By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

Winning a season title isn't exactly easy to do.

It takes consistency, good driving skills, the ability to avoid a wreck here and there, and a little luck at times.

That's exactly what Brian Herbert did a year ago in capturing the United Rebel Sprint Series 305 sprint car national title. And it's exactly what he's hoping to do this year to repeat as series champ.

He'll get the chance to start the season off on a good note Friday when the URSS opens its points chase at 7:30 p.m. at RPM Speedway in Hays.

"I think it will be tougher this year," said Herbert, who edged Utica's Jon Johnson for the title by only 30 points and Jetmore's Ray Seemann by 34. "Ray Seemann is going to run hot and heavy to win it this year, and anytime you try to repeat, you put more pressure on yourself. ... I'm probably going to put more pressure on myself to win it. It's not going to be easy this year because (the series) is going to be even better."

Herbert, from Dodge City, won five races a year ago, including two of the first four. That set the tone for his solid season.

This year, a driver's best 25 finishes will count toward his point total. URSS founder Rick Salem did away with the four divisions of the traveling series.

"We're going to try to (repeat)," Herbert said. "Rick has got the 25-race deal, and we're going to make at least 25 of them. We're going to try to run all of the Dodge City shows and run a few 360 shows. We'll probably try to run at least 30 in case we have a bad night."

Herbert didn't have the best of luck in Hays last year. He flipped his car in the URSS debut at RPM in 2008 and had other issues at times in the other three races.

"We had two bad ones last year, and they both came at Hays," he said. "We haven't run well there."

One driver who had success at RPM was Quinter's C.J. Johnson. Johnson won all four races at RPM in 2008, including the inaugural Wheatshocker Rebel Nationals in July that pocketed him $2,000 -- the largest payout for the URSS.

"If we have a year like we had last year with the Rebels, it won't be too bad," said Johnson, who will split time again between the URSS 305 and 360 NCRA series. "I joked with the guys that I had to drive clear to Missouri this year to get beat. I told everyone last year the odds eventually would be stacked against me."

Johnson won a series-high 13 races in 2008, including a sweep of the five races during the URSS Speedweek.

But Johnson didn't win his first race this season. Instead, he spun trying to get around a lap car at the URSS Challenge at LaMonte (Mo.) Raceway on April 4 and rallied back to finish fourth.

"I thought it looked like rain was moving in and they were going to call the race," Johnson said. "I came up on a lap car ... and got a little impatient."

Dodge City's Keefe Hemel had a solid run at LaMonte Raceway, finishing second to Cody Salem. He battled through bad luck a year ago and hopes it doesn't show its head again.

"It's a new year," said Hemel, who finished 15th in national points in 2008. "It can't be any worse than last year. I hate to say that, because it can, I guess. But it would be tough to be as rough as last year."

Hemel knows this year will be a real challenge with such a talented cast of drivers.

"From when it first started, there's definitely a lot more competition than there was," he said. "Sometimes it's the set-up, and sometimes it's the way you drive the car. But it will be tough. Brian had such a good year and has something to show for it. And C.J. is a great driver and can go out and win every time. And there's a lot of other good drivers out there, too."