76 Freedom Car disqualified in controversial decision

Team Johnson Motorsports made the trip from North Carolina to Wisconsin for the first ASA Challenge Series race of the year, the Badgerland 150. On Friday, The American Legion/David Law Firm team made a show car and driver appearance at Post 416 in Greenfield, Wis.

On Saturday, the team went to the track to practice before Saturday's qualifying runs. The 76 Freedom Car crew qualified to start the race but was later told that their time had been disqualified for being late to the qualifying tech line. Driver Jerick Johnson and his team weren't notified before qualifying that they were late or even going to be late and argued their point to no avail. Johnson was required to start in the back of a last-chance race where the top two cars would move on to the main feature. In a race that saw little passing, Johnson drove the 76 Freedom Car from the back to third place in 15 laps, but ran out of time to reach the last advancing position.

"We were very disappointed in the decision by ASA to penalize us for something that should have not been a factor," Johnson said. "We were never informed at any time that we were going to be penalized. I am proud of the guys working on the car. They worked hard all weekend and we ended up with a car that made the race and was going to be better during the race. It showed in the last-chance race. The car looked really good. It is a shame that ASA put a fast car out of the race for reasons only known to them."