The Cajun Rages on Short Track Nationals Night Two!

Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 6, 2009) – For the second night in a row at I-30 Speedway's 22 nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, it was a former past event winner gracing victory lane as Jason Johnson captured his fourth Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters triumph of the season in Friday night's 25-lap preliminary feature.

"The Ragin' Cajun" chased down race-long leader Tim Crawley for the point on the 19 th round and paced the final circuits for his ninth overall ASCS feature win of the year aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.

"It's a pretty emotional time for us right now with Lanny having to park the car at the end of the year," Johnson commented in victory lane. "We've been blessed to have these last four years together, it's been the best part of my career and we'd love to finish it on a strong note."

Johnson beat Crawley to the stripe, with Danny Wood surviving a last-corner skirmish for the third and final lock-in position to Saturday night's $15,000-to-win, $2,200-to-start STN championship main event.

Johnson, Crawley and Wood join Thursday night's top three finishers (Wayne Johnson, Sammy Swindell and Tony Bruce, Jr.) in Saturday's Odus Pack Building Materials Dash for Cash to determine the alignment of the front three rows of the main event while the balance of the 101-car field battles it out for the remaining positions.

Johnson, who captured the STN crown in 2006, earned the pole position for Friday night's feature with 1998 winner Crawley alongside. Crawley burst into the early lead and checked out, while fourth-starter Wood made his way around Johnson as well in the opening rounds.

Johnson battled back around Wood for second around the midway point and soon reeled in Crawley, edging ahead on the 19 th circuit.

The pair battled for the point until the caution flew with 22 laps in the books for Jeff Swindell, who looped it in turn four after working forward from 12 th to fifth.

Johnson held steady over the final three rounds to secure the win, explaining that, "Mike (Ward) and Tim are notorious for using a lot softer left rear than we do. If we'd had a lot of early cautions, we'd have been in trouble."

"With that long run at the start though, we just kept getting better and better as the race went on, these Hoosier tires were working great," Johnson concluded.

Denied a second career STN win last year by an errant brake caliper bolt, Crawley settled for runner-up honors aboard Mike Ward's McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim.

"This is our home track and a win here would mean so much to us," Crawley commented. "It might not completely make up for last year, but it would sure make it easier to forget it."

Wood, the only driver among the six lock-ins that hasn't topped the STN in the past, very nearly lost that third position on the final circuit.

With STN rookie contenders Donnie Ray Crawford and Seth Bergman on his tailtank on the final restart, it was local shoe Zach Pringle making a last-ditch effort for Saturday night glory.

Pringle raced by both Bergman and Crawford and then got into the back of Wood entering turn three on the final circuit. With cars scrambling in all directions, everyone maintained forward motion with Wood winning the mad dash to the stripe in Mike Hammers' Fisher-powered H&H Enterprises No. 94 Maxim.

"I'm not sure what that was all about, but it darn near turned me right around," Wood commented. "I'm not even sure who that guy was, but at least we know how to race him in the future."

Crawford reclaimed fourth in the final corner scramble to establish himself as a leading STN rookie contender aboard the Wesmar-powered A&W Motorsports Tel-Star Communications No. 55 Triple-X, with I-30 Speedway shoe Pringle rounding out the top five in the family-owned No. 8z.

Washington's Bergman battled amongst the top five most of the way before crossing the stripe a solid sixth, with Jim Moughan in seventh. Jerrod Hull was eighth, with Ray Allen Kulhanek and Danny Smith completing the top ten.

Mired at 39 th in passing points after struggling in his heat race, Derek Hagar charged from 10 th to third in his qualifier to earn the 13 th starting position in the feature before finishing out the night in eleventh.

Kulhanek, Jason Johnson, Jeff Swindell, Kenneth Walker, Jonathan Allard and Mark Shirshekan topped heat race action for Friday night's 49-car field, with Don Young, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Crawley and Jack Dover winning the 12-lap Qualifying races.

After just two STN rookie contenders made the feature cut on Thursday night, five rookies filled Friday's feature field. In addition to top-ten runners Crawford, Bergman and Moughan, California aces Jonathan Allard and Kyle Larson were in the main event. After a nifty late-race move to win his heat, Allard survived some rough-and-tumble action to finish 14 th while Larson was credited with 19 th after getting upside down in the final corner as the checkered flag flew.

