Johnson Wins; Beat Gains Ground

Chris Johnson won both super late model twin 50 races Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway, but David Beat was the night’s big winner.

Beat’s two second-place finishes enabled him to shave 14 points off what had been division leader Van Knill’s 30-point lead in the season standings. Knill leads Beat, who is in second, 537-521, with six races remaining. Knill finished fifth in the first race and sixth in the second.

The winner of each race receives 50 points, the second-place finisher 48, with two points less for each subsequent place.

Johnson finished 0.37 of a second ahead of Beat to win the first of what was supposed to be two 50-lap races on the half-mile track. Johnson started sixth, passed Knill on the seventh lap to take the lead and kept it for the remainder of the race.

The starting grid for the second race was determined by the finish in the first race. Johnson and Beat ran one-two throughout the race, which was shortened to 40 laps so it would be completed by the 10 p.m. noise abatement curfew.

“The setup was right,” Johnson said. “My crew made me look good tonight.”

Johnson said he was told the race would be shortened after 22 laps were run.

Before Saturday, Johnson hadn’t raced in the super late model division since May 13, missing the last five races because of what he said was a philosophical difference with the car’s owner, Darryl Wong.

Johnson said it was unclear whether he would be racing again in the division this year.

Johnson was Irwindale Speedway’s champion in its West Coast pro truck division in 2004 and 2005. He was the winner of the April 8 super late model race and second April 15.

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-- Steven Herbert