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Aussie NASCAR Truck rookie working on Bristol deal

Max Johnston is hoping to add to his number of Camping World NASCAR Truck Series starts this season, with plans to get a deal together for the Bristol round next month.

Bobby Pierce, GOTTA RACE / 866-GET-A-PRO METAL ROOFING Chevrolet Silverado and Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet

Bobby Pierce, GOTTA RACE / 866-GET-A-PRO METAL ROOFING Chevrolet Silverado and Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet

Barry Cantrell / NKP / Motorsport Images

Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Harrison Burton, Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet and Norm Benning, Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet
Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford and Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski Racing Ford and Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet
Max Johnston, Young Motorsports Chevrolet

The Sydneysider made his Truck debut at Eldora last week, using his extensive dirt track experience to run inside the Top 10 before a spin and subsequent contact from Ben Rhodes early in Stage 2 put him out of the race.

While initially disheartened with the DNF, Johnston has dusted himself off and is back looking for sponsorship to make a second Trucks start, and a first on asphalt.

“We’re trying to get the funding to run Bristol in August or Martinsville in October,” Johnston told Motorsport.com.

“That would be a huge dream come true, to run those meetings. I’d need to be realistic; the team I drive for is a Top 15 truck on the asphalt, so it’d be tough to try and run Top 10. I’d be more than happy to just go out and learn with a little less pressure.

“I loved the circumstances I went into at Eldora, I love being thrown in the deep end, and having the pressure. But when I rolled out there, I thought ‘wow this is a bit bigger than a Sprintcar race’. It did hit me a little bit, and I panicked a little bit – and I didn’t expect myself to do that.

“So I’d love to have the opportunity again. I’ve done it now, people know I’m capable of putting me butt in the seat. Now I could come into it a lot calmer.”

Despite having never driven a NASCAR Truck until several days before the Eldora meet, and therefore going into the Dirty Derby with effectively zero experience, the Sprintcar regular qualified comfortably for the main race and ran mid-pack in Stage 1.

He was then running inside the Top 10 in the early part of the second stage before the spin put him out.

Reflecting on his rollercoaster of a debut, Johnston says it was a whole new experience – and not just because of the unique driving style required for the Truck.

“Even just hearing the American accent from spotter; he’s from North Carolina, and I could hardly hear anything,” he added.

“In the heat race, I wasn’t sure how aggressive I could be on the start so I dropped back to seventh. I got a good run out of Four and there were two in front of me just sitting there. So I went back to to Sprintcar ways and dive-bombed both of them. All I could hear was him saying… I don’t know what he was saying, but he was saying something.

“I can’t begin to describe what that thing was to drive. It was the biggest, heaviest thing I’ve driven in my life.”

While the crash left him devastated, Johnston is now focussed on turning the opportunity to make his debut into a second appearance in a Truck.

“I was gutted. I was ropable,” he said. “I had a gameplan with my crew chief and spotter, we were all on the same page and we knew we just needed to be there at the end.

“When I got out there I felt like I was fast, and we were moving forwards really well. I probably just got a little bit too excited. When a couple got back by me I panicked a little bit, thinking it was a 30-lap Sprintcar race.

“As I was going into Turn 3, Chase Briscoe was heading to the top and he was going way too hot. He got into the fence, and seeing what had been happening when guys were going into the fence, coming back down and taking everyone out, I checked up and turned down.

“I was just in the wrong part of the track to try and do that. And that was the end of it.

“I was bummed out after the race. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I just wanted to go to bed. I was very disheartened; someone finally threw money at me and I sorta stuffed it up.

“But looking back I think it went okay. It’s a pretty big achievement, just to be there. When I crashed I was inside the Top 10. I learnt a lot, and I learnt a lot that I never would have learnt driving anything else.

“So I definitely think if I get another opportunity – and I really hope I do – that we’ll be decent.”

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