Jake Johnson left the OKC Mile with a top-10 finish after having regained some much-needed confidence in just his second race on the Estenson Racing Indian Scout FTR750.
But it wasn’t all roses at Remington Park for Johnson as, once again, he started out the day struggling. Cushion tracks aren’t really his forté, and with such a rough start to his season the frustration was mounting. Like all good teams, Johnson and his crew kept plugging away, and they started to head in the right direction and make some progress as the night went on.
Johnson finished fifth in his Heat, made it through the Semi to make the Main Event and that was when things started clicking. Starting from the back, Johnson steadily worked his way up through the pack to, ultimately, finish seventh. Although not the result Johnson would normally be happy with, the progress made with his new machine at the eighth round of the AFT Twins championship had the two-time Grand National Champion smiling again.
Jake Johnson – AFT Twins #5:
“It was rough earlier today. I was not happy that things weren’t going well; I just wasn’t riding well. In the Main Event, everything kind of came together, but it was just a little bit too late. I’ve had some races this year where I started well and just went backwards, so this one was a little better. We didn’t start off so well, but in the Main Event, we just steadily went forward. That was encouraging.
“My second time on the bike and I think we learned a lot today. We learned a bunch at Kentucky but I think we learned a lot more today about setup and things like that, which I think should help us for Lima. Lima is going to be similar to this, just smaller. I think we’re headed in the right direction, which is good. Hopefully the more time I get on the bike, the better off we are.”
Catch the race on NBCSN, June 23 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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