Johnson Jr. Ends Rookie of the Year Season with 15th in Phoenix

Venue: Phoenix Raceway

FINISH: 15th

Start: 11th

Laps Led: 0

Eric Johnson Jr. finished in 15th-place Friday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway for the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) season finale. The driver of the No. 19 Pacific Office Automation Chevrolet SS ended his rookie season with Bill McAnally Racing with the AMSW Rookie of the Year title and sixth in the drivers point standings.

Johnson Jr. began his day for the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 after posting the 11th fastest time in group qualifying on Thursday night. On the second lap while going three wide, he was pushed up the corner and made slight contact with the wall.

Johnson Jr. was able to recover quickly and moved back to the 12th spot. As he was battling for his position he told his team he was becoming extremely tight over the long run. Johnson Jr. made it to the halfway point on lap 50 in the 14th position one lap down.

The Pacific Office Automation team used the five-minute break to make some adjustments to help fix the tight conditions. The field went back to green on lap 54 with Johnson Jr. still maintaining the 14th position. With the almost caution free second half on the race Johnson Jr. finished his rookie campaign in 15th-place.

Eric Johnson Jr. Quote:

“It wasn’t the finished that we wanted today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t shake the issues we had in practice all weekend. It was a hard pill to swallow to finish out the season but, still so grateful for my team and everything they have done this season.”