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C.J. Johnson wins first night of Wheatshocker Nationals
By NICK SCHWIEN
nschwien@dailynews.net
Believing you have a good car is one thing.
Backing up that thought is another.
But C.J. Johnson did just that Saturday night in the first day of the inaugural Wheatshocker Rebel Nationals at RPM Speedway in Hays.
“I felt like after the heat race, we had a pretty good car,” Johnson said. “But I got out to the lead early in it and wasn’t for sure how good it was.”
It was as good as it could get during the United Rebel Sprint Series 305 event, which featured 39 cars checking in — one of the largest sprint car events western Kansas has seen in years.
Johnson bolted to the front in his heat race en route to the win. But it wasn't nearly as easy in the feature.
The Quinter driver started inside the fifth row. He then made his way through the traffic to take the top spot, building a sizable lead on Paul Flynn and Ray Seemann.
But the caution flag flew with five laps to go, bunching up the field.
Johnson knew Flynn, who was running second and nursing a fading engine, and Seemann were going to try anything they could to get past him when the green flag flew.
“Any time on a restart, he's going to go for it,” Johnson said. “No matter if you were leading by a half of a lap or he was right on your bumper, he's going to try everything to get around you.”
The only problem was Flynn only was running on seven cylinders, and it took Seemann some time to get around Flynn.
“I couldn’t get going on the restarts,” Flynn said.
“If a lapped car slowed him up, maybe” I would have had a chance, Seemann said about catching Johnson. “But really, I was just hoping for it to get over with.”
By the time Seemann moved to second, Johnson distanced himself once again, eventually cruising to the win — his second in as many races this season at RPM.
Johnson’s victory might have been a bit of a surprise. He wasn’t even expected to compete in the 305 show Saturday night. Instead, he was going to race in the NCRA 360 show at 81 Speedway near Wichita.
But that race was rained out, allowing Johnson to turn around his rig and venture back to Hays.
Johnson — along with the top 10 finishers — automatically qualified for today’s 7:30 p.m. feature. The winner of that race will pocket $2,000 — the highest purse in URSS history.
Johnson, who will start inside the fifth row in tonight’s feature, said he was glad the 360 show got rained out.
“I was,” he said. “That way, the best I could have started (today) was 11th, and that was only if I would have won a B main. This way, hopefully things will go better.”
Others automatically qualifying for tonight’s feature included Seemann, Flynn, Patrick Bourke, Jon Johnson, Justin Schwien, Randy Washburn, Taylor Milton, Kirby Hagans and Brian Herbert.
nschwien@dailynews.net
Believing you have a good car is one thing.
Backing up that thought is another.
But C.J. Johnson did just that Saturday night in the first day of the inaugural Wheatshocker Rebel Nationals at RPM Speedway in Hays.
“I felt like after the heat race, we had a pretty good car,” Johnson said. “But I got out to the lead early in it and wasn’t for sure how good it was.”
It was as good as it could get during the United Rebel Sprint Series 305 event, which featured 39 cars checking in — one of the largest sprint car events western Kansas has seen in years.
Johnson bolted to the front in his heat race en route to the win. But it wasn't nearly as easy in the feature.
The Quinter driver started inside the fifth row. He then made his way through the traffic to take the top spot, building a sizable lead on Paul Flynn and Ray Seemann.
But the caution flag flew with five laps to go, bunching up the field.
Johnson knew Flynn, who was running second and nursing a fading engine, and Seemann were going to try anything they could to get past him when the green flag flew.
“Any time on a restart, he's going to go for it,” Johnson said. “No matter if you were leading by a half of a lap or he was right on your bumper, he's going to try everything to get around you.”
The only problem was Flynn only was running on seven cylinders, and it took Seemann some time to get around Flynn.
“I couldn’t get going on the restarts,” Flynn said.
“If a lapped car slowed him up, maybe” I would have had a chance, Seemann said about catching Johnson. “But really, I was just hoping for it to get over with.”
By the time Seemann moved to second, Johnson distanced himself once again, eventually cruising to the win — his second in as many races this season at RPM.
Johnson’s victory might have been a bit of a surprise. He wasn’t even expected to compete in the 305 show Saturday night. Instead, he was going to race in the NCRA 360 show at 81 Speedway near Wichita.
But that race was rained out, allowing Johnson to turn around his rig and venture back to Hays.
Johnson — along with the top 10 finishers — automatically qualified for today’s 7:30 p.m. feature. The winner of that race will pocket $2,000 — the highest purse in URSS history.
Johnson, who will start inside the fifth row in tonight’s feature, said he was glad the 360 show got rained out.
“I was,” he said. “That way, the best I could have started (today) was 11th, and that was only if I would have won a B main. This way, hopefully things will go better.”
Others automatically qualifying for tonight’s feature included Seemann, Flynn, Patrick Bourke, Jon Johnson, Justin Schwien, Randy Washburn, Taylor Milton, Kirby Hagans and Brian Herbert.
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