Second Podium Finish at Miller Motorsports Park for Johnson and Mason.
Tooele, Utah. (September 25, 2008) -- After a podium finish together on
the streets of Trois-Rivieres, Canada, Billy Johnson and Ray Mason stand
on the podium together again after a strong charge to the front in the
No. 52 Rehagen Racing, Columbus Truck, ROUSH Ford Mustang FR500C.
This is the fourth podium for Johnson this season and marks his
third-straight podium. Billy finished 2nd in New Jersey for Motorsport
Technology Group in the No. 18 BMW Z4 M-Coupe after an intense last-lap
battle with Craig Stanton, and finished 3rd at Trois-Rivieres in the No.
52 Rehagen Racing Mustang with Ray Mason.
With the anticipation of minimal yellow flags during the race, the
team focused on a setup that would be good for long stints. While the
handling came in later on in the race, it was less than ideal for a
3 lap qualifying session resulting in Mason qualifying in the 19th
position. At the start of the race, Mason was quickly in the top 10
which he held for half the race before turning the car over to Johnson
under green flag conditions. Johnson took over the controls and one by
one, worked his way through the field to another podium finish.
"We were looking to have a strong car at the end of the race" said
Johnson, "our car's handling got better while the rest of the field
started to fall away. Ray did a great job as usual working through the
field and keeping the car in one piece for me. I would like the thank
Rehagen Racing and Ray for the opportunity to drive for them again.
Dean Martin and the whole crew at Rehagen Racing did a fantastic job
preparing the car and were a pleasure to work with".
This fourth podium places Johnson in 9th in the driver standings and
only 19 points from the lead. This year Billy has driven with five
different co-drivers, three different cars (BMW, Porsche, and Ford),
and two different teams. No other driver in the top 10 has driven for
multiple teams in multiple car makes. The fact that Billy has been
the highest finishing Ford at Miller and the highest finishing BMW at
New Jersey and Mosport shows what a talented and adaptable driver he
is. Billy looks forward to joining Andrew Davis back in the No. 18
Motorsport Technology Group BMW Z4 M-Coupe for the season finale VIR
6-Hour race where they look to finally sit atop the podium.
-credit: Johnson Racing
