Chase Johnson Captures First KWS-NARC Feature on Flowaster Night at Petaluma Speedway
6/17/17 – Petaluma, CA … Chase Johnson outdueled Bud Kaeding in a thrilling open wheel battle at Petaluma Speedway to capture his first career King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series feature event victory Saturday night.
Johnson, piloting the potent Shawn & Cyndi Thomas-owned, Wesmar-Champion Machine-powered Maxim, played cat and mouse with polesitter Kaeding throughout the 30-lapper before capitalizing on slower traffic to make his winning move. As the pair sliced and diced through lapped cars, Johnson launched a no holds barred slide job in the third corner on lap 16 to get under race long leader. He exited the fourth turn with the point.
Kaeding wasn’t done yet and continued his frantic pursuit of the leader in a race that ran nonstop the final 21-laps after a couple of early caution flags. Johnson almost took himself out of contention when he collided with the car of Nathan Rolfe going down the frontchute three laps later. However, he regrouped and held on to the win by four car lengths.
“I knew I had a chance to get around Bud (Kaeding) if we got into traffic,” explained Johnson, after become the sixth different KWS-NARC winner this season before a hometown crowd. “Once I got there and made it happen, I was surprised that it worked out so well.”
Kaeding finished in the runner up spot in the Williams Motorsports Alviso Rock Maxim. Australian sprint car star Jason Veal survived several wheel-to-wheel skirmishes with KWS-NARC point leader and quick qualifier Gio Scelzi and Cory Eliason to score third. Veal was driving the BK Racing Al’s Roofing Maxim.
Eliason was on the move from the initial green after starting 11th. He was seventh after nine circuits, fifth after 19 and ended up fourth in the Antaya Motorsports Fuel Curve-sponsored Maxim. Tenth starter Scelzi, who failed to transfer out of his heat race in the Roth Motorsports KPC, secured fifth.
Scelzi still maintains a slim 467-466 advantage over Kaeding in the championship standings, after both drivers finished the event earning the same amount of points.
Andy Forsberg, DJ Netto, Billy Alton, Sean Watts and Bobby McMahan rounded out the top 10. Watt’s performance was a season-best. The checkered flag in the four division program waved at 9:22 p.m.
Heat race victories were picked off by Geoff Ensign, Sean Watts & DJ Netto.
