Charlotte Motor Speedway
CHARLOTTE POST RACE
Johanna Long and the ML Motorsports team had a special Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway as they were accompanied by true heroes from the Wish for Heroes Organization for The History 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The now 20-year-old who blew out her candles on race day, registered a 22nd-place finish earning more valuable seat time and experience while finishing out race 8 of the ML Motorsport’s 21-schedule season.
After laying down a fast lap of 30.996 seconds, the No. 70 Wish for Our Heroes team began the 200-lap event from the 26th position. From the drop of the green flag, Long was reporting extremely hot and slick track conditions saying that she “couldn’t get to the throttle soon enough in the middle of the corners without sliding on exiting the corners.”
During the first half of the race, Long dropped back as far as 32nd; meanwhile crew chief Mark Gutenkunst and the ML Motorsports crew went to work strategizing on different adjustment options in order to get the No. 70 Wish for Our Heroes Chevrolet back through the field. Long reported to Gutenkunst that “entering the corners was really good but the rear end of the car kicks out from underneath me on exiting the corners.”
During seven caution periods, Long brought the car down to pit road for several attempts at making adjustments to their Chevrolet. After the final adjustment on lap 143, Long immediately took a liking to the car and started to come back through the field. At the end of the race, Long was running times adjacent to the top-15 cars, but with two laps down and limited time left in the race, Long and the ML Motorsports team was forced to a 22nd-place finish.
“I’m really proud of the guys for a great come back. I wish we weren’t two laps down at the end of the race, because the guys made some good adjustments and I really feel like we could’ve had an easy top-15 finish. We’ll just continue making strides and eventually we’ll get the finish we all want. I want to thank the guys for all of their hard work this weekend and the Wish for Heroes organization for partnering with us at Charlotte Motor Speedway.”
Next Stop: The ML Motorsports team will take a week off at Dover and will be back on track at Michigan International Speedway on June 16 for the Alliance Truck Pats 250. The NASCAR Nationwide Series event will air live on ABC beginning at 3:30 pm ET with coverage on MRN affiliates and Sirius Radio, channel 90.
PRACTICE
Final Practice:
Concord, NC - Johanna Long posted a lap time of 30.386 seconds (177.17 mph) showing the No. 70 Wish For Our Heroes Chevrolet 12th on the leaderboard.
Cole Whitt was at the top of the leaderboard followed in the top five by Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Joey Coulter, and Joey Logano.
Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday at 11:00 am ET and will be broadcast on Speed. Race coverage begins at 2:30 pm ET and will be broadcast on ABC. Coverage is also available on Performance Racing Network http://www.goprn.com/
First Practice:
Concord, NC - Johanna Long ran only nine laps before bringing the No. 70 Wish For Our Heroes Chevrolet into the garage for adjustments. Long ended the first practice session 38th on the leaderboard. The team is making adjustments to the No. 70 and will have the car ready for final practice at 5:10 pm which will be broadcast on Speed.
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ADVANCE
Johanna Long and the ML Motorsports team will be back in action this Saturday, May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for The History 300. The NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) event will be covered on ABC beginning at 2:30 pm EST. Fans can also listen live on PRN Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Wish For Our Heroes – ML Motorsports is pleased to have Wish for Our Heroes back on board at Charlotte Motor Speedway in celebration of NASCAR Unites.
Wish for Our Heroes was first launched in November 2009 and is dedicated to assisting the men and women of the United States active-duty military. The organization began with a goal of providing one wish for every deserving military member. The ML Motorsports team will grant a wish by having several troops accompany them to the race on Saturday. For more information on Wish for Our Heroes, you can visit their website at www.wishforourheroes.org.
The Birthday Girl – After years of wanting to race on her birthday, Johanna’s wish has finally come true. The soon-to-be 20-year-old will spend her special day with her team and family at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Nationwide Series event.
Charlotte Motor Speedway – This will be Johanna’s second start at the 1.5-mile track. Her previous start took place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) where she registered a top-20 finish for her then family-owned team, Panhandle Motorsports.
The No. 70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet - The ML Motorsports team will bring their new, RCR Chassis No. 63 to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 300-mile NNS event.
