This message was edited on
October 27, 2012 at
06:54:37 AM by sooner7nc
“Ragin’ Cajun” Strikes in
STN Opener!
Lonnie
Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 26, 2012) – Jason
Johnson made a dramatic late race move to top the opening portion of I-30
Speedway’s 25th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by
Hoosier Tires that was postponed by rain to Friday night.
A
native of Eunice, LA, “The Ragin’ Cajun” dove underneath race-long leader Paul
McMahan entering turn one on the 23rd round of the 25-lapper to take
the win in the JJR/Stenhouse Jr. Roush-Yates Ford-powered No. 41 Maxim.
Johnson
took the win to lock into Saturday’s $15,000-to-win, $2,500-to-start STN
championship event along with runner-up McMahan in the Cooper Racing No. 01 and
rookie STN contender Christopher Bell, who claimed the third and final lock-in
position.
“I
really was just searching around, trying to find something that would work and
I finally did coming off of four there,” the 2006 Short Track Nationals
champion explained.
And
search around he did quite nicely, diamonding off the top of turn three and
four to get a powerful run off of four that ultimately led to victory lane
after chasing 2002 STN kingpin McMahan most of the way.
With
Dixon Road U-Pull-It STN Rookie of the Year contender Bell of Norman, OK,
leading the way to the green flag after accumulating the most points through
heat race and qualifying race on Thursday night and then into Friday after
Mother Nature intervened, it was front row outside starter McMahan gunning into
the early lead with Bell holding off fourth-starter Johnson for second until
the fifth round.
Working
the low side and reaching traffic by the tenth round, McMahan found clear track
again when the red flag flew at the midway point when Gary Taylor flipped in
turn four after contact with another car.
McMahan
took off on the restart with Johnson in pursuit as another pair of cautions
flew over the next half dozen circuits, including one after 15 laps when
sixth-runner Sam Hafertepe, Jr., biked it in turn four and came to a stop and
then one final interruption for a three-car tangle in turn four involving Shawn
Dancer, Jimmy Hurley and Randy Hannagan.
Johnson
continued searching the track on the final restart and finally dove underneath
McMahan entering turn one on the white flag lap for what proved to be the
winning pass.Johnson locked into his
seventh career STN finale with the win while McMahan earned an STN championship
event starting berth for the fourth time in five tries.
Just
17 years old, Bell rounded out his strong I-30 Speedway Sprint Car debut with a
podium finish that will put him into Saturday night’s Dash for Cash.
Ohio’s
Greg Wilson finished one spot out of a lock-in position in fourth, while Oklahoma’s
Brady Bacon advanced from 11th to take the fifth position in the
final circuits.Derek Hagar was sixth,
with the rest of the top ten including Travis Rilat, Ray Allen Kulhanek, Kevin
Swindell and Seth Bergman.
With
44 cars on hand for the opening portion of the 25th Annual Short
Track Nationals, Jan Howard, Gary Taylor, Jason Johnson and Paul McMahan topped
heat races before rain interrupted six laps into the fifth heat race on
Thursday night.Greg Wilson finished off
the fifth heat when action resumed on Friday evening with Jason Johnson, Seth
Bergman, Kevin Swindell, Randy Hannagan and Paul McMahan winning the Qualifying
Races.
Brian
Bell and Dustin Morgan topped “B” Main action.
Hannagan
got upside down on the frontstretch in Thursday night’s opening heat race but
continued on to salvage a sixth-place finish before ultimately racing into the
main event.
25th
Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Thursday
Night Results (Conclusion of Fifth Heat on postponed to Friday by Rain):
Heat Races:
First Heat
(10 Laps):1. 46-Jan Howard, 2. 15h-Sam
Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 21w-Wes Wofford, 4. 58w-Wade Oliver, 5. 23s-Seth Bergman, 6.
22h-Randy Hannagan, 7. 74e-Claud Estes, 8. 11c-Matt Covington. DNS: 17g-Cody
Gardner.
Second Heat
(10 Laps):1. 4t-Gary Taylor, 2.
49-Shawn Dancer, 3. 2-Dustin Morgan, 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 17w-Cole
Wood, 6. 10-Terry Gray, 7. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 8. 0m-Andy McElhannon, 9.
09-Timmy Thrash.
Third Heat
(10 Laps):1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2.
