BALDWIN PARK, California — It was another dominating performance for Position One Motorsports Super Late Model driver Rod Johnson Jr. The 21 year old led almost every one of the 75 laps during this weekend’s race at the famed Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. Johnson Jr muscled his 650 HP #03 entry around the 1/2 mile track and procured his 6th win of the season while also increasing his lead in the Championship standings. It was however RJ’s teammate for the night, Chris Winter, who turned heads with his impressive performance. With only 8 races under his belt prior to tonight’s race, with his last race 1 year ago, Winter climbed into the #30 ExtenZe backed Super Late Model entry and powered his way from a 9th place starting spot to 4th in spectacular fashion.
After practice Winter took the track for qualifying and with the car suiting his style Winter muscled the 3000 pound car around the track and set 2 solid laps that put him 9th on the timesheets. Having not set foot on a racetrack since last year, Winter and crew were satisfied with the result and were looking forward to the upcoming race. While Winter and his crew celebrated, the attention turned to RJ who was seeking his 6th pole position of the season. The first year Super Late model driver hurried around the track and mustered up a 3rd place qualifying effort. Always the optimist, despite not taking the pole, RJ and crew were still upbeat about their chances for the race.
In front of a well-attended crowd at the track, the race got off to an exciting start as RJ went straight to the bottom of the track in order to overtake the leader. After the first lap, RJ was battling side by side with race leader #34 Race Liberante. The fight was briefly interrupted as a result of a caution on lap #4, however on the restart RJ took over the lead and the 21 year old never looked back. Even after a 2nd caution on lap #19, RJ still managed to maintain the lead and by mid way point of the race Johnson Jr kept a lead that was as much as a half straightaway. In the end, RJ’s smooth and controlled race pace would allow him to win his 6th race of the season by a healthy margin.
For his part, Position One Motorsports newcomer Chris Winter began his race solidly. For the first part of the race the youngster maintained his 9th place spot and acclimated himself to the hectic pace of the race. It wasn’t long before Winter's #30 started its charge to the front. The caution on lap #4 allowed him to take the 8th spot. However, he quickly went to work on taking 7th which he ultimately succeeded in doing. Winter's assault continued and he soon found himself snatching 6th after the lap #19 caution restart. His strong and precise race pace persisted and he found himself locked in a side-by-side battle for the 5th spot on lap #57, which he took the next lap. Despite being behind the 4th place car by 4 car lengths, the young driver who hails from Arcadia, Ca maintained his fierce pace. With 11 laps left in the race Winter had caught up to the #39 of Kyle Neveau. Soon thereafter, as a result of pressure from Chris, Neveau wiggled coming off turn #4, which allowed Chris to scoot around him and take the 4th spot. Winter would go on to finish in that spot. This result represents his best finish at the track.
Rod Johnson Jr- Driver No 3 – “ Wow, this win is really on the team. I cannot emphasize that enough. This team and everyone involved in the operations, both on race day as well as the rest of the week, consistently give 110% and it always shows during the race and that is why we are experiencing success. As always, I am very appreciative of them. Our car was so good this weekend and as the race progressed the car just got better and better.”
Chris Winter- Driver No 30 – “ What a great night. Thanks go to the Position One Motorsports team for their hard work and for proving me with such a great performing car. I have to thank Loren Hill as well for working and spotting for me. It took a little time for me to shake off the rust, but after a while I got comfortable with the car and began my charge forward. Considering I haven’t been in a car and racing as much as the other drivers, I would consider the race an absolute success.”
ABOUT POSITION ONE MOTORSPORTS
Based in Baldwin Park, CA, Position One Motorsports enters its 4th year of stock car competition at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. In the past 3 years of competition the team has garnered a Championship in the S2 division in 2009, 1 win and multiple top-10s with drivers Mackena Bell, Sergio Pena, Randel King, and Luis Martinez Jr">Luis Martinez Jr. For 2011 Rodney Johnson Jr and Taylor Miinch will pilot the team’s Super Late and Late Model division cars respectively. You can follow Position One Motorsports on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PositionOne and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/PositionOne .You can also visit the team’s website at www.position-one.com
