New year, new truck, no difference.
Off-road legend Ricky Johnson topped the speed charts in qualifying for Red Bull Frozen Rush this morning, posting a two-lap qualifying time of 1:33.997 to earn the top seed. He knocked off fellow Red Bull driver Bryce Menzies by just under a tenth of a second in a reverse of their fastest speeds in practice. Fellow off-road star Rob MacCachren qualified third.
Of the three event newcomers, Chad Hord posted the best time to run fifth, with RJ Anderson in sixth and Brian Deegan placing seventh. Only one driver, Todd Leduc, was unable to make a qualifying attempt.
“Coming out here for the first time, I had a little bit of a rough start,” Deegan admitted. “I didn’t really get to do much practice, so (qualifying) was the first hard run I got, (and) I went out there and laid it down. I probably tried to be a little too cautious, but I just didn’t want to make a big mistake.
“It’s really hard to judge the grip, it changes so much. As you can see, every lap is a little different, so it’s real deceiving.”
Full qualifying results are as follows:
- Ricky Johnson, #48 Ford, 1:33.997
- Bryce Menzies, #7 Ford, 1:34.085
- Rob MacCachren, #21 Ford, 1:34.886
- Scott Douglas, #7 Ford, 1:35.829
- Chad Hord, #9 Ford, 1:36.569
- RJ Anderson, #37 Ford, 1:39.340
- Brian Deegan, #38 Ford, 1:40.015
- Carl Renezeder, #17 Nissan, 1:40.300
- Todd Leduc, #7 Ford, DNS
Photo credit: Matt Kalish
Christopher Leone 