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Johnson changes his direction with victoryBy CAREY FREEMAN © St. Petersburg Times, published May 15, 2001 INVERNESS -- Danny Johnson's struggles finally came to an end Saturday night. Well, sort of. While the 1999 points champion picked up his first points win of the year and second feature victory, it was anything but easy. Johnson has battled to keep his car intact in recent weeks, and for the final 10 laps of Saturday's Late Model feature, he struggled to keep the Country Fox/Johnson's Kia Monte Carlo on the track in a fierce showdown with points leader Herb Neumann Jr. "The week before, I wrecked on the first lap, so I didn't put new tires on this week," Johnson said. "I really thought it would work, but the tires only lasted 10 laps. The last 10 I was just holding on. "Neumann was all over me," Johnson said. "He ran a good race. We got together a couple times and I think I was lucky to be on the inside, and he was unlucky enough to be on the outside." A little luck and some pretty nifty driving helped as Johnson edged Neumann by less than half a car length and vaulted into seventh position in the points standings. The win ends a drought that has lasted since the second race of the new year, when Johnson captured his first victory in a preseason, non-points event. Saturday's performance was a welcome breath of fresh air to a team that's struggled throughout the first two months of the season, but it's a sign of things to come, says Johnson. "I've gotten wrecked on the first lap two or three times this year. It's just been a miserable, dismal year," he said. "We're still not running real good, but it was enough to win Saturday. We haven't quite found the groove yet, but we're gonna find it eventually." Neumann went away happy. His second-place finish moved him past former champion Billy Bechtelheimer and John Chance and into the division points lead. Neumann owns an 11-point advantage over Chance. Oddly enough, Bechtelheimer could have maintained his lead but sacrificed his points as a designated driver for Tim Sharrone and fell to fifth in the points standings. Helped by his friend's fifth-place effort, Sharrone rose to third overall. COLEMAN, COLEMAN, COLEMAN: It was an all-Coleman affair in the Mini Stock feature. Frank Coleman and his son, John, captured the top two spots after outlasting Frank's brother, Rick, over the final laps. Rob Wheatley took the early lead but handed off to the Coleman trio after blowing an engine halfway through the event. The Colemans diced back and forth for five laps before a Turn 4 crash took Rick out of the running and allowed Frank to become the first two-time winner in the division this season. FIGURE 8 FRENZY: Five different drivers held the lead at one point in the 15-car feature, but Robbie Hage was the only one who made it count. Hage took home his first feature win of the year in a race that saw only 10 cars finish. Citrus County SpeedwaySATURDAY'S FEATURE RESULTS LATE MODEL: 1. Danny Johnson, 2. Herb Neumann Jr., 3. Daniel Keene, 4. Perry Lovelady, 5. Billy Bechtelheimer. SPORTSMAN: 1. Jim Smith, 2. Sport Wilson, 3. Wayne Lewis, 4. Johnny Sanders, 5. Bill Oestreicher. STREET STOCK: 1. Mark Sanders, 2. Ernie Reed Jr., 3. Dean Lawyer, 4. Al Barber, 5. Kathy Ray. MINI STOCK: 1. Frank Coleman, 2. John Coleman, 3. Doug Hopper, 4. Mark Sowell, 5. George Neumann. HOBBY STOCK: 1. Steve Thomas, 2. James Teague, 3. J.D. Goff, 4. Richie Smith, 5. Glen Colyer Sr. FIGURE 8: 1. Robbie Hage, 2. Dwayne Fults, 3. Bob Hage, 4. Al Barber, 5. Peanut Higgenbotham. STREET LEGAL JUNKERS: 1. John Donahue, 2. Allen Turner, 3. Gary Johnson, 4. Jerry Hoover, 5. Rick Bedessa.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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