4/5/2023
Five Flags Speedway
Johnston Following in Grandfather’s Footsteps, Blazing Own Path in Pure Stocks Class
Johnston Following in Grandfather’s Footsteps, Blazing Own Path in Pure Stocks Class
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Mason Johnston’s grandfather has imparted many pearls of short-track wisdom over the years. And the good Lord knows Okie Mason has an ocean of racing knowledge to share with his 21-year-old grandson and anyone else who’ll listen.
The biggest lesson Johnston has learned from the oracle that is Okie is sticking to his gameplan.
“Don’t worry about everybody else. That’s what he has drilled into my head,” Johnston said of his grandfather. “I have to run my own race and not just follow the nose of my car. When I’m coming off (Turn No.) 2, I should be looking at my lines going into (Turn No.) 3.”
Johnston’s years of being a sponge around his grandfather—absorbing every lap Okie has run and every adjustment Okie has made in a decorated career—is paying off. Johnston got his first career win for the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks last month at the season opener and looks to reclaim the series points lead in the third 20-lap feature Friday night at Five Flags Speedway. Okie will once again provide Johnston with a calming voice from Spotterville.
The Pure Stocks will be joined by the Allen Turner Pro Late Models in their first 100-lapper of the season, as well as The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen (25) and the Story and Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks (15).
Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday with qualifying set for 6 and racing getting underway at 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; and $5 for children ages 6-11.
Johnston is in just his second year competing. Despite some growing pains his rookie season, Johnston finished third in the standings.
“Last year was a learning experience,” Johnston said. “Over the offseason, we hit it hard. We put a new body on it, painted it instead of wrapped and got it re-wired. Now, we’re just trying to work and improve, coming home in one piece.”
The Eight Mile, Ala., driver’s first time racing at Five Flags came last season. But it wasn’t Johnston’s first trip the famed half-mile asphalt oval by any means.
Johnston was there for all his grandfather’s most notable accomplishments at Pensacola’s high banks. He wasn’t even a teenager when his namesake won multiple track championships in 2014 for the Pro Trucks and Modifieds divisions at both Five Flags and Mobile International Speedway. That remains Johnston’s favorite memory of Okie.
“He knows a lot more than I do,” Johnston said. “The things he’ll do to a car, I’m trying to learn, and I’ll have to ask him to slow down because I wanna learn everything I can.
“I’ve always wanted to be as good as (Okie). He has been my role model since I was little kid. He wants me to be better than him. I want to make him proud and he wants me to do good.”
Okie shows Johnston’s his love and support in numerous ways, most often working on the car each afternoon before Johnston makes it home from work at a chemical plant.
“My first priority when I get home is that racecar,” Johnston said.
He knows it’s too early to talk about points racing just two Pure Stocks features into this season. And, while he would love to win a championship, Johnston and his PawPaw have one thing on their minds.
“To me, winning races is what I’m there to do,” Johnston said. “I don’t wanna show up for points. Every time I unload the car, I feel like we have a shot at winning.”
