Bryan Hulbert - ELMA, Wash. (July 13, 2013) The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real capped off the weekend at the Grays Harbor Raceway with Jason Johnson scoring his sixth victory of 2013 with the National Tour and retaking the national points lead by three over Johnny Herrera.
A race of restarts, the caution flew on four occasions, giving Johnson the opportunity he needed to advance to the front of the field for his seventy-fourth tour victory. “The restarts were the only place we were going to pass these guys” commented the Louisiana driver. “It was up around the top so it made for massive slide jobs. Logan Forler kept sliding me early on in the race and really, I didn’t want to get to sliding until the end of the race because I was trying to conserve tires as much as I could and as long as I could.”
Trailing Dustin Morgan on the start, Johnny Herrera crossed second after several fierce battles with Johnson for the lead. “Our biggest thing is we just needed to get into some lapped cars” said Herrera of the placement of cautions. “I ran a little harder left rear tire so I needed to get some heat to get that thing going and once it got going, it went good but the restarts took a lap or two to get the thing back underneath me.”
Reflecting on the fight with Johnson for the lead, Herrera commented, “Hats off to Jason. I knew with him sitting in second, he was going to give me all I could handle, and he did. You know we had a good “slidefest” there for couple laps but he gave me room, and I gave him room and that’s how two guys that do this race hard. You might crowd each other, but you don’t crash each other.”
Tony Bruce, Jr. raced to third from seventh. Three wide at one point with Johnny Herrera and Jeff Swindell in the closing laps, Bruce edged out Swindell on Lap 28 to secure the podium finish. “Right there with seven to go I dropped a cylinder. I don’t know if I caught a rock off the berm and knocked a spark plug loose, but the things about to blow up. I don’t know if that helped us, or hurt us. I think as slick as it was it helped us” chuckled Bruce.
Jeff Swindell crossed fourth after starting eighth with Seth Bergman completing the top five from ninth.
Brad Loyet grabbed the victory in the Joie of Seating B-Feature and marched from seventeenth to sixth with Steven Tiner coming from nineteenth to seventh. Dustin Morgan held on to finish eighth after leading the eight rounds after the right front wheel became stuffed with mud and bent the tie rod. Ninth went to Henry VanDam with Logan Forler completing the top ten.
Heat race wins went to Jeff Swindell, Seth Bergman, and Henry VanDam. The FSR Radiator and Racing Products High Point Driver of the Night was Logan Forler with a seventh, the second run in the night’s opening Heat Race.
The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real heads to the Cottage Grove Speedway for a double header on Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20.
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real
ASCS Northwest Region
Grays Harbor Raceway - Elma, Wash.
Saturday, July 13 2013
Car Count: 26
Wesmar Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[1]; 2. 2L-Logan Forler[7]; 3. 9R-Reece Goetz[3]; 4. 4J-Allison Journey[2]; 5. 3-J.J. Hickle[6]; 6. 194-Steven Tiner[8]; DNF 05-Brad Loyet[4]; DNF 7N-Jared Peterson[5]
BMRS Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 2. 71-Chadd Noland[3]; 3. 17W-Cole Wood[2]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[5]; 5. 33-Colton Heath[4]; 6. 55-Trey Starks[7]; 7. 21T-Zack Spaulding[6]
Rod End Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33V-Henry VanDam[3]; 2. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[5]; 3. 29-Brandon Hahn[4]; 4. 0J-Jay Cole[7]; 5. 9A-Luke Didiuk[1]; 6. 88-Brent Hoover[6]; 7. 97-Jason Reed[2]
The Joie of Seating B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 2. 55-Trey Starks[4]; 3. 194-Steven Tiner[2]; 4. 33-Colton Heath[3]; 5. 7N-Jared Peterson[10]; 6. 88-Brent Hoover[6]; 7. 21T-Zack Spaulding[7]; 8. 4J-Allison Journey[1]; 9. 9A-Luke Didiuk[5]; 10. 97-Jason Reed[9]
Protect the Harvest A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[2]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[7]; 4. 94-Jeff Swindell[8]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[9]; 6. 05-Brad Loyet[17]; 7. 194-Steven Tiner[19]; 8. 93-Dustin Morgan[1]; 9. 33V-Henry VanDam[5]; 10. 2L-Logan Forler[4]; 11. 33-Colton Heath[20]; 12. 29-Brandon Hahn[12]; 13. 3-J.J. Hickle[16]; 14. 9R-Reece Goetz[13]; 15. 88-Brent Hoover[22]; DNF 55-Trey Starks[18]; DNF 17W-Cole Wood[14]; DNF 71-Chadd Noland[10]; DNF 7N-Jared Peterson[21]; DNF 0J-Jay Cole[11]; DNF 11-Roger Crockett[15]; DNF 39C-Travis Rilat[6]
Lap Leaders: Dustin Morgan (1-8), Johnny Herrera (9-13), Jason Johnson (14-30)
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Steven Tiner +12
FSR High Points of the Night: Logan Forler
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Dustin Morgan - 14.210 seconds
Provisionals: N/A
2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-6, Johnny Herrera-3, Jeff Swindell-2, Logan Forler-2, Brian Brown-1, Roger Crockett-1, Kyle Bellm-1, Brad Loyet-1, Danny Lasoski-1, Jack Dover-1, Seth Bergman-1, Jonathan Cornell-1, Tony Bruce, Jr.-1, Travis Rilat-1
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Jason Johnson 2,937; 2. Johnny Herrera 2,934; 3. Jeff Swindell 2,793; 4. Brad Loyet 2,751; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 2,708; 6. Logan Forler 2,653; 7. Seth Bergman 2,583; 8. Dustin Morgan 2,442; 9. Cole Wood 2,354; 10. Brandon Hahn 1,882;
The 2013 season marks the twenty-second 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 American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of nine 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. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, PitstopUSA.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Roush Yates Racing Engines, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Fuel Safe, Saldana Racing Products, SBI Fuel Bladders, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Simpson, LeJoie Seating, Ti 22 Performance, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, DMI Rear Ends, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com as well as Twitter (@LucasOilASCS) and Facebook. News and information can also be sent to you with the ASCS E-News by texting ASCS to 22828 with any mobile device.
Photo Credit: Fletcher Motorsports
- Bryan Hulbert on Jul 14, 2013
- Article Date: 7/14/2013