The Doctor Put On A Clinic At The Land of Legends; Earn 81st Career Series Win

Column By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – CANANDAIGUA, NY – Danny Johnson’s storied career began a new chapter Thursday Night with his victory at The Land of Legends Raceway in Canandaigua, New York.

The 58 year old veteran racer hadn’t won a Super DIRTcar Series event in almost two years but the dominant performance the Rochester native put together showed he still had a lot of gas left in the tank.

Johnson’s pole starting spot gave him the advantage he needed, as he took the lead off the initial jump and never relinquished the top spot throughout the event. “The Doctor’s” 81st career SDS victory wasn’t just a victory, it was a driving clinic. Johnson dealt with lap traffic and at one point built a lead of over three seconds over Mat Williamson.

Williamson managed to close in around the midway point of the event but never posed a serious threat for the lead even after a mid race caution which stacked the field up for a restart.

Johnson himself praised the car’s drive-ability. “It’s just great to have a great car. It was the car, no doubt.”

Johnson still finds himself in top notch equipment with his No. 27J and knows how lucky he is to still be in a winning ride. “The driver can only drive what he can drive. If the car isn’t good it isn’t good. I had a good car and it was excellent.”

As a long-time racer at Land of Legends Raceway, Johnson knows all too well the pitfalls that can befall even the best drivers on the circuit. Though his car was good, he knew he couldn’t just run laps. So with surgical precision, “The Doctor” began reading the race track and realized very quickly the bottom line would not work. “It seemed the middle was good for me.” Johnson said, “The bottom wasn’t too good. There were some holes in three and four that were tough to get through. It was 100 laps, a long race and I’m just glad to see it finally get over.”

Overall in modified racing Johnson has amassed 600 career victories in his storied career with Thursday night’s victory. A number that most never come close to and very few reach in any form of motor sports. When informed of his milestone, Johnson, ever the man of few words simply said, “What a place to do it at.”

Johnson’s younger competition may be racking up wins, but when “The Doctor” is in, he usually finds a way to check out and he doesn’t show any signs of that changing if he has anything to do about it.

Johnson and the other stars of the Super DIRTcar Series will next tackle the Utica-Rome Speedway for the Freedom Fighter 100 on July, 8th.