July 21, 2001

Race Notes And Comments From Sears Point Raceway - Sonoma California

Johnny was able to manage a ninth place finish in the Sears Point Wine Country 100 after starting in fifth place. He said "OH MAN, it was an absolute ride out there today. From the first lap after the restart, it was a struggle. It was all I could do to hang onto it. The car was wicked loose; I was sideways everywhere. Actually, I'm glad to have finished as well as we did. We've had a string of good strong runs, so we know what we are capable of accomplishing. We slipped to third in points after this race but are only one point out of second (behind Brian Simo). We are 15 points behind leader and teammate Paul Gentilozzi. We are within sight of the lead. "

"We did all we could do here at Sears Point, so now we'll start to refocus and think ahead to Portland...and I mean the refocus will start happening RIGHT NOW. As soon as the race was over, the guys we're already starting to prepare the car for Portland. Bobby got busy on the gearbox, the engine is swapped, and the whole car is getting a makeover by our dedicated crew."

With about 10 laps to go Tomy Drissi and Johnny were involved in an incident. Johnny commented, "That was an unfortunate deal. It hurt us both in that it probably cost me a couple of positions and him too (Tomy got a black-flag from the SCCA for causing it). I don't think he could help it. He went into the turn over his head and didn't brake soon enough. He hit me and I spun."

Brian Simo lead the race from start to finish in dominating fashion. This was the defending champions first win of the 2001 season. Paul and Boris were able to mount a bit of a charge after the caution flags, but that didn't last too long. Teammate Paul finished second followed by Boris Said, Anthony Lazzaro (filling in for Tommy Archer), Justin Bell, Michael Lewis, Leighton Reese, Randy Ruhlman, then Johnny. Tomy finished tenth after the black flag for contact with Johnny.

Check out all the photos from the race weekend under the "@ the race" link (posted over the next several days). The next race is in two weeks at Portland Raceway. Don't forget to leave a message in Johnny's Guest Book to say hello.