Update #9 Race #8, #9, #10 & #11

KJ Motorsports
Update #9
Race #8, #9, #10 & #11

By Kenny Johnson
31 May 2011

Well I’m a little behind on the updates, but this should get us back up to speed! On Friday the 20th we went to McCown’s Jackson County Speedway where we started 3rd in the heat race and we went on to get the win. But they do the pill redraw for the feature line up and the worst pill is 8 and of course, you guessed it, we started 8th. We worked our way to 3rd and started working on 2nd and the leader. I got under 2nd place runner and he got sideways. We saved him from spinning out, but it caved in our entire right side and we eventually got a flat tire. We came in and changed it with about 8 laps to go and went to the tail. We did manage to get a 4th place finish.

Saturday, the 21st we went to Muskingum County Speedway. They had 25 cars and in qualifying we set a new track record with a 17.10. Car was real good and we started on the pole of the 3rd heat beside Bart Hartman driving one of Jr. Nolan’s car. Bart had the preferred line and we raced him close for about the first 4 laps and we overheated our right rear tire. We did finish in 2nd, which started us 4th in the feature. Made a few small changes and put 3 new tires on and went to the chute. As they called for us to go on the track our left rear tire was flat. We came in and got is changed, but they said we had to go to the tail. We passed several cars pretty quick, but I was driving mad and yes, I drove off the end of turn #1. This is something I have done numerous times over the years at Muskingum County. I came back on down the back chute and had lost all of the positions we had gained. So now, I’m even madder and I go into turn 1 again and get the right side tires off the track, so I said the heck with it and headed to the pits with a DNF.

Saturday the 28th we went to Ohio Valley Speedway and we started on the pole of the 1st heat and won it. For the pill redraw we started 6th in the feature. We moved into 3rd quickly and were just waiting for an opening between the leader and 2nd place. But a racing incident occurred and I got into Tom Sigler’s left rear quarter. I was sent to the tail and we wound up with a 9th place finish. All in all disappointing for a Valley run, but that’s racing.

Sunday, May 29th was my mom’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Mom, love ya! We went to McCown’s Jackson County Speedway for a $2,000 to win show. Cooper drew us pill #50 and that caused him to fire himself. That put us starting 7th in the first heat, but luck would strike and we wound up starting 3rd due to some bad luck for some others. We wound up finishing 2nd in the heat and that put us in the redraw. We drew pill #2 to start us on the outside pole alongside Kevin Morehouse. We took the early lead and thought we just might have it, but Kevin made one heck of a move and went to the outside one car width and it paid off. He got the win and we finished a respectable 2nd. The track roughness has improved and I’d expect that we will see more improvements as the year goes along.

We plan to go to Skyline on Friday and KC on Saturday this weekend. We are looking forward to seeing several of the Highside fans at KC. On a sad note, Cassidy (Kim’s youngest daughter) was in an accident this weekend that gave her 2nd degree burns on the back of her left leg. She had been a real trooper thru the entire ordeal but does have some discomfort. She was brought to the Shriner’s Children’s Burn Center in Cincinnati. Please keep her and Kim in your prayers. Thanks!

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #8 Race #7

KJ Motorsports
Update #8
Race #7

By Kenny Johnson
15 May 2011

Friday found us playing a weather meteorologist; needless to say we would not make it as a weather person. 2 tracks, Elkins and Lakeville got to race and we sat at the house. Saturday Mother Nature was cancelling tracks all around and we sat at the garage until the last possible moment. The only track racing in our area was I-77 Speedway in Fairplains, WV. We watched the radar and saw they were getting hit with a pretty hard rain. But they decided to wait it out and sure enough they were racing. We didn’t leave the garage until close to 6:30 and of course we didn’t miss a thing. They had 32 cars and we started 7th in the 2nd heat. We made our way to a 2nd place finish, but after we crossed the checkered and entered turn 1, our lower ball joint sheared and also broke our upper control. We had to get towed in, but we got it put back together to start 6th in the feature. We moved into 3rd pretty quick, then moved into 2nd and battled for the win. We lost some ground at one point, but made the distance back up, but fell short. So we got another 2nd, but the car was really good.

