Update #24 Race #48

KJ Motorsports
Update #24
Race #48

By Kenny Johnson
09 Nov 2011

Our season is now complete & we finished up at Atomic Speedway (formerly called K-C Speedway). Our night didn’t start out too well, cause when I qualified I drove it in turn 1 too hard and went off the track in turn 2. That buried us in heat #4, starting 7th. The car drove super, both high and low and we got the heat race win. On the pill redraw we started 6th in the feature. We passed our way to 3rd on a long green flag run, but when a caution came out, our right rear tire gave up and our car just didn’t take off and we wound up finishing 5th. We also got to race Jim Helterbran’s #27 hobby stock. Jamey Adams helped get us the ride. We started 10th in our heat race and finished 3rd. We started 6th in the feature and passed to 3rd. We passed for 2nd a couple different times, but each time the yellow came out. But at about the half way point we got a flat tire. Had a very good car, but bad luck sturck us. I want to thank Jim and Jamey for allowing to race the car and all of their help!

Here is how our season turned out. We set fast time 9 times and now hold the track record at Muskingum County and Atomic Speedway. We won 30 heat races and 17 features. we finished 2nd-7 times, 3rd-3 times, 4th-5 times, 5th-1 time, 6th-1 time, 7th-1 time, 9th-2 times, 10th-1 time, 11th-2 times, 14th-1 time, DNF-5 times, DNQ-1. A pretty successful year, but we can identify something areas of improvement and we’ll work on that for 2012.

I want to thank Tim Cooper and Chad Nelson for giving up their summers to help. Without them, none of this would be possible. Also want to thank Todd Lambiotte and Jason Canepari for their help as well. Special thanks goes out to all of our sponsors, whether it be a business or individuals that provide us support, every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated!

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #23 Race #46 & #47

KJ Motorsports
Update #23
Race #46 & #47

By Kenny Johnson
23 Oct 2011

To get you up to speed, we went to KC Speedway for the Dirt Track World Championship for $3,000 to win. We got rained out on Thursday so we started at 2:00 on Friday. They had 90 some mods and we set fast time in our group and went on to win the heat race. This would start us 3rd in the feature. I was very happy with the car and we had high expectations for the feature. The late models got rained out on Friday night, so they started at 4:00 on Saturday. Our feature was run before theirs, but from what we had seen in their heat races, the track was a one lane racetrack on the bottom. So when we went out, that is exactly what we had and I missed the set up. I held on as long as I could and when I was getting freight trained I pulled it in on lap 22. Very, very disappointed and it was not the weekend I was looking for. To top it off, as soon as I got back in the pits, Tim and Chad had everything ready to load and told me Kim was in the hospital. She thought she had broken her foot, but as it turned out she had a severe sprain and spent 3 days on crutches. She is heeling up just fine.

This past weekend we went to Jackson County Speedway for $1,000 to win. We set 4th fastest time and won our heat race. They redrew the top 2 in each heat and there were 5 heat races. Yep, we drew the #10 starting spot. I was a little concerned if we could do any passing. But we had a really good car and we passed our way to a 4th place finish. We really needed another caution to possibly have a shot at the leader. But we’ll take that run!

This weekend we have 2 options, either Jackson County Speedway or Atomic Speedway (formerly KC Speedway) on Saturday night. At this time we are undecided. To keep up to date the night of the race, follow us on Facebook under Kenny Johnson Motorsports.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #22 Race #44 & #45

KJ Motorsports
Update #22
Race #44 & #45

By Kenny Johnson
10 Oct 2011

On Saturday, Sept. 24th we went to KC Speedway and they had 48 cars. We set fast time and had to start 4th in the heat race. The track had a pretty good cushion in turn 2 and I jumped the cushion a few times, which got me behind. We finished 3rd in the heat to start us 9th in the feature. Again the cushion and the wall ate my lunch and we finished 3rd in the feature. Needless to say, I’ll be putting a new deck and body on it before we race again.

Races were cancelled on 9/30 and 10/1, so that ended the AMRA points and we have unofficially captured another AMRA National Points Championship! Thanks to all my sponsors and my crew.

