Juggling a racing career and school isn’t your typical Santa Rosa Junior College experience, but that’s exactly what Chase Johnson is doing.

Johnson, 18, dreams of joining the premier level of sprint car racing by becoming a World of Outlaw Sprint Car driver.

Johnson has a reputation for being smart and well-liked, especially by fans. He earns a lot of respect from drivers for his driving ability.

“Chase is a great driver, he’s fast and aggressive, but at the same time he’s respectful of other drivers and races clean. A lot of young drivers are fast but don’t give a s**t about the competitors around him, but Chase does and a little of it comes from being a fourth generation driver,” said Andy Foresburg, one of the top drivers in California.

The crowd goes crazy when Johnson comes on to the racetrack and fans love talking to him after the races.

He also races with his good friend Joe Stornetta, who has known Johnson since they were 7. “Since he races a family-owned car, he knows how much it costs to race these cars. He takes care of his equipment,” Stornetta said.

His 12-year-old brother Colby also races go-karts when he is not at the track supporting or helping Johnson during race days.

Johnson’s first racecar was a beginner go-kart with the number 24 at 5. After beginner, he moved up to a class 250 go-kart, then a class 500. At the age of 14 he strapped into the monstrous 360-cubic inch number 24 sprint car owned by his parents.

Johnson has won six Outlaw Go-Kart Championships and he is the 2012 Petaluma Speedway track champion. He beat Bradley Terrell by one point for the championship, winning the race by coming from the middle of the pack in front of a raucous crowd including his family and friends.

“It was a life-long dream to win a sprint car championship,” Johnson said.

Johnson is taking 12 units at SRJC and plans to study at the JC for three years and then transfer to Cal Poly for mechanical engineering.

Johnson still has a couple races left this season. He will be racing Nov. 16 at Visalia in the Micro Sprint number 29k. He will also be racing Steve Kaiser’s Micro Sprint at Dixon in a couple weeks.

“Chase is a great and wonderful, loving man in my eyes. I have watched Chase race since he was able to race a car,” Kaiser said.

Johnson drove for Kaiser earlier this year and swept the whole night.

In the off-season Johnson will look for sponsors for the car on his own, while most drivers hire other people to find sponsorship.

He will start the 2014 season driving in the famed “Chili Bowl” event in Oklahoma for Cole Wood Racing. He plans on driving the same number, 24, and looking for other rides to drive for in 2014.

Johnson is a fourth-generation driver. Look for him to end up in the ranks with Kyle Larson in NASCAR or in the sprint car world like Tim Kaeding.