David Smith, Jr.
NCRA Press and Contingencies
(405) 740-4769
[email protected]
Jason Johnson Survives for Sprint Car Challenge NCRA Stop at I-80 Speedway
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Greenwood, Nebraska – September 16, 2011 - Jason Johnson of Eunice, Louisiana became the eleventh different feature winner in the twelve races that have been held thus far this season as he wired the field in taking the opening night of the "Sprint Car Shootout" Friday night as the National Championship Racing Association of Park City, Kansas presented by Smiley's Racing Products made their first appearance since 2007 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska in a race that was cut short by eight laps due to a frightening crash that sent one driver to the hospital.
The race was held in conjunction with the ASCS Midwest region.
Two starts were waved off, one for a flip by an uninjured Ryan Andersons flip in turn one but once racing resumed it was Ryan Roberts and Jack Dover setting the pace with Anderson taking the lead as the green flag finally flew. Dover and fourth starting Johnson got by one lap later.
Dover would lead until a lap four caution for a Brian Brown spin in turn two.
Once racing resumed, Johnson, driving the #41 Don Ott-powered Haynes/Mesilla Valley Transport/Pope Properties Maxim, drove around Dover in turns three and four to take the lead on lap five.
Dover wouldn't give up easily as he battled the former national champion for the top spot for several laps before the caution once again waved on lap 12 for Jason Danley's blown engine.
Johnson jumped out front on the restart and would start to pull away from the rest of the field and looked to have the field covered but the race would come to a quick halt on lap seventeen when Justin Henderson tagged the wall in turn one and flipped. He was uninjured.
On the restart, Taylor Velasquez of Turpin, Oklahoma brought the race to an premature end as the 20 year old went for a frightening series of flips entering turn three. After a lengthly delay waiting to transport Taylor to the hospital and the weather conditions worsening, the race was called complete there on lap seventeen with Johnson being declared the winner.
Velasquez was released early Saturday morning and despite being extremely sore, went home with no broken bones.
Dover settled for second with Jordan Boston coming home third. Danny Lasoski brought the Mark Burch #1m sprinter home fourth while Roberts rounded out the top five.
The ten lap heat races for the 38 car field were won by Roberts, Bryan Dobesh, Don Droud, Jr., and Clint Garner with Roberts taking the dash. Bryan Gossel beat J.D. Johnson to the line to win the twelve lap "B" feature.
Next up for the NCRA sprint car series will be on Saturday night, October 1st as the tour closes out the 2011 race season and the tight point's battle at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas.
The series would like to take this time to thank their sprint car partners and sponsors for the 2011 race season:
Park City, Kansas, Smiley's Racing Products, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels
Contingency Sponsors: Saldana Racing Products, The Brake Man
1st Heat (10 Laps): 1. 18-Ryan Roberts, 2. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 3. 4b-Jordan Boston, 4. 36-Jason Martin, 5. 98-J.D. Johnson, 6. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 7. 93a-Alan Ambers, 8. 0-Steven Richardson, 9. 91x-Jeff Stasa, 10. 6-Nick Bryan.
2nd Heat (10 Laps): 1. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 23-Seth Bergman, 4. 51-Mike Peters, 5. 82-Jason Danley, 6. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 7. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 8. 44k-David Kubart, 9. 4-Ryan Jones.
3rd Heat (10 Laps): 1. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 24a-Jeremy Campbell, 4. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 5. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 6. 12-Rod Richards, 7. 21-Brian Brown, 8. 4j-Lee Grosz, 9. 91-Taylor Milton.
4th Heat (10 Laps): 1. 40-Clint Garner, 2. 45c-Russ Hall, 3. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 4. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 5. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 6. 19-Patrick Stasa, 7. 47-Brandt O'Banion, 8. 1-Ty Williams, 9. 0x-Jeff Osborn, 10. 12t-Tyler Drueke.
Dash: 1. 18-Ryan Roberts, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 4b-Jordan Boston, 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 5. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 6. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 7. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 8. 36-Jason Martin.
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 2. 98-J.D. Johnson, 3. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 4. 21-Brian Brown, 5. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 6. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 7. 47-Brandt O'Banion, 8. 0-Steven Richardson, 9. 93a-Alan Ambers, 10. 1-Ty Williams, 11. 91-Taylor Milton, 12. 0x-Jeff Osborn, 13. 6-Nick Bryan, 14. 44k-David Kubart, 15. 19-Patrick Stasa, 16. 12-Rod Richards. DNS: 4-Ryan Jones, 4j-Lee Grosz, 91x-Jeff Stasa, 12T-Tyler Drueke.
A Feature (25 Laps – Shortened to 17 Laps after Red Flag): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 4b-Jordan Boston, 4. 1m-Danny Lasoski, 5. 18-Ryan Roberts, 6. 36-Jason Martin, 7. 2-Don Droud, Jr., 8. 23-Seth Bergman, 9. 1x-Garry Lee Maier, 10. 40-Clint Garner, 11. 45c-Russ Hall, 12. 2d-Bryan Dobesh, 13. 21-Brian Brown, 14. 98-J.D. Johnson, 15. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 16. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 17. 6g-Bryan Gossel, 18. 5m-Miranda Arnold, 19. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 20. 24a-Jeremy Campbell, 21. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher, 22. 82-Jason Danley, 23. 51-Mike Peters, 24. 71r-Ryan Anderson.
