Johnson Jr. Earns Top-10 in Irwindale Doubleheader
Venue: Irwindale Speedway
Date: Thursday, July 4th
FINISH: 11th
Start: 9th
Laps Led: 0
Date: Saturday, July 6th
FINISH: 10th
Start: 12th
Laps Led: 0
Eric Johnson Jr. delivered consistent results in his debut at Irwindale Speedway during the Independence Day doubleheader. The driver of the No. 19 Pacific Office Automation, Key Property Services Chevrolet SS posted finishes of 11th and 10th on Thursday and Saturday night, respectively. Johnson Jr.’s 10th-place finish in the weekend finale on Saturday tied the Washington native’s best oval finish.
Johnson Jr. turned in his career-best qualifying effort on Independence Day by stopping the clock at 18.79 seconds and earned the ninth starting spot. When the green flag flew, Johnson Jr. advanced to eighth in the opening laps but began to wrestle with a tight condition. After making contact with the Turn 4 wall, his No. 19 Chevrolet sustained slight cosmetic damage. Despite the momentary setback, he found a rhythm and contested a position in the top-10 in the late stages. Johnson Jr. would complete his first Irwindale start by taking the checkered flag in 11th position.
On Saturday, Johnson Jr. qualified 12th and began the event by showing some muscle. He claimed the 10th position on the opening lap and ran as high as ninth from laps six to 25. Much like his teammate Jack Wood, Johnson Jr.’s Chevrolet was on the tight side as he fought to maintain his top-10 position. While he lost a lap to the leaders, Johnson Jr. was able to take advantage of two late-race yellows in the final 20 circuits to claim his second top-10 on an oval this season.
Eric Johnson Jr. Quote:
“We were fairly consistent this entire weekend. Our Pacific Office Automation, Key Property Services Chevrolet was a little tight in both races, but I think we were a little closer on Saturday. Any time you can come out with a top-10 in your first race at a track is positive, so we’ll try to build on this for Shasta later this month. It was a long, hot weekend, so huge thanks to all the guys at BMR for the effort.”