Four-time STN king Gary Wright had a night worth forgetting. After a second-place heat race run, Wright spun to a stop on the frontstretch on the second lap of his qualifier after his right front tire was clipped by another car exiting turn four. Trying to rally from the tail of the field, Wright slapped the wall exiting turn four several laps later, with his mount showing its disapproval by spitting out the driveline in turn one.

Saturday night's 22 nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires championship finale gets under way at 7:00 p.m.

22 nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:

Heat Races: First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 2. 1g-Cody Gardner, 3. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 4. 3a-A.G. Rains, 5. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 6. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 7. 11xs-Donovan Peterson, 8. 1xp-Chad Pitts, 9. 16a-Koty Adams.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 51s-Lee Sowell, 5. 53-Jack Dover, 6. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 7. 8m-Mike Wells. DNS: 7s-Paul Sides.

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 12s-Jeff Swindell, 2. 8z-Zach Pringle, 3. 94-Danny Wood, 4. 7L-Darren Long, 5. 6s-Kaley Gharst, 6. 58-Wade Oliver, 7. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 8. 17g-Bruce Griffith, Jr.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 4. 88T-Tim Crawley, 5. w20-Greg Wilson, 6. 8s-Steve Short, 7. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 8. 19-Jay Adams.

Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 91a-Jonathan Allard, 2. 1jm-Jim Moughan, 3. d12-Danny Smith, 4. 88b-Mike Boston, 5. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 6. 8x-Don Grable, 7. 10h-Josh Higday, 8. 72-Sherman Davis.

Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 3x-Mark Shirshekan, 2. 4x-Jan Howard, 3. 77-Kyle Larson, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 75-Don Young, 6. 39-Brad Bowden, 7. 27-Andy Shouse, 8. 21tx-Brandon Schure.

Qualifying Races – Winner from Each Qualifier Locked into "A" Main; Balance of 20-car Feature Field comprised of Top 16 Overall Points Accumulated Through Heats & Qualifiers (Feature Lined up according to total points)

First Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 75-Don Young, 2. 3a-A.G. Rains, 3. 23-Seth Bergman, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 8z-Zach Pringle, 6. 77-Kyle Larson, 7. 4x-Jan Howard, 8. 14k-Kyle Bellm, 9. 7s-Paul Sides, 10. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 11. 11xs-Donovan Peterson, 12. 21tx-Brandon Schure, 13. 9x-Gary Wright.

Second Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2. d12-Danny Smith, 3. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 4. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 6. 91a-Jonathan Allard, 7. 27-Andy Shouse, 8. 8s-Steve Short, 9. 19-Jay Adams, 10. 8m-Mike Wells, 11. 7L-Darren Long, 12. 87r-Aaron Reutzel.

Third Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 88T-Tim Crawley, 2. 39-Brad Bowden, 3. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 4. w20-Greg Wilson, 5. 12s-Jeff Swindell, 6. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 7. 1g-Cody Gardner, 8. 1xp-Chad Pitts, 9. 51s-Lee Sowell, 10. 8x-Don Grable, 11. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 12. 17g-Bruce Griffith, Jr.

Fourth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 1jm-Jim Moughan, 3. 58-Wade Oliver, 4. 94-Danny Wood, 5. 6s-Kaley Gharst, 6. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 7. 88b-Mike Boston, 8. 3x-Mark Shirshekan, 9. 72-Sherman Davis, 10. 10h-Josh Higday, 11. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 12. 16a-Koty Adams.

“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.

A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 41-Jason Johnson (1), 2. 88T-Tim Crawley (2), 3. 94-Danny Wood (4), 4. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford (6), 5. 8z-Zach Pringle (9), 6. 23-Seth Bergman (3), 7. 1jm-Jim Moughan (5), 8. 12h-Jerrod Hull (11), 9. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek (8), 10. d12-Danny Smith (7), 11. 9jr-Derek Hagar (13), 12. 1g-Cody Gardner (17), 13. 3a-A.G. Rains (15), 14. 91a-Jonathan Allard (10), 15. 12s-Jeff Swindell (12), 16. 75-Don Young (14), 17. 53-Jack Dover (19), 18. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (16), 19. 77-Kyle Larson (20), 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (18).

Lap Leaders; Tim Crawley 1-18, Jason Johnson 19-25.

Wayne Johnson Wins Short Track Nationals Opener!

Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 5, 2009) – Oklahoma native Wayne Johnson held off a furious last-lap bid from "Slammin'" Sammy Swindell to top Thursday's opening night of I-30 Speedway's 22nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.

