PICKERINGTON, Ohio Jake Johnson will go down in the record books as the first Ford Quality Checked Grand National Singles Champion. Johnson, the 22-year-old American Suzuki rider from Franklinville, N.J., overcame a first-turn crash to finish ninth at the final round in Springfield, Ill., on Sept. 2 to secure the title. The Grand National Singles Championship is a new AMA National Championship instituted this year that features single-cylinder Grand National racing motorcycles racing on short track and TT circuits. The Grand National Twins feature Twin cylinder racing machines on the bigger half-mile and mile flat tracks. That championship will conclude on Sept. 23 in Columbus, Ohio. This marks the first national title for Johnson. He won the series with a string of consistent top-10 finishes including a victory at the historic Castle Rock TT National in August. “I don’t think it’s set in yet,” Johnson said of his accomplishment. “It definitely feels good. It was a goal of mine since I started racing.” The championship battle came down to the final event. Johnson said he may have sprouted a few gray hairs at the Springfield Finale. “It was one of the most stressful days I’ve ever gone through I’m pretty sure,” Johnson laughs. “Joe Kopp was fast all day long in practice so that didn’t make me feel too confident. Unfortunately for him he had a few bad starts and missed the main so that took a little pressure off, but it also reminded me just how weird things can get at a short track race.” And weird it got in the final. Johnson’s entire season flashed before his eyes when he was caught up in a first-lap, first-turn crash. “Jimmy Wood and Sam Halbert went down in front of me and I hit them and went over the handlebars,” Johnson said. “While this was all going on I just had to laugh. I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.” Fortunately Johnson’s bike wasn’t damaged too badly and he was able to make the restart and cruise to the finish for the championship. Johnson was near the top of the standings all season. He was second in the points chase to Bryan Smith after the opening two rounds in Daytona in March. He then trailed Joe Kopp in the standings after the Springfield TT over Memorial Day weekend. Johnson finally broke through to the series lead after winning at Castle Rock in August. He held the lead the rest of the way. Johnson said his victory as Castle Rock was a major milestone. “I had my doubts about how I’d do at that race since there are so many fast local riders who race Castle Rock all the time,” Johnson admitted. “The track was also supposed to be pretty slippery and I usually don’t do too well on those kinds of tracks since I have sort of a snappy throttle hand. But it turned out to be a real good night for me.” Johnson rode a Suzuki RMZ450-based machine tuned by Ronnie Brown. He split time between a Suzuki with a flat track frame and one with the stock frame. More, from a press release issued by America Suzuki: SUZUKI’S JAKE JOHNSON CLINCHES INAUGURAL AMA GRAND NATIONAL SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP BREA, Calif. American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) congratulates Jake Johnson for becoming the first-ever AMA Grand National Singles Champion at the series’ final round on the Springfield Short Track in Springfield, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006. “I’m pretty excited about winning this first championship,” said the 22-year-old rider from Franklinville, N.J. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet, although that’s a lot of pressure off of me. I think the day of the race was the most stressful day of my life. Now I’m just thinking about next year and racing with Suzuki again and shooting for another Singles Championship and maybe the Twins Championship too.” Johnson picked up the championship points lead after taking his first 2006 victory at round four of the seven-round series at Castle Rock Race Park in Castle Rock, Wa., last month. Going into the season finale at Springfield, Johnson needed only a sixth-place finish or better to take the title. Although he crashed early on, Johnson rallied on his Suzuki RM-Z450 and finished in ninth place, earning the title. This is Johnson’s second year racing for Suzuki. “It is quite an honor to win the first championship in a new series and Suzuki is very proud of Jake,” said Mel Harris, ASMC vice president of the Motorcycle/ATV division. “He’s a talented young racer and has more than lived up to our expectations in regards to being competitive on the Suzuki RM-Z450. We hope that this is the first of many AMA Grand National Singles titles for Jake and for Suzuki.” In addition to Johnson’s Grand National Singles Championship, ASMC also celebrates Makita Suzuki Racing’s Ricky Carmichael’s 2006 Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross title and 2006 AMA Toyota Motocross title this year, as well as Doug Gust’s inaugural WPSA Powersports ATV Tour SuperQuad Pro 450 championship.