From Bryan Hulbert
Somerton, AZ — (November 9, 2013) — The final night of competition for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real in 2013 was one for the record books as Jason Johnson completed the sweep of the four race Cocopah Cup Challenge to secure his fourth Lucas Oil ASCS National Title.
A record in terms of a winner’s pay, the $5,000 bonus for the sweep brought Jason’s payday to $25,000 making the 2013 Season Finale the highest paying winner’s check ever doled out in Lucas Oil ASCS competition. Taking a combined $41,000 from the Cocopah Speedway with the four race sweep, Jason Johnson stood on cloud nine in Victory Lane with son Jaxx and wife Bobbi.
“It just speaks volumes about this team and what they’ve accomplished,” commented Johnson of the victory.
Gridding the MVT No. 41 fourth for the season’s final 30 lap Protect the Harvest feature event, Johnson ran third the first eight revolutions, trialing front row starters Tony Bruce, Jr. and Logan Forler.
Working the inside line of the Cocopah Speedway, Johnson worked past Forler on Lap 9 for second, then Bruce on Lap 10 for the race lead.
Under green from the start, slower traffic began coming into play by the eleventh round. Forced to the cushion, the Waco Metals No. 41 began distancing himself from Bruce who was contending with large amounts of oil beginning to pour out the left side the Briely Trucking No. 18.
Falling to third on Lap 15, the oil leak finally ended Bruce’s night on Lap 20.
Still having not seen a caution, Logan Forler began closing the gap on Johnson for the race lead. Slowly chipping away at the advantage of Johnson, the No. 2L closed the gap in a hurry with nine laps to run.
With slower traffic situated to the inside of Johnson’s No. 41, Forler seized the opportunity at the lead. Sticking to the hub of the Cocopah Speedway; Forler powered almost even with Johnson exiting turn two; pitting the pair into a drag race for the bottom of turn three.
Asked if he did in fact see Forler’s bid for the lead, Johnson replied, “Hell yeah I saw him. I went to the top side and was just hung up behind a lapped car and actually, I was watching Seth Bergman . He was getting a good run off the bottom when I was trying to get a run on him then coming out of turn two, I glanced back and saw Forler just to the inside of me so from that point on, I wasn’t going to miss my marks.”
Logan Forler‘s runner up finish was his eighth podium appearance of the season. Having to overcome mechanical problems earlier in the evening, Forler commented on his run with a tired draw, “We had a real scramble of a night but Jason did a great job. I tried to put him under pressure the last few laps but, he’s been doing this a long time so it’s hard to put pressure on someone with that much experience.”
Marching from eleventh, Christopher Bell rode the ever thinning cushion of the Cocopah Speedway. Closing on Johnson and Forler in the closing laps, Bell looked to be a possible threat for the win before running out of laps. “It was a bummer. I was hoping we could get a yellow late in the race when I moved to third but, oh well, we’ll take third and move on.”
Brad Loyet’s fourth place finish from eighth secured his fourth place finish in the season’s final standings with Danny Lasoski rebounding to fifth after falling to eighth on the opening laps.
Roger Crockett was awarded a Promoter’s Provisional and screamed from twenty-fifth to sixth. D.J. Netto in the Lucas Oil No. 5h advanced from tenth to seventh with Johnny Herrera, despite suffering a hand injury in his Heat Race due to rock and having to advance from the night’s second B-Feature, clawing from eighteenth to eighth. Travis Rilat and Mason Moore completed the top ten.
Friday’s entry of 41 drivers returned from Saturday night with five heat races seeing Christopher Bell, Logan Forler, Jeff Swindell, Mason Moore, and James Mosher taking wins. A pair of B-Features went to Johnny Herrera and Blake Hahn.
Provisionals were taken by Seth Bergman who utilized a bonus provisional earned during the season for full points. Cole Wood used his final partial point provisional to make the show. Promoter’s Provisionals were awarded by Roger Crockett and Barry Martinez.
The 2013 Awards Banquet will take place on Sunday, November 10, 2013 at the Cocopah Resort and Casino at 3:00 P.M. (MT). A broadcast of the awards show is scheduled on Racinboys.com but is subject to change depending on internet availability.
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real
Cocopah Speedway – Somerton, Ariz.
