Jarit Johnson Looks to Continue Momentum in NASCAR East Series

Thursday May 7, 2009 Newton, IA -- Jarit Johnson, younger brother of 3-time NASCAR Champion Jimmie Johnson continues to build his career. Unlike his older brother, Jarit Johnson built his racing foundation winning on North Carolina Short-Tracks like the famed Hickory Motor Speedway. Johnson made his debut this year in the NASCAR Camping World East Series starting at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in April. He was having a solid run at the track until the brakes failed ending his debut early. Johnson rounded up sponsorship from Auto Trakk prepaid transportation and continued on to the second event at Tri-County Speedway, a short track in Hudson, NC. Despite having less funding and resources than the competition, Johnson piloted his car to the front racing nearly the entire event in a battle for the top five positions. It appeared he had a shot to win until his motor expired in final portion of the race. Despite some unlucky circumstances in the first two events Johnson hopes to continue the momentum into round-3 of the series at Iowa Speedway in Newton (IA) on May 17th. He has been working hard with an all volunteer crew to prepare the Iowa race car. The only lacking ingredient now is complete sponsorship funding. The team has received a verbal commitment already from Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, IA as an associate sponsor. But a primary sponsor is still being sought after. “We really have some momentum going and I would hate to not make it to Iowa,” said Johnson. “Everyone has worked really hard to get this car ready. I think we have a shot to show really well there. We just need a little help with funding.” Johnson started the year thinking that sponsorship would be the least of his concerns. Newly formed Trail Motorsports had announced that Johnson would be signed to a multi-year agreement to run the full NASCAR East Series in 2009 and other NASCAR races in years to follow. The team is now on-hold until they can organize their own funding. Johnson didn’t want the speed bump with Trail Motorsports to slow down his career. “We are in a position to provide a sponsor a really valuable offer for the event,” said Johnson, who has represented companies in the past from Levi Strauss to Buffalo Wild Wings. “We can give them a lot of creative marketing. All the tools are in place we just need someone to help out and we can give them a great return.” Anyone interested to sponsor Jarit Johnson Racing can contact Shawn Stewart at shawn@racingsolution.net. Visit Jarit Johnson Racing online at www.JaritJohnson.com