While Swindell surged ahead in the final pair of corners of the 25-lapper atop the high-banked, ¼-mile clay oval, Johnson powered off the low side of turn four and wheelied underneath the checkered flag of Joe Clay, Jr., for his second Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters triumph of the season by little more than a car-length.

Johnson led a past STN winners' sweep of the top four positions, with Sammy Swindell and defending race winner Tony Bruce, Jr., also locking into Saturday night's $15,000-to-win, $2,200-to-start STN championship feature event. Paul McMahan, the event winner in 2002, missed locking in by just one position with a fourth-place showing.

"This car was great in practice last night and I couldn't hardly sleep 'cause I was so anxious to get back out here tonight," the enthused Oklahoma City native related in victory lane after his 28th career Lucas Oil ASCS National triumph.

After racing from sixth to second in his heat race and then from eighth to win his qualifying race aboard the Fisher-powered Fattfro Motorsports No. 14aj Maxim to earn the pole position, Johnson paced all 25 circuits of the night's main event.

But, there was never any room for error with fellow front row starter Tony Bruce, Jr., hounding him over the first half of the race and then Swindell turning up the heat in the closing circuits.

With Johnson working the low side, Bruce worked the topside early on. Fourth-starter Swindell, who topped the 1990 rendition of the Short Track Nationals, battled past fellow second-row starter Travis Rilat in the early rounds and soon started mixing it up with Bruce for the runner-up spot.

Swindell finally took second away from Bruce just before a caution flew at the midway point for Ricky Logan's turn two spin. Swindell explained that, "A clod stuck under the throttle early and I kept trying to get it out of the way, I finally got rid of it under that caution."

Aboard the Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10, Swindell stalked Johnson over the final circuits and tried to pounce for a dramatic last-lap win as the lead duo encountered traffic. Swindell drove deep into the top side of turn three to briefly edge ahead, but Johnson held strong with a perfect run off the bottom of turn four to secure the victory and establish himself as a favorite to become just the second STN repeat winner since 1993.

"It was back in 1997 when I won this the first time, it wasn't easy then but I think it's even tougher now," Johnson explained. "Look around, you've got Sammy and Tony Bruce, Jr., it'll be tough to repeat but at least we're locked in and have a good shot at it."

While Swindell finished a close second in his first STN start since a 2004 heartbreaker while leading the final laps, Bruce, Jr., claimed the show position in the Rider-powered No. 18 Maxim.

"Once Sammy got by, I decided I better get to the bottom of the track," the defending STN champion explained. "I could've pressed the issue up top, but it wasn't worth the risk. We're locked in and now we'll give 'em hell on Saturday."

McMahan crossed the stripe a close fourth in the J&D Motorsports No. 3d Maxim, with Marshall Skinner posting a strong run by rounding out the top five.

Rilat was sixth, with Gary Taylor's maiden voyage aboard Terry Brown's No. 61a entry netting a seventh-place showing. Tommy Worley, Jr., was eighth, with current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane Stewart advancing from 16th to finish ninth in front of STN rookie shoe Anthony Nicholson.

Eric Baldaccini, Swindell, Rilat, Taylor, Sean McClelland, Brandon Moseley and Logan topped heat race action for Thursday night's 52-car field, with Worley, Swindell, Johnson and Tyler Brown winning the Qualifying races.

Marty Stanford flipped exiting turn four in the second heat race, while Billy Melton sailed off the top of turn two on the opening round of the fourth heat race. Stanford walked away uninjured, while Melton sought further evaluation of an apparent dislocated knee.

Brady Bacon was dicing for the lead early in the second qualifier when he looped it and turned over in turn four, causing just enough wing damage to end his night. As the field checked up, Scott Reneau got upside down in turn three as well.

Garry Bell got upside down entering turn one as the green flag flew on the third qualifier, with Gary Taylor sailing off the track and onto his side. While Taylor rejoined the field after replacing a cut right rear tire, Stewart looped it exiting turn two and sent David Gailley for a wild ride. Some quick repairs put Stewart at the tail with Taylor and the pair advanced to fourth (Taylor) and fifth (Stewart) with ill-handling machines to salvage feature starting berths, and ultimately, top-ten finishes.

After pole starter Jerry Kamer spun in turn one with help at the start of the fourth qualifier, Jesse Hockett assumed the pole and chased outside starter Tyler Brown for several laps until suffering serious engine woes.

