A strong run at Portland (Oreg.) International Raceway ended early and with a 19th-place finish for Eric Johnson Jr. and the No. 19 Pacific Office Automation Chevrolet SS, after an off-track excursion left him in the tire barrier. Johnson Jr. qualified in the 14th position, but quickly moved into the top-10 as several competitors ahead of him had trouble on the 1.98-mile road course. Johnson Jr. climbed as high as fifth, and was running eighth at the halfway break in the Portland 112.
Following the break, Johnson Jr. restarted eighth, but had started to fall back in the field, when, running 11th, he was involved in a single-car incident with 11 laps to go that left him in the tire barrier and unable to continue. Ultimately, he recorded a 19th-place finish in the 57-lap event.
Eric Johnson Jr. Quote:
“Our No.19 team worked their tails off today to fight through and array of issues that were thrown at us, but we never gave up. Unfortunately, some things are just out of our hands. We spent the majority of the race sticking to our game plan, “stay disciplined and let the cars up front come to us”. That exactly what happened. It was a blast getting up in the mix with the Top 5 for a bit before our day was ended prematurely by the upper an arm coming loose. Once again, the result doesn’t show for the speed we were capable of. Just can’t thank all my supporters and partners enough for making this weekend possible. Onto Sonoma.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
