Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (March 22, 2008) – Jason Johnson became this year's first repeat winner in O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series action by earning a hard-fought victory in Saturday night's 30-lap Spring Nationals championship main event at State Fair Speedway.
In the series seventh feature event of 2008, Johnson outdueled Daryn Pittman over the middle portion of the race and then withstood late pressure from Friday night winner Danny Lasoski and four-time series champion Gary Wright to snare his second win of the year aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41. Eagle.
"I knew someone was back there, but I wasn't sure who it was," Johnson explained after his 30th career ASCS National Tour feature win.
After trading the point with Pittman several times between the eighth and twelfth laps, the feature event's only caution after a dozen rounds may have proven to be a saving grace for "The Ragin' Cajun".
"I got a little too excited there and about overheated my left rear tire because we got to racing so hard," Johnson explained. "I settled down under that caution and the tire cooled down too. They were still on me at the end, I was just trying to hold on to the win."
Pittman kept up the chase most of the way and was poised to make a run for the lead when he clipped an infield with less than four laps to go. Pittman wrestled his damaged machine the rest of the way, slipping to ninth. "That's about par for the course," the dejected Pittman commented afterward. "We hit that tire, don't know how we didn't wreck. Couldn't hardly drive it after that."
Johnson and Pittman drew the front row for the feature event, setting the stage for the battle that was to follow. Starting from the pole position, Johnson gunned into the lead at the outset and paced the opening rounds in front of Pittman, third-starter Wright and fifth-starter Lasoski.
Pittman began turning up the heat after a handful of laps and shot underneath Johnson for the lead entering turn one on the eighth lap.
"Daryn kinda' showed me the bottom side of the track getting into one, and that also helped me figure out how to diamond off the bottom of two to get a good run," Johnson later explained.
Racing through traffic, Pittman held off Johnson for a pair of laps until Johnson used that move off the bottom of turn two to recapture the lead on the eleventh lap. With a couple of other mid-lap lead changes taking place along the way, action was interrupted when Josh Higday spun to a stop in turn three with twelve laps in the books.
Johnson and Pittman led the way on the restart in front of Lasoski, who had worked his way past Wright for third. With the leaders sticking to the low side of the racetrack, Pittman began picking up the pace in the final ten laps as Lasoski began working the top side of turns one and two to challenge for second.
Pittman closed in on Johnson and just as he was ready to make his move, the slightest contact with an infield tire derailed his run as Lasoski and Wright charged by on either side. Lasoski, Wright and a surging Hafertepe picked up the pursuit but were unable to chase down Johnson, as he took his second State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals checkered flag by two-car lengths over Lasoski's Kistler-powered American Compressed Steel No. 5 JEI.
Wright extended his current series point lead by taking the show position, his 20th consecutive top-five finish in ASCS National Tour feature action, aboard the Wright-Cooper Motorsports Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim.
After gridding the field in 12th, Hafertepe had climbed to sixth by the lap 12 caution and briefly slipped around Wright for position on the 24th lap before settling for fourth in the G-H Plumbing No. 15. "I got around Gary and decided to try his line, that was a mistake," Hafertepe surmised.
Jason Sides raced from 14th to round out the top five in his No. 7s Maxim, with Garry Lee Maier crossing the stripe in sixth. Leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Eric Baldaccini posted his best career ASCS National Tour feature finish by taking the checkered flag in seventh, with 17th-starter Brian Brown slipping past Pittman on the final lap to snare eighth. Wayne Johnson climbed from 20th to complete the top ten.
Jack Dover, Koby Barksdale, Higday, Gary Taylor, Dustin Morgan and Hafertepe topped heat race action, with Brown, Travis Rilat and Zach Chappell winning the "B" Mains.
O’Reilly ASCoT State Fair Speedway Spring Nationals Finale Results:
Locked in from Friday's Preliminary Event:
5-Danny Lasoski, 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 21T-Daryn Pittman, 41-Jason Johnson.
Heat Races (Top 12 in passing points to “A” Main; Balance to 3 "B" Mains)
Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 51-Foster Landon, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 5. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 6. 28-Chris Lloyd, 7. 95-Matt Covington, 8. 71-Chris Tarrant.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 43x-Koby Barksdale, 2. 22-Billy Alley, 3. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 6. 94s-Natalie Sather, 7. 1p-Curtis Evans, 8. 24-Terry McCarl.
Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 2x-Josh Higday, 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 86-Josh Fisher, 4. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 5. 1-Derek Drown, 6. 25-Robert Sellers, 7. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 5*-Gary Taylor, 2. 7s-Jason Sides, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 91-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 6. 81au-Gavin Punch, 7. 77-Colt Treharn.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 8h-Dustin Morgan, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 43-A.J. Selenke, 4. 50z-Zach Chappell, 5. 87-Brian McClelland, 6. 13-Kathryne Minter, 7. 10-Eric VanderPloeg.
