(Photo Courtesy of Chase Johnson Racing)
Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2014) – Chase Johnson captured his first victory of the season in impressive fashion last Saturday.
Johnson charged from 14th to garner a nonwing micro sprint victory at Petaluma Speedway, where he also finished with a sixth-place result in the wingless sprint car class during Driven Raceway night.
“It definitely felt good,” he said. “It helped get the monkey off my back. I felt back at home in Victory Lane.”
Johnson got off to a rough start piloting the micro sprint for Steve Kaiser. After charging from eighth to second place in his heat race, Johnson was unable to finish because of a clutch issue during the closing laps.
“We made some great moves and I think we were sitting second and then the clutch went out right after a yellow flag with three laps remaining,” he said. “The team was able to scramble to get parts and rebuild the clutch before the feature.”
Johnson immediately charged toward the front after lining up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.
“I survived through quite a bit,” he said. “For how big that track is for the micro sprint, everybody gets spread out and is the same speed. I wasn’t sure how many positions we would get. I picked off most of them on restarts and we were sitting third for a while. We had a really good battle for the lead and (the leader) ended up getting into my left rear after I threw him a slider. It was really exciting and had the crowd on their feet.”
Johnson took the lead with three laps to go en route to the victory.
He also had a solid performance in the Scott Dupont owned wingless sprint car.
“I was interested to see how I’d do with the transition back to a wingless car,” Johnson said. “That was only my third time driving a wingless car. We hit it right out of the gate.”
He qualified second quickest and advanced from sixth to fifth place in his heat race, which was only one position out of earning a spot in the dash. Instead, it lined Johnson up ninth for the main event.
“The car was a little on the tight side and the track was hooked up and heavy, which made it hard to make moves in traffic,” he said. “We were able to make some moves and gain some positions to get up to sixth. It was definitely a good night.”
The sixth-place finish marked Johnson’s 13th top 10 of the season.
“Hopefully we can keep that momentum going,” he said. “I really want to get a sprint car win. I’d like to get that one checked off the list before the season is over with.”
He is scheduled to compete for four consecutive nights Sept. 3-6 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
Johnson made his 410ci sprint car debut at the quarter-mile track last Friday driving for Shawn and Cindy Thomas. Unfortunately, engine woes forced the team to end the night after he timed in 14th quickest during qualifying.
“I really want to thank Shawn and Cindy Thomas as well as Scott Dupont and Steve Kaiser for the opportunities,” Johnson said. “They all gave me great, fast cars and it is a blessing to drive for such great people.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 23 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. (Wingless sprint) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 5 (6); Feature: 6 (9).
Aug. 23 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. (Micro sprint) – Heat race: DNF (8); Feature: 1 (14).
SEASON STATS –
34 races, 1 win, 6 top fives, 13 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 26 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sept. 3-6 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
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 – Driven Raceway
With locations in Fairfield and Rohnert Park, Driven Raceway is Northern California’s premier indoor go-kart track and family entertainment facility. For more information, visit http://www.DrivenRaceway.com.
“It’s an indoor go-karting place with electronic karts, a great mini golf course, bowling alley and fun arcade games,” Johnson said. “I love it there and go almost every month. It helps me keep up on my skills. I’m really thankful for the partnership with Driven Raceway and I look forward to the future together. The next time you go to Driven Raceway tell them Chase sent you.”
Johnson would also like to thank Newman Freeman Racing, 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, I-Wear Graphix, Nor-Cal Transmission, Justin Henry Racing and Chevron Pro-Gas 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 Aug 25, 2014
- Article Date: 8/25/2014 by Inside Line Promotions