Wayne Johnson wins Lucas Oil ASCS Season Opener at Devil’s Bowl

[NickHolt]

Wayne Johnson Wins Lucas Oil ASCS Season Opener at The Devil’s Bowl

by Bryan Hulbert

MESQUITE, Texas (March 18, 2022) Taking the green in his 511th A-Feature with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, Oklahoma's Wayne Johnson captured the lead from Sam Hafertepe, Jr. in traffic on Lap 19 for his 10th career National Tour win at the Devil's Bowl Speedway in the Outlaw Wings/JRS Trucking No. 2c. 

Pat Grant photo

Pushing his overall win total to 55 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, Johnson rolled second to Hafertepe from the start.

Keeping the No. 2c at bay through three cautions, traffic came into play with ten laps to go. Picking through the back-markers, Hafertepe was hard on the brakes to avoid a car changing lines working Lap 19. Stripping the No. 15h of his momentum, that opened the door for Johnson.

Shooting past the No. 15h to lead, Johnson was not out of the woods as the race for the lead tightened further, with Seth Bergman and Blake Hahn joining the battle. Keeping to the hub of the half-mile oval, Johnson was able to slip by and gain some breathing room.

Changing tactics over the final five-lap, Blake Hahn shot to the cushion. Getting around Bergman and Hafertepe for second, Blake ran up on Wayne as the white flag waved. Making one final run through the final two turns, Johnson held off the last corner charge by 0.386-seconds.

Hahn in second was followed by Sam Hafertepe, Jr., who battled back and forth with Seth Bergman for the final podium step. Relegating the No. 23 to fourth, the fifth spot went to Dylan Westbrook. Sixth went to Jason Martin, with Scott Bogucki seventh. Moving up from 14th, South Dakota's Matt Juhl crossed eighth, followed by John Carney II and Justin Zimmerman to complete the top ten.

The opening night of the 2022 season saw 46 drivers on hand. SCE Gaskets Heat Race wins went to John Carney II, Brandon Anderson, Wayne Johnson, Jason Martin, Justin Zimmerman, and Scott Bogucki. A pair of BMRS B-Features was won by Roger Crockett and Chris Martin. Provisional starts were used by Ryan Bickett and Travis Reber.

The 49th Devil's Bowl Spring Nationals continues Saturday, March 19. Pits will clear at Noon with Grandstands again opening at 5:00 P.M. Racing begins at 7:00 P.M. (CDT). Support divisions include IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, Limited Modifieds, Modifieds, and Factory Stocks.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for Seniors (60+), $15 for Military and Youth (13-15), and free for Kids 12 and under. Pit Passes are $35. Devil's Bowl Speedway is located at 1711 Lawson Rd. in Mesquite, Texas. For tickets and directions, log onto http://www.devilsbowl.com or call (972) 222-2421.

The 2022 season will mark the 31st year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours that encompass both wing and non-wing competition.

For fans not able to attend, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with RaceOnTexas.com on FloRacing.com featuring National Tour events in tandem. Both are subscription-based sites. FloRacing.com is $20 per month, billed annually at $150 per year. RaceOnTexas.com All Access is $39.99 per month.

For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour -  ASCS Lone Star Region - Devil's Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, Texas) - Friday, March 18, 2022

Car Count: 46

The Driver's Project Group Qualifying

Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 22-John Carney II, 15.128[5]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, 15.306[2]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton, 15.649[3]; 4. 9C-Brenham Crouch, 15.789[7]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett, 15.912[8]; 6. 1X-Tim Crawley, 16.452[6]; 7. 4H-Cody Hansen, 16.857[1]; 8. 2B-Brett Becker, 16.857[4]

Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 0-Eric Baldaccini, 15.033[8]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman, 15.080[2]; 3. 44-Chris Martin, 15.202[1]; 4. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 15.323[7]; 5. 7M-Chance Morton, 15.450[5]; 6. 45-Martin Edwards, 15.608[6]; 7. 187-Landon Crawley, 15.807[3]; 8. 2-Dylan Opdahl, 16.600[4]

Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 14.846[8]; 2. 9-Chase Randall, 15.196[7]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms, 15.205[5]; 4. 2X-Tucker Doughty, 15.234[4]; 5. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 15.265[2]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier, 15.459[6]; 7. 22J-Jax Redline, 15.492[1]; 8. 27T-Timothy Watson III, 17.847[3]

Qualifying 4 (3 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 14.675[6]; 2. 36-Jason Martin, 14.957[7]; 3. 10-Landon Britt, 15.017[3]; 4. 45B-Casey Burkham, 15.018[2]; 5. 50Z-Zach Chappell, 15.290[5]; 6. 33C-Casey Carter, 15.436[1]; 7. 95-Matt Covington, 17.603[4]; 8. (DNS) 71W-Weston Gorham, 17.603

Qualifying 5 (3 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 14.851[7]; 2. 24-Garet Williamson, 14.935[5]; 3. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman, 15.128[2]; 4. 24T-Christopher Thram, 15.132[6]; 5. 88-Travis Reber, 15.417[3]; 6. 1HA-Caleb Saiz, 15.629[4]; 7. 42P-Preston Perlmutter, 15.707[1]

Qualifying 6 (3 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 14.634[2]; 2. 09-Matt Juhl, 15.061[1]; 3. 2P-Chase Porter, 15.200[4]; 4. 84-Scott Bogucki, 15.231[5]; 5. 25B-Blaine Baxter, 15.322[6]; 6. 1J-Danny Jennings, 15.338[7]; 7. 91-Zach Pringle, 15.703[3]

