Justin Johnson Sets Sights on CARS Tour Success

Two-time South Boston Speedway track champion Justin John son is eager to get the 2015 season underway.  After spending time out of the cockpit, Johnson is now setting his sights on the brand new Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour.

Johnson, 28, won the track championship at South Boston Speedway in 2009 and 2010 and also won the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) Virginia State Championship in 2010.  After that, he sort of disappeared.  Last season, Johnson began racing again at Motor Mile Speedway in Virginia as well as competing in the Myrtle Beach 400.  This season, Johnson will be much more prominent in the world of Late Model Stock Car racing.

“I’m very excited,” John son said.  “We ran about six races last year so we’re just trying to get back in the groove of things.  We got us a new car.  We’re really looking forward to getting this year started.  We had a decent run at Myrtle Beach at the end of the year.  I felt like we should have run just a little better but, nevertheless, it wasn’t too bad.”

Johnson will be joining a large list of drivers competing in the CARS Tour beginning with the tour’s inaugural race on March 28^th at Southern National Motorsports Park in North Carolina.  Johnson expects to win races and contend for the champion and he thinks he can do just that.

“We’re hoping to win races and contend for the championship,” Johnson remarked.  “Of course, there are a couple of tracks I haven’t been to before.  We’re going to try to do some testing and hope they don’t throw us a curveball.  We’re looking forward to going to Motor Mile, Orange County and Southern National.  Like I said, it looks like it’s going to be a fun tour.”

Johnson has competed in the X-1R Pro Cup Series which is the series that has been phased out by CARS and replaced with the dual Late Model Stock Car and Super Late Model tours.  Despite that experience in the old Pro Cup Series, Johnson, like many on the Late Model Stock Car side, does not feel that familiar with bump-stops and coil-binding.

“I’ve run some Pro Cup stuff before but I haven’t run a lot of the coil-binding and bump-stops.  We’re doing a lot of testing with that, trying to figure some things out.  So far, so good.  It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun this year.”

Johnson’s return is certain to be popular among Late Model Stock Car fans who watched him establish dominance at South Boston Speedway at the end of the last decade and the start of the current decade.