(Photo by Malcolm White Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – RAPID CITY, S.D. (July 28, 2015) – Johnny Herrera continued recent momentum last week during a pair of Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour events.
Herrera posted his third win in the past five races and extended his streak of top-four finishes to seven in a row thanks to two great efforts in Wyoming and South Dakota.
“We started running good the whole West Coast swing and we’ve carried it,” he said. “It’s a good time of the year to get momentum rolling. I might not be the fastest guy at the start of the race, but I’ll be there at the end.”
The scary part for his competitors is that there is room for improvement.
“I need to be better at the start of each race,” he said. “We’re just missing a little bit, but we’re on a new program with our car. It’s just trying to get that perfected.”
Herrera was on point last Wednesday at Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, Wyo., where he won his heat race to earn a spot in the feature redraw. He then pulled the second highest number – seven – during the random redraw to start the main event on the inside of the fourth row.
“We weren’t too bad,” he said. “We definitely needed to do more work on our race car. I wasn’t real good at the start of the race and gave up too much time. By the end we were the same speed as the two up front, but I gave up too much time early. I was a little snug at the start of the race. As the race went on and the track freed up and the fuel came off the car we got better.”
Herrera advanced from seventh to a third-place result.
The momentum carried over into Friday’s event at Black Hills Speedway, where Herrera maneuvered from sixth to second place during a heat race. That earned him enough points to make the feature redraw and this time he pulled the No. 1 to garner the pole position.
“Usually it doesn’t seem like I can draw better than a five, but momentum is on our side,” he said. “We had a good car there, but we weren’t the best race car. We should have run second in all reality. We just didn’t have the race car underneath us. Sometimes other people’s misfortune is your reward.”
Herrera led the first 10 laps before being stalled in dramatically slower traffic, which allowed another driver to take the lead.
“It was two and three wide,” Herrera said. “The closing rate was so fast on some of those guys. When you get on a half mile like that it seems to be multiplied. It was pretty sketchy at times.”
Herrera maintained the runner-up position until the leader began to slow with an apparent mechanical problem with three laps remaining. Herrera reclaimed the lead on the backstretch and pulled away to his 13th career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour triumph during his 200th career start with the series.
He is slated to compete this Thursday and Friday at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 22 – Gillette Thunder Speedway in Gillette, Wyo. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 3 (7).
July 24 – Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D. – Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
29 races, 5 wins, 17 top fives, 23 top 10s, 26 top 15s, 27 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday and Friday at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb., with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.JohnnyHerreraRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnnyHerrera2
LIVE COVERAGE –
To keep up to speed with Herrera at every Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event, visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio. Additionally, RacinBoys will provide live Pay-Per-View video at select races.
APPAREL –
Herrera has t-shirts available for sale at his race trailer and at http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com/shopping.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT –
“We have a great group of people behind our team who I can’t thank enough,” Herrera said. “From the money sponsors to the products sponsors and everyone in between I’m grateful for your support.”
Herrera would also like to thank Mesilla Valley Transportation, Champion Brands, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Competition Suspension Inc., Print Place, FK Rod Ends, Hoosier Racing Tire, Schoenfeld Headers, Maxim Chassis, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Simpson Race Products, Outlaw Wings, Bevins, Weld Wheels, Finish Line Coatings, Semi-Crazy Truck Wash and Smiley’s Racing Products 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 Jul 28, 2015
- Article Date: 7/28/2015 by Inside Line Promotions