Update #19 Race #31 & #32

KJ Motorsports
Update #19
Race #31 & #32

By Kenny Johnson
25 Jul 2010

Friday we went to Skyline and they had 21 cars. Coop is on temporary suspension from drawing pills, so I hired Coleman Evans (Robbie Evans youngest) to draw my pill. Well, even he got fired for drawing us #32. This started us 5th in the 1st heat and we got the win to start us on the pole of the feature along side Andy Bond who was subbing for Doug Henry. As we entered turn one I pushed up some and Jeremy Blake immediately got by me off of turn 2. We ran 3rd the entire race and that is where we finished. The car lacked drive off of the corners. But a decent points night for track points and AMRA.

Saturday we went to KC for fan appreciation night and for double features. They had 29 cars and we set 2nd fast time. Started on the pole of the heat and won it to start us on the outside pole of the feature beside Rob Stambaugh. We managed to take the lead and get the win. The rules for the 2nd feature were that all lead lap cars were inverted for the start of the 2nd feature. We started 11th and in 5 laps were running 4th, the car was awesome. On lap 6 I got impatient and made a move that potentially costs us another win. I made it 3 wide for the lead going down the back chute. 1st and 2nd was on the track and I, of course, was off the track. We may have had a nose ahead of them, but when it came time to get into turn 3 and I needed to be back on the track, the other 2 cars would have nothing of it and I ended up way down off the track near general admission. Fortunately I never hit anything and we were able to tack the tail. We had 14 laps to work my way back up to the front. It went green the rest of the way and we made it to a 4th place finish. If we could have won both features, they were paying a $500 bonus. Essentially I blew $1,100 by not being patient. It may have put on a show for the fans. . . but it sure costs our team some money. . . The “High Side Fans” were on their feet for both features and I want to thank all of them for their support!

Thanks to Jr. and Tommy Nolan of 2 Brothers Motorsports, Kevin Shaw of Shaw Racecars, Keith Emrick of K Graphics, Billy Lloyd of Billy Lloyd Racing Engines, Steve Balderson of Balderson Construction, Joe Schilling of H&S Construction, Tom and Pam Lemon of TLConsulting, Tim Cooper, Chad Nelson, Jason Canepari and Dad. Of course Kim for all the support and allowing me to spend the time that’s needed in the garage. We also met a race fan recently at Skyline, Phil Welch and he has asked to have his mom and dad’s name to be on the car. Bill and Patty Welch. Thanks for the support! This weekend we are keeping it close to home. Friday we will be back to Skyline and Saturday heading down to Ohio Valley for $1,200 to win topless race. So we hope to see you there!

Remember! To make this work, support those that support us!

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #18 Race #29 & #30

KJ Motorsports
Update #18
Race #29 & #30

By Kenny Johnson
20 Jul 2010

Friday we headed to Elkins for a Road Warrior Tour race. We made it to the racetrack to only have it start sprinkling. We were there for maybe 10 minutes and they cancelled the race. So we made a MAD DASH for Skyline. I don’t want to go into details, let’s just say I had Cooper a nervous wreck at one point. LOL But we did make it in time to tack the tail of the 3rd heat race. We started 7th and finished 4th, this started us 12th in the feature. We made it as far as 3rd and were pressuring 2nd. But a caution came out and Jeremy Blake got back by us, so we finished 4th.

Saturday we went to Tyler County for another Road Warrior Tour race. They had 21 cars and we were 9th fastest. I was not pleased with my qualifying run and felt like it was more me than the car. We started 3rd in the heat race and finished 3rd. Again, not pleased with the performance. We started 9th in the feature and finished a disappointing 11th. This is the worst I had felt in the car all year long. Not sure if I have something wrong or was just not able to get it dialed in. But this week we’ll have to go over it and see if we find anything.

