(Photo by Paul Arch)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 10, 2021) – Kaleb Johnson displayed speed while posting his career-best finish during the 31st annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank at Knoxville Raceway last weekend.
“Our 360 Nationals wasn’t terrible this year, but we still wished we were in the A Main on Saturday night,” said Johnson, who missed the A Main by two positions with a sixth-place finish in the B Main. “Our Saturday night ended in the B Main again like it did last year, but at least we didn’t go home with a bunch of wrecked parts. We learned more again and we should be better for it moving forward.”
The event got off to a solid start for Johnson on Thursday when he qualified fifth quickest of 43 drivers.
“Our qualifying effort was probably the brightest spot of our weekend,” he said. “We were pretty happy to qualify fifth after going out 25th. We’ve worked hard on qualifying this year and it was nice to have it pay off.”
Unfortunately, Johnson didn’t fare as well in his heat race. After starting sixth due to the six-car inversion, he missed a transfer position into the A Main by one spot when he finished fifth.
“Our heat race kind of changed our whole weekend,” he said. “I didn’t get a very good start, which continued throughout the night because our motor was stumbling on the starts. I was able to pass a car to get to fifth, but that was it.
“If I had passed one more car we would’ve been starting in the first three rows of the A Main and probably would’ve qualified for the A Main on Saturday. That shows how much difference one spot can make.”
Johnson started third in the B Main and dropped back when his engine faltered again on the start before rallying to grab the fourth-and-final transfer position into the A Main.
“The engine really didn’t take off that time and I dropped back to about eighth before we got to the first turn,” he said. “Fortunately, we were able to recover and pass enough cars to get back to the last transfer spot.
“We didn’t have much time to change anything on the car before the A Main. The race ran non-stop for 25 laps and we were able to pass some cars and finish 18th. I didn’t think that was too bad since the track was difficult to pass on.”
Johnson started fourth in Saturday night’s B Main, which transferred the top four to fill the final spots in the event’s featured race.
“We tried something different with the right rear shock on Saturday and I think it affected it a bit,” he said. “We were good in turns three and four, but I wasn’t comfortable in turns one and two and it probably affected the outcome of the race. We lost a couple of spots and finished sixth. But when you look at who finished in front of us it was pretty tough to move forward.”
Johnson will take the next two weekends off from racing before returning to Knoxville Raceway for the season championship on Aug. 28. He currently sits sixth in the 360 sprint car standings.
“We don’t have much chance of moving up in the point standings,” he said. “But we’re more concerned about getting a podium finish or maybe even a win.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 5 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 5 (6); B Main: 4 (3); Feature: 18 (24).
Aug. 7 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – B Main: 6 (4).
SEASON STATS –
26 races, 0 wins, 5 top fives, 12 top 10s, 14 top 15s, 20 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Aug. 28 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.kalebjohnsonracing.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kaleb___Johnson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KalebJohnsonRacing22
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Innovative Design/Sletten Properties
Innovative Design is an architectural firm owned by Lanny Auringer and Sletten Properties is a property owner and management company owned by Lanny and wife, Tammy. Together, they design, develop and manage the commercial and retail workspaces they lease in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“Lanny is a big-time fan and supporter of racing,” Johnson said. “We really appreciate him letting us use one of his shops. I feel extremely fortunate to have him on our team this year and I’m grateful for what he’s done to help us.”
Johnson would also like to thank Merle Johnson Farm Toys, Oddson Underground, GRP Motorsports, Innovative Design/Sletten Properties, Sea Foam, Snyder Tree Service, Guaranteed Rate-Mike Brudigan Home Loans, The Ron Weber Team, State Bank of Fairmont, Big Al’s Diecast, Dave’s Lawn Care & Landscaping, JF Capital, Last Deck, Hepfner Racing Products, Schaeffer’s Oil and TL Racing 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 Aug 10, 2021
- Article Date: 8/10/2021 by Inside Line Promotions