A BLOWN LEFT REAR TIRE EARLY IN RACE SIDETRACKS JASON IN HIS MESILLA VALLEY TRANSPORTATION (MVT) HOT ROD IN THE BERLIN BRAWL AS HE COMES HOME WITH A 17TH PLACE FINISH

MARNE, MICHIGAN (September 26, 2015) – After loading up at Eldora Speedway on Friday night, Jason and the JJR team headed 250 miles north so they were in Marne, Michigan on Saturday night to race with the World of Outlaws (WoO) in the Berlin Brawl at the Berlin Raceway. There were 28 cars signed into the pit area of the semi-banked oval located just off the coast of Lake Michigan.

Jason was the first driver out for time trials aboard the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Hepfner Racing Products (HRP) #41 Maxim. He didn’t disappoint as he laid down a fast lap of 14.569 seconds, which was 5th quick overall when qualifying was concluded and the times were sorted out.

Jason and the JJR boys readied their Kistler Engines powered Maxim Racing entry for the eight lap heat events as they were scheduled to start third in the second heat of the night. After Daryn Pittman won the first heat, Jason flipped down the shield of his Arai Helmet and lined up on the inside of row two with Donny Schatz to his right. When the green flag waved, the original members of row two were fast and on the move. Jason was cruising in his Jonestown KOA/Valvoline machine as Schatz was doing the same in his Bad Boys Buggies #15. Schatz would go on to take the heat race victory ahead of Shane Stewart, Jason, Paul McMahan, and Ryan Ruhl with Jason Sides locking down the sixth and final transfer spot to the Berlin Brawl main event.

For the fifteenth time this season, the Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) entry was making an appearance in the Dash event, which is used to align the first four rows of the feature. When the six pill was drawn, the Ragin’ Cajun would start from the outside front row beside Gary Taylor. With names like Schatz, Pittman, Sweet, Schuchart and Madsen behind you there would definitely not be any time to lollygag when the green flag waved. The Cajun speedster knew that and when the green flag waved he took off in his Priority Aviation Services, LLC/MSD Performance #41. He took command of the top spot and was showing the way as the remaining seven participants gave chase in this high speed event. Jason would take the WoO Dash victory, the first of the year, to earn the right to start from the pole of the 30 lap feature event.

Amped that he had a fast hot rod on this night, Jason and the JJR boys made their final adjustments before he rolled out onto the speedway with an unencumbered view of the pace car from their front row starting spot. As the teams made their way around on the parade laps to thank all of the faithful fans in attendance it was race time. When the green flag dropped, Logan Schuchart jumped into the lead as Jason held down the second spot. There was a fierce battle for position and Jason was right in the mix of the fight in the Waco Metal/Wilwood Brakes #41. Unfortunately, early on, he experienced a blown left rear tire that relegated him to the pit area. None-to-happy, he rejoined the field and raced his way back to earn a 17th place finish. Not the results he was looking for after having a really fast car all night. After the race, the understandably disappointed but forward looking competitor commented, “We had a really fast hot rod all night here at Berlin Raceway.” He continued, “Unfortunately, we experienced tire troubles again tonight that slowed us down. But, boy did it feel good to be fast again. We will rectify our tire issues and keep digging as we head to Williams Grove next week for the National Open.”