Memphis-area rep Nicholson was the best of the night's STN rookie representatives, finishing just one spot ahead of Missouri's J. Kinder, who crossed the stripe eleventh. Nicholson and Kinder were the only STN rookies to make Thursday night's feature cut.

The second half of the 22nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires field will take to the track on Friday night, with racing action set to go green at 7:30 p.m.

22nd Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Thursday Night Results:

Heat Races:

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 2. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 3. 88k-J. Kinder, 4. 2d-Dusty Ballenger, 5. 1r-Scott Reneau, 6. 8x-Chris Williams, 7. 5L-Eric Lutz, 8. 20-Kyle Sager.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 10s-Sammy Swindell, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 40a-Ernie Ainsworth, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 71-Channin Tankersley, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 165-Haley Arnold, 8. 91m-Marty Stanford.

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 29r-Travis Rilat, 2. 93m-Dustin Morgan, 3. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 4. 74c-Brandon Corn, 5. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 6. 31-Brandon Berryman, 7. 29h-Lyle Howey III, 8. 2a-Randy Hibbs.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 61a-Gary Taylor, 2. 16n-Anthony Nicholson, 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 4. 86-Josh Fisher, 5. 99b-Brady Bacon, 6. 9s-Justin Sturch, 7. 9w-Lane Whittington.

Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 1m-Sean McClelland, 2. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 3. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 4. 74e-Claud Estes, 5. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 6. 87m-Brian McClelland, 7. 87x-Billy Melton.

Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 2. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk, 3. 3d-Paul McMahan, 4. 14T-Tyler Brown, 5. 24g-David Gailley, 6. 40j-Junior Jenkins, 7. 16p-Dewayne Prince.

Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. 10a-Ricky Logan, 2. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 3. 32-Garry Bell, 4. 13-Jesse Hockett, 5. 87b-Kent Buckley, 6. 11c-Chad Corken, 7. 12d-Dalton Davis.

First Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 2. 86-Josh Fisher, 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. 88k-J. Kinder, 5. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 10a-Ricky Logan, 7. 2d-Dusty Ballenger, 8. 11c-Chad Corken, 9. 8x-Chris Williams, 10. 31-Brandon Berryman, 11. 87b-Kent Buckley, 12. 97-Aaron Berryhill. DNS: 2a-Randy Hibbs.

Second Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 10s-Sammy Swindell, 2. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 3. 29r-Travis Rilat, 4. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 5. 74e-Claud Estes, 6. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 7. 1m-Sean McClelland, 8. 5L-Eric Lutz, 9. 9s-Justin Sturch, 10. 12d-Dalton Davis, 11. 165-Haley Arnold, 12. 99b-Brady Bacon, 13. 1r-Scott Reneau.

Third Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 16n-Anthony Nicholson, 3. 71-Channin Tankersley, 4. 61a-Gary Taylor, 5. 57-Shane Stewart, 6. 20-Kyle Sager, 7. 40j-Junior Jenkins, 8. 29h-Lyle Howey III, 9. 01n-Jeremy Newkirk, 10. 24g-David Gailley, 11. 74c-Brandon Corn, 12. 32-Garry Bell. DNS: 87x-Billy Melton.

Fourth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. 14T-Tyler Brown, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3. 93m-Dustin Morgan, 4. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 87m-Brian McClelland, 7. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 8. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 9. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 10. 13-Jesse Hockett, 11. 9w-Lane Whittington, 12. 91m-Marty Stanford, 13. 40a-Ernie Ainsworth.

“A” Feature – Top 3 Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.

A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson (1), 2. 10s-Sammy Swindell (4), 3. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., (2), 4. 3d-Paul McMahan (5), 5. 26m-Marshall Skinner (6), 6. 29r-Travis Rilat (3), 7. 61a-Gary Taylor (10), 8. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr. (9), 9. 57-Shane Stewart (16), 10. 16n-Anthony Nicholson (8), 11. 88k-J. Kinder (17), 12. 93m-Dustin Morgan (12), 13. 28-Jonathan Cornell (18), 14. 86-Josh Fisher (7), 15. 4-Eric Baldaccini (14), 16. 14T-Tyler Brown (11), 17. 71-Channin Tankersley (19), 18. 74e-Claud Estes (20), 19. 21T-Tommy Bryant (15), 20. 10a-Ricky Logan (13).