Give Joey Saldana this: The Mopar-powered World of Outlaws Sprint Series driver sure knows how to put on a show! Saldana, of Brownsburg, Ind., steered Kasey Kahne Racing's No. 9 Open Joist-sponsored car to victory in Friday night's WoO Sprint Car feature, and did so in grand style, taking a late lead after stalking leader Jac Haudenschild for the first two-thirds of the event. Earlier in the evening, Saldana also triumphed in his qualifying heat. It was the opening program of a two-night stand at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.

This was Saldana's first WoO feature win of 2007-padding his career total with the premier Sprint Car series to 23-but it was not his first score of the season. In February, Joey gunned his Mopar to victory in an All Star Circuit of Champions event at Florida's Volusia Raceway Park.

Saldana was fast again on Saturday night at the Thunderbowl, setting the second quickest qualifying time and notching another heat race victory. In the feature, he seemed a lock for a top-five finish, before late contact with another competitor damaged the KKR No.9 and relegated him to 17th.

Next up for Saldana's Mopar team and their fellow Outlaws: an Arizona swing on March 2-3, with a Friday night event at USA Race Park in Tucson and a Saturday visit to the "Cactus Classic" at historic Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix. For more info about the World of Outlaws Sprint Series, log on to theworldofoutlaws.com.

Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T driver Ron Capps led the charge for Team Mopar at this past weekend's Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Phoenix, grabbing two round wins, advancing to the semis and moving to fourth in the Funny Car points standings.

Capps first defeated 14-time Funny Car champion John Force in the opening stanza by a mere three feet in a dramatic match-up. Tim Wilkerson was Capps' next opponent, and the Carlsbad, Calif., resident handily dismissed him with a 4.766/318.69 run. Capps then faced Robert Hight in the semifinal round, in what should have been a stellar race between two of the hottest series' drivers. It turned into an easy victory for Hight, as Capps was disqualified for fouling out after he experienced his first-ever red-light.

Gary Scelzi and Jack Beckman, Team Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing teammates to Capps, will turn their gaze to Gainesville after first round Phoenix exits. Scelzi, winner of the season-opening event at Pomona, qualified his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T third, but lost in his first round match versus Gary Densham. Beckman seeded his Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger R/T ninth and came up short in a pedaling match against Eric Medlen, after both cars experienced traction problems. The race was only Beckman's seventh in Funny Car, as the DSR driver, who debuted last year with one win and two finals in only five events, continues to gain experience. Scelzi is now third in the Funny Car standings, with Beckman tenth.

Four-time Funny Car and two-time Top Fuel champ Kenny Bernstein continues to shake out the bugs in his Monster Energy/Lucas Oil Dodge Charger R/T. In his return to Funny Car, Bernstein will look to qualify for his first Funny Car field in 2007 at the next event, the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., set for March 15-18. For more info on the NHRA, log on to nhra.com.

In a weekend that saw the thoughts of Team Mopar and the drag racing community focused on the health of J & J Racing's Roy Johnson (see News section), Erica Enders paced Mopar's Hemi-powered Pro Stock contingent, scoring a semifinals appearance at the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Phoenix.

Enders qualified a strong third in her RaceGirl Dodge Stratus R/T, and then defeated the Mopar-powered Pro Stock car of teammate Rodger Brogdon. She then bested Mike Edwards in a quarterfinals match, before losing in the semis to event winner Kurt Johnson. The outing was Ender's first semifinal appearance since the Houston event last year.

Like Enders, Richie Stevens Jr. made much Hemi power during qualifying, putting his Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T in the second spot. In eliminations, Stevens sent a Mopar-powered car to the trailer in the first round, handing a loss to V. Gaines and his Kendall Oil Dodge Stratus R/T team. Unfortunately, just as Enders, Stevens couldn't get past Kurt Johnson, and he lost to the Phoenix winner in the quarterfinals.

For the first time in 42 events, Allen Johnson failed to qualify his Team Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T for the Pro Stock field. Racing quickly took a backseat, however, after Allen's father and crew chief, Roy Johnson, suffered a heart attack following qualifying on Saturday. With his father recovering nicely in a local hospital, Allen returned to the track on Sunday to help with Stevens' Dodge Stratus R/T, which is tuned by Allen and Roy.

The Team Mopar Pro Stock pilots will look to gain their first win of the season at Gainesville, Fla., in the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, the next stop on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, scheduled for March 15-18. For more info on the NHRA, log on to nhra.com.

Roy Johnson, father and co-crew chief of veteran Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, suffered an apparent heart attack Saturday at Firebird Int'l Raceway, following the conclusion of Pro qualifying for the 23rd annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals.

He was transported to Chandler Regional Hospital for evaluation, where, after suffering an apparent second attack, he successfully underwent surgery, according to team representatives. He is now reported to be resting comfortably in recovery.

As a driver, the senior Johnson scored two national event wins in six final-round appearances in Comp eliminator in the 1980s. His most successful season was 1983, where he scored back-to-back wins at the Cajun Nationals in Baton Rouge, La., and the NHRA SPORTSnationals in Indianapolis. Roy Johnson is the crew chief for the Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stockers of his son and Richie Stevens Jr. Allen Johnson failed to qualify at the event, but Stevens qualified No. 2, with a 6.64, and advanced to the quarterfinals.

"We left the hospital last night," said Stevens, "and [Roy] said, 'Go four rounds and do the best you can.' We did the best we could, and we just got a gremlin in there somewhere that didn't want us to go to the next round."

For updates on Johnson's condition, check out future editions of Mopar Speed.

Kevin Swindell's view of the world will be a little bit different during the 2007 racing season. See, the 18-year-old Team Mopar and Kasey Kahne Racing driver cut most of his formative laps with an aerodynamic wing overhead, but this year Swindell's racing will be of the "topless" variety. That's short-track parlance for the non-winged style of competition he will see as a driver for the Mopar-powered Sprint and Midget cars fielded by Kasey Kahne Racing on the United States Auto Club (USAC) circuit.

Kevin was racing go-karts at the age of five, even before he could ride a bicycle. Perhaps that was destiny: he is the son of Sammy Swindell, three-time World of Outlaws (WoO) series champion and a living legend in dirt-track Sprint Car racing. The younger Swindell began making his own mark on the American motorsports landscape. First came success on the karting scene, and then Quarter Midgets; Kevin was winning big by age 10. His next move was into winged Mini-Sprints, which served as "prep school" for the real thing: full-sized race cars.

In 2005, Kevin's coming-of-age season, he scored five feature wins and nine total top-five finishes, and he set numerous track qualifying records, in just 10 starts, with the United Sprint Car Club (USCC). In 2006, Swindell, then 17, placed himself in the record books as the youngest driver to capture a World of Outlaws victory, this occurring at the Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Swindell branched into stock car racing in '06, making his first exploratory steps with the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series. Swindell is also a development driver for Evernham Motorsports, the Dodge-sponsored NASCAR powerhouse.

Swindell, along with young KKR teammates Brady Bacon and Bryan Clauson, will kick off the 2007 USAC National Sprint Car Series season on March 31 at Ohio's historic Eldora Speedway. For more info on the USAC National Sprint Car Series, log on to www.usacracing.com.