Bryan Hulbert - SOMERTON, Ariz. (November 8, 2013) Drawing the highest pill to earn the final starting spot in Heat Race competition, Jason Johnson turned his night around making the redraw for Friday’s A-Feature; drawing the pole and leading flag-to-flag for his ninth Protect the Harvest A-Feature triumph of the season.
Taking one step closer to the season ending $60,000 champion’s prize, Johnson’s win also put the MVT No. 41 that much close to a $25,000 payday Saturday night, rather than $20,000, if the Eunice, La. shoe can complete the weekend sweep at the Cocopah Speedway, only needing to take the green flag in Saturday’s finale to secure his fourth Lucas Oil ASCS National Championship.
Crossing ahead of Danny Lasoski by 3.675 seconds at the finish, Johnson was all but a lap away from his night ending early as the engine under the bonnet of the No. 41 turned its final revolution as the checkered flag flew.
Dropping a cylinder in the closing laps, Johnson was unsure if it was an engine, or fuel leak that was causing the Roush/Yates power plant to skip a beat. During his post-race interview, Johnson admitted to playing a little dangerous and finishing despite being covered in Methanol, “I’ll be honest, most of the time when I feel fuel, or smell fuel, I’m out of there. I’ve been burnt too many times to take a chance but there’s a lot of money on the line right here in addition to the point’s championship. We like to defy the odds and the odds are definitely against us tomorrow to pull off the clean sweep, but we’ll give it our best shot.”
Danny Lasoski capitalized on a Lap 21 restart to grab away second from Tony Bruce, Jr.
Taking the BC Funds No. 21 through the center of the Cocopah Speedway entering turn one, Lasoski commented on the move by simply saying, “Where ever Tony went, I was going the opposite.”
Commenting on restarts with slower cars between himself and Johnson, the drive of the Bob Miller Motorsports No. 21 replied, “I would have liked to have the opportunity to see if we were as good as him [Jason Johnson]; it didn’t happen but we’re locked in and we’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”
Tony Bruce, Jr. settled for the final step on the podium in the Briley Trucking No. 18 after several closing lap battles that involved Johnny Herrera, Jonathan Cornell, and at times Christopher Bell. “I was running the bottom of one and two and all the sudden it just went away but all in all, we’re locked in for tomorrow and that’s the important thing. Sometimes you just get a little bit lucky and fortunately, luck was on our side tonight”, commented Bruce who has moved to a single point behind Brad Loyet in driver’s standings.
Jonathan Cornell edged out Johnny Herrera in the final turns to capture the final transfer into Saturday’s A-Feature. Herrera’s fifth place run was his twenty-fifth of the season.
Christopher Bell came from twelfth to sixth with Aaron Reutzel from eleventh to seventh. Utilizing a Promoter’s Provisional, ASCS Northwest Champion Roger Crockett blazed a trail from twenty-fifth to eighth to earn the PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger of the Night. Jeff Swindell crossed ninth with Bryan Clauson taking the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82 from nineteenth to complete the top ten.
Breaking 41 drivers from 15 states into five heats, Matt Covington, Aaron Reutzel, Johnny Herrera, Brad Loyet, and Tony Bruce, Jr. earned victories. A pair of B-Features went to Logan Forler and Rick Ziehl.
Partial point Provisionals were taken by Cole Wood and Brandon Hahn.
Saturday at the Cocopah Speedway will have gates opening at 5:00 P.M. with races beginning at 7:00 P.M. (MT). Live PPV can be purchased at http://www.racinboys.com for $15. For further information on the American Sprint Car Series, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
Cocopah Speedway - Somerton, Ariz.
