| At a track where passing is extremely
difficult, the #54 just didn't have the handling when it was needed. With second fast
times in both of the morning practice sessions, Johnny looked like one of the ones to
beat. But by heat time, the speed was gone. A dead last draw and no passing capability in
the heat saw Johnny lining up dead last in 22nd for the feature. The first portion of the feature saw the #54 struggling near the
back of the pack fighting with Ralph Nason and Gary Smith but not gaining many positions.
Attrition and accidents knocked out a couple of cars and the #54 made some headway. Johnny
was reluctant to give up any track positon to pit for some adjustments, also uncertain
exactly what changes could make the difference.
A final finishing spot of 8th puts Johnny into 4th in the points standings, but
significantly behind top runners Cassius Clark and Scott Chubbuck who have also tallied
points from good heat finishes. For 2006, PASS is awarded 5-4-3
-2-1 points for the top five heat places. |
