Jason Johnson Doubles His Pleasure in O’Reilly ASCoT OKC Spring Nationals

Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (March 25, 2006) – Racing through heavy lapped traffic, Jason Johnson found just the opening he needed to charge past race-long leader Gary Wright on the 23^rd lap en route to completing a sweep of State Fair Speedway’s Spring Nationals in Saturday night’s 30-lap O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour feature event.

The “Racin’ Cajun” then survived a last gasp bid for the win from Danny Lasoski to score the weekend double aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered No. 41 Eagle by a narrow margin in front of a large crowd on a crisp March evening, pocketing $6,500 for the weekend sweep.

“Lapped traffic worked out in our favor tonight, it helped us get the run on Gary that we needed,” Johnson explained after his twelfth career ASCS National Tour victory. “Then the last couple of laps I saw that 57 on the board (Lasoski) and got a little nervous because I know he always has some tricks up his sleeve.”

But after racing from deep in the field to finish a close second in Friday night’s prelim, Lasoski couldn’t pull a rabbit from his hat on this night, finishing a close second in front of Jesse Hockett and series point leader Wright.

After winning the Pole Dash, Wright jumped into the early lead as third-starter Johnson quickly moved into second in front of Lasoski and Zach Chappell, with front row outside starter Hockett slipping to fifth in the early stages.

As lapped traffic came into play after just five rounds, Wright meticulously worked his way through slower traffic. But Johnson matched him move for move until the red flag flew with eleven laps in the books for Darren Stewart, who tipped over in turn three following Brian Brown’s tango with an infield tire. Stewart was done for the night, while Brown rejoined the chase.

Leading the way on the restart, Wright once again found himself in lapped traffic in just a handful of laps. Johnson pulled alongside to challenge for the point on the 16^th round, only to have “The Texan” successfully repel the challenge.

With Wright on the upper shelf and Johnson working the middle, Lasoski put the low line to good use and entered the mix for the lead with just ten laps to go. Lasoski edged ahead of Johnson briefly on the 21^st round, but Johnson fought back and then powered underneath Wright exiting the fourth turn on the 23^rd lap to take command.

At the same time, Hockett ignited a charge for the lead and raced past Wright to claim third just moments before a lap 27 tangle in turn three involving Steven King and Kevin Ramey set up a four-lap charge to the checkered flag. King retired to the pit area with front end damage, while Ramey rejoined the race.

Lasoski tried to mount a charge for his first career ASCS National Tour victory in the final laps, but Johnson was up to the challenge and raced across the stripe in front of Lasoski’s Paul Silva-owned ProBuilt No. 57. Hockett took the show position aboard the Wesmar-powered VKCC Motorsports No. 75 DSR, with Wright fourth in the Southwest Express/The Shop/Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim.

Chappell rounded out the top five in the Carbone-powered No. 50z Maxim, with Jan Howard crossing the stripe sixth. Nick Smith turned in the feature’s top passing performance by charging from 20^th to seventh, with Jason Sides, 19^th-starter Tim Montgomery and Sean McClelland competing the top ten.

Howard, Aaron Berryhill, Brian Brown, Mike Chadd and Cody Branchcomb topped heat race action for the evening’s 55-car field, with Travis Rilat, Trey Robb, Hockett, Branchcomb and Jake Martens earning qualifying race wins.

Branchcomb and Hockett were the night’s top two point earners in passing points, joining Friday night’s top four finishers in the Pole Dash.

Rilat beat Montgomery and Chuck Swenson to the stripe in the first “B” Main, with Kevin Ramey leading Nick Smith and Darren Stewart to the line in the second “B” Main.

Mitchell Gosey flipped in heat race action, with Larry Neighbors getting upside down in turn four during qualifying race competition. There were no injuries.

A total of 59 different drivers took in the weekend’s O’Reilly ASCoT double at State Fair Speedway’s Spring Nationals.

O’Reilly ASCoT State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals Finale Results:

Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:

41-Jason Johnson, 57-Danny Lasoski, 50z-Zach Chappell, 9-Gary Wright.

Heats & Qualifying Races (Top 12 in combined points to “A” Main; balance to 2 “B” Mains)

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 46-Jan Howard, 2. 7s-Jason Sides, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 15s-Nick Smith, 5. 29-Travis Rilat, 6. 01-Tim Montgomery, 7. 91-Darren Stewart, 8. 33-Gary Owens, 9. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 10. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 11. 7c-Josh Close.

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 2. 29n-Larry Neighbors, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 55L-Dustin Lindquist, 5. 1x-Jake Martens, 6. 25-Derek Cottrell, 7. 14-Randy Martin, 8. 71-Mike Trent, 9. 15R-Robby Ross, 10. 36-Mitchell Gosey.

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 94h-Jerrod Hull, 3. 88-Steven King, 4. 12m-James Mosher, 5. 21c-Joey Montgomery, 6. 12-Trey Robb, 7. 57x-Jake Peters, 8. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 9. 45-J.P. Bailey, 10. 92w-Waylon Weaver.

