Rod Johnson Jr arrived at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday, for his 2nd race of the Lucas Oil Slick Mist Super Late Model season and was looking forward to improving his performance from his last race. The task was indeed steep, considering Johnson left the last race as both the pole position winner as well as the race winner, accomplishing both in dominating fashion.
Johnson was joined this weekend by Freestyle Motocross legend Brian Deegan who, in a last minute agreement, signed a deal with Position One Motorsports, which would put him behind the wheel of the #30 Super Late Model entry. Deegan’s appearance at the Southern California track comes on the heels of a recent announcement that will see him partnering up with Ford Racing, which will see him race across multiple racing platforms. The Position One Motorsports team was excited to have Deegan join them for what was to become an exciting night of racing action.
The day started off promising after Johnson and Deegan completed their practice sessions on a positive note. Johnson led every session, while Deegan used the seat time to acclimate himself in his new surroundings. For his second practice session, Deegan jumped up to 8th place on the timesheets out of 14 cars. Later in the afternoon, under partly cloudy skies and cool, breezy conditions, qualifying arrived. The Position One Motorsports duo, led by crew chief John Schuetze, queued up; ready to hammer down their 2-lap qualifying effort. Deegan was first and, with 5 cars already on the timesheets, he muscled the 3500-pound car around the ½ track with poise. His effort was rewarded and he shot up to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 18.076. Deegan would eventually start the race in 9th after all the racers had completed their qualifying effort. Johnson was the last to enter the track to qualify. A strong qualifier in the past, Johnson didn’t disappoint. His first lap time was at a blistering pace. The official time read was 17.558, which not only earned him the pole position for the second straight race, but the time also broke the existing track record of 17.571, which was set by RJ last year at the California Classic.
Taking the green flag, RJ screamed thru the start and didn’t look back. Johnson immediately put a 2-car length lead between himself and the 2nd place car. He ran his best lap on the 2nd lap of the race with a time of 17.978. He continued to maintain a fast pace and carved around the track for the remaining 77 laps, while at the same time denying any attempts to take his lead. Indeed, at a point in the race, Johnson’s staggering lead was as high as 4-car lengths. Johnson would eventually cruise his way to winning the race by 1.169 seconds.
For Deegan, this race was about learning and gaining experience. His debut race with Position One Motorsports would also be an eventful affair. The founder of the famous Metal Mulisha Freestyle Motocross team would take the start of the race in solid fashion and began setting some impressive times. He quickly picked up the 8th spot and soon thereafter caught up to Race Liberante to challenge for 7th. It soon became a 4-way car battle. With every lap Deegan inched his way closer to taking the spot away. He was sidetracked momentarily when the #43 of Dennis Furden hit him from behind and spun him around on turn #2. Deegan showed incredible skill and corrected the car and was able to continue on his way; preserving his 7th spot. He slid into 5th, after Ryan Partridge was forced to retire from the race, and immediately went after the 4th place of Liberante. On the last lap Deegan attempted a daring move on the inside of Liberante in turn #2 for 4thplace. And with 3rd only a few feet away, Deegan powered his way forward, but ultimately accepted a solid 4th place finish. This would be Deegan’s best stock car career finish.
Position One Motorsports returns next weekend with its Auto Club Late Model program and driver Taylor Miinch and returns to Super Late Model competition on May 7th.
Rod Johnson Jr, Driver No. 03 – “This victory really goes to the crew. They deserve this one. Though we had a vibration issue earlier in the day the crew persevered and gave me an absolutely great car for the race. The car was a missile during the race and all I did was drive it. Many thanks go to our sponsors and everyone who made this possible.”
Brian Deegan, Driver No. 30 – “This weekend’s deal was thrown together at the last minute and I was lucky enough to be partnered up with one of the best teams out here. I immediately realized the car was a good car and it was pretty much up to me to get a good result. Once I got with the lead pack I started figuring out how the car works. This weekend was certainly a learning experience. Sometimes you have to put the ego aside and admit that you may not be the best in the sport and start from scratch. That’s what makes it so exciting. Once I got to the lead pack and smelled blood I realized I had a chance to go even further, so I took it and made a move on the bottom and took it, and finished in the 4th spot, which in the end, exceeded my goal of leaving here with a top-5. This weekend was a big time success. I feel like the guys at Position One are the winning edge that I needed to move forward and I think I’m where I need to be.”
