One night earlier, Jason Johnson claimed sole possession of the Lucas Oil Sprint Car Dirt Series presented by K&N Filters championship points lead.
On Saturday night, the reigning series champion added an exclamation mark by emerging atop a torrid duel atop Cottage Grove Speedway’s ¼-mile clay oval for his third series win of the year aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports No. 41 Eagle.
After stalking Friday night winner Shane Stewart much of the way in the $6,000-to-win 35-lapper, Johnson slid into the lead on the 24th round and then survived an exchange with Oregon ace Roger Crockett to put the finishing touches on his 42nd career series win.
“This is tough, any time you can win one of these you know you’ve done something,” Johnson commented.
For much of the way, it looked as if Oklahoma’s Stewart may pull off the weekend sweep, as he gunned into the lead from the pole position at the drop of the green flag with Johnson in tow.
“I was just trying to keep pace with him (Stewart) over the first half of the race, I was trying to take care of my tires so we’d be good at the end,” Johnson explained.
A lap 15 caution for Chad Corken’s turn two spin gave Stewart a reprieve from the lapped traffic the leaders had been dicing through, albeit a brief one. They were back in the thick of traffic in another handful of laps, and when Shane slipped just a bit too high into the turn two cushion on the 24th lap, Johnson was quick to pounce.
“I saw the chance and had to go for it, I knew this race would probably be won or lost in lapped traffic,” Johnson added.
As Stewart struggled to regain his momentum, Crockett raced into second and immediately began pressuring Johnson for the lead. Crockett battled past to lead the 26th round, only to have Johnson charge back by on the top side a lap later.
“I should have moved up as soon as I got him,” Crockett explained afterward. “I heard him up there but it was too late then, if I’d gone up then we would have both crashed.”
Johnson then weathered a pair of cautions in the final handful of laps to take the checkered flag just ahead of Crockett’s Shaver-powered Omlid & Swinney Fire Protection & Security No. 11c KPC, with Stewart settling for the show position in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction No. 57 A.R.T.
“He’s slid us that way several times this year,” a disappointed Stewart commented of Johnson’s slide for the lead. “Of course, if I hadn’t got up there in the goonies, maybe he wouldn’t have got that shot.”
Cottage Grove’s Dale Smith defended his home turf quite nicely by nipping Tony Bruce, Jr., at the line for fourth in just his second career Lucas Oil Sprint Car feature start with Bruce settling for fifth in the Rider-powered No. 18 Maxim.
After battling up to third and knocking on the tailtanks of Crockett and Johnson with a half dozen rounds to go, one miscue in turn four relegated Wayne Johnson to sixth at the finish.
Jesse Hockett raced from 14th to seventh, with Jason Solwold in eighth. After nipping Andy Gregg at the line for the fourth and final transfer spot from the “B” Main, Gary Wright raced from 22nd to edge Paul McMahan at the stripe for ninth. McMahan completed the top ten.
Bruce, Jack Dover, McMahan and Seth Bergman won Saturday night’s heat races, with Mitch Olson winning the “B” Main.
Darren Long slipped off the top of turn four and slapped the frontstretch wall in the night’s first heat, bringing an early end to his night. Steven Tiner turned over in turn two in the “B” Main and was done for the night.
While Jason Johnson took over the Lucas Oil Sprint Car points lead over the weekend, Crockett took advantage of a tough night for both Tiner and Jared Ridge to take over the ASCS Northwest points lead.
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