ST. PETER — While in Mankato for his two-day orientation at Minnesota State University last week, Joey Johnson had to bring up an awkward question with his adviser:
What if I skip two weeks of fall semester for a reality show try-out?
It's a serious concern for the incoming freshman from Alexandria. Johnson, 18, is one of the top candidates for a spot on "Racin' for a Livin'," a new reality show that has yet to find a network but is already picking contestants.
For the self-described "basic Saturday night short-track racer," the show's prize — an opportunity to compete in the NASCAR Busch Series — would be a huge break. The Busch Series is one level below the NEXTEL Cup Series, the main event in stock car racing.
Johnson is one of the top vote-getters on the show's Web site (www.racinforalivin.com), which means there is a good chance he will compete for one of 12 slots on the show in North Carolina next month. For now, the prospective automotive engineering student is tearing it up on race tracks around the Midwest. After a number of wins in an asphalt modified series, he moved up to racing in a late model series this summer.
The cars he drives now, Johnson said, look pretty similar to the stock cars in NASCAR. Speeds on the track regularly top 90 mph and get above 100 mph on straightaways.
Johnson tried to explain what that feels like to a non-racer: "It's one thing going that fast around a track, but then having a bunch of cars around you ..."
The soft-spoken racer makes it sound like no big deal. But his mother, Lynn Johnson, said it can be nerve-racking to watch.
Still, despite her fears, Lynn Johnson is doing whatever she can to get her son in the bigger, faster cars on "Racin' for a Livin'." She spends up to four hours a day voting for her son on the show's Web site.
That devotion has pushed her son to the top of the 50 "wild cards" vying for a spot on the show.
"Now that he's in first place in the votes, I feel like I can't let up," she said.
The top five wild cards go to North Carolina in August. There, they will compete with 15 "rookies" — established racers chosen by the producers — for one of 12 slots on the TV show.
Lynn Johnson said the compulsion to keep
clicking the vote button means some housework gets neglected.
"We've really let everything go in the house," she admitted.
The voting fever has spread to Gail Strand, wife of St. Peter Mayor Tim Strand and Lynn Johnson's sister.
"My record is 500" votes in one day, Strand said.
If the efforts of voters like his mother and aunt earn him a spot on the show, Johnson said he is ready to compete.
"I still have a long way to go but, yeah, I'm ready," he said.
And if he isn't picked?
"I'll keep racing."
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