| In another signature race
performance - stay out of trouble, be there at the end, be fast at the end, and then grab
vital spots (including the top one) - Johnny took the win at the very tight, quarter-mile
Riverside Speedway in Groveton, NH. Timing-trialing second with a 12.367 to Cassius Clark's fast time of
12.320, Johnny drew an end position for the Dash and finished seventh.
At the start pole sitter Mike Rowe and Travis
Benjamin began their battle with each other and with lapped cars. A lapped car on the
bottom makes it difficult for a leader to get around on the high side at Riverside. Johnny
moved on up from 7th to 6th on lap 2, to 5th on lap 27, and to 4th on lap 65. Benjamin
took the lead from Rowe on lap 96 while negotiating a lapped car. Coming upon another
lapped, Rowe brushed Banjamin spinning him out along the back stretch. Both cars went to
the back of the pack and Johnny was up to second spot.
Benjamin then began dropping some rear end grease. Coming out of four, Johnny saw
the gray swath on the track and pulled down, but leader Ben Rowe did not, sweeping wide in
turn one and almost out of the ballpark.
So Johnny had the lead on lap 145 with a recovering Mike Rowe on his tail. One
called-back restart and one successful restart later, Johnny was under the checkers with
Mike .311 seconds back. |
