Kaleb Johnson highlighted the 2 nd annual BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by MENARDS by making the feature redraw during the final preliminary night.
More than 50 drivers tackled the four-day World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event at Huset’s Speedway.
“The week was pretty tough,” Johnson said. “The first two nights we didn’t fare so well, but the third night was much better. We made the show and the redraw. It didn’t end how we wanted, but it’s tough racing against those guys. They are so good.”
Qualifying woes stymied Johnson on Wednesday and Thursday as he ended in the Last Chance Showdown and C Main, respectively.
“We really just couldn’t get anything right on the car,” he said. “We struggled finding any grip. I was just spinning the tires, which isn’t very good. After those two nights we switched cars and that seemed to help. It’s a car I started the year with and I couldn’t get it to work well. We switched to this other car that was a little different and ended up switching back on Friday.”
Johnson kicked off Friday’s preliminary night by qualifying sixth quickest. He then hustled from sixth to fourth place in a heat race to earn enough points to advance into the feature redraw.
“We laid down a good qualifying lap,” he said. “I was able to hit the bottom pretty good. I was a bit surprised we hung on for sixth quickest, but the track did go away a bit throughout qualifying. We started sixth in the heat race. I knew if I wanted a chance at the redraw I needed to pass one or two cars, which we were able to do.”
Johnson lined up on the outside of the third row in the main event after pulling the No. 6 during the redraw.
“I was going to be happy with a top 15,” he said. “I knew it’d be tough. I let some cars pass me and made the wrong lane choice a couple of times. Then we hurt an engine about 15 laps in so we were unable to finish.”
Johnson was credited with a 22nd-place result.
“I knew we’d be buried in event points for Saturday,” he said. “I had to have a good start in the qualifier to pass a couple of cars. I got squeezed into the wall taking the green. It bent the torque tube so I was lucky to hang onto sixth.”
Johnson placed sixth in a qualifier before ending the weekend 16 th in the Last Chance Showdown.
“I knew starting that far back it’d be tough,” he said. “I think we gained a position and mostly rode around back there for a while.”
Johnson plans to take this weekend off before resuming competition on July 7 at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series and Midwest Power Series and July 9 at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 21 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 46; Heat race: 7 (8); C Main: 1 (2); B Main: 20 (21).
June 22 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 48; Heat race: 8 (8); C Main: 5 (7).
June 23 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 22 (6).
June 24 – Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. – Qualifier: 6 (6); B Main: 16 (17).
SEASON STATS –
25 races, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 8 top 10s, 8 top 15s, 12 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 7 at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series and Midwest Power Series and July 9 at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D.
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