From Lonnie Wheatley
Dodge City, KS — (June 28, 2014) — C.J. Johnson and Jake Bubak took center stage by winning a pair of non-stop 25-lap features at the Sixth Annual Steve King Memorial atop the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval on Saturday night.
Johnson took command ten laps into the NCRA vs. ASCS Sooner Region main event en route to his first series score of the year while Bubak made a last-corner pass of race-long leader Ray Seemann to snare the URSS Sprint Car feature win.
In the 25-lap NCRA vs. ASCS Sooner Region nightcap, front row outside starter Jake Martens of Fairview, OK, outgunned pole starter C.J. Johnson at the drop of the green flag and paced the early rounds.
With traffic coming into play after eight laps, Martens drifted high exiting turn two on the tenth circuit and slapped the outside wall. Johnson and Washington shoe Seth Bergman were quick to take advantage, moving into the top two positions as Martens slipped to third.
“He got a little loose up high there and it rolled over on the right rear, which was real easy to do out there,” Johnson explained afterward of what proved to be the race-winning pass. He still had work to do though.
A regular on the ASCS National Tour, Bergman put the pressure on reigning NCRA champion Johnson, pulling nearly even on the low side of turns three and four on the 17th lap only to have Johnson successfully repel the challenge.
Bergman’s challenges went up in smoke two laps later when he pulled to the infield with apparent engine woes.
With clear sailing, Quinter’s Johnson raced on to the checkered flag with an eight car-length advantage aboard the ASI Engines Martin Farms No. 45x JE Chassis.
Martens settled for runner-up honors with Tulsa’s Sean McClelland advancing from ninth to claim the show position. Fort Worth’s Kevin Ramey crossed the stripe in fourth with Woodward, Oklahoma’s Jordan Weaver rounding out the top five.
In the accompanying 25-lap United Rebel Sprint Series (URSS) main event, outside front row starter Ray Seemann jumped ahead of pole starter Nick Haygood for the point at the outset and led all but the final few feet.
While Seemann and Colorado’s Haygood slipped away from the field, Bubak struggled in the early going from his sixth starting position.
“The car was so tight early, I couldn’t hardly turn it,” the reigning URSS National champion from Arvada, CO, explained.
Mired in fifth after ten laps, Bubak worked traffic to his advantage to charge by Steven Richardson and Brian Herbert at the midway point and set his sights on the front two runners.
Bubak closed the gap bit by bit, rallying past Haygood for second on the 22nd lap. Still several car lengths back as the white flag flew, Bubak gobbled up the distance and snuck underneath Seemann exiting turn four with the checkered flag in sight.
“I didn’t think there was any way I had time to catch him, but then he kind of let up in three and four the last couple of laps and that gave me a chance,” Bubak explained.
Bubak beat Seemann to the stripe with Haygood taking show honors. Zac Taylor and Brian Herbert rounded out the top five.
With a total of 54 Sprint Cars filling the pit area including 25 NCRA vs. ASCS Sooner Region entries and 29 URSS competitors, Bubak, Zach Blurton, Richardson and Haygood topped URSS heat race action before NCRA/ASCS Sooner heats went to Johnson, Martens and Bergman.
Rick Salem and Luke Cranston won the URSS “B” Mains with Cranston turning around to win the NCRA/ASCS Sooner “B” Main as well. After climbing from 12th to eighth in the URSS “A” Main, Cranston turned in Hard Charger efforts by racing from 15th to sixth in the NCRA vs. ASCS Sooner main event.
Entering the night atop ASCS Sooner point charts, Dustin Morgan struggled through a rough night. After cutting a left rear tire in heat race action, Morgan flipped violently down the frontstretch after two other cars got together at the start of the “B” Main. Morgan walked away uninjured.
Racing action at Dodge City Raceway Park continues with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Boothill Showdown next Friday and Saturday, July 4-5. Advance tickets for the World of Outlaws Boothill Showdown are available online at http://dirtcar.ticketforce.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=129 or by calling the track office at 620-225-3277.
