ASCoT: KC's Lakeside results 2008-07-04

Wayne Johnson Snaps ASCoT Slump with Lakeside Fireworks!

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (July 4, 2008) -- 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 0x00bd-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.JEighth-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.

-credit; ascs