Saturday, Oct. 8th we went to KC Speedway for the last Road Warrior Tour race. They had 38 cars and we set fast time. So yet again we started 4th in the heat. The track slickened off in turn 3 and 4 a little more than I expected and I did not make any changes to the car. I had to go to the bottom, but the high side gave the leaders the momentum they needed, so we had to settle for 3rd. Again started 9th in the feature and on the 3rd lap a car spun in turn 1 and I had to turn right and go off the track to avoid the accident. But when I came back on the track, there was no accident, no yellow flag or anything. We came back on the track in 18th or so. We went green until lap 22 and we were in 8th place. The green came out and I passed for 7th and on the next lap I passed for 6th going down the back chute, and then passed for 5th off of turn 4, but the yellow came out putting us back in 7th. With 6 laps to go, I felt like we could salvage a tope 5, but when the yellow came out the 6th place car decided to run high, which allowed the car behind me to go low. I was tapping the rear bumper of the guy in front of me, but with the 8th place car now advancing past me and working on the 6th place car, he could not move down. When he got passed he dropped low and I was able to pass him, but there was only 1 lap left. So we brought home a 7th place finish. I was very disappointed. Although, somewhat of a positive, I did find 2 things wrong that was hindering the handling of the car. So we’ll get them taken care of this week.

This weekend is a big weekend for us. We race Thursday night at KC Speedway our qualifications, heat races and consi’s. Then we will run our feature on Saturday night with the late models Dirt Track World Championship. So we hope to see you there! To keep up to date the night of the race, follow us on Facebook under Kenny Johnson Motorsports.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #21 Race #42 & #43

KJ Motorsports
Update #21
Race #42 & #43

By Kenny Johnson
18 Sep 2011

Friday we went to Beckley for $1600 to win. They had 23 cars and we set 2nd fast time. That put us in a dash and they did a redraw for our starting position. Luck was on our side and we drew a 1. We got the dash win and that started us on the pole of the feature. We ran a marathon feature and had a hard fought battle with Andy Bond but were able to hold on for win #16.

Saturday we went to Skyline for a Road Warrior Tour race and the track was slick, so I was concerned for how we would do. We set 11th fast time and that started us on the outside pole, because they invert the top 4. We made a couple of changes for the heat and it worked. We won the heat in which that put us in the 4 car dash. We drew pills for starting and we drew the last pill, #4 and started 4th. We shot to the high side of 1 and 2 and took the lead in 3 and 4 and went on to win the dash. The car was pretty good and we started on the pole of the feature. We took the lead and stretched it out until a caution flew just past half way. Our tires must have cooled down some because we lost some of our drive and Chris Stotts passed us. We moved up to the high side and were moving in the right direction. Lap traffic became an issue and we chose the right line and passed Chris back and went on to get win #17. This ties our wins for last year and with any luck, we can get a few more.

This weekend we will be going back to one of our favorite tracks, KC Speedway. So we hope to see you there! To keep up to date the night of the race, follow us on Facebook under Kenny Johnson Motorsports.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #20 Race #40 & #41

KJ Motorsports
Update #20
Race #40 & #41

By Kenny Johnson
11 Sep 2011

Skyline had cancelled for Friday, so we headed back to Beckley. They had 16 cars and track conditions were less than favorable. We were in the first group to qualify and our times were 2 seconds off from what should have been normal. We were 6th fastest and started 3rd in the heat in which we finished 3rd. I had a little different set up on the car from the previous week and it just wasn’t what we needed. So we switched it back and started 6th in the feature. We ran 3rd quite a while and at the end it was a 4 way battle for the lead. Unfortunately we wound up finishing 4th. Car was good and the racing was pretty good as well.

Saturday we went to KC Raceway and because a lot of other tracks were closed down, KC had 48 modifieds show up. We set fast time and a new track record of 15.226. Car was HOOKED UP! At KC they invert the top 4 in each heat and we started 4th and got the heat win. Chad drew us a #1 pill for the feature. We took the lead on the first lap and went on to get win #15. The car was the best it has ever been there. I also want to thank all of the Highside Fans for making us feel so welcome there.

This week we will be at Beckley on Friday for $1,600 to win and Skyline on Saturday for a Road Warrior Tour race, so we hope to see you there. To keep up to date the night of the race, follow us on Facebook under Kenny Johnson Motorsports.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