This weekend we intend on doing Skyline on Friday and we have yet to make a decision for Saturday. To keep up to date on our nightly results and up to date schedule, go to Kenny Johnson Motorsports on Facebook and Tim will provide updates as the night goes on.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #7 Race #5 & #6

KJ Motorsports
Update #7
Race #5 & #6

By Kenny Johnson
08 May 2011

I’ll start off by wishing my Mom and all mom’s out there Happy Mothers Day! With Mother Nature winning out at a lot of the area tracks, one track did get their race in and that was Jackson County Speedway in Jackson, OH. The last time I raced at this track was back in 2001. It had been shut down since 2008 and is now under new management. With Mother Nature making it difficult for track owners to prepare their tracks, this night kind of proved it. It was rough, but it was rough for everyone. They had 18 mods and Coop drew us a #3 pill. But, he learned that it was really #33, because it was already drawn and they put it back in and if it is redrawn they add 30 to it. So this started us 4th in the 3rd heat. We managed to get the win. They do a redraw for the feature and I redrew a 6. We somehow managed to jump into 2nd place pretty quick and then went on to get our 3rd win of the year.

Saturday we intended to go to K-C, but the weather directed us to go to Hilltop, in which we had double features to run. The track was packed hard and was slick from the get go. We started 7th in the rain out feature and stayed around 7th the entire race until about 3 laps to go and we lost 2 more positions and finished a disappointing 9th. I came in and totally changed the set up. Coop drew us a #22 pill to start us 5th in the first heat. We got 2nd and felt like the car had improved but still wasn’t enough. So I went even further with changes in hopes of making it better. Before the 2nd feature I had told Coop I think our original set up was the one we needed and I just needed to make a change to have helped the car that I overlooked. But we stayed with what I had put on it and proved my gut feeling to be correct. We started 5th in the feature and slowly worked our way to a 10th place finish. Tonight’s racing brought us back to reality for sure. It proved to me that we have a good car, but it’s only as good as the changes I choose and I did not make very good decisions tonight.

This weekend . . . . . . Well, I don’t think I am making any announcement for this weekend, maybe we can trick Mother Nature and she’ll cut us a break. To keep up to date on any race night, go to Kenny Johnson Motorsports on Facebook and Tim will provide updates as the night goes on.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ

Update #6 Race #3 #4

KJ Motorsports
Update #6
Race #3 #4

By Kenny Johnson
02 May 2011

Thursday night I had pretty much accepted that we would be home on Friday night, for all of the area tracks had cancelled. But Coop didn’t give up and he found Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, PA racing. They normally don’t run mods, but just a couple of times a year. They were paying $800 to win and it was a 3 ½ hour tow, so we headed out Friday afternoon. We got there and the temperature was in the 40’s and a mist of rain, with expectations of being in the 30’s by late night. The track had gotten quite a bit of rain on Thursday night and by the time we hot lapped; the track was starting to show signs of a rough racetrack. They had 14 cars show up and they did pill draw. We started 4th in the heat and finished 2nd to Deana Groves. Now they do a redraw there and they redraw the top 12. This redraw started us 6th in the feature and with the rough racetrack; we got stuck on the outside and just could not get through the rough. We fell back to 9th and we finally got to the bottom, in which it was still rough, just not as rough. We started picking them off, sometimes 2 at a time and made our way to the lead and went on to get our 2nd win of the year. That made our 20th different racetrack that we have won on, with another 23 tracks that we have raced on, but have not won, we’ll get them eventually. So, Coop & I left there and drove to Stuebenville, OH & spent the night, then drove on over to Millersburg to Hilltop Speedway. They had 41 cars and I messed up qualifying and qualified 9th fast. I messed up by overdriving. I knew the car was better than that, but I just took us out of the dash. So we started on the pole of the 3rd heat and won the heat, to start us 9th in the feature. As we were setting in the chute it started to rain and they cancelled and now they have double features scheduled for us next Saturday. Also making the trip was the Lemon family and Pam brought us some cheese dip and chips. Lemon’s are not only fans of KJ Motorsports, but fans of racing in general and are always ready to go. Chad brought dad up for his first race of the year and unfortunately he didn’t get to see the feature, but his comment was that we have a really fast car and I have to agree.

This weekend we plan to do Skyline on Friday and Saturday we are in a bit of a dilemma. We have double features at Hilltop, each paying $700 to win for a possible $1,400, but we also have K-C racing, paying $1,500 and I love K-C and we have quite a few fans that are expecting us there. We’ll be watching the weather as the week goes on and we’ll make a decision later in the week so keep watching on Facebook, for Tim will update our decision. To keep up to date on any race night, go to Kenny Johnson Motorsports on Facebook and Tim will provide updates as the night goes on.

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

Thanks again for your support, KJ