Besides considering Heartland Park Topeka a sort of hometown track, native Iowan Tommy Johnson, Jr. thinks of it as his “lucky dog” track.  He hopes his Kenny Bernstein-owned Monster Energy Funny Car team can capitalize on his past success May 30-June 1 at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals.

“When we lived in Ottuma, Iowa, Heartland Park Topeka was one of the tracks closest to where we lived,” explained Johnson.  “We really considered it our hometown track.  We still have many friends who come to that event so I always look forward to seeing familiar faces. Besides considering Heartland Park Topeka a sort of hometown track, native Iowan Tommy Johnson, Jr. thinks of it as his “lucky dog” track.  He hopes his Kenny Bernstein-owned Monster Energy Funny Car team can capitalize on his past success May 30-June 1 at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals.

“When we lived in Ottuma, Iowa, Heartland Park Topeka was one of the tracks closest to where we lived,” explained Johnson.  “We really considered it our hometown track.  We still have many friends who come to that event so I always look forward to seeing familiar faces.

“But more than that, we’ve turned our season around at Topeka in the past and we hope to do it again this year.   We are just so close to running some really competitive numbers, and we’ve been frustrated by little things here and there that have gone wrong mechanically.

“Jimmy Walsh (crew chief) and the team are putting in the maximum amount of hours trying to get over the hump with these little gremlins.  And believe me, it is a fight out there again this year.  Each week we have in excess of 20 Funny Cars trying to squeeze a position in the top 16.”

Johnson was Funny Car runner-up at Topeka in 1999.  He has always counted winning a position in the Cragar 4 Second Club as one of his coveted achievements and he accomplished this goal at Topeka in 1994.

“I have a lot of good memories about the Topeka track,” said Johnson.  “I’d just like to add another one to the list at the O’Reilly Summer Nationals.”

Johnson’s best finish this season in the Monster Energy Dodge Charger is a semi-final appearance in Phoenix in February.