6/3/2019
Inside Line Promotions
Kaleb Johnson Shows Speed Before Mechanical Problems Strike at Jackson and Knoxville
(Photo by Speedway Shots)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 3, 2019) – Kaleb Johnson displayed speed before encountering mechanical woes while racing at Jackson Motorplex on Friday and at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday.
Johnson kicked off the weekend by competing in both the 305 and 360 sprint car classes at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. A solid run from fourth to second in his 305 heat race placed him third on the A Main starting grid.
“I was able to move to second at the start and stayed pretty close to the leader,” he said. “I was able to pull closer to him in traffic when he had a little trouble getting around some lapped cars.
“About 10 to 12 laps into the race he went to the inside of a lapped car and I tried to do the same thing. The lapped car kind of came down a little bit and I just barely nicked him and spun around. The engine had been getting hot and it overheated when we stopped. I probably wouldn’t have made it more than another lap or two anyway. I think the radiator got plugged from the mud.”
Johnson started and finished eighth in his 360 heat race. He also placed eighth in the B Main.
“It was a difficult track to pass on in the heat race with all the rain,” he said. “There were a lot of quality cars in the heat and most of us pretty much held our starting position.
“Our car was a little tight and a bit of a handful to drive in the B Main. I didn’t push it too hard because we mainly wanted to be able to push it into the trailer at the end of the night and move on to Knoxville.”
Johnson made his second career appearance at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, joining another stout field of 48 cars and beginning the evening on a solid note by qualifying 11th quickest out of 24 cars in his group.
“I was really happy with our qualifying time,” he said. “We were about a second off the pace the other time we were at Knoxville. We were much better this time.”
His qualifying effort was good enough to make the heat race inversion and he started on the pole, leading the first several laps.
“I made a few mistakes and got passed by some really good cars,” he said. “I made the mistake of going to the bottom of turns three and four on the last lap and Ryan Giles passed me for fourth.”
Johnson just missed qualifying for the A Main by a few points and he started second in his B Main.
“I had a bit of a slow start and dropped back to third,” he said. “A couple of other cars got by me later. On the final lap, mud got stuck in a couple of the nozzles and we lost power, ending our race.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted the night to end, but it definitely could’ve been a lot worse. We gained experience and learned a lot racing against a high quality field of cars.”
Johnson plans to run the same schedule again this weekend, competing in both the 305 and 360 classes at Jackson Motorplex on Friday and racing the 360 at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 31 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. (305 sprint car) – Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 16 (3).
May 31 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. (360 sprint car) – Heat race: 8 (8); B Main: 8 (10).
June 1 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 5 (1); B Main: DNF (2).
SEASON STATS –
9 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 4 top 10s, 5 top 15s, 6 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., with the Midwest Power Series/MSTS 360 Sprint Cars and Heartland Steel RaceSaver sprint cars presented by Wyffels Hybrids and Saturday 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 – Big Al’s Diecast
Al Nelson of Keokuk, Iowa, has a large selection of die cast race cars that he displays and sells at toy shows and events around the Midwest, including the Knoxville Nationals. For more information, call 319-795-0831.
“This is the fifth year that Al has been with us,” Johnson said. “He does whatever he can to help us. We really appreciate his support.”
Johnson would also like to thank Medical Machining Specialists, Merle Johnson Farm Toys, Oddson Underground, Kat’s Hog Heaven, DeBerg Concrete, GRP Motorsports, Snyder Logging and Tree Service, Sea Foam Products, the Ron Weber Team, TL Racing, Guaranteed Rate – Mike, Brudigan Home Loans, Dave’s Lawncare & Landscaping and Last Deck 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
