From Bryan Hulbert
Greenwood, NE — (September 21, 2014) — It’s the little things that matter, and for Wayne Johnson it was a quarter turn of weight that made the difference between winning and losing on Saturday, September 20, 2014 as the Oklahoma City native captured the biggest payday of his career, and largest payout in ASCS history by winning the Durst Motorplex/Hotrod Paintless Dent Repair Double Down Back to Back $50,000 Challenge in the Casey’s General Store Midwest Fall Brawl III at the I-80 Speedway.
“I could go on and on about the people who help us on this thing,” said Wayne about the myriad of supports on the No. 77x. “There are probably 15 people who own parts on this thing — but I have to thank more than anybody my wife, and my little girl, who’s going to be seven on Friday, that doesn’t get to see her daddy that much because we travel so much.”
Gridding the field sixth, a good start shot the No. 77x to third before the red flew on the start of the second lap for Blake Hahn and Ian Madsen. Both drivers were okay. On the restart, Wayne was challenged in every corner by Jason Johnson with the No. 41 gaining the advantage on Lap 5. While battling with the No. 77x for the runner up spot, Dusty Zomer began pulling away.
Caution on Lap 7 for Brad Loyet and Thomas Kennedy, the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82x marched again away with the lead.
Red on Lap 9 for Tony Bruce, Jr. the race resumed with Brian Brown grabbing everyone’s attention. After starting eighteenth, the FVP No. 21 was already up to fifth. Hauling after Sam Hafertepe, Jr on the restart, Brown began his battle with Wayne and Jason Johnson until the cushion bit the No. 21, sending Brown flipping in turn one. Trying to avoid the crash, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and Jerrod Schneiderman’s nights ended as the pair made contact.
With the red open, the adjustment that changed the course of Wayne Johnson’s night put the No. 77x on rail on the restart. Working back around Jason Johnson on the restart, Wayne set his sights on Zomer. Working every line that the No. 82 wasn’t, there wasn’t a fan seated as Johnson made the race winning pass on Lap 24.
“I tell you what; we were in trouble before that red came out,” commented Johnson. “We really were, we were so damn tight down there and we couldn’t even turn. I knew [Brian] Brown was coming and I bounced it through the hole and like to knock the fence down, then I guess he did right behind me.”
Following the win, Phil Durst, of Durst Motorplex, awarded Wayne Johnson with an additional $1,000, bringing his overall weekend winnings to $61,150.
Working into the mix in the closing laps, twelfth starting Danny Lasoski worked past Jason Johnson and Dusty Zomer for the runner-up spot, “We weren’t quite as good as we were last night, but Mark Burch and everyone with Mark Burch Motorsports did a phenomenal job. We just ended up second and the No. 77x did a great job and they deserve to win.”
After leading the first 23 laps, Dusty Zomer grabbed the final podium step.
“We didn’t need that open red,” chuckled Zomer. “I know a couple guys were going to fine turn their car but we had a great game plan going, and it was working really well. We made some great laps there at the end but the longer the run, it seemed like I got a little bit worse, and that open red just let these guys come on but we led a lot of laps, had a lot of fun, and ended up on the front stretch both nights.”
Jason Johnson ended up fourth, cutting his deficit on Loyet from 112 to 72 going into the Hockett/McMillin Memorial. Knoxville Raceway regular, Clint Garner, grabbed fifth after starting seventeenth.
Johnny Herrera was sixth from fourteenth with Aaron Reutzel advancing nine spots to claim seventh. Jack Dover pocketed an extra $1,000 from Searsboro Telephone as the night’s Hard Charger, coming from twenty-fourth to eighth. Seth Bergman was ninth with Terry McCarl from twenty-first to complete the top ten.
A total of 48 drivers took part in the Casey’s General Store Midwest Fall Brawl III with 44 making the call on Saturday night. Five Heat Races went to Jason Martin, Jerrod Schneiderman, Tony Bruce, Jr., Seth Brahmer, and Danny Lasoski. A pair of B-Features went to Brian Brown and Clint Garner.
Blake Hahn took a points based provisional into the night’s A-Feature. As the defending champion, Jack Dover was given a promoter’s provisional.
The final night of racing for the Speedway Motors Midwest Region, Billy Alley claimed his second Regional Championship since 2005. Jack Dover ended up second with Danny Lasoski, Tyler Drueke, and Jason Martin in the top five.
The race for the 2014 Lucas Oil ASCS National Championship heads for the Lucas Oil Speedway on Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27 with the fourth annual Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial. Tickets are on sale at http://www.lucasoilspeedway.com.
