Estenson Racing’s Jake Johnson and Kolby Carlile Look To Jump-Start Their Season With A Win In Texas
PHOENIX– After another three-week break, the Estenson Racing squad is ready to kick off six straight weeks of American Flat Track racing with top results at the Texas Half-Mile, Saturday, April 28, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.
The newest member of the team, Jake Johnson, is eager to get back to AFT Twins racing after a bit of rest to take what he’s learned from the first two rounds of the season – the Daytona TT and Atlanta Short Track – and put his Yamaha MT-07 on the box. Although Johnson was hoping for better results in the first two outings, the two-time Grand National Champion feels that he gained valuable information to help convert into a podium finish. Johnson also looks forward to getting on the bigger tracks, a pair of Half-Miles ahead of four-straight Miles.
While Johnson appreciated the time off, perhaps no one appreciated it more than Kolby Carlile. The defending AFT Singles champ not only spent the time off to get fit, he and his crew went back to the drawing board with his new 2018 Yamaha YZ450F and came away with the setup he was looking for going into the next stretch of races on the bigger tracks. As a result, Carlile heads to Texas looking to improve on last year’s second-place finish with a win in 2018.
Jake Johnson – AFT Twins #5:
“I’m excited to get back to racing. I’ve had some time off to regroup a bit. We learned a lot in Atlanta and Daytona. Results-wise, it didn’t seem like an improvement, from Daytona to Atlanta, but we learned more about the bike. I think I know what I need to work on and what we need to do to the bike. Hopefully, that translates this weekend and we start inching towards that podium. Plus, we’re getting back into the norm now. We’ve got the Texas Half-Mile and Calistoga, which is another big Half-Mile, then a big string of Miles where I think the Yamaha is going to shine.”
Kolby Carlile – AFT Singles #1:
“Confidence-wise, I’m a lot happier because I know we have a better package heading into this race. My team did a lot of work in the downtime; we went to the bike and kind of started over and found a lot more of what we needed in the areas we needed. Having another three weeks since the last race also helped my body to rebuild and get a little bit stronger, that’s kind of what I needed.
“I really like Texas. I got second there, almost won last year, so let’s hope we can step it up one more.”
The Texas Half-Mile is streamed live, Saturday, April 28, on FansChoice.TV starting with practice at 3:00 p.m. ET, followed by Opening Ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. ET, Heats at 7:00 p.m. ET and the Main Events at 9:50 p.m. ET. Catch the race on NBCSN, May 6 at 4:00 p.m. ET. For tickets and additional information about the event: http://www.americanflattrack.com/events/default/v… .
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