By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

Domination might be the best way to describe C.J. Johnson's outings at RPM Speedway in Hays.

In his four races leading up to Friday night's event in Hays, the Quinter sprint car driver had won each race -- some rather easily.

Friday night was more of the same -- to a point -- as the United Rebel Sprint Car series opened the points season in the 305 sprint car class.

The end result was the same for Johnson, but it didn't come easy by any means.

And even Johnson was searching for the best way to describe his URSS win and perfect streak at RPM Speedway.

"Tonight, I don't know," he said after holding off a strong contingent of drivers to grab the checkered flag. "I'd say it was a lot of luck.'

He just might have had luck on his side Friday. On the first lap, Johnson -- who started on the pole -- got all sorts of sideways entering turn three. He avoided spinning completely and took a short detour through the infield and over the top of one of the buried tires lining the track before emerging back in third place.

But a caution flew shortly for a car farther back in the pack after Johnson's mishap, allowing for a complete restart.

"The track was a lot slicker than I thought," Johnson said. "I tapped the brakes, and the car came around. It caught me by total surprise, but I was able to keep going through the infield a bit and then the yellow came out."

Johnson jumped back out to the lead after the restart before Jason Martin and Barry Crane pulled within striking distance.

"The two bad things were he started on the front row, and I started in the back," said Martin, who started outside row four. "That's not a good thing. Then he kinda spun and got in the mud, and I got around him and the caution came out."

Martin and Crane didn't let Johnson exactly pull away. Both keep the leader within sight as a host of other drivers -- including defending URSS national champ Brian Herbert and national rookie of the year Taylor Milton -- made their way to the front.

But just as the pack started to pressure Johnson, the yellow flew again. Johnson got the jump on the final restart and rode the bottom line to the victory.

Herbert eventually ended up second, thanks to a late charge, while Martin was third, Crane fourth and Milton fifth.

Herbert said he was hoping for one more yellow after moving into second place.

"I'd have had a better chance," he said. "One restart, we started fourth or fifth. I would have liked to see another one, but second isn't too bad. It's nothing to complain about. But I would have liked to see a caution with about four or five to go."

Johnson finished fourth in the first heat race but started on the pole due to the URSS's points system. He and Martin, a former World of Outlaws driver, even staged a battle during hot laps -- running nearly side-by-side as the sprints helped get their cars and the track ready for the night.

Johnson said that might have played a bit into his early slide job to start the feature.

"I knew he was there. I knew he was coming," Johnson said. "I might have put more pressure on myself because of that. That might have been part of it."

Martin said he knew he had a car that was capable of winning, but it just didn't happen Friday.

"There will be some more races," Martin said. "But C.J. is pretty damn good."

Notes

* Tay Rocket: Taylor Milton won his heat race but was under the URSS weight limit when pulling across the scale. That forced the Oklahoma teen to one of the two B-mains.

Milton wasted little time in the qualifier, though. He started in the back and methodically worked his way to the front to win his B-feature by a comfortable margin.

"I was frustrated," he said. "I thought to myself, 'I have to get up there.' Then I found some moisture where I could hold it."

Milton started inside row six for the A-main and used his driving skills and a fine-tuned Myers engine to move to the front. He staged a good battle with Darren Bowman, taking the fifth spot late in the race.

* Showing the way: Defending URSS champ Brian Herbert started inside the third row and made some noise late in the race, eventually finishing second. But Herbert saw a new groove during the feature, thanks to Bowman.

"Bowman showed me the groove in three and four," Herbert said.

Herbert followed the same line on the next lap and got back around Bowman to eventually snag his best finish at RPM Speedway.

* Wild ride: La Crosse's Kirby Hagans was making a charge in his heat race before taking a nasty spill in turn three. Hagans came up on a car and looked as if the two bumped tires, sending his car bolting off the track and rolling several times. His car ended up leaning against the pit fence on the north side of the track. He was taken by private vehicle to the hospital to be checked. Video of the wreck can be seen at www.HDNews.net/racing/.

* Races canceled: The second and third nights of a three-day URSS weekend were canceled Saturday at Decatur County Speedway in Oberlin and Sunday in Lexington, Neb., due to weather.