Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
When the year started, there was a list of drivers fans had their eyes on, wondering if they’d achieve the success expected.
If Johnny Paradzinski wasn’t on your list, he’s a name you should add following the second week of Mighty Mini competition. In his second Mighty Mini start and third start overall, he scored his first career feature victory.
Starting in the sixth position, he quickly made his way to the front, putting the No. 4 Stella Auto, Mega Wheelz, Prime Motors, Vinyl Obsessed and Image Wraps Honda Civic out front on Lap 4.
From there on, he held off the challenges that came his way from a variety of drivers.
“It sucks that (Chris) Allard had the oil line blow, and it sucks that Daniel (Montanari) had his motor went,” Paradzinski told OnPitRoad.com post-race. “They were the two that were testing me the hardest.”
There was also the last lap challenge from Ken Townsend, which left fans holding their breath for a second. Townsend got into the back of Paradzinski getting into turn three, getting him sideways. The rookie held on to it, though, making the impressive slide-save through the corners to keep the lead.
“He had a good car, and I blocked that inside as best as I could,” Paradzinski commented. “He got into me, but I saved it and it worked out good for us.”
While he admits there was a heart drop after the bump, he says it was surreal when the flag man dropped the checkered flag to signal the endof the feature.
“It was the perfect night,” he said. “I finished third (in my heat), second (in the feature) and then won. I got lots of good people behind me.”
Beyond the victory, he’s off to a solid start this season as he finished fourth on the opening night. As a result, he enters the third week of competition as the points leader, seven points ahead of Chandler Bos.
Notably, he will have to start this week’s feature from the 14th position as the last week feature winner. Though given his early success, all eyes will be on him to see how he does coming through the field of stacked competitors in search for another top-five finish.
