ARCA up next for Jerick Johnson
American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car driver Jerick Johnson and his ARCA series car outside the Team Johnson Motorsports garage in Mooresville, N.C. The car does not have its racing colors yet. James V. Carroll

ARCA up next for Jerick Johnson

Jerick Johnson, driver of The American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car, and his Team Johnson Motorsports crew, will be in Indianapolis Jan. 16 to officially accept the 2009 American Speed Association Late Model Challenge Series Rookie of the Year trophy. Johnson also finished ninth in total championship points for the 2009 season.

"We are very satisfied with our 2009 racing program," Johnson said following the season-ending ASA race Nov. 7 at Memphis Motorsports Park. "Our goal was to bring home the Rookie of the Year title, and we did. I won't say it was easy, but it sure was fun."

Team Johnson Motorsports, based in Mooresville, N.C., will run 10 Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) races in 2010. The team will enter the American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car in all eight scheduled ARCA superspeedway races, plus two other ARCA races at Iowa Speedway in Des Moines and Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina.The step up in racing circuits will not be the first experience that Johnson and Team Johnson Motorsports have had with the steel-bodied, 3,400-pound ARCA race cars. Johnson drove two ARCA races in 2002 and five NASCAR Busch (now Nationwide) Series races in 2007. The ARCA series is considered by most in the racing business as the NASCAR "farm system." Those teams that achieve success in ARCA many times move up to Nationwide or Sprint Cup competition.

"We are very excited to take American Legion/David Law Firm racing to a higher level," Johnson said at the 76 Freedom Car garage in Mooresville. "We are confident that we can be very competitive on the superspeedways. We've learned a lot during ARCA and Busch races that we have run in the past. And more recently, we are very satisfied with tests we ran in our ARCA car at Daytona late last year."

Johnson makes his 2010 ARCA series debut Feb. 6 on a very busy day at Daytona International Speedway. The 80-lap Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 ARCA race is sandwiched between Daytona 500 qualifying and the Budweiser Shootout. The ARCA race is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on the SPEED television network.

The American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car race team is a program of The American Legion. The purpose of the program is to raise awareness of the programs conducted by The American Legion across the country in support of our military veterans, active-duty troops and their families. The racing program is also geared to attract the next generation of American Legion members.

The 76 Freedom Car is also an excellent sponsorship fit for The David Law Firm of The Woodlands, Texas. The firm has helped countless military veterans receive just compensation for Mesothelioma and other lung cancers related to asbestos. The firm also provides related educational information in response to inquiries from all 50 states.

For information on hosting an American Legion racing event, contact Team Johnson Motorsports at (704) 877-0151, or by e-mail at info@teamjohnsonmotorsports.com.