Gulf South Texana results 2008-08-30

Jason Johnson Adds Edna to ASCS Conquests!

EDNA, Texas (August 30, 2008) -- Jason Johnson picked off his second American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region feature win in as many nights by wiring the field in Saturday night's 25-lap Weekend of Speed main event at Texana Raceway Park.

With the $2,000 triumph in the first ever Sprint Car event atop the 5/16-mile Edna clay oval, "The Ragin' Cajun brought his weekend earnings to $4,200 including a $200 bonus for accumulating the most points in the ASCS Gulf South Weekend of Speed. The scheduled third round at 105 Speedway in Cleveland, TX, on Sunday night was cancelled due to the approach of Hurricane Gustav.

After winning his heat race, Johnson drew the pole position for the feature. And after beating fellow front row starter Gary Watson through the opening pair of corners, Johnson never looked back as he charged to his 15th overall ASCS feature win of the season aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

"We had to keep a close eye on the track to see if it was gonna take rubber and when," Johnson explained in victory lane. "Once it did, I knew I just had to keep it on the bottom and make good, clean laps."

After a last-lap caution involving Bruce Crockett and Darryl Wills that set up a green-white-checkered run to the stripe, Johnson flashed underneath the checkered flag in front of Channin Tankersley and Brandon Berryman to reproduce a podium identical to Friday night's Weekend of Speed Round One at South Texas Speedway.

After starting in the second row, Tankersley took second from Watson on the fifth round and held the position the rest of the way. The late caution appeared to give the 17-year-old a glimmer of hope for the win, but an ill-handling car dictated otherwise. "I was just hanging on, we were lucky to get second," Tankersley commented.

After starting sixth, current series point leader battled with Aaron Reutzel and Watson over much of the distance before claiming the show position to strengthen his bid for a second series title.

Watson crossed the stripe fourth, with rookie contender Reutzel rounding out the top five.

Tommy Bryant was sixth, with Michael McNeil, Koby Barksdale, Darryl Wills and Greg Rilat completing the top ten.

Barksdale had climbed from 12th to fourth when his right rear tire went flat under the final caution. After a quick tire change, the Oklahoma teen regained a pair of positions to salvage eighth.

Suffering an affliction similar to that of Barksdale, with the exception of a tire going down after action resumed, Greg Rilat slipped from fourth to tenth in the final two laps with a paper-thin right rear tire.

The feature event virtually ended before it started for the duo of James Cooper and Travis Elliott, who tangled as the field raced off of turn four for the original green flag.

A broken cam in heat race action sidelined past ASCS Gulf South champ Jerry Bell from the feature event.

Johnson, Tankersley and Reutzel each earned heat race wins.

American Sprint Car Series Gulf South Region Results from Texana Raceway Park:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 3-Gary Watson, 3. 31-Brandon Berryman, 4. 80-Michael McNeil, 5. 74-Brandon Corn, 6. 13-Kathryne Minter, 7. 14e-Todd Evans.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 71-Channin Tankersley, 2. 15T-Travis Elliott, 3. 35-Greg Rilat, 4. 22-Koby Barksdale, 5. 28-Richard Cooper, 6. 79-Ryan Hall, 7. 22L-Kent Lewis, Jr.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 2. 53-James Cooper, 3. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 4. 23-Darryl Wills, 5. 8-Bruce Crockett, 6. 17c-Greg Coleman, 7. 85-Jerry Bell.

"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 71-Channin Tankersley, 3. 31-Brandon Berryman, 4. 3-Gary Watson, 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 6. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 7. 80-Michael McNeil, 8. 22-Koby Barksdale, 9. 23-Darryl Wills, 10. 35-Greg Rilat, 11. 74-Brandon Corn, 12. 79-Ryan Hall, 13. 17c-Greg Coleman, 14. 8-Bruce Crockett, 15. 13-Kathryne Minter, 16. 28-Richard Cooper, 17. 22L-Kent Lewis, Sr., 18. 14e-Todd Evans, 19. 53-James Cooper, 20. 15T-Travis Elliott. DNS: 85-Jerry Bell.

ASCS Gulf South Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Brandon Berryman 2,564, 2. Gary Watson 2,524, 3. Greg Rilat 2,519, 4. Tommy Bryant 2,418, 5. Travis Elliott 2,335, 6. Channin Tankersley 2,261, 7. Chris Sweeney 2,170, 8. Brandon Corn 2,038, 9. Travis Knighton 1,910, 10. Michael McNeil 1,659.

-credit; ascs