Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 2, 2022) – Kaleb Johnson made the most of his night last Saturday during the season opener at Knoxville Raceway, where he competed in both the 360ci and 410ci winged sprint car divisions.
Johnson, who will run full time in the 360 class at Knoxville Raceway this season, started the year on the right note by qualifying seventh quickest. He advanced from fourth to third place in a heat race and lined up on the outside of the third row in the A Main.
“We tried a little different setup,” he said. “In the heat race I was battling being too free. I wasn’t too happy with the car, but sometimes you’ll get that trying new stuff. Then in the feature I was able to work the bottom on a couple of restarts to get by a couple of people. I feel we had a fifth or sixth-place car. I definitely didn’t have anything for the top two, but I was pleased with a third-place finish.”
The third-place outing was Johnson’s best run of the season. He also tied a career-best 410 result with a 19th-place showing.
“Our main goal was to make the A Main in the 410,” he said. “I don’t have many laps in a 410 and it was our first time at Knoxville in it. It went pretty well. I drew the No. 75 for the 360 and the No. 2 for the 410. Instead of going out real early in qualifying and being in a rush I told them I’d go out last in the 410. We didn’t qualify the greatest, but I wasn’t expecting to. I was able to stay where I started in the heat race and the B Main.”
Johnson qualified 21st quickest. He finished where he lined up in both a heat race – seventh – and the B Main – second. That advanced him into the feature, which was cut short for Johnson.
“I was getting a lot of track time and I think it worked out well,” he said. “I made it up to about 13th at one point. I was mainly just running the bottom. I didn’t want to risk tearing anything up ripping the top on our first night out with it. Unfortunately, we had the tie-rod fall off with about five laps to go and we pulled into the pits.”
Johnson will venture to Knoxville Raceway this Saturday before tackling the Cressman Sanitation Shootout at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., on Sunday.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 30 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa (410 sprint car) – Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 2 (2); Feature: 19 (22).
April 30 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa (360 sprint car) – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 3 (6).
SEASON STATS –
3 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 2 top 15s, 3 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and Sunday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., for the Cressman Sanitation Shootout
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.kalebjohnsonracing.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kaleb___
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Cressman Sanitation
Cressman Sanitation is a third-generation trash hauler in the Sioux Falls area now owned by Johnn Cressman. Cressman Sanitation’s goals are to make each one of their customers happy and satisfied with their strong customer service, while taking care of their customer’s garbage and recycling needs. For more information, visit http://www.
“Johnn has come on board to help us out tremendously,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty cool to see his business take off in recent years and he’s giving back to racing. I feel blessed to have his support.”
Johnson would also like to thank Merle Johnson Farm Toys, Oddson Underground, Inc., JF Capital, Innovative Design/Sletten Properties, GRP Motorsports, State Bank of Fairmont, Sea Foam, Guaranteed Rate-Mike Brudigan Home Loans, David Kramer Drywall, Snyder Tree Service, The Ron Weber Team, AB Custom Construction, Big Al’s Diecast, HRP Wings, Dave’s Lawn Care & Landscaping, Triple M Trucking, Last Deck, Howe Motorsports and Moyle Racing Engines 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.
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*PHOTO BY ASCENT MEDIA* 