Johnson masters a tricky I-30 Speedway

BY Bryan Hulbert 

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (April 6, 2013) On a newly resurfaced I-30 Speedway, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real found Mother Nature’s week long assistance with nearly five inches of rain produced a rough, tricky surface that saw Jason Johnson able to master the ruts while repeatedly trading the lead with Johnny Herrera for his third National Tour win of the 2013 season.

Asked about the overall race, and being able to race with Herrera, the driver of the MVT No. 41 replied by saying, “Well that’s the good thing when you can race classy guys like Johnny Herrera. You know you can race them clean, but race them hard. There was a couple of times we were bouncing thought the holes and he [Herrera] was trying not run into the next guy and I’ll tell you, it was a treacherous race track but it was fun.”

Rolling from the outside of the front row, Johnson held the runner up spot as I-30 regular Zach Pringle jumped to the pacers position before the caution for the spun No. 6 of Ryan Beechler with one lap complete.

Working into the runner up spot on Lap 7, Herrera gave chase into slower traffic; taking the lead fro Pringle on Lap 11 before the race halted for the flipped No. 3h of Brandon Hanks who began going over just off the front bumper of Herrera’s No. 45x. Hanks was ok as Herrera narrowly escaped with nose wing damage.

Taking second on the restart, Jason Johnson began working under Herrera only for the red to be displayed for the No. 29 of Brandon Hahn who tipped entering turn one as the caution was being called for the No. 14k of Kyle Bellm. Hahn was unscathed.

Restarting with 18 laps remaining, Herrera and Johnson would begin trading the race lead on an almost per lap basis with the Herrera working the inside line. Holding the advantage at the line until Lap 18, contact with an infield tire shot the No. 45x up the track; giving the lead to Johnson exiting the fourth turn.

Retaking the lead after Johnson was held up by a slower car; Herrera led from Lap 23 until finally forfeiting the lead on Lap 27 as Jason Johnson wrestled his way to the win despite a caution on the final lap that set up for the green, white, checkered finish.

Johnny Herrera crossed the line second with Zach Pringle settling for the final step on the podium. Dustin Morgan rolled from fourteenth to fourth with Seth Bergman clawing from twenty-first to complete the top five after taking third in the night’s first B-Main.

Brad Loyet posted his best finish ever at the I-30 Speedway with a sixth place showing followed by A.G. Rains in seventh. B-Main transfers Logan Forler and Derek Hagar came from nineteenth and seventeenth respectively with Cole Wood rounding out the top ten.

Ti22 Heat Race victory went to Cole Wood with Jason Johnson taking the Rod End Supply Heat victory. The BMRS Heat three was as nearly captivating as the feature with A.G. Rains getting the win. Zach Pringle was the victor of the Wesmar Engines Heat as Jordan Mallett took the final Heat of the night presented by Saldana Racing Products.

Derek Hagar took the Joie of Seating B-Main followed by Marshall Skinner in the SBI Fuel Baldders B-Main two. The Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night was laid down by the No. 14z of Zach Pringle who turned a 13.023 second lap.

The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real continues the 2013 on April 27 at the Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark with the Rock ‘n Roll 50.

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real
I-30 Speedway – Little Rock, Ark.
April 6, 2013

Car Count: 39

Ti 22 Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Cole Wood[2]; 2. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[3]; 3. 26-Marshall Skinner[1]; 4. 14K-Kyle Bellm[4]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 6. 42-Henry Gustavus[7]; 7. 23X-Howard Moore[8]; DNF 5-Jerod Roller[5]

Rod End Supply Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[1]; 2. 88-Tim Crawley[2]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[3]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 5. 12-Dalton Davis[5]; 6. 4J-John James[6]; 7. 29-Brandon Hahn[8]; 8. 5S-Tyler Smith[7]

BMRS Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-A.G. Rains[3]; 2. 31G-Johnny Gardner[1]; 3. 6-Ryan Beechler[4]; 4. 3H-Brandon Hanks[6]; 5. 94-Jeff Swindell[8]; 6. X-Charlie Louden[5]; 7. 5K-Jerry Kamer[2]; 8. 32X-Robert Richardson[7]

Wesmar Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14Z-Zach Pringle[4]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet[6]; 4. 38-Rick Pringle[2]; 5. 9JR-Derek Hagar[7]; 6. 12T-Joe Young[5]; 7. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[8]; DNF 4B-Kevin Baugh[1]

Saldana Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 2. 17G-Cody Gardner[1]; 3. 93-Dustin Morgan[4]; 4. 1-Nic Jenkins[7]; 5. 4X-Shawn Petersen[2]; 6. 4-Tommy Snellgrove[5]; 7. 44-Ronny Howard[6]

Joie of Seating B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar[2]; 2. 2L-Logan Forler[1]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 4. 23X-Howard Moore[8]; 5. 12T-Joe Young[7]; 6. 4J-John James[6]; 7. 32X-Robert Richardson[11]; 8. 5K-Jerry Kamer[10]; 9. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[9]; DNF 4B-Kevin Baugh[12]; DNF 38-Rick Pringle[4]; DNS 42-Henry Gustavus

SBI Fuel Bladders B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 26-Marshall Skinner[1]; 2. 14K-Kyle Bellm[2]; 3. 12-Dalton Davis[4]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 5. 29-Brandon Hahn[8]; 6. 5-Jerod Roller[11]; 7. 5S-Tyler Smith[10]; 8. 44-Ronny Howard[9]; 9. 4-Tommy Snellgrove[7]; 10. X-Charlie Louden[6]; DNF 4X-Shawn Petersen[5]

Protect the Harvest A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[2]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 3. 14Z-Zach Pringle[1]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan[14]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[21]; 6. 05-Brad Loyet[7]; 7. 3-A.G. Rains[6]; 8. 2L-Logan Forler[19]; 9. 9JR-Derek Hagar[17]; 10. 17W-Cole Wood[5]; 11. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[8]; 12. 1-Nic Jenkins[9]; 13. 94-Jeff Swindell[16]; 14. 12-Dalton Davis[22]; 15. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 16. 14K-Kyle Bellm[20]; 17. 4X-Shawn Petersen[23]; 18. 31G-Johnny Gardner[11]; DNF 29-Brandon Hahn[24]; DNF 17G-Cody Gardner[12]; DNF 3H-Brandon Hanks[15]; DNF 26-Marshall Skinner[18]; DNF 6-Ryan Beechler[13]; DNS 88-Tim Crawley

Lap Leaders: Zach Pringle (1-10), Johnny Herrera (11-18) (23-26), Jason Johnson (19-22) (28-30)
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Seth Bergman+16
FSR High Points of the Night: Zach Pringle
Provisionals: Shawn Petersen (P1), Brandon Hahn (P1)

2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-3, Brian Brown-1, Roger Crockett-1, Kyle Bellm-1, Brad Loyet-1

Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Jason Johnson 914; 2. Johnny Herrera 871; 3. Brad Loyet 809; 4. Seth Bergman 759; 5. Tony Bruce,Jr. 759; 6. Logan Forler 752; 7. Jeff Swindell 749; 8. Dustin Morgan 713; 9. Cole Wood 636; 10. Shawn Petersen 630;

The 2013 season marks the twenty-second year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of nine different Regions throughout the nation.

Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.

Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix

Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.

Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, PitstopUSA.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Roush Yates Racing Engines, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Fuel Safe, Saldana Racing Products, SBI Fuel Bladders, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Simpson, LeJoie Seating, Ti 22 Performance, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, DMI Rear Ends, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection Systems.

Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com as well as Twitter (@LucasOilASCS) and Facebook. News and information can also be sent to you with the ASCS E-News by texting ASCS to 22828 with any mobile device.

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