Johanna Long Displays Her Talent With a Second Blizzard Series Victory
Hometown Girl Wins Big Again at Five Flags Speedway

“It feels wonderful,” said Long.  “It is a booster to know that I could win again, because we’re racing with the best of the best.  Just knowing that I can be out here and I can win it just feels really good.”

In the mid stages of this race, Long was challenged for the lead by Texan Casey Smith.  Long actually lost the lead to Smith for awhile, but when Smith spun after getting caught up with a lapped car, she regained the top spot.  This show of patience helped Long get to victory lane.

“I knew Casey was catching me and I couldn’t get past the lapped cars, so I just let him go because I knew he was getting under me.  Then they all got tangled up.  The traffic was blocked, and I almost hit Augie [Grill] in the door and I just ‘snatched it hard right’.  Surprisingly, I got out of it.

“I had a good run on him for three laps and I finally got to him.  Then I got to the gas way harder than he did and we both got into each other; but, you know, that’s just racing.”

Getting through lapped traffic clean wasn’t the only skill that Long relied on to win.  She earned the victory in part because of her performances on restarts during the race.  She even impressed her driving coach Freddie Query with her ‘get up and go’.  That isn’t easy to do, as Query has been a veteran of many restarts himself during his years as a standout short tracker throughout the Southeast. 

“It was great because I have never been good at restarts, and this one tonight has been my best night ever of doing restarts.  It was just really good.  He was like, ‘you pulled away, you pulled away,’ and it felt really good.”

In addition to Query’s help, the support that Long’s close-knit family has shown her has been one of the most important assets in her young racing career.  Another great asset has been the moral support that her hometown fans of Pensacola have shown her in every race.  “Johanna Mania” isn’t just a buzzword, it describes how the crowd responds when Long is successful on the racetrack – and Friday was no exception.

“I can’t even describe in words what everyone has done for me,” said Long.  “I want to do this, and they’re [her family] going to give me 100% or 110%.  They’ve helped me a lot.  I [also] have a great fan base here, and I couldn’t do it without them.”

Long’s Blizzard Series victory started off a weekend of racing that also included a Saturday night start in the Miller Lite Super Late Model Series at Mobile International Speedway (AL).  In that event, Long finished sixth in that event.

Long will take her show on the road this coming weekend and will celebrate the Fourth of July holiday by entering a pair of PASS South events.  She is scheduled to compete in the PASS South Firecracker 125 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC) on Friday night, July 3rd, and then in the PASS South Independence 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) on Sunday, July 5th.

Stay tuned to the all-new JohannaLong.com from 51 Sports for more details on Long’s upcoming race schedule.

For more information on Johanna Long, please contact Matt Kentfield at (704) 788-2134, and be sure to stay tuned to her new website, JohannaLong.com.
Winning one race usually isn’t easy - especially in a tough series like the Blizzard Super Late Model Series at Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway.   So when Johanna Long won the Blizzard Series’ opener earlier this year, the teenager silenced anyone who hadn’t caught “Johanna-Mania” yet.

And if there were any non-believers left after that victory, they have definitely run for the hills now, as Long won again – in Friday night’s Blizzard Series Round Three of the 2009 season.

Blizzard Series Win Number Two at Five Flags Speedway this season. (51 Sports Photo)