Johanna on Charlotte – “I’m extra excited and anxious for this weekend to unfold at Charlotte. A lot of family and friends will be in town to celebrate my 20th birthday as well as watch me race, so it should be a great day. I’m looking forward to having the Wish for Our Heroes organization back at the track with the No. 70 ML Motorsports team. Our team has made a lot of progress at each race we attend, so hopefully we can have another strong run for the Wish for Our Heroes organization at Charlotte!”
Talladega Superspeedway
TOUGH BREAK FOR LONG & TEAM 70 AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
Coming off of several strong finishes and a solid run at Daytona back in February, Johanna Long had high hopes going into Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Talladega Superspeedway. Unfortunately, Long’s quest for a strong finish ended early as she encountered overheating due to damage to the grill on Lap 19, which lead to a 37th-place finish at Talladega.
“It’s unfortunate for the whole team that we had problems early on and had damage to the grill opening which kept air from cooling the engine. The ML Motorsports team brought a fast car to the track we just battled with the overheating issue at the beginning of the race. I hate it for our Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet team, but we will just come back stronger at Iowa in a couple of weeks. I love Iowa Speedway and have had some really good runs at that track, so it should be a good race for us.”
The ML Motorsports team will take a week off and will get back to racing action at Iowa Speedway on May 20 for the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250. The NASCAR Nationwide Series event will be aired live on ABC with race coverage beginning at 1:30 pm EST. Fans can also listen live on MRN Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 90.
PRACTICE:
Talladega, AL - Johanna Long posted a laptime of 53.32 seconds (179.61 mph) before a hole in the oil cooler forced her out of the car while the team made repairs. Long was 27th overall on the leaderboard during the only practice session at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kyle Busch was at the top of the leaderboard followed by Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish, Jr., Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Michael Annett in the top five.
Race coverage begins at 3:00 pm on Saturday, May 5th and will be broadcast on ABC.
QUALIFYING UPDATE:
Talladega, AL - Rain Thursday forced NASCAR to cancel all on track activity. They decided to cancel qualifying and have a single Friday session Friday when qualifying was scheduled to be held. Johanna Long will start 24th in the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. Elliott Sadler will start from the pole. He will be followed by Ricky Stenhousr, Jr., Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Brad Sweet, Jame Buescher, Sam Hornish, Jr., Brad Keselowski and Michael Annett.
TALLADEGA NOTES:
Johanna Long and the ML Motorsports team will return to racing action on Saturday, May 5 for the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega Superspeedway. The NASCAR Nationwide Series event will be aired live on ABC with race coverage beginning at 3:00 pm EST. Fans can also listen live on MRN Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Talladega Superspeedway – 19-year-old Long will make her second start at the 2.66-mile track of Talladega Superspeedway. Her first start took place last season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where she registered a 16th-place finish.
Johanna on Talladega – “Since racing at Daytona back in February, I’ve really started to take a liking to superspeedway racing and am anxious to get back on track at Talladega. I don’t have a tremendous amount of experience at superspeedways, but I learned a lot at Daytona so hopefully it will carry over to this Saturday. The ML Motorsports team has been working hard at the shop to prepare fast cars and its showing. We are continuously improving each week, and that’s exactly what we intend to do at Talladega.”
The No. 70 Biomet/Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet - The No. 70 Biomet/Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet team will bring chassis ML-58 to Saturday’s event. Chassis ML-58 was last raced on February 25 at Daytona International Speedway where Long finished in the 21st position.
Last Race Recap – Long and the ML Motorsports team had a strong showing last Friday at Richmond International Raceway. The Rookie driver had no prior starts at Richmond and was able to quickly adapt to the track while wheeling the No. 70 Biomet/Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet to a solid top-20 finish.
Race Week Appearances – Long will be participating in several appearances at Talladega. She will be attending the NASAR Nationwide Series autograph session on Friday, May 4 from 1:30-2:30 pm behind the south grandstand. She will also be participating in a Q&A session with several Girl Scouts on Saturday, May 5 from 11:30-11:45 pm; location TBA.
Iowa Speedway
LONG BRINGS THE #70 CHEVROLET TO A 22nd PLACE FINISH AT IOWA
Newton, IA - Johanna Long and the ML Motorsports team were anxious to get back to Iowa Speedway for the Hi-Bred 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. The team battled tight-handling conditions throughout the race, but with strong calls and adjustments by crew chief Mark Gutenkunst and the No.70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet crew, they were able to continuously make improvements while gaining a tremendous amount of ground throughout the 250-lap race.
