Full Throttle

Pensacola, Florida driver Johanna Long, in a Venturini Motorsports-prepared Chevrolet, made her first laps in an ARCA RE/MAX Series car Tuesday in the open test at Iowa Speedway.

Long’s best lap so far around the .875-mile short track is 23.828 seconds, an average speed of 132.197 mph. That’s currently 6th fastest among 15 drivers testing today in preparation for the Prairie Meadows 200 Saturday, July 11.

Long, 17, recently made headlines at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida with a victory in the super late model Blizzard Series. Long dominated leading 84 os 100 laps after starting from the pole en route to the win, her second triumph in three attempts in the Blizzard Series at Five Flags.

Miami Springs, Florida rookie Joey Coulter, in a Chevrolet, was fastest overall in the morning session with an average speed of 134.777 mph. Coulter finished a career-best second at Mansfield last weekend. Brian Ickler, a veteran and winner in the NASCAR Camping World East Series, was second fastest with a speed of 134.088 mph.

About Johanna Long

The then 15-year-old Long became the youngest, and first female, track champion in the long history of Five Flags Speedway when she secured the 2008 Pro Late Model title. That championship came on the heels of three victories at Five Flags, but her success was not just limited to her home track. Johanna also scored victories at Mobile International Speedway and South Alabama Speedways and started the move up the racing ladder by racing alongside her father in the Super Late Model ranks at Five Flags and beyond, often beating her old man on the track.

Johanna made her debut in the most prestigious short track racing event of them all, the Snowball Derby at Five Flags, in 2008 and was in line for victory before late-race contact ended her bid, but that has not discouraged the now 17-year-old one bit. 2009 has Johanna building off the momentum built over recent seasons in the Late Model ranks, as she expands her horizons by battling door-to-door against the top short track racers not just in the deep South, but in the Carolinas, the Midwest and beyond.