line all season long — the two KB Racing drivers have swept up every race victory this season — but Johnson has arguably been the class’ best non-KB-powered driver, advancing to the final round at Epping and visiting the semifinals three other times. He’s been fourth in the points standings for the last seven races, behind the three KB Racing cars.

Johnson has certainly been close, but his team has struggled to find the combination in the EFI era to consistently challenge Anderson, Line, and Bo Butner for wins on race day. But there was no race on the schedule that Johnson wanted to break through — or was more likely to break through — at than at Bandimere Speedway. The race, title sponsored by his longtime backer, Mopar, has been his personal playground for the last decade — he’s won there seven times in ten straight final round appearances.

While unlikely given his 10th starting position in the field, Johnson methodically worked his way through each round, with a little luck along the way, defeating Anderson in a pivotal semifinal bout and Vincent Nobile in the finale with his best run of the weekend.

“In qualifying, we had a lot of bad luck. “I wouldn’t have given ourselves a one-percent chance to win this thing today. You know what, this team dug down deep, and we got a little better every run. We just hung right in there, and maybe we had a break or two. The magic up here is just on our side for some reason. We’ve done it for Mopar all these years, and now we get to do it for Marathon, and Mopar is still with us also, so we’ve got dual partnership there. It feels twice as good.”

Johnson’s victory was also the culmination of months of development work between he and father, Roy, and the team at Wilson Manifolds. The Johnson’s announced a partnership with the Florida-based manufacturer earlier this season to collaborate on the intake manifold designs for their Chrysler HEMI powerplants, now equipped with electronic fuel injection for the first time.

“We brought some new Wilson Manifolds hardware on this weekend and they sure were a reason for our big win today because of the development they put in it for us, and it’s really paying off. We couldn’t do it without Wilson Manifolds,” Johnson said.

Photo courtesy Wilson Manifolds

Johnson’s triumph on the mountain — his mountain — was no doubt a personal victory, as he overcame the offseason loss of his primary sponsor, the prospect of sitting on the sidelines for the first time in two decades, and early season performance struggles. But it was also a small victory for the class, illustrating the first true example of parity in the category since the NHRA turned it on its head with fuel injection, RPM limiters, flat hoods, and shorter wheelie bars.

“It feels good,” Johnson said of ending KB Racing’s win streak. “I’m sure I’m speaking for everybody else in the pits; to break that juggernaut is big. Jason shot himself in the foot right there in the semis, or he may have been something to deal with there in the finals. Like I said, we might have got a break or two along the way. That’s that Mountain magic. Our streak [at the Mopar Mile-High Nationals], breaking the KB streak – it’s good for the class, good for the fans, good for TV, and good for NHRA.”