Bacon Best of Lucas Oil ASCS in Cottage Grove Nationals Finale! By: Lonnie Wheatley - 7/25/2010
Lonnie Wheatley, COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (July 24, 2010) – Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon put a quick stop to Jason Johnson’s three-race winning streak by charging to victory lane in Saturday night’s 35-lap Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters main event at Cottage Grove Speedway.
The 20-year-old from Broken Arrow, OK, gunned into the lead at the outset and led the entire distance on the ¼-mile clay oval, taking the $6,000 triumph with a handful of lapped cars and nearly a half-lap between himself and runner-up Seth Bergman at the checkered flag.
“That’s the way I like ‘em,” Bacon commented upon climbing from Mike and Megan Eubanks’ Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X in victory lane for the fourth time this season in Lucas Oil National competition.
Icing on the cake for Bacon was the fact that both Johnson and Shane Stewart, the two drivers who entered the night ahead of him in the $60,000 championship points chase, encountered feature troubles and posted finishes of 24th and 26th, respectively.
“I was about 100 points ahead of Jason at one time and then I got 100 behind him, the way this point system is you can gain a lot of ground or lose a lot in a hurry,” Bacon explained after shaving 62 points off the 115-point advantage Johnson had on him entering the night. Bacon also leap-frogged Stewart for second in points and sits just 53 markers behind Johnson entering next Friday night’s series debut at LA Raceway in La Monte, MO.
“Right now I’ll just take the $6,000 for tonight, there’s still a long way to go to that $60,000 at the end of the year,” Bacon commented.
Starting from the pole position, Bacon outgunned Bergman for the lead at the drop of the green flag and paced the early circuits in front of Bergman, Johnson and Stewart. Johnson slid past Bergman for second in turn two on the fifth lap, with Bacon reaching traffic the next time around.
Bacon worked the low side to perfection, putting five lapped cars between himself and Johnson by the time the caution flew after 13 laps for Matt Covington, who slowed with a cut right rear tire. While Covington rejoined the chase, Stewart ducked pitside with a broken heim in the front end and was unable to make repairs in time to rejoin the action.
While Bacon was blistering the field in the early laps, 10th-starter Jayme Barnes was the man on the move by climbing to third right behind Johnson by the time the caution flew.
With Bacon cruising out front when action resumed, Barnes battled past Johnson for second on the 16th lap only to get loose in turn two a lap later and collect the “Ragin’ Cajun”, who did a quick endo. Barnes retired for the night with front end damage, while Johnson rejoined the field at the tail after cursory repairs.
While the action was slowed another pair of times after 23 and then 30 laps, including a late spin by Johnson after losing a lap to the leader, Bacon was unchallenged as seven to eight lapped cars separated him from the runner-up duel between Bergman and Zach Chappell on each restart.
Bacon took the checkered flag with ample breathing room, while Bergman ranked as the top-finishing ASCS Northwest rep for the second night in a row with a runner-up finish aboard the Wesmar-powered Corridor Electric No. 23 Eagle.
Chappell, the 2001 series champion from Talala, OK, rebounded from a shaky Friday night outing to take show honors aboard the Wesmar-powered Legends Bar-B-Que No. 50z Maxim.
Washington’s Henry Van Dam posted a career best ASCS National finish of fourth after starting ninth in the No. 33v entry, with leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Hirst of Loomis, CA, advancing a half-dozen positions to round out the top five in Gary Perkins’ Shark-powered GP Development No. 6 A.R.T.
Three-time Cottage Grove Speedway track champion Billy Nutter was sixth, with Nebraska’s Jack Dover earning Hard Charger honors by racing from 20th to seventh.
Danny Wood climbed from 14th to eighth, with Jason Solwold and 16th-starting Rookie of the Year contender Dustin Morgan completing the top ten.
After utilizing a promoter’s option to start the main event for money only but no additional points, current ASCS Northwest points leader Roger Crockett was the first car one lap off the lead pace in 15th. Crockett’s night soured when a fuel line came off in heat race action. He was then unable to earn a top-three transfer position from “B” Main competition.
Nutter, Chappell, Barnes and Hirst topped Saturday night’s heat race action, with 14-year-old Trey Starks and Crawley winning the “B” Mains.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Cottage Grove Speedway Saturday Finale Results:
Locked in from Friday Night’s Preliminary Feature:
Note: Austen Wheatley and Justyn Cox both utilized their first provisionals of the year to start the main event. Roger Crockett and Mitch Olson both utilized Promoter’s Option Provisionals to start the main event for added money only, no additional points.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Points (Top 20): 1. Jason Johnson 1,791, 2. Brady Bacon 1,738, 3. Shane Stewart 1,716, 4. Jack Dover 1,656, 5. Tim Crawley 1,561, 6. Zach Chappell 1,560, 7. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,550, 8. Danny Wood 1,532, 9. Kyle Hirst 1,507, 10. Ricky Logan 1,445, 11. Matt Covington 1,390, 12. Channin Tankersley 1,217, 13. Darren Long 1,211, 14. Dustin Morgan 1,190, 15. (tie) Austen Wheatley and Travis Rilat 1,152, 17. Justyn Cox 1,150, 18. Gary Wright 911, 19. Andrew Marshala 823, 20. Johnny Herrera 501.