Cocopah Cup Challenge - Round 3
Friday, November 8, 2013
Car Count: 41
Wesmar Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 2. 9R-Reece Goetz[1]; 3. 21-Danny Lasoski[8]; 4. 82-Bryan Clauson[3]; 5. 22-Mason Moore[5]; 6. 74-Colby Copeland[7]; 7. 55-Don Sink[9]; 8. (DNF) 11-Roger Crockett[4]; 9. (DNF) 17-Blake Hahn[2]
Ti22 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21A-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 5H-D.J. Netto[2]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell[7]; 4. 31B-Christopher Bell[8]; 5. 35M-Sean Becker[6]; 6. 17H-Harli White[4]; 7. 57-James Aragon[3]; 8. 83-Matthew White[5]
Rod End Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 39C-Travis Rilat[6]; 3. 33V-Henry VanDam[5]; 4. 20Z-Rick Ziehl[3]; 5. 99-Brady Bacon[7]; 6. 66-Barry Martinez[8]; 7. 29S-Darrell Sickles[1]; 8. (DNF) 9-Ryan Linder[4]
Saldana Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[2]; 2. 29-Brandon Hahn; 3. 12M-Kolt Walker[7]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 5. 2L-Logan Forler[8]; 6. 17W-Cole Wood[4]; 7. 57X-Lucas Wolfe[1]; 8. 27DD-David Hoiness[5]
BMRS Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[7]; 2. 12-James Mosher[1]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson[8]; 4. 29-Brandon Hahn[2]; 5. 90-Lance Norick[4]; 6. 93-Dustin Morgan[3]; 7. 98-Joe Ramaker[5]; 8. 41W-Joshua Williams[6]
DMI B Feature 1 (12 Laps, Top 3 advance): 1. 2L-Logan Forler[1]; 2. 82-Bryan Clauson[2]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[12]; 5. 29-Brandon Hahn[4]; 6. 17W-Cole Wood[7]; 7. 98-Joe Ramaker[8]; 8. 66-Barry Martinez[6]; 9. 90-Lance Norick[5]; 10. 57X-Lucas Wolfe[10]; 11. 83-Matthew White[11]; 12. (DNF) 55-Don Sink[13]; 13. (DNF) 9-Ryan Linder[9]
Joie of Seating B Feature 2 (12 Laps, Top 3 advance): 1. 20Z-Rick Ziehl[2]; 2. 93-Dustin Morgan[7]; 3. 74-Colby Copeland[5]; 4. 41W-Joshua Williams[10]; 5. 22-Mason Moore[4]; 6. 17H-Harli White[6]; 7. 17-Blake Hahn[12]; 8. 29S-Darrell Sickles[9]; 9. (DNF) 99-Brady Bacon[1]; 10. (DNF) 57-James Aragon[8]; DNS 27DD-David Hoiness; DNS 35M-Sean Becker
Protect the Harvest A Feature (25 Laps, Top 4 lock into Saturday’s finale): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[1]; 2. 21-Danny Lasoski[4]; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[2]; 4. 28-Jonathan Cornell[3]; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera[6]; 6. 31B-Christopher Bell[12]; 7. 21A-Aaron Reutzel[11]; 8. 11-Roger Crockett[25]; 9. 94-Jeff Swindell[5]; 10. 82-Bryan Clauson[19]; 11. 2L-Logan Forler[17]; 12. 5H-D.J. Netto[14]; 13. 05-Brad Loyet[9]; 14. 39C-Travis Rilat[10]; 15. 9R-Reece Goetz[15]; 16. 74-Colby Copeland[22]; 17. 93-Dustin Morgan[20]; 18. 23-Seth Bergman[21]; 19. 29-Brandon Hahn[24]; 20. 12-James Mosher[16]; 21. (DNF) 17W-Cole Wood[23]; 22. (DNF) 95-Matt Covington[8]; 23. (DNF) 20Z-Rick Ziehl[18]; 24. (DNF) 33V-Henry VanDam[13]; 25. (DNF) 12M-Kolt Walker[7]
Lap Leader(s): Jason Johnson 1-25
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Roger Crockett +17
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Jason Johnson - 16.755 seconds
Provisionals: Cole Wood, Brandon Hahn, and Roger Crockett
2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-9, Jeff Swindell-5, Johnny Herrera-4, Roger Crockett-3, Brian Brown-4, Danny Lasoski-3, Logan Forler-2, Brad Loyet-2, Tony Bruce, Jr.-2, Sammy Swindell-2, Kyle Bellm, Jack Dover, Seth Bergman, Jonathan Cornell, Travis Rilat, Justin Henderson, Shane Stewart, Tim Crawley, Anthony Nicholson, Christopher Bell, David Gravel
2013 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10) 1. Jason Johnson 5,213; 2. Johnny Herrera 5,132; 3. Jeff Swindell 4,953; 4. Brad Loyet 4,876; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 4,875; 6. Logan Forler 4,726; 7. Seth Bergman 4,598; 8. Dustin Morgan 4,318; 9. Cole Wood 4,067; 10. Brandon Hahn 3,396;
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, iON Camera, Smokey Mountain Moonshine, C&R Radiator, 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: Tim Aylwin
- Bryan Hulbert on Nov 09, 2013
- Article Date: 11/9/2013