Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (June 29, 2014) – Chase Johnson had a busy night Saturday at Petaluma Speedway, where he did double duty by making his 410ci nonwing sprint car debut as well as competing in the nonwing micro sprint class.
“It was a great night overall,” he said. “I had a lot of fun. Besides our main event results, everything went well. I learned a bunch in the nonwing 410 car. I can’t thank Steve Kaiser and Shawn and Cindy Thomas enough for the opportunities.”
Johnson had his best opportunity to win in Kaiser’s micro sprint. After maneuvering from fifth to second place in his heat race, Johnson lined up on the outside of the second row for the 20-lap main event.
“We ran third for the majority of the race,” he said. “The leader had issues and ended up falling back. I got around the first-place car a lap after that.”
With only a handful of laps remaining, Johnson went from third to the lead. Unfortunately, officials forced Johnson to the infield during a caution soon after he took over the top spot.
“They said I was leaking fuel and couldn’t be on the track anymore,” he said. “We went into the pits to see where it was leaking. We didn’t find anything and the race restarted before we could get back out there.”
Johnson was credited with a sixth-place result, which marked his seventh top 10 of the season.
“That was a heartbreaker,” he said. “It was a bummer, but we definitely had a fast car.”
Johnson’s nonwing sprint car debut for the Thomas’s got off to a rough start before things turned around.
“We qualified pretty bad,” he said. “I messed up both qualifying laps in turns three and four. I was driving it too straight. I was driving it like a winged car.”
Johnson qualified 18th quickest, which started him on the outside of the front row of his heat race.
“We got the early lead in the heat race,” he said. “I was trying to put together good laps. I started getting really comfortable in the car. I was running the higher line.”
Johnson led the first half of his heat race before two drivers maneuvered by him on the bottom groove. Johnson moved down to that lane and held on for a third-place finish to transfer into the main event, which he started on the outside of the ninth row.
However, Johnson barely completed one lap in the feature before his night ended with a crash and a 22nd-place result.
“That was just bad luck,” he said. “We were coming to get to the second lap. Coming onto the frontstretch I was at the top and I’m not sure what the other driver was doing. He ended up putting his right side of the car into our front end and knocked it out. I was a sitting duck in the middle of the track.”
This week Johnson returns to winged sprint car racing during the ASCS Northwest Region Speedweek, which begins on Sunday at Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka, Calif. The remaining Speedweek events are: Monday at Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, Ore.; Tuesday at Coos Bay Speedway in Coos Bay, Ore.; Wednesday at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.; and Friday and Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 28 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. (nonwing sprint car) – Qualifying: 18; Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 22 (18).
June 28 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. (nonwing micro sprint) – Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: 6 (4).
SEASON STATS –
16 races, 0 wins, 5 top fives, 7 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 13 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sunday at Siskiyou Motor Speedway in Yreka, Calif.; Monday at Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, Ore.; Tuesday at Coos Bay Speedway in Coos Bay, Ore.; Wednesday at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.; and Friday and Saturday at Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., for the ASCS Northwest Region Speedweek
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.ChaseJohnsonRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChaseJohnson24
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Chase.Johnson.Racing1
APPAREL –
Johnson has new red, black or gray t-shirts and hoodies for sale at his race trailer at every race he competes in this season. T-shirts are $20 each and hoodies are $35 apiece.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Newman Freeman Racing
During the 1976 auto racing season, actor Paul Newman became interested in forming a professional auto racing team and contacted Bill Freeman from Santa Barbara. Freeman is credited as the man who introduced Newman to professional auto racing management and their company specialized in Can-Am, Indy Cars and other high performance racing automobiles.
“The reason Paul Newman got into racing was because of a guy named Bill Freeman,” Johnson said. “Bill hasn’t really been involved in racing since Paul’s death so we really appreciate his support and partnership.”
Johnson would also like to thank Johnny Franklin’s Mufflers, PitStopUSA.com, Shifty Illusions, Napa Auto Parts, Flowmaster, Don’s Truck Repair, VSR, Fast Lube Plus, K&N Filters, Oroville Cycle and I-Wear Graphix for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 29, 2014
- Article Date: 6/29/2014 by Inside Line Promotions