6/15/2021
Inside Line Promotions
Kaleb Johnson Posts Pair of Top-10 Runs in Minnesota and Iowa
(Photo by Ken's Racing Pix)
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 15, 2021) – Kaleb Johnson scored a pair of top-10 finishes in 360ci sprint car competition last weekend, finishing sixth during a Midwest Power Series and Midwest Sprint Touring Series event at Jackson Motorplex on Friday followed by an eighth-place run at Knoxville Raceway on Saturday.
“We got two top 10s so I guess it went okay,” he said. “I guess if I said I wasn’t pleased it might make me sound kind of arrogant. But we set our goals higher than that. It could certainly have been worse, so I’ll take a sixth and an eighth and move forward.”
Johnson’s night at Knoxville Raceway began with a 10th-place qualifying effort out of 20 cars, which placed him second in his heat race lineup.
“I would’ve liked to have qualified a little better,” he said. “After qualifying, we found we had a shock going bad. We switched it for the heat race and the car felt a lot better.
“I spun my tires in the slick and didn’t get the best start in my heat race. Josh Higday got the lead and ran the top so I ran the bottom so that I could be in clean air. The bottom was pretty fast, but it was a real fine line. I missed it a couple of times and lost my momentum. I felt I was as fast as him, but couldn’t quite catch him and finished second.”
Johnson lined up eighth in the 20-car feature, but he fell back several positions on the opening lap.
“I tried to pass a car on the backstretch and he kind of chopped me,” he said. “That caused me to lose a lot of momentum and I lost about three spots. Once I got back up to speed, we got rolling pretty good and got those positions back. Unfortunately for us, the race went non-stop and the field got strung out. We were getting faster toward the end of the race and gaining on the cars in front of us, but didn’t get a chance to try to pass them.”
His eighth-place result was his third top 10 of the season at the track.
Johnson qualified sixth quickest out of 26 drivers the previous night at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. That started him second in his heat race and he finished third.
“I may have done better in the heat race if I moved up higher on the track earlier in the race,” he said.
Johnson rolled off in the ninth starting position in the 25-car field for the main event.
“I got up to eighth right away and then passed a couple of cars on a restart to go to sixth,” he said. “Then the track took rubber and it was pretty tough to pass after that.”
Up next for Johnson will be double features at Knoxville Raceway on Friday followed by a visit to Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minn., on Saturday for a Midwest Power Series and Midwest Sprint Touring Series event.
“Friday will be a big night for us at Knoxville with two features,” he said. “We’re starting fourth in the make-up feature so we’re looking forward to that.
“I’m excited to go back to Ogilvie. We raced there once a couple of years ago with a borrowed motor and did pretty well. I think we finished third or fourth. It’s a pretty neat little track.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 11 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 6 (9).
June 12 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 8 (8).
SEASON STATS –
12 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 5 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 10 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and Saturday at Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minn., with the Midwest Power Series and Midwest Sprint Touring Series
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 seventh 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 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, 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