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Casey’s General Store Midwest Fall Brawl III Bonuses:
$3,000 Lap Money Won: Dusty Zomer $1,350; Wayne Johnson $900; Jason Johnson
$450; Danny Lasoski $270; Jerrod Schneiderman $30
$1,000 Searsboro Telephone Hard Charger: Jack Dover
$300 Electrical Systems Podium Draw: Danny Lasoski
$250 DeBerg Concrete Fastest Lap: Clint Garner – 14.782 seconds
$250 Mike Avilla Racer Appreciation Award: Sheldon Haudenschild and Billy Alley
$100 Zeitner & Sons Trucking “First Car out of the Race”: Blake Hahn
Race Results:
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
I-80 Speedway – Greenwood, Neb.
Casey’s General Store Midwest Fall Brawl III
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Car Count: 44
Event Count: 48
SpeedMart Heat Races (8 laps): Winners plus the next 7 highest in Passing Points transfer to the A-Feature.
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5X-Jason Martin[6]; 2. 82X-Dusty Zomer[8]; 3. 77-John Klabunde[1]; 4. 17X-Josh Baughman[3]; 5. 18R-Ryan Roberts[5]; 6. 82-Jason Danley[4]; 7. 24BH-Justin Henderson[7]; 8. (DNF) 17W-Harli White[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14S-Jarrod Schneiderman[2]; 2. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[4]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell[3]; 4. 3H-Brandon Hanks[8]; 5. 12-Tyler Drueke[5]; 6. 3-Billy Alley[7]; 7. 44K-David Kubart[1]; 8. 9N-Wade Nygaard[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 4. 17-Blake Hahn[5]; 5. 40-Clint Garner[8]; 6. 4-Stevie Smith[7]; 7. 17G-Gage Dorr[2]; 8. 99-Davey Heskin[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 13V-Seth Brahmer[1]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; 3. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[2]; 4. 6-Terry McCarl[4]; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz[5]; 6. 22-Tony Shilling[7]; 7. 53-Jack Dover[6]; 8. 2A-Randy Hibbs[8]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Danny Lasoski[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 4. 1B-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 5. 18M-Ian Madsen[8]; 6. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[6]; 7. 17WX-Jonathan Cornell[3]; 8. 23S-Stuart (Stu) Snyder[7]
Smiley’s Racing Products B-Features (12 laps): Top 3 from each advance to the A-Feature.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 40-Clint Garner[1]; 2. 94-Jeff Swindell[2]; 3. 6-Terry McCarl[5]; 4. 1B-Sheldon Haudenschild[4]; 5. 4-Stevie Smith[8]; 6. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[3]; 7. 18R-Ryan Roberts[6]; 8. 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.[9]; 9. 4J-Lee Grosz[7]; 10. 99-Davey Heskin[14]; 11. 17G-Gage Dorr[12]; 12. 44K-David Kubart[13]; 13. (DNF) 17WX-Jonathan Cornell[11]; DNS 24BH-Justin Henderson
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 17X-Josh Baughman[5]; 3. 18M-Ian Madsen[1]; 4. 17-Blake Hahn[3]; 5. 3-Billy Alley[7]; 6. 22-Tony Shilling[8]; 7. 82-Jason Danley[9]; 8. 53-Jack Dover[10]; 9. 17W-Harli White[14]; 10. 77-John Klabunde[4]; 11. 23S-Stuart (Stu) Snyder[12]; 12. (DNF) 2A-Randy Hibbs[11]; 13. (DNF) 12-Tyler Drueke[6]; DNS 9N-Wade Nygaard
Protect the Harvest A-Feature (30 Laps):.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 77X-Wayne Johnson[6]; 2. 1M-Danny Lasoski[12]; 3. 82X-Dusty Zomer[1]; 4. 41-Jason Johnson[4]; 5. 40-Clint Garner[17]; 6. 45X-Johnny Herrera[14]; 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel[16]; 8. 53-Jack Dover[24]; 9. 23-Seth Bergman[7]; 10. 6-Terry McCarl[21]; 11. 17X-Josh Baughman[20]; 12. 3H-Brandon Hanks[13]; 13. 95-Matt Covington[15]; 14. 94-Jeff Swindell[19]; 15. 5X-Jason Martin[5]; 16. 13V-Seth Brahmer[11]; 17. (DNF) 21-Brian Brown[18]; 18. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertep9e Jr[9]; 19. (DNF) 14S-Jarrod Schneiderman[2]; 20. (DNF) 18-Tony Bruce Jr[10]; 21. (DNF) 05-Brad Loyet[3]; 22. (DNF) 20K-Thomas Kennedy[8]; 23. (DNF) 18M-Ian Madsen[22]; 24. (DNF) 17-Blake Hahn[23]
Lap Leader(s): Dusty Zomer 1-24, Wayne Johnson 25-30
KSE Hard Charger: Jack Dover +16
FSR High Point: Jason Martin
Hawk Performance A-Feature Fastest Lap: Dusty Zomer – 16.226 seconds
CSI Rebound: Blake Hahn
Provisional(s): Blake Hahn (BP1), Jack Dover (PP)