At A Glance: Jason Johnson Heads West with the Outlaws
The Series takes on the FVP Outlaw Showdown at the Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the NAPA Wildcat Shootout presented by RideNow Powersports at USA Raceway
CONCORD, N.C. – March 1, 2015 – The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action next week as it begins the first West Coast swing of the season. The series take on the FVP Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 4 and 5, and the NAPA Wildcat Shootout presented by RideNow Powersports at Tucson’s USA Raceway on March 7.
Among the three new drivers who have joined the series full-time this season is Eunice, La.-native Jason Johnson. Johnson comes to the series after scoring his fifth American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) national championship title in 2014.
During DIRTcar Nationals, Johnson said the decision to go racing with the World of Outlaws was a long time in the making.
“It’s always been a goal of ours for sure,” he said. “The right opportunity presented itself and I’ve had some opportunities but for some reason I sat back. Today’s the right day… This is a dream come true. Back from working with Steve [Kinser] and Steve Kinser Racing in ’99 to today is a lot of days in the working.”
Coming into the season Johnson said his biggest challenge was going to be getting qualifying down – something he did not have to do regularly running full-time with the ASCS. He said those two laps set the stage for most nights and he wants his team to be in position to capitalize on good starts.
Looking at the coming months, Johnson said he’ll view his season as a success if he can build consistent runs.
“To start out we set up some quarterly goals throughout the season,” Johnson said. “And obviously it’s stay out of trouble in the beginning and by mid-season we’d like to think that we’ll be a top-10 contender. Hopefully by the end of the year, if we happen to put ourselves in the right situation, we could capitalize on a front row start. Winning these races is definitely tough and we know that going in and we’re up for the challenge.”
Driving for his own Jason Johnson Racing with sponsorship from Priority Aviation, Johnson is making his first full campaign with the series in 2015. He has 98 Outlaws starts throughout his career and one full points win at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003. Johnson also has a preliminary night win at Williams Grove Speedway in 2005.