By Bill Foley
Marc Johnson’s plans for the 2023 season are a bit different than last year, but here he was at All Tech Raceway on Wednesday night for the kick-off of the Super Short Track Series Sunshine Swing.
In his second year at the track, it was a night he had to battle for every spot he could get.
It all started at the beginning of the night as Marc told Dirt Track Digest, “We didn’t help ourselves in the draw. We pulled ourselves the last pill of the group. It was an uphill battle from there. It wasn’t our night I guess.”
Continuing, he said, “We have a really good car.”
The feature saw him starting in the final row as he had to battle his way through the night.
He was making progress and with a lap to go had worked his way to seventh.
Looking back on the final circuit, he said, “We blew a tire on the last lap and lost a couple of spots. So, all in all it was a decent night.”
Johnson had picked up numerous spots, despite the rubbered surface, and said, “I don’t know how I did it. I feel I was in the wrong lane on every restart, stuck on the bottom and I’d lose a couple of spots every restart. Finally that last restart I got a restart on the top and got quite a few guys. Me and Pauch were racing quite a bit in that race and that was fun.”
However, he noted, “Now it’s on to the next race.”
Jokingly he said, “I was trying to start fresh and maybe start drawing better, but I’m firing myself.”
Looking back at the uniqueness of All-Tech, Johnson said, “This place and Bridgeport were my two favorites last year. I think I raced 70 to 75 times last year. This is definitely at the top of the list. It is a lot of fun. You have to muscle the car around and you never know what you are going to get in every corner. The groove changes a lot. You have to really be up on the wheel.”
Looking ahead he said, “We are running Volusia next week and then Albany-Saratoga, Lebanon Valley and then the Deyo North and Elite Series.”
