Johanna Long hopes to show some form in 2013 Nationwide Series run – NASCAR news
Following her debut Nationwide season in 2012, Johanna Long is now looking forward to her second Nationwide Series run which starts in February next year and the 20-year-old ML Sports driver aspires to improve on her performance.
“Last year was a learning experience but it was over a little too soon for my liking. I’m just ready for the upcoming season so we can show everyone what we learned,” Long said in her telephonic interview with SB Nation.
Although Long could not accomplish much in the 2012, yet her debut season was laced with moments where she was seen challenging the likes of Denny Hamlin and other veteran NASCAR drivers. Racing at Richmond, by the 30th lap she had methodically worked her
way up to 4th place at which point she cut a tire and ultimately finished the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 32nd on the final grid.
The ML Motorsports driver wishes that her performance at Richmond would increase her credibility and get her more respect amongst her competitors.
“I do feel like my competitors respect me. I’m out there to race and I want to stay – I think it’s important that you show that to your competitors,” Long said.
When one makes a debut with a team that does not have a long racing career, it has its tolls as well. Same happened with Long as well. At Richmond, Iowa and Daytona, she was deprived of a finish worth mentioning due to an inexperienced over-the-wall pit
crew. Still she is proud of the efforts that her team put in and hopes for better performance from the pit-crew members in the upcoming season.
“We’re doing a lot of team work on everything and we’re going to focus on improving at every level,” Long said while highlighting how the team was planning on learning from its mistakes in the 2013 season.
When asked about her future plans, Long said she was planning on staying with ML Motorsports. Although she has not set a particular time frame, but she has plans to move up someday to the highest level of NASCAR, the Sprint Cup.
“It’s hard to set a timetable but I definitely want to work my way towards the Sprint Cup Series,” Long said.
ML Motorsports have not finalised the 2013 schedule yet but it is expected that it will be quite similar to the one in 2012 when they participated in 22 of the total 33 races.
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