Bryan Hulbert - Little Rock, Arkansas (June 30, 2012) Drawing the pole of the night’s thirty lap non-stop feature event, the MVT/Roush Yates Ford No. 41 of Jason Johnson captured his sixth victory of the 2012 season with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“I wasn’t sure who was lapped cars out there. I didn’t know if I was in first or third” commented an excited yet exhausted Jason Johnson. “I just couldn’t get to the bottom all weekend so I just kept hammering the top and when I seen G’Dub [Gary Wright] on the bottom and I knew he wasn’t a lapped car. To cross the line in front of Gary Wright in Little Rock, Arkansas that’s pretty good.”
Getting the lead from the drop of the green, Johnson would pull to a ten car length advantage over third starting Wayne Johnson. Catching the tail end of the field inside the first six laps, the Law Office of Richard Strunks No. 41 began utilizing momentum to keep the field at bay.
Jumping to second on the start the Oil Medics No. 77x of Wayne Johnson would find himself under fire as Kyle Bellm worked his Schure Built Suspension No. 14k into the runner up spot. Battling back and forth for much of the race, the next driver moving into challenge would be Gary Wright. Pounding the bottom groove Wright would steal third from Johnson just shy of the half-way point.
Moving into the runner up spot with fourteen laps to run, Wright would utilize every line on the track to begin gaining ground on Johnson’s No. 41. With Johnson and Wright looking to run away from the field, the driver on the move in the final ten laps was the Fatheadz Eyewear No. 99 of Brady Bacon.
Charging from ninth to third, Bacon would find himself only a couple car lengths behind the battle for the lead with less than five laps remaining.
Coming to the final two laps Johnson would overshoot the cushion in turns three and four, going nearly perpendicular to the field before recovering with Gary Wright pulling the Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9 even with Johnson.
Drag racing to the twin flags, Johnson would regain the advantage for a moment before slower traffic held up the No. 41; allowing Wright to again pull even with Johnson on the final lap.
Wheel to wheel with back markers closing in, Wright would have no choice but to back out as slower traffic allowed Jason Johnson to sail the high line to victory. Gary Wright would take second with Brady Bacon rounding out the podium. Wayne Johnson would hold on to fourth with Tony Bruce Jr. fighting back to fifth after jumping the cushion on the opening lap.
Dalton Davis finished sixth with Logan Forler climbing from eleventh to finish seventh. A.G. Rains charged from fourteenth to eighth with Chris Williams and Brad Loyet rounding out the top ten.
With the win, Jason Johnson re-assumes the points lead by a single point. This marks the sixth time that Jason Johnson and Wayne Johnson have swapped the series lead in 2012.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV
I-30 Speedway - Little Rock, Arkansas
June 30, 2012
Event Car Count: 34
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5h-Logan Forler[1]; 2. 23b-Brian Bell[4]; 3. 05-Brad Loyet[5]; 4. 44-Ronny Howard[2]; 5. 81-Danny Wood[7]; 6. 45x-Johnny Herrera[8]; 7. 69-Larry Howery[3]; 8. 92h-Richie Harris[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Dalton Davis[2]; 2. 3-A.G. Rains[1]; 3. 26m-Marshall Skinner[3]; 4. 12t-Joe Young[4]; 5. 38-Rick Pringle[6]; 6. 58-Wade Oliver[5]; 7. 32K-Robert Richardson[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14k-Kyle Bellm[2]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon[6]; 4. 4-Tommy Snellgrove[5]; 5. 5k-Jerry Kamer[3]; 6. 9x-Justin Sturch[4]; 7. 3h-Brandon Hanks[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8x-Chris Williams[2]; 2. 12m-Greg Merritt[1]; 3. 2-Dustin Morgan[6]; 4. 14z-Zach Pringle[7]; 5. 39-Brad Bowden[3]; 6. 1g-Cody Gardner[5]; 7. 1-Nic Jenkins[4]
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 26m-Marshall Skinner[1]; 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera[7]; 3. 81-Danny Wood[3]; 4. 39-Brad Bowden[9]; 5. 1g-Cody Gardner[11]; 6. 12t-Joe Young[4]; 7. 58-Wade Oliver[10]; 8. 4-Tommy Snellgrove[2]; 9. 44-Ronny Howard[6]; 10. 1-Nic Jenkins[15]; 11. 3h-Brandon Hanks[14]; 12. 32K-Robert Richardson[13]; 13. 69-Larry Howery[16]; 14. 5k-Jerry Kamer[8]; 15. 92h-Richie Harris[17]; DNF 38-Rick Pringle[5]; DNF 9x-Justin Sturch[12]
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[1]; 2. 9-Gary Wright[5]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon[9]; 4. 77x-Wayne Johnson[3]; 5. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[6]; 6. 12-Dalton Davis[2]; 7. 5h-Logan Forler[11]; 8. 3-A.G. Rains[14]; 9. 8x-Chris Williams[7]; 10. 05-Brad Loyet[12]; 11. 2-Dustin Morgan[10]; 12. 23-Seth Bergman[15]; 13. 45x-Johnny Herrera[18]; 14. 23b-Brian Bell[8]; 15. 14z-Zach Pringle[13]; 16. 26m-Marshall Skinner[17]; 17. 14k-Kyle Bellm[4]; 18. 81-Danny Wood[19]; 19. 12t-Joe Young[22]; 20. 39-Brad Bowden[20]; DNF 12m-Greg Merritt[16]; DNF 1g-Cody Gardner[21]
Lap Leader(s): Jason Johnson (1-25)
Pitstopusa.com Hard Charger of the Night: A.G. Rains+6
FSR Radiator High Point Driver: Dalton Davis
Provisional(s): N/A
2012 Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-6, Brady Bacon-4, Wayne Johnson-3, Tony Bruce Jr.-3, Brian Brown-1, Seth Bergman-1, Danny Lasoski-1, Jason Martin-1, Dustin Morgan-1, Danny Wood-1, Cody Baker-1
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV Drivers Points (top 10): 1. Jason Johnson 3,155 2. Wayne Johnson 3,154; 3. Brady Bacon 3,017; 4. Johnny Herrera 2,886; 5. Brad Loyet 2,827; 6. Tony Bruce Jr. 2,793; 7. Danny Wood 2,572; 8. Seth Bergman 2,558; 9. Gary Wright 2,435; 10. Dustin Morgan 2,410
The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV is scheduled to compete 68 times in 15 states throughout the United States with drivers competing for their share of a $250,000 point’s fund.
The 2012 season marks the 21st year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of ten different Regions throughout the nation.
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. For information regarding availability and listings in your area log onto www.mavtv.com.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MavTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire, Brodix, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, General Tire, K&N Filters, PitstopUSA.com, FSR Radiator and Racing Proucts, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Simpson, Wesmar Racing Engines, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Photo Credit: Tim Aylwin