By: Kevin Ramsell
(Oregon, WI) – Casey Johnson won his third ASA Midwest Tour’s Bytec Cheeseland Howie Lettow Classic 100 in the last five years on Friday night at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisconsin.
It was also his third win of the season on the tour, along with being the second time he won both of the Midwest Tour events at Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile Oval in one season.
The Edgerton, Wisconsin native, who is a three-time tour champion, took over the lead from Justin Mondeik on lap 68 and pulled away to a 3.049-second victory.
The key to victory was simply patience in the race that only had one caution on lap 14 for Weston Marthaler’s spin in turn two. The final 86 laps were run caution-free with no breaks, giving Johnson plenty of time to make the winning pass.
“That’s kind of always been my m/o, I guess,” a smiling Johnson said after the race. “I learned that from a guy named Rich Bickle a long time ago, and it’s starting to come back around where it’s working pretty good with these tires.
“So I just kind of took my time. I knew we had a good enough car, and, you know, I was trying to wait for Justin to slip, and he didn’t do it for a long time. And then he finally slipped up once and we were able to get out there.”
Johnson, who tried many times to get to the inside of Mondeik, went around on the high side to make the winning pass.
“He just had a better car, honestly. I felt like we were better there for three quarters of the race while we were leading, and I was just having to go so hard to keep the gap,” Mondeik explained after the race. “We were just arcing it in to get drive off off a two, and just kind of the right front just started to get hot and just started to get tight there once Casey got close, and then you’re trying to protect, and it just kind of kills your roll speed. So I just need a little bit more there on the longer run, but overall I am really happy with where we finished.”
Andrew Morrissey, another former ASAMT champion, fought off a tough battle with Ty Fredrickson to take the final podium spot.
“We had a decent run. I had a really good car. I was just trying to save tires there for, you know, until about three quarters of the way through the race,” Morrissey said. “I thought I was doing a good job, but then when I tried to pick up the pace, I didn’t really have any pace left, so I think you just can’t really save on these tires like you used to be able to, and could have used the yellow or two at the end, but it just never happened.”
Fredrickson and Levon Van Der Geest rounded out the top five.
When asked if his season’s plans have changed with the success he is having so far this season in the ASA Midwest Tour, Johnson’s plans really don’t think it has, especially with the support on his side.
“My mindset’s never really changed. We always just show up to the track looking to win the race. That never changed,” Johnson said. “What changed is with life, you know, outside of racing, you never know how much time you’re going to have, but I got a huge support system to support me, and we’re able to make it work.”
The ASA Midwest Tour’s next event will be a “crown jewel” event as the series heads to Wisconsin International Raceway near Kaukauna, Wisconsin, for the Gandrud Auto Group 250 on Tuesday, August 5th.
Ticket information can be found at midwesttour.racing.
A replay of tonight’s race can be found at tracktv.com.
