Ethan Johnson holds off Clay Jones in Wake County thriller

RALEIGH, NC – Ethan Johnson picked up his fourth win of the season at Wake County Speedway in a thrilling second act of a doubleheader at the quarter-mile bullring in the capital city of North Carolina.

Johnson, 18, from Apex, North Carolina, started in the third position and quickly worked his way to second in the 35 lap race, having to hold off challenges from Clay Jones and Daniel Vuncannon.  After decisively claiming sole possession of the runner-up spot, he ran down Tyler Matthews to take the lead and drove away with the win.

“Anytime you’re able to get a win and run good here feels amazing,” Johnson told Short Track Scene after the race.  “It’s a really hard place to get around, and racing some of the best that have ever ran here.  We had a good first race, saved our tires for the second, had a good invert which got us on the bottom and got us up front pretty quick.  Pretty good night.”

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The victory was Johnson’s fourth of the year and his eighth in a Late Model at Wake County.

“It’s kind of like a dream come true,” Johnson continued.  “All of us are pretty much on the same playing field when it comes to this track.  Everybody’s pretty much tit for tat and it’s about 10 cars racing for a win each week.  It was a good night, especially holding off Clay, that’s a big accomplishment.”

Jones finished second while Vuncannon, Matthews and Mason Ford rounded out the top-five in the second of the two races.

The first race of the night went to Jones, who led wire-to-wire and ran away from the field to pick up his fifth win of the season.

“It’s so exciting coming up here,” Jones told Short Track Scene while looking out at the packed grandstands.  “It’s like this every week.  Not many places pack the house like this.  Great environment, lots of energy.  We got a great hot rod tonight and kind of checked out on them in the first one.”

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Jones started ninth in the second race after an invert before eventually finishing second.  His prowess showed throughout the race as he was able to battle his way up to fourth on the opening lap of the race.

Vuncannon, Johnson, Ford and Brandon Hobbs rounded out the top-five in the first race.

Results:

Race 1: 1.) #15 – Clay Jones; 2.) #50V – Daniel Vuncannon; 3.) #51J – Ethan Johnson; 4.) #86 – Mason Ford; 5.) #1H Brandon Hobbs; 6.) #55 – Holden Haddock; 7.) #63 – Tyler Matthews; 8.) #78 – Todd Langdon; 9.) #2 – John Fitzhugh; 10.) #51W – Cory Walker; 11.) #31 – Wayne Goss; 12.) #17M – Zachary Marks

Race 2: 1.) #51J – Ethan Johnson; 2.) #15 – Clay Jones; 3.) #50V – Daniel Vuncannon; 4.) #63 – Tyler Matthews; 5.) #85 – Mason Ford; 6. #1H – Brandon Hobbs; 7.) #55 – Holden Haddock; 8.) #2 – John Fitzhugh; 9.) #51W – Cory Walker; 10. #78 – Todd Langdon; 11.) #31 – Wayne Goss.; 12.) #17M – Zachary Marks

Ethan Johnson (51) passes Clay Jones (15) during a Late Model race at Wake County Speedway in August 2022. (Andy Marquis/Short Track Scene photo)