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It’s Long and Jones for the Allen Turner Pro Late Model Championship at the Tune-Up 100 on Saturday

By Chuck Corder

There was history between Johanna Long and Garrett Jones long before the Pro Late Model season began at Five Flags Speedway.

As residents of Mooresville, N.C., the transplanted Floridians — Long from Pensacola, obviously; Jones from West Palm Beach — found themselves at the same entertainment center racing go-karts against one another.

“We had a blast,� the 15-year-old Jones remembered. “She dove off in there one time and gave me the ol’ bump and run. I thought that was pretty cool.�

Will history repeat itself at the Whataburger Night of Champions when the two battle it out for one of five track titles that will be handed out Saturday?

Long, the 2010 Snowball Derby champion and former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, holds a slim, four-point lead in the Allen Turner PLM standings over Jones, the defending PLM track champion.

The Allen Turner Tune-Up 100 is the regular season finale Saturday, and it’s unlike the split-feature format the PLMs raced under for most of the season.

This will be 100 laps, instead of 20- and 30-lap features, and figures to draw the nation’s top late model drivers before the Snowball Derby in December.

“We wanna win a championship, but the focus has gotta be on the race and not strictly the championship,� said the 22-year-old Long, who won the PLM crown in 2008. “Yeah, we want the title, but it’s not something we’re dwelling on.

“It’s going to be a little different being a 100 lapper.�

There are other crowns to be decided Saturday. If you thought a four-part margin was a close battle, baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

With Robert Balkum and defending class champion Michael Nelson all square with 1,517 points apiece, the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers 25-lap feature will be winner-take-all.

Currently the points leader in both the Home Depot Modifieds and the Pro Trucks, Okie Mason has a shot at two championships Saturday while Milton’s Shanna Ard is closing in on his first career track title at Five Flags for the Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsmen.

The gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday and admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, students and military; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5 and under.

“I expect it to be a tough one,� Jones said. “Johanna has been consistent and up in the front all year with some really fast cars.

“We’ve had three wins, but we haven’t been consistent as we’d like to be.�

Long is still desperate for her first win.

Not just her first victory of 2014, but her first since that ticker-tape parade down the Five Flags front stretch back in December 2010.

Long went from winning the Snowball to experiencing a few years of growing pains, first in the NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series before being elevated to the Nationwide Series with ML Motorports.

When the Indiana-based team ceased operations in January, a return to her short-track roots was what Long needed.

But as the seconds and thirds and top-10s pile up, it only ramps up Long’s desire to get that winless monkey off her back.

“I think I’ve been pressing so hard and trying so hard to get that win, that I may be overthinking stuff,� she admitted. “That’s why I kind have been learning all over again this year.

“We have a great racecar. (Car owner) Tommy Rollins and this crew has been working extremely hard. All the guys that work on the (No.) 11 car, they’ve been with me my whole career. Another championship would be a cherry on top.�

Like his peer, Jones would love to add another championship to the one he hoisted high above his head in celebration last September.

But taking another page out of Long’s book, Jones is doing his best to block out thoughts of a repeat and envision his fourth win of the season.

“This is the last 100 lapper before the Snowflake (100),� he said. “Some of the best Pro Late Model drivers in the country will be here. I’ve gotta keep up with the pace of all the other guys. The biggest thing is I can’t burn my stuff up.

“Hopefully, we can beat Johanna, but if I can make this car better for the Snowflake, that’s what I’d like to do.�

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