By: Fast Time Media
10/25/23… Tulare, California: Thursday, Friday, & Saturday Night, Colby Johnson was back in action at the Tulare Thunderbowl. He’d take on the biggest race of his season this past weekend, the 29th annual Trophy Cup.
He would start his weekend out with time trials, one of the most important facets of the weekend. He’d end up timing in 17th quickest out of roughly 32 cars in Group A. That would line him up on the front row outside for his heat race. On the initial start, the cwr would stumble a little, costing him a spot or two. He’d fall back to the 3rd spot. Once in 3rd he’d end up getting into a rhythm, ripping off good laps & going on to finish 3rd.
That lined him up in the 8th starting spot for the B-main event. The track would be one lane around the bottom for most of the B-main. Colby would try to rip the top to no avail. In the middle stages of the B-main Colby would get into a spinning car & have to go to the pit area. He returned to the track with minimal damage & ended up finishing 13th.
“We qualified decent, I think I could have been a little bit better. We probably could have qualified somewhere in the top-10 I believe & that would have helped us throughout the whole night. We got into the heat race & kind of just stumbled on the start & got a bad start. Got to race with my brother though & that was pretty fun. Went into the B-main & it was iis all around the bottom. I was trying to make the top work & there was absolutely no grip. Bud ended up flipping & I just had nowhere to go.”
Going into Friday, Colby looked to improve from Thursday & did that to start the night. He ended up timing in 15th quickest in Group A this time. That put him in the heat race where he’d roll off from 3rd. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t have the heat race he wanted. After starting 3rd, Colby would fall back to the 5th spot where he’d finish.
In the B-main, Colby would start out in the 11th spot & need to get into the top-4 to transfer to the feature event. When the green fell, Colby would end up slipping backwards. He’d battle hard to try & make his way forward, but it would just be tough to pass & he’d end up finishing in the 16th spot & his night two would end there.
Saturday Night, Colby would enter the night top-48 in points. That put him into a heat race where he’d start on the outside of the front row. Colby was able to get a really good start this time. He’d jump out to the lead & go on to the grab the heat race win.
That would put Colby into one of the toughest heat races of the year. He’d roll off from 17th & try to mount a charge forward. Colby would grab a few spots early in the race, before falling backwards late. He’d end up falling to the 18th spot where he’d end the B-main & his Trophy Cup!
“Ran a heat race, and won it. That didn’t do anything for my points so we went into the B-main. Laid down some laps & had some good speed, it was just hard to make it that far forward. We made up a couple spots, & fell back a couple spots. The car had speed & we felt good so I’m happy about that.”
It was a good weekend for Colby & the team. The results don’t really show it, but Colby & his team had a ton of speed all weekend. He won a heat race, battled with some of the best, and was able to keep the car out of trouble for the most part.
Colby would like to thank his sponsors; Pit Stop USA, Trench Shoring, Johnny Franklin’s Muffler - Driveline - Hitch, Tim McCloskey Electric, Inc., Ed Pink Racing Engines, NAPA Lake Parts, Inc., Rodela Specialty Fabrication, Lifeline Fire & Safety Systems, Met Tec, M2 Bearings, K1 RaceGear, Bell Helmets, Sequoia Rifleworks, System 1 Pro Ignition, Schoenfeld Headers, R.J.’s Race Graphics, and QuickCar.
Next Race: TBA
2023 season stats: 23 events, 17 features, 0 wins, 1 top-5's, 8 top-10's
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