This past race weekend got off to an auspicious start for the Kaleb Johnson Racing team. Truck issues put the Cressman Sanitation/Merle Johnson Farm Toys 22K Camp at risk of not making it to Rapid Speedway at all on Friday night.
“The night started off great,” Johnson said sarcastically. “We had truck problems on the way and had to limp the rig to the track and somehow unloaded a decent car.”
A “decent car” may be the understatement of the century, as Johnson proceeded to go 5th to 2nd in the first Midwest Power Series/Midwest Sprint Touring Series 360 Heat Race of the night, nearly eclipsing James Broty’s 33 machine for the win. The feature however, saw Johnson get the last laugh in the nightlong battle with Broty.
“We redrew a 6th starting spot for the A Main.” Johnson said. “The track was fast the first 15 laps or so, but I was able to maneuver to the bottom to get by cars. Luckily enough the leader (Broty) made a couple mistakes on the bottom in the final few laps and I was able to rip the top by him for the win.”
Johnson had been searching and fighting for his first career 360 Winged Sprint Car A Main victory for the past few years, and the relief showed in the 25 year old after taking that elusive win in dramatic fashion.
“The past 3 years of trying to race the best competition night in and night out finally paid off!” Kaleb stated. “That deal was a long time coming for us.”
The work was not done however, as the team now had to figure out how they were even going to make the final two races of the weekend.
“I have to give a huge shoutout to Taylor Quiring for lending us a truck to use the rest of the weekend.” Johnson said. “We would have been stuck without it!
Saturday night began with a “decent car” once again for the Sioux Falls, SD based team, setting a blistering quick time in the 360 division at the fiercely competitive Knoxville Raceway.
“The car was just bad fast.” Johnson said about the Oddson Underground 22K. “We set our first ever quick time at Knoxville, and went 6th to 2nd in the heat race. I made a few mistakes in turns 1 and 2 in the A Main that I feel cost us a podium finish, but 5th place was still a great result.”
Now tow-for-two on Top 5 finishes on the weekend, the KJR team motored north to Brandon, SD and unloaded the 410 Winged Sprint Car for Sunday night’s action at Huset’s Speedway. The car was once again a rocket ship out of the gate, with Johnson laying down the 2nd fastest time in qualifying.
“We laid down a great qualifying lap that really set up the rest of the night.” Kaleb said about Sunday’s events. “The car was amazing in the feature and we were able to capitalize on some mistakes by cars in front of us. It set us in the top 3 with a few laps to go and just brought it home from there. I feel like the more races we run with both cars the better we get. It feels great to have such a successful 3-race weekend with both the 360 and 410 against some tough competition.”
The 3rd place run at Huset’s made it 3-for-3 on Top 5’s across the weekend for the KJR Team, and a solid chunk of momentum to carry into another three-race outing this weekend. The team will head to the Jackson Motorplex with the NOSA 410 Sprints for a two day show this Friday and Saturday night. Then the 22K returns “home” on Sunday night at the Husets Speedway for weekly 410 Sprint action. All three nights will be broadcast Live on DIRTVision.
Kaleb Johnson Racing would like to thank their 2022 Partners for all their support!
Merle Johnson Farm Toys
Oddson Underground
Cressman Sanitation
GRP Motorsports
JF Capital
State Bank of Fairmont
Innovative Design/ Sletten Properties
Specialized Caulking Sealants
Sea Foam
Mike Brudigan Home Loans
David Kramer Drywall
Snyder Tree Service
The Ron Weber Team
AB Custom Construction
Big Al's Dicast
Dave's Lawncare & Landscaping
Triple M Trucking
Hepfner Racing Products
Last Deck
Box3 Media
You can follow Kaleb Johnson’s 2022 Season on his social media channels, on Facebook at Kaleb Johnson Racing, on Twitter at @Kaleb___Johnson, on Instagram at @kalebjohnson22 and by Favoriting Kaleb’s driver profile on the MyRacePass app, as well as his PR on Facebook at Box3 Media, Twitter at @box3_racing, and on Instagram at @box3_media.
Ascent Media Photo
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