Heat Six (8 Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 94-Wayne Johnson, 4. 2-Kenneth Walker, 5. 61J-Danny Jennings, 6. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 7. 5$-Danny Smith.
First "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 86-Josh Fisher, 4. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 5. 87-Brian McClelland, 6. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 7. 95-Matt Covington, 8. 81au-Gavin Punch, 9. 77-Colt Treharn, 10. 43-A.J. Selenke, 11. 71-Chris Tarrant.
Second "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 91-Don Droud, Jr., 3. 4J-Jamie Passmore, 4. 2-Kenneth Walker, 5. 15s-Nick Smith, 6. 28-Chris Lloyd, 7. 25-Robert Sellers, 8. 13-Kathryne Minter, 9. 1p-Curtis Evans, 10. 24-Terry McCarl. DNS: 10-Eric VanderPloeg.
Third "B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 50z-Zach Chappell, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 61J-Danny Jennings, 4. 92-Mike Sitzmann, Jr., 5. 1-Derek Drown, 6. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 7. 20s-Sheldon Barksdale, 8. 5$-Danny Smith, 9. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 10. 94s-Natalie Sather.
O’Reilly ASCoT "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 5-Danny Lasoski, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 5. 7s-Jason Sides, 6. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 7. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 21-Brian Brown, 9. 21T-Daryn Pittman, 10. 94-Wayne Johnson, 11. 53-Jack Dover, 12. 29-Travis Rilat, 13. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 14. 50z-Zach Chappell, 15. 2-Kenneth Walker, 16. 5*-Gary Taylor, 17. 51-Foster Landon, 18. 43x-Koby Barksdale, 19. 91-Don Droud, Jr., 20. 22-Billy Alley, 21. 15s-Nick Smith, 22. 27-Andy Shouse, 23. 2x-Josh Higday, 24. 8h-Dustin Morgan.
Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-7, Daryn Pittman 8-10, Jason Johnson 11-30.
Note: Nick Smith and Kenneth Walker utilized provisionals to start the "A" Main.
O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Gary Wright 723, 2. Wayne Johnson 677, 3. Jason Johnson 645, 4. Jason Sides 614, 5. Garry Lee Maier 595, 6. Eric Baldaccini 584, 7. Zach Chappell 573, 8. Travis Rilat 546, 9. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 522, 10. Don Droud, Jr. 496, 11. Jack Dover 475, 12. Brian Brown 453, 13. Nick Smith 416, 14. Aaron Berryhill 410, 15. Kenneth Walker 408.
Contact: World Racing Group
Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
405-623-1442 • tveneziano@dirtcar.com
Dollansky, Lasoski & Stewart Pick Up Wins on Friday Night
Concord, NC— March 22, 2008--By: Tony Veneziano, World of Outlaws PR Director
Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers Craig Dollansky, Danny Lasoski, and Shane Stewart all were victorious on Friday night.
Dollansky, who opened the 2008 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series season with a win in the 37th Annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida, was victorious at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
The native of Elk River, Minnesota, who is the current World of Outlaws championship point leader, led all 25 laps of the contest to earn the victory over fellow World of Outlaws driver Joey Saldana at the famed half-mile. He opened the night with a win in the third heat race and started on the pole in the main event.
For Dollansky, who is also the current leader in the standings for the Qwik Liner Cup, it was his third career win at Williams Grove Speedway. In eight starts this season on North American soil, he has finished sixth or better in each one.
Saldana finished second after lining up third for the A-Feature. He began the night with a second-place effort in the first heat race. His car owner Kasey Kahne also competed on Friday night at the half-mile in a team car.
Other World of Outlaws drivers that were in action at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night included: Lucas Wolfe, Tony Bruce Jr., who won the second heat race, Chad Kemenah and Tim Shaffer.
The World of Outlaws will visit Williams Grove Speedway three times in 2008, with the first stop coming on Thursday, May 15.
Lasoski, the 2001 World of Outlaws champion claimed his second overall win of the season, as he victorious on the first night of the Spring Nationals at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Friday.
The native of Dover, Missouri held off a late charge by Garry Lee Maier to earn his first career American Sprint Car Series on Tour National win. Lasoski led the first 22 laps of the contest before Maier took the lead for one circuit. Lasoski got back around Maier on the 24th lap and would lead the final two circuits. The win ensured Lasoski a spot in the finale of the Spring Nationals on Saturday night.
Lasoski, who picked up his 81st career World of Outlaws win during the Alltel DIRTcar Nationals in Florida, began the night with a win in the fourth heat race.
