From Lonnie Wheatley
Dodge City, KS — (April 9, 2016) — C.J. Johnson raced past Steven Richardson at the midway point of the non-stop 20-lapper and then survived some dicey moments through lapped traffic in the closing laps to hold off Luke Cranston and Zach Blurton for the victory Saturday night in the Precise Racing Products Sprint Car division at Dodge City Raceway Park.
“These don’t come easy, so it’s good to get ’em any way you can,” Johnson commented in victory lane.
While Johnson started the feature inside the second row, Richardson gunned into the lead from the pole position with Johnson working past reigning track champion Cranston for second in the opening pair of rounds.
Richardson paced the early rounds ahead of Johnson and Blurton as Cranston slipped back to fifth by the midway point.
With traffic in play a half dozen laps in, Johnson closed in and put the pressure on Richardson until slipping by on the tenth round with Blurton following suit a lap later.
Blurton stalked Johnson for the point with Cranston surging past Jake Martens and Richardson to reclaim third by the 12th circuit.
While Johnson successfully kept his challengers at bay through traffic, opportunity for Blurton and Cranston presented itself as the white flag flew with a pair of lapped cars directly in front of the leader.
Johnson didn’t let it get away though, adeptly slipping by both cars exiting turn two to secure the victory with Cranston taking advantage of traffic to steal second from Blurton in the final corner. Richardson faded to fourth with Taylor Velasquez battling past Martens on the final circuit to round out the top five.
Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 20-Luke Cranston, 2. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 3. 11k-Tyler Knight, 4. 6-Kaden Taylor, 5. 9d-Lance Davis, 6. 20j-Brandy Jones, 7. 3-Ryan Walters, 8. 67-Damien Cain.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 2j-Zach Blurton, 2. 49x-Mike Peters, 3. E85-Kade Hagans, 4. 17x-Craig Jecha, 5. 7r-Beau Ricke, 6. 49-Kris Moore, 7. 18-Brandon Sprott, 8. 10-Jordan Knight.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 97-Brian Herbert, 2. 48-Jake Martens, 3. 0-Steven Richardson, 4. 28-Tracey Hill, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 33-Koby Walters, 7. 33x-Kris Miller, 8. 1x-Cody Lampe.
“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 9d-Lance Davis, 2. 49-Kris Moore, 3. 33-Koby Walters, 4. 3-Ryan Walters, 5. 20j-Brandy Jones, 6. 10-Jordan Knight, 7. 33x-Kris Miller, 8. 18-Brandon Sprott, 9. 1x-Cody Lampe. DNS: 67-Damien Cain.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 2. 20-Luke Cranston, 3. 2j-Zach Blurton, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 48-Jake Martens, 7. 97-Brian Herbert, 8. 11k-Tyler Knight, 9. 49x-Mike Peters, 10. 28-Tracy Hill, 11. 33-Koby Walters, 12. 49-Kris Moore, 13. E85-Kade Hagans, 14. 7r-Beau Ricke, 15. 17x-Craig Jecha, 16. 9d-Lance Davis, 17. 20j-Brandy Jones, 18. 10-Jordan Knight, 19. 3-Ryan Walters, 20. 6-Kaden Taylor.