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 4-Mike Chadd, 2. 85-Dustin Daggett, 3. 61J-Danny Jennings, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 6. 10-Brian McClelland, 7. 5d-Gary Taylor, 8. 20-Koby Barksdale, 9. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 10. 50-Stephanie Chappell.

Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 2. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. X-Chuck Swenson, 5. 64J-Johnny Miller, 6. 75h-Danny Horner, 7. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 8. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 9. 35-Brad Best, 10. d12-Doc Sloan.

First Qualifying Race (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 15s-Nick Smith, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 7s-Jason Sides, 5. 12m-James Mosher, 6. 57x-Jake Peters, 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 8. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 10. 7c-Josh Close, 11. 29n-Larry Neighbors.

Second Qualifying Race (8 Laps): 1. 12-Trey Robb, 2. 61J-Danny Jennings, 3. 64J-Johnny Miller, 4. 46-Jan Howard, 5. 94h-Jerrod Hull, 6. 5d-Gary Taylor, 7. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 8. 15R-Robby Ross, 9. 4-Mike Chadd. DNS: 36-Mitchell Gosey.

Third Qualifying Race (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett, 2. X-Chuck Swenson, 3. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 91-Darren Stewart, 6. 71-Mike Trent, 7. 85-Dustin Daggett, 8. 45-J.P. Bailey, 9. 92w-Waylon Weaver. Disqualified: 75h-Danny Horner (illegal right rear tire)

Fourth Qualifying Race (8 Laps): 1. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 2. 01-Tim Montgomery, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 10-Brian McClelland, 5. 33-Gary Owens, 6. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 7. 50-Stephanie Chapppell, 8. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 9. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 10. 21c-Joey Montgomery.

Fifth Qualifying Race (8 Laps): 1. 1x-Jake Martens, 2. 88-Steven King, 3. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 4. 25-Derek Cottrell, 5. 55L-Dustin Lindquist, 6. 14-Randy Martin, 7. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. 20-Koby Barksdale, 9. 35-Brad Best, 10. d12-Doc Sloan.

Pole Dash – Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A” Feature

Dash (5 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 50z-Zach Chappell, 5. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 6. 57-Danny Lasoski.

“B” Mains – Top 3 from each advance to “A” Main

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 01-Tim Montgomery, 3. X-Chuck Swenson, 4. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. 94h-Jerrod Hull, 6. 44J-Abe Sherwood, 7. 85-Dustin Daggett, 8. 5d-Gary Taylor, 9. 45-J.P. Bailey, 10. 35-Brad Best, 11. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 12. 12m-James Mosher, 13. 20-Koby Barksdale, 14. 92w-Waylon Weaver, 15. 14-Randy Martin, 16. 50-Stephanie Chappell, 17. 4-Mike Chadd, 18. 33-Gary Owens, 19. 7c-Josh Close. DNS: 36-Mitchell Gosey.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 15s-Nick Smith, 3. 91-Darren Stewart, 4. 57x-Jake Peters, 5. 64J-Johnny Miller, 6. 25-Derek Cottrell, 7. 55L-Dustin Lindquist, 8. 10-Brian McClelland, 9. 4am-Travis Jenkins, 10. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 11. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 12. 15R-Robby Ross, 13. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 14. 71-Mike Trent, 15. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 16. 75h-Danny Horner. DNS: 29n-Larry Neighbors, 21c-Joey Montgomery, d12-Doc Sloan.

Oklahoma City Spring Nationals “A” Main Event

“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 57-Danny Lasoski, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 9-Gary Wright, 5. 50z-Zach Chappell, 6. 46-Jan Howard, 7. 15s-Nick Smith, 8. 7s-Jason Sides, 9. 01-Tim Montgomery, 10. 1-Sean McClelland, 11. 21-Brian Brown, 12. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 13. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 14. 61J-Danny Jennings, 15. 94h-Jerrod Hull, 16. X-Chuck Swenson, 17. 27-Andy Shouse, 18. 4-Mike Chadd, 19. 29-Travis Rilat, 20. 88-Steven King, 21. 12-Trey Robb, 22. 1x-Jake Martens, 23. 91-Darren Stewart, 24. 97-Aaron Berryhill.

Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-22, Jason Johnson 23-30.

Note: Jerrod Hull and Mike Chadd utilized provisional starting positions for the “A” Main.

O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Twenty): 1. Gary Wright 759, 2. Nick Smith 748, 3. Travis Rilat 723, 4. Jesse Hockett 708, 5. Zach Chappell 707, 6. Tim Montgomery 691, 7. Darren Stewart 683, 8. Jerrod Hull 672, 9. Jason Johnson 665, 10. Sean McClelland 664, 11. Jan Howard 653, 12. Mike Chadd 634, 13. (tie) Sam Hafertepe, Jr., and Aaron Berryhill 581, 15. Tony Bruce, Jr. 577, 16. Jake Peters 541, 17. Trey Robb 538, 18. Dustin Lindquist 526, 19. Dustin Daggett 512, 20. Kevin Ramey 508.

Home