Johanna Long’s website states that she plans to compete for Rookie of the Year honors this year in the Truck Series.
With rookie sensation Cole Whitt leading the point standings—126 points ahead of Long—the odds of Long’s claiming the top-rookie hardware appear, well, long. But that’s not say there aren’t many benchmarks she stands to reach this season.
Long has the opportunity to claim many NASCAR “firsts” this year, including first win, top-five, and top-ten (to date, her highest finish is last year’s 17th-place result at IRP in her first career start). Three weeks ago in Dover, she took a step towards building her NASCAR resume as she led two laps, the first laps-led of career.
But despite her inexperience in NASCAR—she has only fourteen career starts—Long, by her very presence in the sport, has already distinguished herself: she is the youngest driver in the Truck Series—last week she celebrated her nineteenth birthday—and for all intents and purposes the only female driver (Jennifer Jo Cobb has started one race so far).
Piloting the No. 20 Panhandle Grading & Paving Toyota Tundra for Panhandle Motorsports, Long has thus far been solid—if not spectacular—in her first full NASCAR season. In her last start, two weeks ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, she avoided many hang-ups in a caution-filled race en route to a 20th-place result, her third top-twenty finish of the year. (In 2011, wrecks and car problems have perhaps been the biggest challenge for Long—whose three DNFs match last year’s total.)
After her gutsy performance at Charlotte, Long will get a boost in Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway from the continued presence of driver coach Johnny Benson, who signed a two-race contract with Panhandle Motorsports to work with Long in Dover and Charlotte but will stay with the team this weekend.
Heading into her first start at Kansas, Long isn’t underestimating the importance of Benson’s counsel. “I’m really excited about getting back in the truck this weekend at Kansas,” she said. “I learned a lot at Charlotte, and I look forward to building on that and gaining more experience at Kansas. I also am really glad that Benson is going to be helping our team at Kansas. I really enjoy working with him. He is so knowledgeable about all aspects of racing. He has helped me tremendously in the last couple of weeks and being able to work with him is an honor.”
Hopefully for Long, this honor will be only one of many to come.
Bryce Arghiere is a feature writer for SpeedWeekly magazine and SpeedWeekly.net.
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