Perfect Slide Job Nets
Johnson with NCRA Sprint Victory
Park
City, Kansas (May 31, 2010) - Jason
Johnson figured he had one shot to
make a winning pass and with four
laps to go the Eunice, Louisiana
driver made it pay off as he passed
race long leader Jack Dover with a
classis slide job in turns three and
four to win the O’Reilly/NCR A
sprint car feature finale Monday
night at 81 Speedway in Park City,
Kansas.
Starting from the pole, Dover
wasted little time putting his #53
Shaver powered Eagle chassis out
front as the green flag fell for the
twenty-five lap feature event. Third
starting Johnson, aboard the #41 Don
Ott powered, Pope Refrigerated
Transport/Law Office of Richard
Strunks/Saich Family sponsored Maxim
chassis wasted little time over
taking outside front row starter
Gavin Punch for the runner up
position and would settle in behind
the leader.
Dover, sporting a #77 tail
tank in honor of his fallen friend
and fellow racer Jesse Hockett,
opened up a quick ten car length
advantage by the third lap.
Two laps later he encountered lapped
traffic when on lap six, the first
caution of the feature fell when
Punch, who was running third at the
time, spun to a stop in turn two.
Despite no lapped traffic
between himself and Johnson, the
Springfield, Nebraska driver pulled
away and opened up a quick ten car
length advantage.Behind him the battle for the
third position heated up as Jason
Martin passed former series outlaw
sprint car champion Gary Wright of
Hooks, Texas for position.
Back up front Dover was on a
rail using the cushion up on the top
side of the track with ease. However
lapped traffic approached again,
this time on lap eleven and his once
half stretch advantage had dropped
to six car lengths.
Lap seventeen Johnson pulled
even with the leader in lapped
traffic, only to see Dover hold on
to the top spot.On lap eighteen the red flag
would slow the pace when Punch and
seventh running Danny Wood got
together in turn two causing Wood to
flip the Mike Hammer owned #94 Maxim
sprinter.
Both drivers were
uninjured but done for the night.
The restart saw Johnson used
the low line in turns one and two
and briefly pulled alongside the
leader, only to see Dover carry his
momentum off of turn two and keep
the top position. Only two laps would be run
before the final caution flag of the
evening fell when Justyn Cox of
Clarksburg, California came to a
stop on the backstretch.
The final restart saw Dover
again pick up the pace and lead lap
twenty but one lap later Johnson
figured it was time to make his move
and entering turns three and four,
executed his slide job with ease to
take the lead.
From then on there was no
catching Johnson has he cruised the
final four laps to take his third
career O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car
victory.
“That move was my only chance
at victory,” said an elated Johnson
in victory lane. “I felt pretty good
after I passed him there for the
lead but knew I better stay on it as
I was waiting for him to come back
after me. I always love coming here
to C Ray’s (track promoter) track as
he always has an excellent surface
for us.” Dover settled for second while
Martin held strong to finish third.
Wright came home fourth with tenth
starting J.D. Johnson rounding out
the top five.Punch, Johnson and Dover took
home victories in the three, ten lap
heat races while four time and
defending series champion Garry Lee
Maier took home the twelve lap “B”
feature.It was not a good night for
Sand Springs, Oklahoma driver
Sherman Davis.
Earning the ARP hard luck of the night
award, Davis came into the evening
as the early season points leader
due to his victory in the season
opener at 81 Speedway back in April.
But mechanical gremlins kept him out
of the feature finale and drop him
to tenth in the season point
standings.
The next stop for the
O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car series will
be this coming Saturday night as
they head to Thunder Hill Speedway
in Mayetta, Kansas for race three on
the 2010 race schedule.
The O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car
series is entering its 21st
consecutive season while the series
itself is in the midst of their 40th
season of sanctioning dirt track
races throughout the Plains.
The series would like to thank
the following for their partnership
with the O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car
series for the 2010 race season. 2010 NCRA sprint car sponsors:
O’Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Race
Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels
2010 NCRA
sprint car contingency partners:
Arizona Sports Shirts, Airflow
Racing Products, Brodix Cylinder
Heads, Hooker Harness, Keizer Racing
Wheels, Pro Shocks, Racing Optics,
Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing
Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Super
Shox, Taylor Cable Products, The
Joie of Seating, Ultra-Shield Race
Products, Vertex Magnetos and
Winters Performance Parts.
81
Speedway -
Park City, Kansas - May 31, 2010
HEAT 1: 1, Gavin Punch. 2,
Justyn Cox. 3, Jason Martin. 4,
Jerry Graves. 5, Tanner Mullens. 6,
Garry Lee Maier. 7, Aaron Berryhill.
8, Mike Peters.
HEAT 2:
1, Jason Johnson. 2, Gary Wright. 3,
Danny Wood. 4, Cody Forshee. 5, A.J.
Selenke. 6, Jon Freeman. 7, Sherman
Davis. 8, Steve Richardson. 9,
Jordan Whitehead.
HEAT 3: 1,
Jack Dover. 2, Koby Barksdale. 3,
Jeremy Campbell. 4, J.D. Johnson. 5,
Trevor Grossenbacher. 6, Luke
Cranston. 7, Kirby Robe. 8, Barry
Gifford.
B FEATURE:
1, Garry Lee Maier. 2, Trevor
Grossenbacher. 3, Jon Freeman. 4,
Aaron Berryhill. 5, Luke Cranston.
6, Jordan Whitehead. 7, Mike Peters.
8, Steve Richardson. 9, Barry
Gifford. 10, Kirby Robe. 11, Sherman
Davis.
A FEATURE:
1, Jason Johnson. 2, Jack Dover. 3,
Jason Martin. 4, Gary Wright. 5,
J.D. Johnson. 6, Garry Lee Maier. 7,
Trevor Grossenbacher. 8, Aaron
Berryhill. 9, Jeremy Campbell. 10,
Tanner Mullens. 11, Cody Forshee.
12, Jon Freeman. 13, Luke Cranston.
14, Jordan Whitehead. 15, Jerry
Graves. 16, Koby Barksdale. 17,
Justyn Cox. 18, Danny Wood. 19,
Gavin Punch. 20, A.J. Selenke.
