Wayne Johnson Snaps ASCoT Slump with Lakeside Fireworks!
by: Lonnie WheatleyKANSAS CITY, Kan. (July 4) – Oklahoma City native
Wayne Johnson snapped a victory drought spanning more than a year's length
in O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National action by wiring the field
in Friday night's 25-lap main event atop the ˝-mile Lakeside Speedway clay
oval.
The 2000 ASCS National champion muscled past Natalie Sather for the lead on
the opening circuit and never looked back en route to his first ASCoT
checkered flag since June 20 of last year in Brainerd, MN.
"It's about time," a relieved Johnson commented in victory lane. "It sure
didn't hurt starting near the front either."
Moments after Johnson flashed underneath the checkered flag in Mike and Tim
Hammers' Wesmar-powered H&H Enterprises/Pearson Farms No. 94 Maxim, Jesse
Hockett got a head start on the night's fireworks by plowing into the
frontstretch wall exiting turn four while trying to dodge a disabled lapped
car. Hockett climbed from his mangled and charred mount uninjured.
Still carrying 2008 ASCoT title aspirations, Johnson gridded the feature
field inside the second row as reigning ASCS Midwest Region champion Sather
led the way to the green flag with Chris Walker alongside on the front row.
While Sather gunned into the lead in the opening pair of corners, Johnson
wasted no time making his move. First, Johnson disposed of Walker for second
in turn one. Then, Johnson pounced on the 23-year-old Fargo lass, diving to
the low side of turn three to take command on the opening round.
Setting a rapid tempo in front of Sather, Walker and Zach Chappell, who
rocketed from ninth to fourth in the opening circuits, Johnson's pace was
interrupted after five rounds when fifth-runner Garry Lee Maier coasted to a
stop in turn two with terminal problems.
On the restart, Chappell wasted no time blasting past Walker and Sather to
take over second, setting his sights on Johnson in the process.
Eighth-starter Jack Dover followed suit by climbing to third by the eighth
round, with eighth-row starter Jason Johnson up to fourth by the time the
red flag flew after nine laps for Jonathan Cornell's turn two flip. The
current Winged Outlaw Warriors point leader walked away from his twisted
machine unharmed.
With the final 16 circuits run in non-stop fashion, Johnson simply checked
out on the field. Slicing through lapped traffic over the final ten rounds,
Johnson lapped all the way up to eighth by the time he took the checkered
flag with nearly a straightaway advantage.
In Johnson's wake, the battle for runner-up honors was a furious one between
the threesome of Chappell, Dover and Jason Johnson.
Chappell ultimately topped the scrum for second place in the Legend's Bar-B-Que
& Steakhouse No. 50z Maxim, with "The Ragin' Cajun's" drive from 16th
culminating with a third-place showing aboard Lanny Row's The Shop
Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle.
Dover settled for fourth aboard the Eckley-powered 3D Auto Transport No. 53
Eagle, while Gary Wright maintained an 18-point lead over Jason Johnson in
the series $50,000 championship points chase by racing from 15th to round
out the top five.
Current ASCS Midwest Region points leader Brian Brown was credited with
sixth in the final run-down, with leading Brodix Rookie of the Year
contender Eric Baldaccini in seventh.
On the charge from 18th, Hockett was trying to make a move around Wright for
fifth in the final pair of corners. But when Curtis Evans clipped an infield
tire and skittered to the topside exiting the final corner with a broken
front end, Hockett ran out of real estate and slammed into the frontstretch
wall in wide-open fashion. Hockett was scored as the final car on the lead
lap in eighth.
Sather crossed the stripe ninth, with Jon Corbin completing the top ten.
Jack Potter, Mike Boston, Chris Walker, Sather, Wayne Johnson and Chappell
topped heat race action for the rugged 53-car field.
Jay Russell fought off Randy Martin to win the first "B" Main, with Hockett
surviving a close call with a lapped car to win the second "B" Main. Don
Droud, Jr., wasn't as fortune, getting collected by the same car and then
spinning while running second with just two laps to go.
O’Reilly ASCoT Results from Lakeside Speedway:
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to Two "B" Mains):
Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 15-Jack Potter, 2. 4J-Jon Corbin, 3. 86-Don
Droud, Jr., 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 8-Jeff Wingate, 7.
9c-Tony Crank, 8. 51x-Mike Peters, 9. 97-Aaron Berryhill.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 51-Mike Boston, 2. 22-Billy Alley, 3.
53-Jack Dover, 4. 14-Randy Martin, 5. 1m-Terry McCarl, 6. 1k-Kim Kennedy, 7.