Dodge City Raceway Park – June 28 Results
Sixth Annual Steve King Memorial:
NCRA vs. ASCS Sooner Region Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 2. 1-Ty Williams, 3. 92-Jordan Weaver, 4. 17x-Josh Baughman, 5. 8-Alex Sewell, 6. E85-Luke Cranston, 7. 17w-Harli White, 8. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 9. 10c-Jeremy Campbell.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 48-Jake Martens, 2. 81-Jon Freeman, 3. 1h-Sean McClelland, 4. 1x-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 85-Forrest Sutherland, 6. 98-J.D. Johnson, 7. 74-Zach Merritt, 8. 93-Dustin Morgan.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 2. 91-Jeff Stasa, 3. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 4. 72-Ray Seemann, 5. 33-Kris Miller, 6. 2j-Zach Blurton, 7. 20g-Jake Greider, 8. 27-Andy Shouse.
“B” Feature (10 Laps): 1. E85-Luke Cranston, 2. 85-Forrest Sutherland, 3. 98-J.D. Johnson, 4. 10c-Jeremy Campbell, 5. 2j-Zach Blurton, 6. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 7. 17w-Harli White, 8. 74-Zach Merritt, 9. 20g-Jake Greider, 10. 93-Dustin Morgan. DNS 27-Andy Shouse.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 2. 48-Jake Martens, 3. 1h-Sean McClelland, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 92-Jordan Weaver, 6. E85-Luke Cranston, 7. 91-Jeff Stasa, 8. 17x-Josh Baughman, 9. 1x-Tony Bruce, Jr., 10. 72-Ray Seemann, 11. 8-Alex Sewell, 12. 81-Jon Freeman, 13. 10c-Jeremy Campbell, 14. 17w-Harli White, 15. 98-J.D. Johnson, 16. 33-Kris Miller, 17. 85-Forrest Sutherland, 18. 23-Seth Bergman, 19. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 20. 2j-Zach Blurton.
URSS Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Jake Bubak, 2. 86-Zac Taylor, 3. 85-Ray Seemann, 4. 16k-Kaden Taylor 5. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 6. 83-Austin McLean, 7. 11-Keefe Hemel, 8. 1x-Cody Lampe.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2J-Zach Blurton, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 911-Rick Salem, 4. 95-Gavin Stout, 5. 24-Kade Hagans, 6. 77-Cody Caldwell, 7. 50-Jed Werner.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 0-Steven Richardson, 2. 30c-Barry Crane, 3. 49-Kris Moore, 4. 9d-Lance Davis, 5. 20-Luke Cranston, 6. 33-Koby Walters, 7. 11k-Tyler Knight.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 1-Nick Haygood, 2. 98-J.D. Johnson, 3. 80-Jerry Caldwell, 4. 51-Josh Fairbank, 5. 12d-Steve Dalton, 6. 51r-Ross Essenborg, 7. 18-Brandon Sprott.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 911-Rick Salem, 2. 80-Jerry Caldwell, 3. 9d-Lance Davis, 4. 88j-Jeremy Huish, 5. 12d-Steve Dalton, 6. 83-Austin McLean, 7. 33-Koby Walters, 8. 11-Keefe Hemel, 9. 11k-Tyler Knight, 10. 1x-Cody Lampe.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 20-Luke Cranston, 2. 49-Kris Moore, 3. 51-Josh Fairbank, 4. 77-Cody Caldwell, 5. 50-Jed Werner, 6. 18-Brandon Sprott, 7. 51r-Ross Essenborg, 8. 16k-Kaden Taylor, 9. 24-Kade Hagans.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9x-Jake Bubak, 2. 85-Ray Seemann, 3. 1-Nick Haygood, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 86-Zac Taylor, 6. 97-Brian Herbert, 7. 98-J.D. Johnson, 8. 20-Luke Cranston, 9. 49-Kris Moore, 10. 95-Gavin Stout, 11. 30c-Barry Crane, 12. 88j-Jeremy Huish, 13. 80-Jerry Caldwell, 14. 50-Jed Werner, 15. 51-Josh Fairbank, 16. 12d-Steve Dalton, 17. 2j-Zach Blurton, 18. 77-Cody Caldwell, 19. 911-Rick Salem, 20. 9d-Lance Davis (DNS).