The team spent the lone practice session on Saturday trying to find a balance in the No.70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet. Johanna radioed to the crew saying that the car was extremely loose on entering the corners as well as through the corners and off. The team went to work making adjustments to the machine on both the front and rear hoping to find a good combination that would take well to Johanna’s driving style and likability. At the end of the two-hour practice session, Johanna was comfortable with the car and confident going into Sunday’s race.
After posting a lap time of 24.17 seconds, Johanna and the ML Motorsports team started the race from the inside lane in the 19th position. She fell back several spots at the start of the race as she radioed her crew chief explaining that the car had no grip. It wasn’t until lap 72 that the first caution flag displayed and Long would be able to bring the No. 70 machine down to pit road for four Goodyear tires, Sunoco fuel and adjustments.
Restarting on lap 83 in the 27th position, Long immediately started to take a liking to the crews adjustments saying that the car was extremely better on entry just tight through the corners and off. By the time the last caution flag waved, she had maneuvered her way up to the 23rd position. The green flag displayed again on lap 188 and Long continued to battle her way through the remainder of the race salvaging a 22nd finish for ML Motorsports.
“The ML Motorsports team made a lot of gains throughout the weekend. We started off a little rocky at the beginning of the race, but the crew made some really good changes during our pit stops that worked really well. We are continuously making progress at every race, we just have to keep up it up and go hard at it again next week in Charlotte.”
Next Stop: The ML Motorsports team will be back on track next weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26 for the History 300. The NASCAR Nationwide Series event will air live on ABC beginning at 2:30 pm ET with coverage on MRN affiliates and Sirius Radio, channel 90.
QUALIFYING:
Newton, IA - Johanna Long ran a lap time of 24.17 seconds (130.316 mph) during her qualifying run and will start from the19th position.
PRACTICE:
Newton, IA - Johanna Long posted her quickest lap time of 24.01 seconds (131.179 mph) showing her 20th on the leaderboard. Qualifying is scheduled for 4:40 PM (ET) with the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 slated for 2:00 PM (ET) and will be broadcast on ESPN.
IOWA SPEEDWAY ADVANCE
The No. 70 ML Motorsports Chevrolet Impala driven by Johanna Long will be back on track at Iowa Speedway for race 10 of the 33 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) venue schedule. The Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 event will be aired live on ESPN with race coverage beginning at 1:30 pm ET. Fans can also keep up with racing action by listening to MRN Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 90.
Iowa Speedway – 19-year-old Long will make her first start at Iowa Speedway in the NASCAR Nationwide Series; however, she is no stranger to the .875-mile tri-oval. She has two prior starts at Iowa which took place in 2010 in the ARCA Series with Venturini Motorsports. She has also raced at Iowa Speedway in the Pro Cup Series with her family-owned team Panhandle Motorsports, where she registered a top-5 finish.
Johanna on Iowa – “I can’t wait to get back in the seat at Iowa. This track is so much fun. Although I don’t have experience here in the Nationwide Series, I do have some background and experience in other series that will help me during practice and in the race. I’m really looking forward to this weekend and hopefully getting a strong finish for the Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet team.
This Weekend’s Chevrolet Impala - The No. 70 Biomet/Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet team will bring chassis No. 62 to Iowa Speedway. Chassis No. 62 was last raced at Richmond International Raceway on April 27. The team had a strong showing at Richmond and secured their third top-20 finish of the season.
Bittersweet Weekend for Long- This will be the young driver’s last start in the NNS as a teenager. The next time she straps into the No. 70 Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet will be on her birthday at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26. Unlike most teenagers, the young driver is not eager to turn 20.
Meet Johanna – The NASCAR Nationwide Series will be hosting an autograph session at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, May 19 from 2:00–2:45 pm CDT. Come meet Johanna and other Nationwide Series competitors; Location TBA.
Wish For Our Heroes
ML Motorsports would like to welcome Wish For Our Heroes to our team! We had the oppportunity to attend a charity event at Texas Motor Speedway and were honored to meet several service men and women that have fought and continue to fight for our country. They are true heroes in our eyes and it was an honor to spend the day with them. We look forward to hosting service men and women at upcoming races.
Please check out their foundation at https://www.wishforourheroes.org/ or follow them on Facebook