19s-Steven Cross, 8. 8b-Bobby Becker, 9. 14k-Kyle Bellm.
Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 18w-Chris Walker, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3.
76-Jay Russell, 4. 1p-Curtis Evans, 5. 32L-David Langford, 6. 72-Curtis
Boyer, 7. 7J-J.D. Black, 8. 9m-Dale McCarty. DNS: 18-Tim Newman.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 94s-Natalie Sather, 2. 21-Brian Brown,
3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 00-Brad Foster, 5. 5*-Gary Taylor, 6. 33a-Austin
Alumbaugh, 7. a12-John Pate, 8. 5ma-Mallory Armfield. DNS: 7c-Chris Morgan.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 3. 21L-Mike
Lefholz, 4. 21h-Terry Hinck, 5. 15s-Nick Smith, 6. 86x-Josh Fisher, 7.
48-David Brown, 8. 91-Donnie Ray Crawford, 9. 43-Frank Brown.
Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 50z-Zach Chappell, 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 10-Jeff
Mitrisin, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 23F-Matt Fox, 6. 2d-Stu Snyder, 7. d12-Doc
Sloan, 8. 13-Kathryne Minter.
"B" Mains – Top 3 From Each to "A" Main:
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 76-Jay Russell, 2. 14-Randy Martin, 3.
1m-Terry McCarl, 4. 1p-Curtis Evans, 5. 5*-Gary Taylor, 6. 21L-Mike Lefholz,
7. 51x-Mike Peters, 8. 1k-Kim Kennedy, 9. 19s-Steven Cross, 10. 48-David
Brown, 11. 43-Frank Brown, 12. 32L-David Langford, 13. 72-Curtis Boyer. DNS:
2d-Stu Snyder, 5ma-Mallory Armfield, 97-Aaron Berryhill, 33a-Austin
Alumbaugh, 91-Donnie Ray Crawford, 33a-Austin Alumbaugh.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett, 2. 15s-Nick Smith, 3.
86x-Josh Fisher, 4. 2-Kenneth Walker, 5. 21h-Terry Hinck, 6. 00-Brad Foster,
7. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 8. 23F-Matt Fox, 9. 8b-Bobby Becker, 10. 86-Don Droud,
Jr., 11. 13-Kathryne Minter, 12. 7c-Chris Morgan, 13. 9c-Tony Crank, 14.
8-Jeff Wingate, 15. 9m-Dale McCarty, 16. d12-Doc Sloan. DNS: a12-John Pate,
7J-J.D. Black.
O’Reilly ASCoT "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 50z-Zach Chappell, 3.
41-Jason Johnson, 4. 53-Jack Dover, 5. 9-Gary Wright, 6. 21-Brian Brown, 7.
b4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 75-Jesse Hockett, 9. 94s-Natalie Sather, 10. 4J-Jon
Corbin, 11. 76-Jay Russell, 12. 10-Jeff Mitrisin, 13. 22-Billy Alley, 14.
51-Mike Boston, 15. 14-Randy Martin, 16. 1p-Curtis Evans, 17. 15-Jack
Potter, 18. 2-Kenneth Walker, 19. 1m-Terry McCarl, 20. 18w-Chris Walker, 21.
15s-Nick Smith, 22. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 23. 86x-Josh Fisher, 24. 11x-Garry
Lee Maier, 25. 13-Kathryne Minter.
Lap Leaders: Wayne Johnson 1-25.
Note: Kenneth Walker and Kathryne Minter utilized ASCoT provisionals and
Curtis Evans utilized a WOW provisional to start the "A" Main.
O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 2,109, 2. Jason Johnson
2,091, 3. Wayne Johnson 2,033, 4. Zach Chappell 1,969, 5. Garry Lee Maier
1,860, 6. Eric Baldaccini 1,713, 7. Nick Smith 1,591, 8. Jack Dover 1,506,
9. Kenneth Walker 1,491, 10. Travis Rilat 1,364, 11. Kathryne Minter 1,266,
12. Jason Sides 1,130, 13. Gary Taylor 1,117, 14. Aaron Berryhill 1,054, 15.
Don Droud, Jr. 902.
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brian Brown 446, 2. Jack Dover 426,
3. Natalie Sather 420, 4. Billy Alley 400, 5. Mike Boston 396, 6. Bobby
Becker 378, 7. Jay Russell 284, 8. Gregg Bakker 274, 9. Don Droud, Jr. 270,
10. Ryan Anderson 262.
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