BELGRADE, Mont. (July 8, 2017) – Riding a wave of momentum into Saturday’s finale of the Grizzly Nationals at Gallatin Speedway, Oklahoma’s Wayne Johnson completed the weekend sweep with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much this team needed this weekend. Ever since we figured out what was wrong with our car, this thing is back to working like it should,” said Johnson of his 50th career National Tour score.
Gridding the lineup fourth, Johnson nearly saw his night end in the first two turns as Kelly Miller shoved up the track. Able to recover and gain momentum, Johnson began picking his way toward the front as Aaron Reutzel and Giovanni Scelzi battled for the lead with the 15 year old of Californian taking the point on Lap 4.
Working past Reutzel on the fifth rotation for second, the caution displayed working Lap 7 for Chauncey Filler who spun to a stop off the fourth turn.
Back to green, Scelzi was in full command as the BDS Motorsports No. 1 pulled the field by a straightaway before hitting traffic at the race’s mid-point. Closing the gap to just a few car lengths, Wayne watched and waited for the chance to make a move.
“Once we got into traffic, I just bided my time and watched to see what Gio was going to do. I knew he was going to be tough to pass,” commented Johnson.
Caught behind the No. 37 of Trever Kirkland going into the third and fourth turn, Scelzi tried to roll the middle as Johnson shot the low side to make the battle three wide with the advantage to Wayne on Lap 17.
Asked about the race with Scelzi for the lead, Johnson replied, “I just have to say, what a hell of a racer. This only being his second night in that car, he did a great job. He just made a little mistake in traffic, and that was the only chance I had. The bottom was better there towards the end and our car was better on the long run, but hats off to my team. They’re doing a heck of a job and like I said, the kid that run second, I think he’s 15 years old, and I’m telling you, his name is going to be in this sport for a long time.”
Able to use slower traffic to keep Scelzi at bay, Johnson crossed under the checkered flag with a 0.771 second advantage. Coming up from ninth, Blake Hahn put his Griffith Truck and Equipment No. 52 on the final podium step. After leading the first three laps, Aaron Reutzel held on to finish fourth with Matt Covington making the top-five.
Kelly Miller ended up sixth with Seth Bergman seventh. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. followed in eighth with Skylar Gee and Johnny Herrera filling in the top-ten.
A field of 33 returned for the second night of the Grizzly Nationals. Four Heats were topped by Blake Hahn, David Hoiness, Johnny Herrera, and Sam Hafertepe, Jr. The night’s B-Main went to Harli White. No provisional starts were used.
Up next of for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is the Rushmore Rumble at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D. on Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 dates across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
ASCS Frontier Region
Gallatin Speedway – Belgrade, Mont.
2nd annual Grizzly Nationals
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Car Count: 33
Event Count: 34
Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn, [2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington, [7]; 3. 74-Chauncey Filler, [3]; 4. 77-Damon McCune, [5]; 5. 75-D.J. Brink, [8]; 6. 33-Robert DeHaan, [6]; 7. 66-Lany Reber, [1]; 8. 00-Roger Cummings, [4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27DD-David Hoiness, [3]; 2. 77M-Nate Maxwell, [2]; 3. 11-Mindy McCord, [1]; 4. 37-Trever Kirkland, [4]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown, [6]; 6. 8X-Randy Dolberg, [5]; 7. 33X-Lance DeHaan, [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, [5]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [7]; 4. 24M-Rich Martin, [2]; 5. 21-Ryder Olson, [3]; 6. 2-Shad Petersen, [4]; 7. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth, [6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [2]; 2. 1B-Bill Boyce, [1]; 3. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 4. 0J-Jeremy McCune, [7]; 5. 35M-Cody Masse, [5]; 6. 14-Ben Holmberg, [6]; 7. 7-Mike Sires, [4]
BMRS B-Features (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [1]; 2. 77-Damon McCune, [2]; 3. 35M-Cody Masse, [7]; 4. 37-Trever Kirkland, [4]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown, [5]; 6. 24M-Rich Martin, [6]; 7. 21-Ryder Olson, [8]; 8. 8X-Randy Dolberg, [11]; 9. 33-Robert DeHaan, [9]; 10. 00-Roger Cummings, [17]; 11. 11-Mindy McCord, [3]; 12. 14-Ben Holmberg, [10]; 13. 33X-Lance DeHaan, [13]; 14. 2-Shad Petersen, [12]; 15. (DNF) 66-Lany Reber, [16]; 16. (DNF) 7-Mike Sires, [15]; 17. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth, [14]
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [4]; 2. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [3]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [9]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [1]; 5. 95-Matt Covington, [7]; 6. 2JR-Kelly Miller, [2]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman, [8]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [10]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, [6]; 10. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [11]; 11. 75-D.J. Brink, [15]; 12. 27DD-David Hoiness, [5]; 13. 17W-Harli White, [17]; 14. 38B-Bryan Brown, [21]; 15. 0J-Jeremy McCune, [12]; 16. 1B-Bill Boyce, [14]; 17. 37-Trever Kirkland, [20]; 18. 35M-Cody Masse, [19]; 19. 24M-Rich Martin, [22]; 20. 77M-Nate Maxwell, [13]; 21. (DNF) 74-Chauncey Filler, [16]; 22. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune, [18]
Lap Leader(s): Aaron Reutzel 1-3; Giovanni Scelzi 4-16; Wayne Johnson 17-25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Bryan Brown +7
FSR High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): N/A