Kaleb Johnson highlighted the 46 th annual FENDT Jackson Nationals with a fifth-place finish during the Gunderson Racing Inc. Midwest Sprint Touring Series 360 Sprint Cars finale last Saturday.
Johnson was strong throughout a pair of MSTS Series nights and he made the main event during both World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series programs at Jackson Motorplex.
“We had a decent weekend in the 360,” he said. “I thought we could have won on Thursday. We led a few laps until a tire delaminated. On Saturday we were all right. I was a little bummed to go backwards, but at the end of the day we finished in the top five.”
The event started on Thursday, when Johnson qualified second quickest and advanced from fourth to second place in an MSTS Series heat race. He redrew the No. 2 to start the A Main on the outside of the front row. Unfortunately, a tire delaminated while Johnson was leading and he faded to a ninth-place result.
“I took the lead in traffic and then I noticed a vibration when I was trying to get around a lapped car,” he said. “It kept getting worse and worse. I slowed my pace down so the vibration wasn’t as bad. Toward the end I was going maybe a quarter throttle just to get to the end of the race.”
Johnson earned enough points to lock into the feature redraw on Saturday. He pulled the No. 3 to line up on the inside of the second row.
“We had to change a bunch of stuff on the car and honestly I wasn’t as comfortable as I felt I could have been,” he said. “I was lacking rear grip where I needed it. I just couldn’t find the speed to get around people.”
The fifth-place finish was his 12 th top five of the season.
Both races with the World of Outlaws were similar for Johnson, who raced his way into the main event by way of transferring through the Last Chance Showdown. He finished 22 nd in the A Main each night.
“I felt we were a little off all weekend,” he said. “We lacked the speed early, especially in qualifying as well as the heat race. We got better toward the Last Chance Showdown. Once you’re back there you’re in a pretty big hole. I feel we got better, but you can’t dig yourself a hole when you’re racing with the World of Outlaws. All in all, it wasn’t horrible as we made both features, but we lacked a little speed.”
Johnson ventures to Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., this Sunday for the final points race of the season. With an 88-point lead in the championship standings and only 50 points per race night up for grabs, Johnson has secured his first track championship at the high-banked track.
“We’re going to try a few things on the race car because we have a big three-day weekend with the World of Outlaws after that,” he said. “We’re not worried about the points so we’ll try some things to better our team.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 15 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 9 (2).
Aug. 16 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. – Qualifying: 25; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 2 (6); Feature: 22 (22).
Aug. 17 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. (410 sprint car) – Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 6 (6); B Main: 3 (3); Feature: 22 (23).
Aug. 17 – Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. (360 sprint car) – Feature: 5 (3).
SEASON STATS –
40 races, 1 win, 12 top fives, 26 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 31 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sunday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D.
ILP PR
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