From Lonnie Wheatley
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (July 13, 2011) – The Oklahoma City native battled past Henry Van Dam in the early going and then repelled a brief bid from Kyle Larson before checking out to capture his third feature win in the past seven nights including a Minnesota triumph and an ASCS Midwest score in South Dakota aboard Bryan Sundby’s Parker-powered No. 38 Maxim.
“Bryan is my car owner, crew chief, truck driver, car wash guy, he does it all,” Johnson explained in victory lane. “He’s got this car rolling around the track so good right now that I better win because just about anybody could win with it.”
With Johnson starting the feature inside the second row, Van Dam led the feature field to the green flag from the pole position for the third time in as many nights with Australian Jamie Veal alongside this time.
Van Dam gunned into the lead at the outset, with Johnson and fifth-starter Larson relegating Veal to fourth on the opening circuit before a caution came out for Joe Ramaker, who spun and suffered front end damage after collecting Dale Smith. Veal looped it in turn two ahead of the melee, but kept it going to retain the fourth position on the restart.
Johnson went to work on Van Dam immediately on the restart, surging ahead upon the completion of the fourth lap and taking full command on the fifth circuit. Larson followed suit shortly after with fourth-starter Seth Bergman taking third from Van Dam by the time another caution flew after nine laps for Shane Forte’s stalled mount.
Larson challenged for several laps on the restart. But, when Johnson began using the top side of turns three and four in combination with the lower portion of turns one and two, he slipped away and was never challenged despite three more minor cautions along the way including the final one for Veal’s spin in turn four that set up a five-lap dash to the stripe.
Johnson raced on to the checkered flag ahead of Larson, who settled for runner-up honors for the third time in as many nights. While saddled with the bridesmaid role once again, the 18-year-old from Elk Grove, CA, did take over the ASCS Northwest Speedweek points lead.
Running sixth at the race’s midway point, Lucas Oil ASCS National title contender Tim Crawley from Benton, AR, went to work on the low groove and climbed to the show position in the final rounds with Roger Crockett and Bergman rounding out the top five.
Fifteen-year-old Trey Starks was sixth, with Brady Bacon, 17th-starter Jason Solwold, Van Dam and Logan Forler completing the top ten. Solwold, making his first Speedweek appearance of the week, picked up Travis Rutz Hard Charger honors.
Crockett, Veal, Bergman and Bacon topped heat race action for the 30-car field, with Tommy Tarlton and Solwold winning the “B” Mains.
ASCS Northwest Speedweek Results from Cottage Grove Speedway:
Heat One (10 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett, 2. 55-Trey Starks, 3. 2L-Logan Forler, 4. 77-Kyle Larson, 5. 9a-Luke Didiuk, 6. 88-Brent Hoover, 7. 13-Chadd Noland, 8. 55r-Ryan Gomes.
Heat Two (10 Laps): 1. 35au-Jamie Veal, 2. 88z-Tim Crawley, 3. 5h-Mason Moore, 4. 41-Dale Smith, 5. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 6. 39c-Jason Solwold, 7. 17-Cam Smith, 8. 26f-Shane Forte.
Heat Three (10 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 2. 98-Joe Ramaker, 3. 38-Wayne Johnson, 4. 96x-Mack Brown, 5. 10-Kyle Miller, 6. 27dd-David Hoiness, 7. 8rc-Jason Cocking.
Heat Four (10 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 3. 94-Steven Tiner, 4. 98m-Mitch Olson, 5. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 6. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 7. 21w-Vern Wheeler.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 2. 96x-Mack Brown, 3. 13-Chadd Noland, 4. 21w-Vern Wheeler, 5. 27dd-David Hoiness, 6. 57c-Chris Schmelzle, 7. 9a-Luke Didiuk. DNS: 55r-Ryan Gomes.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 39c-Jason Solwold, 2. 26f-Shane Forte, 3. 17-Cam Smith, 4. 88-Brent Hoover, 5. 8rc-Jason Cocking, 6. 31-Colton Akerstrom, 7. 10-Kyle Miller.
Last Chance Winner: 13-Chadd Noland.
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 38-Wayne Johnson, 2. 77-Kyle Larson, 3. 88z-Tim Crawley, 4. 11-Roger Crockett, 5. 23-Seth Bergman, 6. 55-Trey Starks, 7. 99-Brady Bacon, 8. 39c-Jason Solwold, 9. 33v-Henry Van Dam, 10. 2L-Logan Forler, 11. 94-Steven Tiner, 12. 98m-Mitch Olson, 13. 5h-Mason Moore, 14. 13-Chadd Noland, 15. 41-Dale Smith, 16. 35au-Jamie Veal, 17. 26f-Shane Forte, 18. 21-Tommy Tarlton, 19. 96x-Mack Brown, 20. 98-Joe Ramaker.
ASCS Northwest Points (Top Ten): 1. Roger Crockett 969, 2. Seth Bergman 899, 3. Henry Van Dam 898, 4. Trey Starks 809, 5. Mitch Olson 754, 6. Jason Solwold 674, 7. Jason Cocking 632, 8. Chadd Noland 586, 9. Garen Linder 567, 10. Mason Moore 535.
Bully Dog ASCS Northwest Speedweek presented by Contingency Connection Points (Top Ten): 1. Kyle Larson 426, 2. Roger Crockett 415, 3. Henry Van Dam 398, 4. (tie) Seth Bergman and Trey Starks 357, 6. Chadd Noland 340, 7. Jamie Veal 330, 8. Steven Tiner 323, 9. Mack Brown 320, 10. Tommy Tarlton 319.
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