This weekend we will be at Skyline on Friday and to K-C on Saturday. K-C is fan appreciation night and will also be double features. We start the 2nd feature inverted from how we finished the first feature. It should make for some interesting racing. So we hope to see you there!

Remember! To make this work, support those that support us!

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #17 Race #27 & #28

KJ Motorsports
Update #17
Race #27 & #28

By Kenny Johnson
11 Jul 2010

Thursday night around 11:10 pm Carl McPherson (Mikey McPherson’s – RV1 – Dad) passed away. Friday even though the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate, Skyline was bound and determined to get it in. Mikey decided to race to honor his dad.

Now for our night, Cooper finally drew a bad pill and we started 6 in the heat race. We managed to come up to finish 2nd to start us 3rd in the feature. Mikey started 4th beside us. Mikey took the early lead and looked to be really fast. I finally managed to get to the high side and was able to take the lead and we went on to get the win, but not without getting some late race pressure from Mikey. The win was bitter/sweet for me, for I would have loved to see Mikey win on this night in particular, but I did not give it to him. I also don’t believe he would have wanted to win that way either. We got win #10 for the season.

Saturday we went to KC and again Cooper’s pill draw skills have diminished. We started 6th in the heat again and had a strange run in the heat. We were as far back as 6th and as high up as 3rd. We just could not get an open race track. Needless to say on the last lap the last turn we got a right rear flat and wound up finishing 5th, which forced us to run the consi. We managed to win the consi and started 17th in the feature. We came up to 10th after passing Jason Montgomery. But a yellow flag put Jason back in front of us and he took the high line that we had been running. Needless to say we had worse finish for the year, 11th place. I did knock the back deck and quarter panels off which does happen at KC.

I want to wish race fan Pam Lemon a Happy Birthday on Saturday July, 10th. This weekend we will be going to Road Warrior Tour racing at Elkins on Friday and Tyler County on Saturday. So we hope to see you there!

Remember! To make this work, support those that support us!

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #16 Race #24, #25 & #26

KJ Motorsports
Update #16
Race #24, #25 & #26

By Kenny Johnson
05 Jul 2010

Start off with a prayer request, Kim’s dad, Jim Blair had a heart attack and stroke Friday evening. He seems to progressing well at this time, but has a ways to go until full recovery. Thursday we went to Beckley for a $1,000 to win show and 22 cars made the trip. When I went out to hot lap, the car was not all that good, so we made some changes. We started 6th in the heat and made it up to finish 3rd. This started us 7th in the feature. By lap 5 we moved into 2nd and were racing Brett Hamilton for the lead. We had a good race going until we made contact down the front chute and I got a right front flat. The crew got the tire changed and we went to the tail with 15 laps to go. We made our way back to 6th with the 4th and 5th place car running side by side banging off of one another. I tried a move on the last lap, but it got me spun out. So we got a DNF. We had a good car and should be in good shape for when we have to go back down to Beckley.

Friday we went to Skyline and they had 17 cars. Jess drew our pill and did us no favors, for we started 6th in the heat. But we did get the heat race win to start us on the pole. The track got slick and I figured we’d be in great shape. But as it turned out we finished a 4th. That was our worst finish at Skyline this year.

Saturday we stayed close to home and went to Ohio Valley Speedway. They had 15 cars and we started 5th in our heat race. We wound up crossing the line 1st when the checkered flew, but I guess they felt I jump started the race and they penalized me one position. The top 2 in each heat redraw for their starting spot in the feature and Coop got us the pole position. We went on to lead every lap and pick up win #9 for the year.

This weekend we will be at Skyline on Friday and heading back over to K-C on Saturday. So we hope to see you there! I’d like to thank Jr. and Tommy Nolan of 2 Brothers Motorsports and Larry Shaw Racecars for providing a real nice racecar. Billy Lloyd Racing Engines for providing great power. Thanks to everyone who helps and for making this season so far a great one!

Remember! To make this work, support those that support us!

Thanks again for your support, KJ