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Johnson Wins First Career World of Outlaws Heat Race at Calistoga Speedway

(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – CALISTOGA, Calif. (April 13, 2015) – Chase Johnson accomplished a dream last Saturday at Calistoga Speedway.

Johnson won his first career World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series heat race, which locked him into his first career World of Outlaws main event.

“We put together solid laps and the car was a rocket,” he said. “I felt like I wanted to do a wing dance after that. It was so cool. It goes to show you how much hard work this entire team has put into this operation.”

Johnson, who also competed in his family owned 360ci sprint car during the Civil War Sprint Car Series race that night, kicked off the event by qualifying 13th quickest in the Shawn and Cyndi Thomas owned sprint car. It marked the first time he qualified inside the heat race inversion at a World of Outlaws race.

“We qualified really well,” he said. “I think doing double duty and getting extra seat time helped us in qualifying. I had a feeling about what the track was going to do. The entire crew made some great adjustments on the car. That’s the best qualifying effort we’ve had all year with the Outlaws. Once you get a good qualifying run you feel a little more confident the rest of the night.”

Johnson then led all eight laps of his heat race to advance into the World of Outlaws dash. After finishing seventh in the dash, he lined up on the inside of the fourth row for the main event.

“We lost brakes around Lap 5,” he said. “It was really tough to venture out anywhere beside the bottom line with no brakes. We weren’t as fast as we were in the beginning of the night and were slowly going back. I was holding on, conserving the car and trying to make all the laps. I think around Lap 10 or so I got a really bad vibration in the car. That went on for a couple of laps. Then going into turns one and two it got a lot worse and coming out of turn two the driveline shattered between my legs and that ended our night.”

Johnson was running 13th when he stopped with approximately 10 laps remaining. He was credited with a 24th-place result.

Unfortunately that wasn’t the only bad luck of the weekend for Johnson, who didn’t fare any better in the Civil War Sprint Car Series event.

“The car felt great in hot laps and qualifying,” he said. “I was expecting the team to tell me I was quick time and actually I was 14th quickest out of 15 cars. We had some major issues, but we’re not too sure why we were that far off. The crew made more adjustments throughout the night, but we didn’t have a lot of speed. When you go to Calistoga you need a lot of speed.”

Johnson, who finished sixth in his heat race, started on the last row of the main event. However, he was forced to pull into the infield on Lap 2 because of mechanical issues. He ended 14th.

Last week had started with a sour note as Johnson was collected in a crash during the World of Outlaws Last Chance Showdown at Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif., on Wednesday. After qualifying 30th quickest and advancing from eighth to sixth place in a heat race – only one spot out of locking into the main event – Johnson ended with a 12th-place result in the consolation race.

“It was kind of a disappointment, especially the ending,” he said. “We were a victim of someone else’s not so smart driving. There’s nothing you can really do about it. We shouldn’t have been in the B Main and you have to expect those things to happen when you’re in the B Main. I didn’t do too hot in qualifying. It’s just so hard to have a good night when you don’t qualify well with the Outlaws.”

QUICK RESULTS –

April 8 – Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif. – Qualifying: 30; Heat race: 6 (8); B Main: 12 (11).

April 11 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 7 (6); Feature: 24 (7).

April 11 – Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif. (360 Sprint) – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 6 (7); Feature: 14 (13).

SEASON STATS –

11 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s

UP NEXT –

May 2 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the 25th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial with the King of the West 410 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 red, black or gray t-shirts and hoodies for sale at his race trailer at every race he competes in this season. T-shirts are $20 each and hoodies are $35 apiece.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – PitStopUSA.com

PitStopUSA.com is an online motor sports superstore that offers more than 40,000 different circle track parts, supplies, tools and accessories from more than 400 of the premier brands in the industry. PitStopUSA.com specializes in racing safety equipment and is proud to offer the widest assortment anywhere. For more information, visit http://www.PitStopUSA.com.

“We’ve been partnered together for the last few years and it’s great to have their continued support,” Johnson said. “All that they do really helps out and we couldn’t do what we do without them. Make sure to check out their website and give them a call today. They have great products at great prices. Everyone at PitStopUSA is great and I couldn’t be happier to represent such an amazing company.”

Johnson would also like to thank Newman Freeman Racing, Johnny Franklin’s Mufflers, Shifty Illusions, Napa Auto Parts, Flowmaster, Don’s Truck Repair, VSR, Fast Lube Plus, K&N Filters, Oroville Cycle, I-Wear Graphix, Driven Raceway, Nor-Cal Transmission, Justin Henry Racing 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.

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