(Photo by Action Captured Images)
Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (Sept. 3, 2019) – Chase Johnson bounced back in a big way on Monday during the midpoint of the California Sprint Week with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series.
Johnson guided the Shawn and Cyndi Thomas owned non-wing sprint car to a feature victory at his home track of Petaluma Speedway thanks to a late-race pass. It marked his second career series triumph and eighth overall win of the season. More importantly, the trip to Victory Lane was much needed after a tough start to the holiday weekend.
“We had great speed every time we hit the track in both types of cars we were in during the Louie Vermeil Classic, but we didn’t have luck at the end of the night at Calistoga,” he said. “Some things always seemed to go wrong out of our control. For it to come together like it did at Petaluma was a great cap to Labor Day Weekend.”
Johnson did double duty during both nights at Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif., where he raced a 410ci winged sprint car during King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series action and a non-wing 410ci sprint car during AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series competition.
He led the first 28 laps of the 30-lap winged main event on Saturday before fading to a 10th-place result after running out of fuel.
“We led everything but the last two laps,” he said. “On the restart with three laps to go it sputtered every now and again. We were able to hold on a decent amount, but it kept getting worse. I was completely topped off before the race. There was fuel overrunning because they overfilled it on accident. Being in clean air you punch a hole in the air for everyone else so your engine is having to work harder.
“It was really heart breaking. Wins at Calistoga don’t come very often because we don’t race there very much. You have to put yourself in a great position. We did all the right things and to have something like that happen was a really big bummer.”
Johnson also faced misfortune during the non-wing main event as his race ended with a DNF after contact while battling for third place.
The team broke a rear end in the winged heat race on Sunday, ending the night early. Johnson also ran into a flat tire during the non-wing main event.
“I was pacing myself early,” he said. “We got by a couple of guys to get up to third. I felt like our car was coming to life and we’d have a chance at getting further up to the front. We got a flat right rear tire on a restart. I think at that time we had 10 laps to go. We climbed back to ninth so it was a good rebound.”
Monday seemed like another night filled with frustration. Johnson set quick time during qualifying only to not be able to finish his heat race.
“The car biked up in turns one and two,” he said. “I set it down and it broke the left rear shock and left rear wheel. With the non-wing cars they’re easy to get close to being upside down. Luckily we didn’t get upside down, but we were unable to make the top-six feature redraw.”
Johnson started seventh in the A Main.
“I didn’t feel like we had a good chance of winning or running toward the front of the field,” he said. “The track wasn’t in my comfort zone. It was really rough and hooked up. The first 10 laps I held my own and tried to figure out my car, really just trying to survive. As the race went on I figured if I wanted to get toward the front I had to try a different line I wasn’t really comfortable with. I started picking off guys here and there. The car also came to us as the race went on.”
Johnson powered into the lead with three laps remaining en route to the big win, which was his fifth of the season at Petaluma Speedway.
Next up Johnson will climb into his 360ci winged sprint car on Wednesday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., before wrapping up California Sprint Week with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series on Friday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., and Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 31 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. (winged sprint car) – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 10 (1).
Aug. 31 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. (non-wing sprint car) – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: DNF (3).
Sept. 1 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. (winged sprint car) – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 4 (3); Feature: DNS (24).
Sept. 1 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. (non-wing sprint car) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 9 (5).
Sept. 2 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: DNF (6); Feature: 1 (7).
UP NEXT –
Wednesday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.; Friday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., and Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif., for California Sprint Week with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA 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 t-shirts and hoodies for sale at his race trailer at every race he competes in this season. T-shirts are $25 each and hoodies are $35 apiece.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Fire Suppression Engineering
Fire Suppression Engineering is a new fire extinguisher and suppression business, which is based in North Carolina.
“We are excited to welcome aboard Fire Suppression Engineering,” Johnson said. “They have a great vision and we are looking forward to sharing their vision as well as helping them grow.”
Johnson would also like to thank Johnny Franklin’s Mufflers, PitStopUSA.com, Newman Freeman Racing, Flowmaster, Woodland Napa Auto Parts, VanLare Steering Repair, Wesmar Racing Engines, Wings Unlimited, Schoenfeld Headers, Bell Helmets, LRB Race Products, Champion Machine, Swift Metal Finishing 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 Sep 03, 2019
- Article Date: 9/3/2019 by Inside Line Promotions