Daryn Pittman finished third on Friday to also lock himself into the finale on Saturday night. The native of Owasso, Oklahoma began the night by winning the second heat race.
Also in action on Friday night at State Fair Speedway was: Jason Sides, Terry McCarl and Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Shane Stewart, the 2005 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year won the first night of the Silver Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California for 360-sprint cars.
Stewart, who hails from Bixby, Oklahoma, lined up seventh and steadily worked his way to the front, taking the lead on the 20th lap from Paul McMahan, who was victorious twice last season with the World of Outlaws and held him off for the final five laps to take the win.
Stewart, driving a Paul Silva owned machine, began the night by finishing third in the second heat race. Points earned in the heat races were used to determine the starting line-up for the A-Feature.
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series will compete at Silver Dollar Speedway in the 55th Annual Gold Cup Race of Champion from September 4-6.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is the second-largest retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, based on store count and sales. As of October 6, 2007, the company operated 3,228 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets.
Lonnie Wheatley, PHOENIX, Ariz. (March 22, 2008) – Casey Shuman captured his first career Discount Tire Co. American Sprint Car Series Canyon Region feature win by topping Saturday night's 30-lap feature atop Manzanita Speedway's 1/3-mile clay oval.
And he did in spectacular fashion by wrestling the lead away from 19-year-old Jeremy Reagles on the final lap.
Shuman started the feature from the front row outside, but it was Reagles racing into the lead in short order after staring in the third row as he pursued his first career ASCS feature win after ranking as the top rookie with the ASCS Canyon Region in 2007.
But Shuman had other ideas, charging into the lead on the checkered flag lap to take the win. Reagles settled for second, with Josh Pelkey taking the show position. Nathan High advanced from a mid-pack starting position to snare fourth, with Charles Davis, Jr., rounding out the top five.
Defending series champion and current point leader Jeremy Sherman was sixth, with Shon Deskins, R.J. Johnson, Bernie Smith and Thomas Ogle completing the top ten.
Bob Ream, Jr. earned Hard Charger honors by racing from 23rd to 12th.
Johnson, Pelkey and Reagles topped heat race action, with Justin Fisher winning the "B" Main. High won the Trophy Dash.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region Results from Manzanita Speedway:
Heat One: 1. 15-R.J. Johnson, 2. 62-Jeff Henry, 3. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 77-Jeremy Sherman, 5. 29-Mike Bonneau, 6. 16-Mike Martin, 7. 2-Mike Colegrove, 8. 78-Chris Bonneau, 9. 7-Steve Tellas.
Heat Two: 1. 34-Josh Pelkey, 2. 76-Mike Leslie, 3. 32-Casey Shuman, 4. 48-Thomas Ogle, 5. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 6. 61-Justin Fisher, 7. 14-Bernie Smith, 8. 9-Ryan Linder.
Heat Three: 1. 44-Jeremy Reagles, 2. 97-Brandon Lane, 3. 27n-Nick Aiuto, 4. 20-Shon Deskins, 5. 12-Nathan High, 6. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 7. 26az-Bobby Taylor, 8. 8-Bob Ream, Jr.
Trophy Dash: 1. 12-Nathan High, 2. 15-R.J. Johnson, 3. 78-Chris Bonneau. DNS: 77-Jeremy Sherman.
"B" Feature: 1. 61-Justin Fisher, 2. 78-Chris Bonneau, 3. 14-Bernie Smith, 4. 2-Mike Colegrove, 5. 26az-Bobby Taylor, 6. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 7. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 8. 9-Ryan Linder, 9. 7-Steve Tellas.
“A” Feature: 1. 32-Casey Shuman, 2. 44-Jeremy Reagles, 3. 34-Josh Pelkey, 4. 12-Nathan High, 5. 50-Charles Davis, Jr., 6. 77-Jeremy Sherman, 7. 20-Shon Deskins, 8. 15-R.J. Johnson, 9. 14-Bernie Smith, 10. 48-Thomas Ogle, 11. 62-Jeff Henry, 12. 8-Bob Ream, Jr., 13. 61-Justin Fisher, 14. 16-Mike Martin, 15. 78-Chris Bonneau, 16. 2-Mike Colegrove, 17. 9-Ryan Linder, 18. 27n-Nick Aiuto, 19. 29-Mike Bonneau, 20. 76-Mike Leslie, 21. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 22. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 23. 97-Brandon Lane, 24. 26az-Bobby Taylor.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Jeremy Sherman 288, 2. Nathan High 284, 3. R.J. Johnson 278, 4. (tie) Shon Deskins and Jeremy Reagles 268, 6. Bob Ream, Jr. 262, 7. (tie) Bernie Smith and Thomas Ogle 260, 9. (tie) Josh Pelkey, Justin Fisher and Chris Bonneau 258.