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Local teen to race in Snowball Derby
Johanna Long, the 17-year-old Pensacola driver, continues to run with the big boys of racing. Make that win against the big boys. She became the first woman to clinch the Blizzard Series Super Late Model points championship Friday night at Five Flags Speedway. Long, a student at Pine Forest High School, finished fourth to win the title by just 5 points over Augie Grill, who won his second straight Blizzard race. A year after winning the Pro Late Model championship, she's now the Blizzard Series champion. "It's awesome, a dream come true," Long said as the fans roared their approval. "I never thought I'd be here. My family and my crew have supported me all season. It's just great." It wasn't great for Bubba Pollard, who entered the race with a 23- point lead over Long. But his poor qualifying position (12th) put him in the middle of the pack and it proved disastrous on the opening lap. He was involved in a big spinout on the front stretch that damaged several cars, including his own. Pollard ran to the pits to get into a backup car, but since he had already completed a lap, he could not use a second car. Pollard returned to the track on Lap 30, but that eliminated him from the points battle, which was now left to Grill and Long. Grill was the fastest qualifier and dominated the race, leading all 100 laps. Long started second and stayed in that position until Lap 69 when Casey Smith passed her. The deciding move came on the restart of the final caution on Lap 87. Hunter Robbins had beaten Grill out of the pits, but he was running on only seven cylinders and Grill quickly passed him. Robbins actually triggered the caution when he tapped Mercer trying to take over fourth place. Long restarted fourth and kept that position for the final 13 laps to clinch the title. "I told my crew on the radio that I wasn't going to do anything to lose one more position," Long said. "My whole goal this whole race was to stay out of trouble and win the championship." Grill, the two-time defending Snowball Derby, couldn't have done anything more. "I couldn't have gotten any more points," he said. "I'm happy for Johanna, but I feel pretty good going into the Snowball Derby. I wish it was next week." Smith finished second, while Robbins took third. Chris Davidson was fifth and Eddie Mercer sixth. Pollard finished 20th and still finished third in the point standings. That could make a big difference come Snowball Derby time. Should Grill and/or Long make the starting field on their qualifying efforts, the provisional spots go to the next drivers in the point standings. Long's father, Donald Long, didn't race Friday night so he could focus on Johanna's performance. Next up for Johanna will be the ARCA race at Rockingham, N.C., on Oct. 11. In December, she will attempt to become the second woman driver to win the Snowball Derby after Tammy Jo Kirk won in 1994. |
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