Cocopah Cup Challenge – 2013 Season Finale
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Event Car Count: 41
Wesmar Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31B-Christopher Bell[1]; 2. 9R-Reece Goetz[4]; 3. 74-Colby Copeland[2]; 4. 82-Bryan Clauson[3]; 5. 98-Joe Ramaker[5]; 6. 95-Matt Covington[8]; 7. 90-Lance Norick[7]; 8. (DNF) 27DD-David Hoiness[6]
Ti22 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 2. 33V-Henry VanDam[1]; 3. 17-Blake Hahn[2]; 4. 99-Brady Bacon[4]; 5. 11-Roger Crockett[7]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[6]; 7. 57X-Lucas Wolfe[3]; 8. 55-Don Sink[8]
Rod End Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[1]; 2. 05-Brad Loyet[4]; 3. 39C-Travis Rilat[6]; 4. 21A-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 5. 41W-Joshua Williams[5]; 6. 20Z-Rick Ziehl[7]; 7. 29S-Darrell Sickles[3]
Saldana Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Mason Moore[2]; 2. 29-Brandon Hahn[1]; 3. 5H-D.J. Netto[6]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan[4]; 5. 12M-Kolt Walker[5]; 6. 66-Barry Martinez[7]; 7. 83-Matthew White[3]
BMRS Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 12-James Mosher[1]; 2. 35M-Sean Becker[3]; 3. 17W-Cole Wood[4]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera[5]; 5. 9-Ryan Linder[6]; 6. 57-James Aragon[2]; DNS 17H-Harli White
DMI B Feature 1 (12 Laps, Top 3 advance): 1. 17-Blake Hahn[2]; 2. 93-Dustin Morgan[4]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 4. 17W-Cole Wood[1]; 5. 11-Roger Crockett[3]; 6. 20Z-Rick Ziehl[8]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman[9]; 8. 90-Lance Norick[10]; 9. 41W-Joshua Williams[7]; 10. 29S-Darrell Sickles[11]; 11. 55-Don Sink[13]; 12. (DNF) 9-Ryan Linder[5]; DNS 27DD-David Hoiness
The Joie of Seating B Feature 2 (12 Laps, Top 3 advance): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 99-Brady Bacon[3]; 3. 82-Bryan Clauson[4]; 4. 21A-Aaron Reutzel[5]; 5. 74-Colby Copeland[1]; 6. 12M-Kolt Walker[7]; 7. 66-Barry Martinez[8]; 8. 17H-Harli White[12]; 9. 98-Joe Ramaker[6]; 10. (DNF) 83-Matthew White[11]; DNS 57-James Aragon; DNS 57X-Lucas Wolfe
Protect the Harvest A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson[4]; 2. 2L-Logan Forler[2]; 3. 31B-Christopher Bell[11]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 5. 21-Danny Lasoski[6]; 6. 11-Roger Crockett[25]; 7. 5H-D.J. Netto[10]; 8. 45X-Johnny Herrera[18]; 9. 39C-Travis Rilat[9]; 10. 22-Mason Moore[3]; 11. 33V-Henry VanDam[15]; 12. 94-Jeff Swindell[12]; 13. 82-Bryan Clauson[22]; 14. 99-Brady Bacon[20]; 15. 23-Seth Bergman[23]; 16. 9R-Reece Goetz[7]; 17. 17-Blake Hahn[17]; 18. 95-Matt Covington[21]; 19. 35M-Sean Becker[14]; 20. 93-Dustin Morgan[19]; 21. 17W-Cole Wood[24]; 22. 66-Barry Martinez[26]; 23. 12-James Mosher[13]; 24. (DNF) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[1]; 25. (DNF) 29-Brandon Hahn[16]; DNS 28-Jonathan Cornell
Lap Leader(s): Tony Bruce, Jr. 1-9, Jason Johnson 10-30
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Roger Crockett +19
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Logan Forler – 16.268 seconds
Provisionals: Cole Wood, Seth Bergman, Barry Martinez, and Roger Crockett
2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-10, 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
Final 2013 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10) 1. Jason Johnson 5,363; 2. Johnny Herrera 5,251; 3. Jeff Swindell 5,061; 4. Brad Loyet 5,006; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 4,964; 6. Logan Forler 4,868; 7. Seth Bergman 4,700; 8. Dustin Morgan 4,410; 9. Cole Wood 4,137; 10. Brandon Hahn 3,484;
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.