"Ragin Cajun" Claims O'Reilly ASCoT Win at Knoxville!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
"Ragin Cajun" Claims O'Reilly ASCoT Win at Knoxville
Lonnie Wheatley, KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 20, 2008) – Louisiana's Jason Johnson picked right up where he left off just over a month ago by winning Friday night's 25-lap O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National feature event at Knoxville Raceway as the series opened up its three-race Northern Swing.
After topping the series most recent event on May 10 in Texas, "The Ragin' Cajun" took advantage of Wayne Johnson's misfortune 17 laps into the main event to capture his fifth series victory of the season aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle.
"I can't say enough about this team, they work their tails off to give me a great car to drive," Johnson commented after claiming sole possession of the fourth position on the all-time ASCS National Tour feature win charts with his 33rd career triumph.
But after outgunning polesitter Jesse Giannetto and setting the pace for the opening nine rounds from his outside front row starting position, it suddenly looked as though a Johnson other than Jason would reach victory lane on Friday night as the unrelated Wayne Johnson surged into the lead while the pair battled through heavy traffic.
"Wayne kinda' caught me sleeping there, I got to just riding around on the top and he put a big slide on to get around me," Jason Johnson explained.
Wayne had closed in on Jason as lapped traffic came into play after just a handful of laps on the fast half-mile clay oval. And after Wayne slid into the lead upon the completion of lap ten, Jason kept pace for several rounds before Wayne opened up a gap by splitting a pair of lapped cars entering turn one on the 15th round.
But the telltale signs of smoke had first appeared from Wayne Johnson's Fisher-powered H&H Enterprises No. 94 Maxim just moments after taking command. And after opening up a dozen car-length lead, his powerplant gave way as he motored down the backstretch on the 17th circuit. The 2000 ASCS National champion limped to the pit area as the yellow flag flew and was credited with an 18th place finish rather than claiming his first series win of the year.
Back in front with four lapped cars separating himself from second-runner Giannetto and nine laps away from the checkered flag, Jason Johnson set sail by opening up a straightaway advantage before crossing the stripe with 7.475 seconds worth of breathing room.
Giannetto and ninth-starter Brian Brown scrapped for the runner-up slot over the final laps with Brown putting Tim and Gina Doogs' Super Clean No. 21 Maxim in the position for keeps on the 23rd lap as "The Bulldog" settled for the show position in his No. d1 machine.
Garry Lee Maier battled among the top five all the way before taking the checkered flag fourth in Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 11x Maxim, with Jake Peters climbing from 12th to round out the top five in the Weseman Engineering-powered Folkens Brothers Trucking No. 57x Schnee.
Josh Higday charged from 18th to sixth, with Zach Chappell crossing the stripe in seventh. Gregg Bakker turned in the top passing performance with a drive from 22nd to eighth, with Gary Wright clinging to his series points lead by charging from 19th to ninth. Dustin Selvage advanced seven spots to complete the top ten.
Maier, Jason Johnson, Chappell, Chuck Swenson, Giannetto and Ryan Anderson earned heat race wins over the 53-car field, with Selvage, Higday and Wright winning the "B" Mains.
Minnesota's Cody Petersen and Oklahoma's Aaron Berryhill both had early-ending nights with separate heat race flips, while Rod Richards got upside down in the second "B" Main. There were no injuries.
O’Reilly ASCoT Results from Knoxville Raceway:
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to Three "B" Mains):
Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 2. 53b-Joe Beaver, 3. Y2-Mike Houseman, Jr., 4. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 12-Rod Richards, 6. 33-Alan Zoutte, 7. 18-Ryan Roberts, 8. 51-Dave Hall. DNS: 10-Jeff Mitrisin.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 7h-John Hall, 3. 8L-Tom Lenz, 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 6. 6-Danny Heskin, 7. 22n-Nate Mosher, 8. 44-Larry Pinegar. DNS: 71-R.J. Johnson.
Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 50z-Zach Chappell, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 54-Brett Mather, 4. 4-Jon Agan, 5. 5*-Gary Taylor, 6. 2-Kenneth Walker, 7. 13-Kathryne Minter, 8. 16p-Cody Petersen. DNS: 29-Russ Hall.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. X-Chuck Swenson, 2. 22-Billy Alley, 3. 57x-Jake Peters, 4. 11-Gregg Bakker, 5. 40-Clint Garner, 6. 9m-Ricky Montgomery, 7. 15s-Nick Smith, 8. 48-Tyler Thompson, 9. 9p-Rager Phillips.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1.d1-Jesse Giannetto, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 7-Dustin Selvage, 5. 24-Josh Higday, 6. 51x-Mike Boston, 7. 1s-Trey Robb, 8. 85s-Forrest Sutherland. Disqualified: 53-Jack Dover (illegal right rear tire).
Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 2. 5-Rick Ideus, 3. 2m-Matt Moro, 4. 57T-Dan Thornburg, 5. 8b-Bobby Becker, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 95-Matt Covington, 8. 7m-Chad Meyer.
"B" Mains – Top 2 From Each to "A" Main:
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7-Dustin Selvage, 2. 2m-Matt Moro, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 53-Jack Dover, 5. 40-Clint Garner, 6. 1s-Trey Robb, 7. 51-Dave Hall, 8. 48-Tyler Thompson, 9. 6-Danny Heskin, 10. Y2-Mike Houseman, Jr. DNS: 33-Alan Zoutte, 97-Aaron Berryhill, 29-Russ Hall.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 24-Josh Higday, 2. 94s-Natalie Sather, 3. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 2-Kenneth Walker, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 7. 8b-Bobby Becker, 8. 12-Rod Richards. DNS: 18-Ryan Roberts, 44-Larry Pinegar, 7m-Chad Meyer, 10-Jeff Mitrisin.
Third "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 11-Gregg Bakker, 3. 9m-Ricky Montgomery, 4. 22n-Nate Mosher, 5. 5*-Gary Taylor, 6. 13-Kathryne Minter, 7. 85s-Forrest Sutherland, 8. 51x-Mike Boston, 9. 9p-Rager Phillips, 10. 54-Brett Mather. DNS: 16p-Todd Petersen, 71-R.J. Johnson.
O’Reilly ASCoT "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 21-Brian Brown, 3. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 4. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 5. 57x-Jake Peters, 6. 24-Josh Higday, 7. 50z-Zach Chappell, 8. 11-Gregg Bakker, 9. 9-Gary Wright, 10. 7-Dustin Selvage, 11. 4-Jon Agan, 12. 2m-Matt Moro, 13. 94s-Natalie Sather, 14. 8L-Tom Lenz, 15. X-Chuck Swenson, 16. 5-Rick Ideus, 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 18. 94-Wayne Johnson, 19. 53b-Joe Beaver, 20. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 21. 57T-Dan Thornburg, 22. 7h-John Hall, 23. 22-Billy Alley, 24. 15s-Nick Smith.
Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-9, Wayne Johnson 10-16, Jason Johnson 17-25.
Note: Eric Baldaccini and Nick Smith utilized provisionals to start the "A" Main.
O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 1,681, 2. Jason Johnson 1,661, 3. Wayne Johnson 1,613, 4. Zach Chappell 1,543, 5. Garry Lee Maier 1,486, 6. Travis Rilat 1,364, 7. Eric Baldaccini 1,297, 8. Nick Smith 1,245, 9. Kenneth Walker 1,211, 10. Jack Dover 1,114, 11. Gary Taylor 1,042, 12. Kathryne Minter 1,008, 13. Jason Sides 1,002, 14. Chris Tarrant 861, 15. Aaron Berryhill 845.
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