Bryan Hulbert (April 14, 2012) - After flipping his MVT 41 just twenty-four hours earlier Jason Johnson wasted no time rebounding to victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas.
Johnson was all smiles as he emerged to claim his third winner’s check of the 2012 season, commenting on the night’s track with praise, “There was a bottom, there was a top and you had to be patient around the top but it was balls to the wall around the top. That’s my style.”
Rolling into the evenings feature event, the pole car of Tommy Bryant would suffer a spin on the opening lap that would claim the 11c of Matt Covington as well as the 53 of Jack Dover who was able to make the necessary repairs. With the field restacked, the front row would now be occupied by the 05 of Brad Loyet and the 15t of Travis Elliot. Bolting into the top spot, Loyet would pace the field for the first nine laps before eighth starting Jason Johnson took over the lead on lap ten.
Working the high line of the speedway, Johnson and Loyet would begin battling into slower traffic with the 41 able to pull to a half straight-a-way advantage until a red flag on lap seventeen for a pileup that would send the 15h of Sam Hafertepe Jr. over as well as collecting Wayne Johnson and Johnny Herrera.
Able to re-fire, the 45x of Herrera and 77x of Johnson lined up at the tail of the field as the race resumed with Jason Johnson leading the way.
Racing into the final ten laps, cautions would begin to become a factor throughout the top ten with a pair of cars often restarting between Johnson and Loyet.
Working the surface in search of the fastest line, twentieth stating Brady Bacon continued his march to the front, taking over the runner up spot on lap twenty-two while Wayne Johnson continued to fight back from an earlier caution that send the City Vending 77 to the rear.
Bolting to a straight-a-way advantage in the closing laps, Johnson’s 41 would go unchallenged across the start finish line. Brady Bacon would hold onto the runner up spot with Wayne Johnson salvaging a third place finish. The 05 of Brad Loyet matched his best finish of the year with a fourth while the 45x of Johnny Herrera fought back as well from an earlier caution to round out the top five.
Gary Wright who has climbed into the top three during the later portions of the feature would fade back to sixth with Ray Allen Kulhanek leading the Griffith Truck and Equipment Gulf South Region as the highest finishing driver in seventh. Seth Bergman would take eighth with Tony Bruce Jr. ninth. Aaron Reutzel would round out the top ten after having to climb from the twenty-first starting position.
Event Car Count: 35
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV - April 14, 2012
Battleground Speedway - Highlands, Texas
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[1]; 2. 2-Dustin Morgan[4]; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[3]; 4. 77x-Wayne Johnson[7]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[6]; 6. 51b-Jimmy Brooks[5]; 7. 25M-Michael McNeil[9]; 8. 15-Andrew VanBlarcum[2]; DNS 7W-Dustin Welch
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11c-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 28-Tommy Bryant[4]; 3. 12B-Logan Bledsoe[3]; 4. 8-Bruce Crockett[2]; 5. 5h-Logan Forler[5]; 6. 19-Klint Angelette[8]; 7. 3-Gary Watson[6]; 8. 35-Greg Rilat[9]; 9. 24-Brandie Jass[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[1]; 2. 81-Danny Wood[2]; 3. 53-Jack Dover[8]; 4. 45x-Johnny Herrera[7]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 6. 99-Brady Bacon[5]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[9]; 8. 36-John Pate[4]; 9. 17-Bruce Griffith Jr[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek[1]; 2. 15T-Travis Elliott[4]; 3. 9-Gary Wright[8]; 4. 2-Wes Miller[3]; 5. 31-Brandon Berryman[7]; 6. 69-Larry Howery[6]; 7. 51-Beau Smith[5]; 8. 02-Harry Yerrington[2]
B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 2. 5h-Logan Forler[4]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[7]; 4. 99-Brady Bacon[10]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[5]; 6. 19-Klint Angelette[3]; 7. 25M-Michael McNeil[6]; 8. 35-Greg Rilat[12]; 9. 3-Gary Watson[11]; 10. 69-Larry Howery[8]; 11. 36-John Pate[14]; 12. 51-Beau Smith[13]; 13. 15-Andrew VanBlarcum[16]; 14. 24-Brandie Jass[18]; 15. 17-Bruce Griffith Jr[19]; 16. 8-Bruce Crockett[2]; 17. 02-Harry Yerrington[17]; 18. 51b-Jimmy Brooks[9]; DNS 7W-Dustin Welch
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[8]; 2. 99-Brady Bacon[20]; 3. 77x-Wayne Johnson[10]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[2]; 5. 45x-Johnny Herrera[11]; 6. 9-Gary Wright[6]; 7. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek[9]; 8. 23-Seth Bergman[17]; 9. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[13]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel[21]; 11. 81-Danny Wood[12]; 12. 15T-Travis Elliott[4]; 13. 53-Jack Dover[3]; 14. 5h-Logan Forler[18]; 15. 31-Brandon Berryman[15]; 16. 12B-Logan Bledsoe[14]; 17. 19-Klint Angelette[22]; 18. 17-Bruce Griffith Jr[23]; DNF 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[19]; DNF 2-Wes Miller[16]; DNF 2-Dustin Morgan[7]; DNF 28-Tommy Bryant[1]; DNF 11c-Matt Covington[5]
Lap Leaders: Brad Loyet (1-9), Jason Johnson (10-30)
PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger of the Night: Brady Bacon +18
Provisional(s): Bruce Griffith Jr.
2012 Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-3, Tony Bruce Jr.-1, Wayne Johnson-1, Dustin Morgan-1, Danny Wood-1
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV Points (top 10): 1. Jason Johnson 976; 2. Wayne Johnson 942; 3. Brady Bacon 928; 4. Gary Wright 824; 5. Tony Bruce Jr. 822; 6. Johnny Herrera 808; 7. Dustin Morgan 772; 8. Danny Wood 770; 9. Brad Loyet 756; 10. Jack Dover 723
The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV is scheduled to compete 68 times in 15 states throughout the United States with divers 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, PitstopUSA.com, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com.
Photo Credit: Tim Aylwin
- Bryan Hulbert on Apr 15, 2012
- Article Date: 4/15/2012 by Bryan Hulbert