28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 11m-Justin Melton, 4. 39s-Kevin Swindell, 5. 35-Jimmy
Hurley, 6. 16-Koty Adams, 7. 93-Chris Sweeney, 8. 57c-Kyle Chady, 9. 66-Geoff
Dodge.
Fourth Heat
(10 Laps):1. 01m-Paul McMahan, 2.
39c-Travis Rilat, 3. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 4. 3h-Brandon Hanks, 5. 23b-Brian Bell,
6. 36b-Jonathan Beason, 7. 19-Klint Angelette, 8. 64-Scotty Thiel, 9. 18-Tony
Bruce, Jr.
Fifth Heat
(10 Laps):1. 20-Greg Wilson, 2.
40b-Christopher Bell, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 5. 33-Mark
Huddleston, 6. 1x-Rickey Hood, 7. 76-John Ricketts. DNS: 21k-Ryan Kitchen.
Qualifying
Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to
“B” Mains
First
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 41-Jason
Johnson, 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 4. 36b-Jonathan Beason,
5. 64-Scotty Thiel, 6. 11m-Justin Melton, 7. 1x-Rickey Hood, 8. 5k-Jerry Kamer.
DNS: 57c-Kyle Chady.
Second
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 23s-Seth
Bergman, 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 3. 21t-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. 28-Jonathan
Cornell, 5. 10-Terry Gray, 6. 2-Dustin Morgan, 7. 4t-Gary Taylor, 8. 19-Klint
Angelette, 9. 09-Timmy Thrash.
Third
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 39s-Kevin
Swindell, 2. 40b-Christopher Bell, 3. 39c-Travis Rilat, 4. 93-Chris Sweeney,
5. 11c-Matt Covington, 6. 17g-Cody Gardner, 7. 21w-Wes Wofford, 8. 76-John
Ricketts, 9. 17w-Cole Wood.
Fourth
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 22h-Randy
Hannagan, 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 3. 58w-Wade Oliver, 4. 23b-Brian Bell, 5.
21k-Ryan Kitchen, 6. 46-Jan Howard, 7. 74e-Claud Estes. DNS: 33-Mark
Huddleston, 66-Geoff Dodge.
Fifth
Qualifier (10 Laps):1. 01m-Paul
McMahan, 2. 35-Jimmy Hurley, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5.
49-Shawn Dancer, 6. 3h-Brandon Hanks. DNS: 16-Koty Adams, 0m-Andy McElhannon.
“B”
Features – Top 3 from Each Advance to “A” Feature
First “B”
Feature (12 Laps):1. 23b-Brian Bell, 2.
35-Jimmy Hurley, 3. 36b-Jonathan Beason, 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 5. 11c-Matt
Covington, 6. 11m-Justin Melton, 7. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 8. 93-Chris Sweeney, 9.
64-Scotty Thiel, 10. 76-John Ricketts, 11. 5k-Jerry Kamer. DNS: 16-Koty Adams,
74e-Claud Estes, 0m-Andy McElhannon, 66-Geoff Dodge.
Second “B”
Feature (12 Laps):1. 2-Dustin Morgan,
2. 46-Jan Howard, 3. 49-Shawn Dancer, 4. 58w-Wade Oliver, 5. 3h-Brandon Hanks,
6. 10-Terry Gray, 7. 17g-Cody Gardner, 8. 17w-Cole Wood, 9. 21k-Ryan Kitchen,
10. 21w-Wes Wofford, 11. 33-Mark Huddleston. DNS: 1x-Rickey Hood, 19-Klint
Angelette, 57c-Kyle Chady, 09-Timmy Thrash.
“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 (4), 2. 01m-Paul McMahan (2), 3. 40b-Christopher
Bell (1), 4. W20-Greg Wilson (6), 5. 99-Brady Bacon (11), 6. 9jr-Derek Hagar
(8), 7. 39c-Travis Rilat (7), 8. 21t-Ray Allen Kulhanek (9), 9. 39s-Kevin
Swindell (5), 10. 23s-Seth Bergman (12), 11. 2-Dustin Morgan (16), 12.
28-Jonathan Cornell (10), 13. 22h-Randy Hannagan (13), 14. 35-Jimmy Hurley
(17), 15. 23b-Brian Bell (15), 16. 49-Shawn Dancer (20), 17. 46-Jan Howard
(18), 18. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (3), 19. 4t-Gary Taylor (14), 20. 36b-Jonathan
Beason (19).
Lap
Leaders: Paul McMahan 1-23, Jason Johnson 24-25.
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