It was a family affair of sorts at South Boston Speedway Saturday.
With father, Eddie Johnson on hand, Midlothian driver Chris Johnson driving the RJR, Transit Lumber Chevorlet, won the 50-lap IMCA-Style Modified race.
Johnson nudged his way past Richmond driver A.J. Winstead driving the Marriott Execustay Chevorlet on lap 32 and led the rest of the way to garner his first win at South Boston Speedway, where his grandfather, Cal, won in dirt modifieds and his father has won in NASCAR Late Model Stock Car competition.
Starting fourth in the field, Johnson went to third on the opening lap and second on lap 21, before getting past Winstead on lap 32.
Johnson then survived a restart following the race’s only caution on the final lap to claim the win, beating Winstead by .169 second.
Rusty Wood of Midlothian, Hunter Slayton of Richmond and Joe Scarbrough of Charles City rounded out the top five finishers.
Winstead led laps early before being passed by Johnson, the pair exchanging a few taps in the process of competing for the win.
“He used his bumber on me a couple of times, but I figured it was all good. We made some changes from last time but couldn’t get any forward bite,” said Winstead.
“So, we’ll change it back again and come back.”
Chris Johnson called it a “great race,” while Eddie said his son “does a wonderful job, and he stepped up to keep this Johnson race team going.”
“My father, Cal, won a lot of races here in the 50s, and I’ve been able to win some races here, but I’m just a proud papa,” said Eddie Johnson.
“This is his night,” he said referring to his son’s win.
Johnson averaged 61.143 MPH in a race that took 21 minutes to run.
Results:
FINISH POS CAR# DRIVER LAPS COMPL.
1 36 Chris Johnson 50
2 99 AJ Winstead 50
3 69 Rusy Wood 50
4 77 Hunter Slayton 50
5 08 Joe Scarbrough 50
6 37 Chris Hoylman 50
7 44 Robbie Babb 50
8 83 Scott Lawrence 50
9 38 Michael Johnson 50
10 32 Brandon Harding 46
11 12 Tim Maxey 40
Pole: A.J. Winstead 16.234
Reprinted Courtesy: Doug Ford, The Gazette-Virginian