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 16 in combined Qualifying and Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-John Carney II[4]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley[6]; 4. 9C-Brenham Crouch[1]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton[2]; 7. 4H-Cody Hansen[7]; 8. 2B-Brett Becker[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55B-Brandon Anderson[1]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 3. 44-Chris Martin[2]; 4. 7M-Chance Morton[5]; 5. 0-Eric Baldaccini[4]; 6. 187-Landon Crawley[7]; 7. 45-Martin Edwards[6]; 8. 2-Dylan Opdahl[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]; 2. 2X-Tucker Doughty[1]; 3. 9-Chase Randall[3]; 4. 5T-Ryan Timms[2]; 5. 45X-Kyler Johnson[5]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier[6]; 7. 22J-Jax Redline[7]; 8. 27T-Timothy Watson III[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Jason Martin[1]; 2. 50Z-Zach Chappell[3]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[5]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[4]; 5. 10-Landon Britt[2]; 6. 33C-Casey Carter[6]; 7. 45B-Casey Burkham[7]; 8. 71W-Weston Gorham[8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[2]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]; 3. 24T-Christopher Thram[1]; 4. 24-Garet Williamson[3]; 5. 1HA-Caleb Saiz[6]; 6. 42P-Preston Perlmutter[7]; 7. 88-Travis Reber[5]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Scott Bogucki[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 09-Matt Juhl[3]; 4. 25B-Blaine Baxter[5]; 5. 2P-Chase Porter[2]; 6. 1J-Danny Jennings[6]; 7. 91-Zach Pringle[7]

BMRS B-Features (Top 3 from each advance)

B-Main 1 (12 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett[1]; 2. 24-Garet Williamson[2]; 3. 0-Eric Baldaccini[4]; 4. 24T-Christopher Thram[3]; 5. 1HA-Caleb Saiz[5]; 6. 187-Landon Crawley[8]; 7. 45-Martin Edwards[13]; 8. 2B-Brett Becker[14]; 9. 10-Landon Britt[7]; 10. 17B-Ryan Bickett[6]; 11. 22J-Jax Redline[12]; 12. 27T-Timothy Watson III[15]; 13. 10P-Dylan Postier[9]; 14. 1J-Danny Jennings[10]; 15. 45B-Casey Burkham[11]

B-Main 2 (12 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 2. 7M-Chance Morton[2]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms[4]; 4. 25B-Blaine Baxter[3]; 5. 2P-Chase Porter[7]; 6. 45X-Kyler Johnson[6]; 7. 8M-Kade Morton[10]; 8. 9C-Brenham Crouch[5]; 9. 42P-Preston Perlmutter[8]; 10. 4H-Cody Hansen[11]; 11. 2-Dylan Opdahl[14]; 12. 33C-Casey Carter[9]; 13. 88-Travis Reber[13]; 14. 91-Zach Pringle[12]; 15. 71W-Weston Gorham[15]

A-Feature

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson[3]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 6. 36-Jason Martin[6]; 7. 84-Scott Bogucki[9]; 8. 09-Matt Juhl[14]; 9. 22-John Carney II[4]; 10. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[5]; 11. 11-Roger Crockett[17]; 12. 2X-Tucker Doughty[16]; 13. 9-Chase Randall[15]; 14. 24-Garet Williamson[19]; 15. 5T-Ryan Timms[22]; 16. 7M-Chance Morton[20]; 17. 44-Chris Martin[18]; 18. 0-Eric Baldaccini[21]; 19. 1X-Tim Crawley[11]; 20. 17B-Ryan Bickett[23]; 21. 55B-Brandon Anderson[10]; 22. 95-Matt Covington[13]; 23. 50Z-Zach Chappell[12]; 24. 88-Travis Reber[24]

Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-18; Wayne Johnson 19-25

Hard Charger: Ryan Timms +7

Quick Time: 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 14.634

High Point Driver: John Carney II

Provisional(s): Ryan Bickett (Points) / Travis Reber (Points)

2022 Race Winners: Wayne Johnson – 1 (3/18 – Devil's Bowl Speedway);

2022 Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Wayne Johnson 150; 2. Blake Hahn 142; 3. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 135; 4. Seth Bergman 130; 5. Dylan Westbrook 125; 6. Jason Martin 122; 7. Scott Bogucki 119; 8. Matt Juhl 116; 9. John Carney II 113; 10. Justin Zimmerman 110;

ASCS Online:

American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs [@lucasoilascs]

Instagram: LucasOilASCS

Broadcast: RaceOnTexas.com on FloRacing.com

Live-Scoring [Where Applicable]: MRP Live

ASCS National Tour Drivers:

2p - Chase Porter (St. Joseph, MO) (R)

10 - Landon Britt (Atoka, TN) (R)

10p - Dylan Postier (Stillwater, OK) (R)

17b - Ryan Bickett (Romona, SD)

23 - Seth Bergman (Snohomishsh, WA)

24 - Garet Williamson (Columbia, MO)

36 - Jason Martin (Liberal, KS) (R)

45x - Kyler Johson (Quinter, KS) (R)

47x - Dylan Westbrook (Scotland, ONT. Can)

52 - Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK)

55b - Brandon Anderson (Glenpool, OK)

95 - Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK)