Johnny Herrera triumphs at Valley with Lucas Oil ASCS

by Bryan Hulbert

GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. (May 22, 2013) Going back-to-back with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real, Johnny Herrera “slid” his way to the night’s Protect the Harvest A-Feature victory at the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo. following stellar battles with Danny Lasoski and Brian Brown.

“I really just started pacing it” said Herrera about the way he drove early on in his Print Place No. 45x. “.

I knew Brian Brown, or Jason Johnson, or somebody would be coming. We were holding our own and he [Lasoski] wasn’t really getting away while we were pacing. I thought the top would come in early, and tried it early in the race and didn’t go back until I heard Brian and decided I better start getting up there.”

Setting the tone during Hot Laps as the quickest car on the track, the redraw placed the Mesilla Valley Transportation No. 45x outside the front row. Diving into the first two turns, Lasoski gained the advantage over the No. 45x, only to have the red lights blink on for the No. 5m of Miranda Arnold.

The restart yielded similar results for Lasoski in the Parker/Mark Burch No. 1m, only to see the caution fly after a single lap for the stalled No. 28 of Jonathan Cornell.

Underway, Lasoski and Herrera diced it up before the Dover, Mo. shoe began pulling a sizable lead, leaving Herrera to contend with Brian Brown. Working the inside line, Herrera held the FVP/Casey’s General Store No. 21 at bay despite Brown’s best attempts.

Caution lights flashed on Lap 11 for the spun 94 of Jeff Swindell as Brown and Herrera crossed the line 0.098 second apart.

Single file to the orange cone, Lasoski continued to lead off the bottom line of the Valley Speedway with Herrera in his tracks. Working the cushion, Brown pulled even with Herrera on Lap 14; showing Herrera the groove.

Switching high, the chase was on as Herrera worked past Lasoski on Lap 17 for the race lead with Brown in tow for the runner up spot the following lap.

Slowed for the final time on Lap 23 for the flipped No. o5 of Brad Loyet, the final laps saw Herrera and Brown going slide job, for slide job nearly every lap until Herrera finally worked to a 1.021 second advantage.

Brian Brown claimed second, holding off Danny Lasoski after the final restart. Tony Bruce, Jr. and Jason Johnson completed the top five from ninth.

Logan Forler was sixth followed by Seth Bergman from eighteenth. Lucas Wolfe climbed from fourteenth to eighth with Cody Baker from twentieth and Tim Crawley from twenty-second to round out the top ten, earning the PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger of the Night.

Rod End Supply Heat one went to Brian Brown with the Ti22 Heat two scored by Miranda Arnold. BMRS Heat three was Danny Lasoski with Wyatt Burks taking Heat four powered by Wesmar. The SBI Fuel Bladder Heat five went to Tony Bruce, Jr.

The Joie of Seating B-Feature one was captured by Jonathan Cornell with Seth Bergman topping the DMI B-Feature two.

The Hawk Performance Fastest Lap of the Night was by Johnny Herrera with a 13.314 second lap.

Paired with the Speedway Motors Warrior Region, Brian Brown took high points for the region followed by Lasoski. Cody Baker earned third place points followed by Tyler Blank and Randy Hibbs.

The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real continues on Thursday, May 23 at the I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. with the Speedway Motors Midwest Region.

Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, Mo.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Car Count: 33

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 77X-Wayne Johnson[1]; 3. 53-Jack Dover[3]; 4. 86-Kyle Bellm[7]; 5. 77-Tim Crawley[5]; 6. 09-Joshua Stephens[4]; 7. 24-Ricky Lee Stangl II[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5M-Miranda Arnold[2]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson[3]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[7]; 4. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[1]; 5. 76-Jay Russell[6]; 6. 9M-Mitchell Moore[4]; 7. 65-Trevor (T.J.) Muths[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Danny Lasoski[1]; 2. 17W-Cole Wood[2]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet[5]; 4. 82-Lucas Wolfe[6]; 5. 28-Jonathan Cornell[7]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 7. 92J-J.R. Topper[3]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 11W-Wyatt Burks[2]; 2. 2A-Randy Hibbs[4]; 3. 75-Tyler Blank[1]; 4. 29-Brandon Hahn[3]; 5. 32L-David Langford[6]; DNF 93-Dustin Morgan[5]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[2]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 3. 38-Cody Baker[1]; 4. 94-Jeff Swindell[5]; 5. 9-Casey Baker[3]; DNF 50LP-Michael Sosebee[6]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell[2]; 2. 75-Tyler Blank[1]; 3. 76-Jay Russell[3]; 4. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[4]; 5. 9M-Mitchell Moore[7]; 6. 9-Casey Baker[5]; 7. 92J-J.R. Topper[9]; 8. 24-Ricky Lee Stangl II[8]; DNF 93-Dustin Morgan[6]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 2. 38-Cody Baker[1]; 3. 77-Tim Crawley[4]; 4. 29-Brandon Hahn[2]; 5. 09-Joshua Stephens[6]; 6. 65-Trevor (T.J.) Muths[8]; DNF 50LP-Michael Sosebee[5]; DNF 32L-David Langford[3]

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[5]; 3. 1M-Danny Lasoski[1]; 4. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[3]; 5. 41-Jason Johnson[9]; 6. 2L-Logan Forler[7]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman[18]; 8. 82-Lucas Wolfe[14]; 9. 38-Cody Baker[20]; 10. 77-Tim Crawley[22]; 11. 75-Tyler Blank[19]; 12. 94-Jeff Swindell[16]; 13. 2A-Randy Hibbs[4]; 14. 76-Jay Russell[21]; 15. 11W-Wyatt Burks[8]; DNF 17W-Cole Wood[12]; DNF 05-Brad Loyet[10]; DNF 77X-Wayne Johnson[13]; DNF 86-Kyle Bellm[11]; DNF 28-Jonathan Cornell[17]; DNF 5M-Miranda Arnold[6]; DNF 53-Jack Dover[15]

Lap Leaders: Danny Lasoski (1-16), Johnny Herrera (17-30)
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Tim Crawley+12
FSR High Points of the Night: Logan Forler
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Johnny Herrera – 13.314
Provisionals: N/A

2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-3, Johnny Herrera-2, Brian Brown-1, Roger Crockett-1, Kyle Bellm-1, Brad Loyet-1

Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Johnny Herrera 1,171; 2. Jason Johnson 1,137; 3. Brad Loyet 1,035; 4. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,008; 5. Seth Bergman 1,000; 6. Logan Forler 984; 7. Jeff Swindell 951; 8. Dustin Morgan 907; 9. Cole Wood 869; 10. Lucas Wolfe 819;

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.

Category: Missouri, Valley Speedway