Johnson cmplets ASCoT Weekend sweep @ I-30(Little Rock)

[rebelracewriter]

Jason Johnson Completes O'Reilly ASCoT Weekend Sweep with I-30 Score

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (April 28, 2007) – A pair of quarter-mile bullrings were just what the doctor ordered for Jason Johnson, as he completed a sweep of the weekend's O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National action in Arkansas with a wire-to-wire victory in Saturday night's 30-lap feature at I-30 Speedway.

 

 

 

Although Johnson led all the way aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle, it was far from easy as he survived some strong bids from Darren Stewart along the way to collect his 21st career ASCS National Tour win.

 

 

 

Johnson's saving grace proved to be some timely cautions along with his abandonment of the cushion following a lap 16 caution for the low side of the track.

 

 

 

"They were telling me to go low, go low, and I thought man are you crazy!" Johnson commented afterward. "It worked though."

 

 

 

After an eventful heat race in which Johnson charged from sixth to first, fell back to fourth after a slider past Ronny Howard nearly led to disaster and then a recovery for a last lap win, Johnson drew the pole position for the Pole Dash in which he emerged victorious after trading a pair of early slidejobs with Tim Crawley.

 

 

 

With a seemingly full night of work already behind him, it had only just begun as Johnson then paced the feature field to the green flag with 30 more laps of labor yet to go. Unlike the Dash though, Johnson clearly gunned ahead of fellow front row starter Crawley to take command from the outset in the feature.

 

 

 

With Johnson leading the way, sixth-starter Stewart battled past Ward for third in the opening laps and set his sights on the lead duo. Lapped traffic came into play on the seventh round, with Crawley making a bid for the lead a lap later.

 

 

 

But it was Stewart on the move in Bobby Sparks' Ostrich-powered Sparks Construction/RESM Transport No. 91 Eagle as heavy traffic became a factor, charging past Crawley for second on the tenth lap and then pulling alongside Johnson in the next pair of corners.

 

 

 

With Stewart working vigorously for the lead, Johnson caught a reprieve moments later when fourth-running Wayne Johnson looped his machine without assistance in turn four. Trailing heavy smoke a few laps later in the race due to a loose oil filter, Wayne Johnson's race ended when he brought out a second caution with a stop on the frontstretch just past the midway point.

 

 

 

Between the Wayne Johnson cautions, Jason Johnson rode the cushion with Darren Stewart trying to set up the winning move. After the lap 16 caution for Wayne Johnson though, Jason Johnson switched tactics and ran the bottom portion of the racetrack the rest of the way.

 

 

 

And with three more cautions over the final 14 circuits, Johnson never wavered with clear track in front of him. Stewart tried the high side following the race's final caution for a turn two spin by Foster Landon that set up a six-lap dash to the stripe, but Johnson slipped away to a half straightaway victory.

 

 

 

Stewart settled for runner-up honors, explaining that, "We needed to get in lapped traffic and we sure didn't need those cautions. We could have been two-for-two this weekend, it just didn't quite work out."

 

 

 

After cutting down a left front tire in an opening lap heat race skirmish, three-time and defending ASCS National champion Gary Wright needed ten of twelve laps just to battle into a transfer position in "B" Main action.

 

 

 

Then after starting 19th, Wright was on the move by climbing to seventh by the tenth lap. Wright picked off four more spots over the next seven rounds and extended his series point lead with a third-place finish in the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding No. 9 Maxim.

 

 

 

Crawley settled for fourth in the No. 87 Avenger machine, with Kenneth Walker rounding out the top five in the Wesmar-powered No. 2 J&J.

 

 

 

I-30 Speedway regular Zack Pringle crossed the stripe sixth in front of past ASCS National champions Terry Gray and Garry Lee Maier, with Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Andy Shouse and Brian Bell completing the top ten.

 

 

 

Mike Ward, Foster Landon, Crawley, Jason Johnson and Bell topped heat race action for the 39-car field, with Wade Oliver and Travis Rilat splitting victory honors in the twin "B" Mains. Rilat's feature run ended when he suffered front-end damage after sliding off the top of turn two on the 23rd lap.

 

 

 

Joe Young flipped exiting turn two in heat race action, with Tommy Snellgrove taking a wild ride off turn two in the second "B" Main. There were no injuries.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT I-30 Speedway Results:

 

 

 

Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points to “A†Main; Balance to Twin "B" Mains)

 

 

 

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 88-Mike Ward, 2. 91-Darren Stewart, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 58-Wade Oliver, 5. 7J-Justin Zimmerman, 6. 66-Kenny Taylor, 7. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, 8. 15-Brad Bowden.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 11F-Foster Landon, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 10-Terry Gray, 4. 21-Nick Smith, 5. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 6. 47-Dale Howard, 7. 75-Don Young, 8. 5k-Jerry Kamer.

 

 

 

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 87-Tim Crawley, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 2-Kenneth Walker, 4. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 5. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 6. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 7. 9-Gary Wright, 8. 13m-Kathryne Minter.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 44-Ronny Howard, 3. 57g-Dude Garrett, 4. 1g-Cody Gardner, 5. 26-Rafe Essary, 6. 41k-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. 12T-Joe Young.

 

 

 

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 23-Brian Bell, 2. 8-Zack Pringle, 3. 64J-Johnny Miller, 4. 24w-Kenny Coke, 5. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 38-Rick Pringle, 7. 92-Rusty Gallion.

 

 

 

Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A†Main):

 

 

 

Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 87-Tim Crawley, 3. 88-Mike Ward, 4. 23-Brian Bell, 5. 11F-Foster Landon, 6. 91-Darren Stewart.

 

 

"B" Mains – Top 3 From Each Advance to “A†Main

 

 

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 58-Wade Oliver, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 66-Kenny Taylor, 4. 47-Dale Howard, 5. 26-Rafe Essary, 6. 75-Don Young, 7. 41k-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 8. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 9. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 10. 92-Rusty Gallion, 11. 24w-Kenny Coke. DNS: 12T-Joe Young.

 

 

 

Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 57g-Dude Garrett, 3. 15-Brad Bowden, 4. 7J-Justin Zimmerman, 5. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 6. 38-Rick Pringle, 7. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 8. 81au-Gavin Punch, 9. 13m-Kathryne Minter, 10. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 11. 4-Tommy Snellgrove.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT I-30 Speedway "A" Main Event:

 

 

 

“A†Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 91-Darren Stewart, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 87-Tim Crawley, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 8-Zack Pringle, 7. 10-Terry Gray, 8. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 9. 27-Andy Shouse, 10. 23-Brian Bell, 11. 88-Mike Ward, 12. 1g-Cody Gardner, 13. 66-Kenny Taylor, 14. 64J-Johnny Miller, 15. 11F-Foster Landon, 16. 58-Wade Oliver, 17. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 18. 29-Travis Rilat, 19. 57g-Dude Garrett, 20. 15-Brad Bowden, 21. 94-Wayne Johnson, 22. 44-Ronny Howard, 23. 21-Nick Smith.

 

 

 

Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-30.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 1,163, 2. Wayne Johnson 1,082, 3. Jason Johnson 1,059, 4. Darren Stewart 1,047, 5. Travis Rilat 1,033, 6. Foster Landon 919, 7. Andy Shouse 898, 8. Johnny Miller 860, 9. Garry Lee Maier 766, 10. Chris Schmelzle 741, 11. Nick Smith 682, 12. Aaron Berryhill 664, 13. Chuck Swenson 654, 14. Gavin Punch 542, 15. Kenneth Walker 516.