ASCS Northwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Roger Crockett 1,550, 2. Jason Solwold 1,530, 3. Mitch Olson 1,440, 4. Seth Bergman 1,437, 5. Jayme Barnes 1,412, 6. Henry Van Dam 1,388, 7. Trey Starks 1,217, 8. Garen Linder 1,162, 9. T.J. Hartman 1,147, 10. Steven Tiner 1,138.
Jason Johnson Scores Lucas Oil ASCS Three-Peat with Cottage Grove Prelim Win By: Lonnie Wheatley - 7/24/2010
Lonnie Wheatley, COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. (July 23, 2010) – Jason Johnson extended his mastery of the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters swing through the Northwest by wiring the field in Friday night’s 30-lap preliminary main event at Cottage Grove Speedway for his third win in a row.
“The Ragin’ Cajun” gunned into the lead at the outset and led all the way aboard the JJR Don Ott-powered Haynes/Pope Transportation No. 41 Maxim for his fourth series win of the year and 47th career ASCS National triumph.
Perhaps more importantly, the Eunice, LA, native extended his lead in the $60,000 championship points race to 73 markers over reigning series champion Shane Stewart, who was shuffled to back to fourth behind Brady Bacon and Seth Bergman in Friday night’s final circuits. Bacon, Bergman and Stewart locked into Saturday night’s $6,000-to-win main event along with Johnson.
“I can’t say enough about these guys,” Johnson commented of his pit crew in victory lane. “They’re giving me such a great car right now, it’s been like driving a Cadillac the last three nights.”
Originally slated to start the feature inside the second row, Johnson moved up to the pole position when originally scheduled pole starter Shane Forte was forced to scratch from the main event with a bent valve.
It made for 30 laps of chasing Johnson for the rest of the feature field, as he outgunned Bergman for the lead at the drop of the green and worked the ¼-mile oval at a pace that nobody else could match.
Johnson weathered a pair of cautions in the opening seven rounds for 17-year-olds Mack Brown and Logan Forler, who both stopped in turn four, and then one last caution with just three laps to go before capturing the checkered flag.
Following Forler’s stop after seven laps, Johnson reached traffic in just four rounds and then spent the next 16 circuits maneuvering through lapped traffic well ahead of the likes of Bergman, Bacon, Shane Stewart and Kyle Hirst, who all engaged in a fierce battle for position.
When the race’s final caution flew with just three laps remaining for current ASCS Northwest points leader Roger Crockett, who cut a tire while battling for fifth and rolled to a stop in turn two, Johnson had a handful of cars between himself and his closest chasers and cruised to the stripe unabated.
After battling for the runner-up position with Stewart over much of the middle portion of the race, 20-year-old Bacon snared the spot on the 24th round and then survived the late scramble in traffic to secure second place in Mike and Megan Eubanks’ Wesmar-powered Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X.
“Me and Shane and Bergman got kinda bottled up there behind some lapped cars and they weren’t being very courteous with us so we were kinda having to move ‘em a little bit,” Bacon explained of the frantic final laps. “Jason got away and got some lapped cars between us, so we weren’t gonna get him. We’re happy with second and getting locked in for tomorrow night.”
After holding down second place over the opening nine rounds before slipping off the top of turn four and falling back several positions, ASCS Northwest shoe Bergman battled back into the show position over the final circuits aboard the Wesmar-powered Corridor Electric No. 23 Eagle.
“The guys gave me a car to win tonight and I screwed up and drove off the racetrack, I had to get it in high gear there and get back up there,” Bergman explained after bouncing back from a rough Grays Harbor double the previous weekend.
Stewart held on for the fourth and final lock-in position aboard Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rock Star Energy Drink No. 57 A.R.T., with Jason Solwold battling past Hirst in the final rounds to round out the top five aboard the No. 39c.
Tony Bruce, Jr., crossed the stripe in sixth, with Tim Crawley in seventh. Hirst slipped from fifth to eighth in the final three circuits, with 16th-starter Danny Wood and Jack Dover completing the top ten.
Bruce, Jr., Stewart, Channin Tankersley and Forte topped heat race action for the 38-car field, with Matt Covington and Jayme Barnes winning the twin “B” Main.
The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters Second Annual stop at Cottage Grove Speedway concludes with Saturday night’s $6,000-to-win event, which gets under way at 6:45 p.m.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
Cottage Grove Speedway Friday Results:
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to 2 "B" Mains):
