JOHNSON, MCCOY, EVINK AND SMITH CAPTURE VICTORIES ON OPENING NIGHT!
By: Eric Huenefeld
After a long and harsh winter, local auto racing fans came out in force to witness Opening Night of the 67th season at Rockford Speedway. The enthusiastic crowd was treated to some great mid-April weather and terrific racing all night long. When the final checkered flag flew on Mountain Dew Kickstart’s 67th NASCAR Season Opener, one driver had captured his first Saturday night feature win, one former champion started his season on top, one familiar face found himself in a familiar place and one driver passed almost one car per lap on his way to victory.
It wasn’t always in the plans for Casey Johnson to race Saturday night at Rockford Speedway. The 24 year old from Edgerton Wisconsin made the last minute trip to northern Illinois pay off, winning the 30 lap Stanley Steemer NASCAR Late Model feature event. Johnson started the race from the inside of the second row, following ‘Insane’ Wayne Freimund and Curt Tillman to the green flag. Freimund and Tillman dueled for the top spot early, with Freimund finally grinding ahead of the pack on lap two. Johnson worked past Tillman at the same time and immediately set his sights on Freimund. Johnson, the 2013 Big 8 Series champion, wasted little time working past Freimund, inheriting the lead on lap 4.
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