Inside Line Promotions – NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (May 26, 2020) – Kaleb Johnson scored a top-five result during his season debut last Saturday night at the 4th annual Memorial Duels hosted by Park Jefferson International Speedway, which featured nearly 40 competitors in the Midwest Sprint Touring Series and Carpet Land Nebraska 360 Sprints event.
“I was really pleased with the way our night went,” said Johnson, who finished fourth in the night’s main event. “It definitely helps to start in front. I dropped back a couple of spots, but I got beat by experience there so I can’t get too mad about that.
“The night went especially well considering it was our first night of the season. In the past, we’ve often battled issues or had things go wrong on opening night. This time we were able to spend more time focusing on setting up the race car.”
Johnson’s night got off to a good start with a pill draw that placed him on the outside of the front row of the first heat race.
“I knew I needed to have a good start in the heat race and probably needed to win it if I was going to have a good starting spot for the feature,” he said. “I was able to do that and maintain the lead following a restart. I was lucky we were in the first heat race because there was still a little bit of track left.”
His heat race victory qualified Johnson for the feature redraw.
“I made sure I didn’t draw for us in the redraw and that played a big part in our night,” he said while laughing. “Our little buddy, Owen Trondson, drew the No. 2 for us. We really appreciated his draw and enjoyed his involvement with our team.”
Johnson lined up alongside Jack Dover on the front row of the main event.
“I knew the start would be iffy starting alongside Jack,” he said. “You really have to be on your ‘A’ game against him. I knew he’d try to get himself in the rubber at the start and that’s what he did. He pulled away and I spun my tires a bit, which allowed Chris Martin to get by me for second.
“I was able to run third for a while until we had a red flag. After the restart, Jason Martin got by me. I stuck with him for a bit before we eventually got strung out. It was kind of follow-the-leader after that.”
A scheduled return to the oval on Monday rained out.
Next up for Johnson is a Midwest Sprint Touring Series race this Saturday at I-90 Speedway in Hartford, S.D.
QUICK RESULTS –
May 23 – Park Jefferson International Speedway in North Sioux City, S.D. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 4 (2).
SEASON STATS –
1 race, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 1 top 20
UP NEXT –
Saturday at I-90 Speedway in Hartford, S.D., with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.kalebjohnsonracing.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kaleb___
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Oddson Underground
Oddson Underground, Inc., of Windom, Minn., is a family-owned business established in 1998. The business is an underground utility contractor that handles the installation of fiber optic, water, sewer, power, geothermal and other underground services. For more information, visit http://www.oddsonunderground.
“We’re really excited to have Oddson Underground return to our team this year,” Johnson said. “They came on board with us in a pretty big way last year and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with them.”
Johnson would also like to thank Merle Johnson Farm Toys, GRP Motorsports, JF Capital, Snyder Tree Service, State Bank of Fairmont, Sea Foam, Schaeffer’s Oil, Hepfner Racing Products, DeBerg Concrete, Big Al’s Diecasts, The Ron Weber Team, DeBerg Flooring, Dave’s Lawncare, Guaranteed Rate – Mike Brudigan Home Loans, Triple M Trucking, Last Deck and Marthaler Dodge for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
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