(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (March 24, 2015) – Chase Johnson is looking forward to a pair of smaller tracks this weekend as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series continues to tour California.
Johnson will pilot a 410ci sprint car owned by Shawn and Cindy Thomas on Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Mini Gold Cup and on Sunday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif., with the premier sprint car series.
“I think I’m going to be more comfortable on the smaller tracks,” Johnson said. “Chico is a track I grew up racing on and last year we raced there quite a bit. I’m excited to go back there, especially with the Outlaws. I think the shorter tracks will be more beneficial to our team than the bigger tracks.”
Johnson is coming off a frustrating outing with the World of Outlaws at Stockton Dirt Track where he faced an uphill battle all weekend.
“We struggled quite a bit last Saturday,” he said. “We left the setup in we had working with us in Tulare (from the weekend before) and we thought we had found something to try at Stockton. Unfortunately that wasn’t the fastest or the best. We were chasing the car all night. I didn’t feel comfortable in it and it was an animal to handle. The crew was throwing everything they had at it trying to get it comfortable for me and to get us fast.”
Johnson qualified 36th quickest, which lined him up on the inside of the fifth row of a heat race.
“With qualifying that far back it makes it difficult to go anywhere,” he said. “We got it figured out in the heat race. It was a lot better.”
Johnson maneuvered from ninth to sixth place in his heat, which missed a lock-in position to the feature by only one spot. That relegated him to the Last Chance Showdown, which he started 16th.
“When we went back out for the B Main we started so far back and the car was a handful again,” he said.
Johnson advanced to a 13th-place result to end his night.
The team returned to Stockton Dirt Track on Sunday and decided to try from square one with the setup. Unfortunately, mechanical issues plagued Johnson early.
“The magneto went bad in hot laps,” he said. “We changed the box for hot laps and it ran for about two laps and then it shut off. We spent some time after that getting it fixed. It’d fire, but shut right off. We had a spare magneto, but it wasn’t set up correctly for the motor. We weren’t able to make qualifying so we decided to play it safe.”
The team elected to scratch from the remainder of the night to not jeopardize hurting the engine.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 21 – Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif. – Qualifying: 36; Heat race: 6 (9); B Main: 13 (16).
SEASON STATS –
5 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 top 15s, 0 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Mini Gold Cup and Sunday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif., with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
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 – Shifty Illusions
Shifty Illusions is a custom paint business based in Bakersfield, Calif. Shifty Illusions specializes in helmets and goalie masks. For more information, visit http://www.ShiftyIll.com.
“I can’t thank Shifty Illusions enough for giving me a great looking helmet that is a tribute to Marcus Johnson and Dale Wondergem,” Johnson said. “I’m really thankful for all that he’s helped us with. Shifty Illusions isn’t expensive and makes everything look great. He’s very talented.”
Johnson would also like to thank Johnny Franklin’s Mufflers, Newman Freeman Racing, PitStopUSA.com, Napa Auto Parts, Flowmaster, Don’s Truck Repair, VSR, Fast Lube Plus, K&N Filters, Oroville Cycle, I-Wear Graphix, Driven Raceway, 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 by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Mar 24, 2015
- Article Date: 3/24/2015 by Inside Line Promotions