MESQUITE, Texas — Making his 511th feature start with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, Wayne Johnson drove to his 55th career victory as the series opened its season Friday night at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Johnson grabbed the lead from Sam Hafertepe Jr. in traffic on lap 19 and piloted his No. 2c sprint car to his 10th ASCS national tour triumph at the half-mile track.
Keeping the No. 2c at bay through three cautions, traffic came into play with ten laps to go. Picking through the backmarkers, Hafertepe was hard on the brakes to avoid a car changing lines working lap 19. Stripping the No. 15h of his momentum, that opened the door for Johnson.
Shooting past the No. 15h to lead, Johnson was not out of the woods as the race for the lead tightened further, with Seth Bergman and Blake Hahn joining the battle. Keeping to the hub of the half-mile oval, Johnson was able to slip by and gain some breathing room.
Changing tactics over the final five-lap, Blake Hahn shot to the cushion. Getting around Bergman and Hafertepe for second, Blake ran up on Wayne as the white flag waved. Making one final run through the final two turns, Johnson held off the last corner charge by 0.386 seconds.
Hahn in second was followed by Hafertepe, who battled back and forth with Seth Bergman for the final podium step.
Westbrook finished four, with Dylan Westbrook fifth.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson[3]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 6. 36-Jason Martin[6]; 7. 84-Scott Bogucki[9]; 8. 09-Matt Juhl[14]; 9. 22-John Carney II[4]; 10. 1Z-Justin Zimmerman[5]; 11. 11-Roger Crockett[17]; 12. 2X-Tucker Doughty[16]; 13. 9-Chase Randall[15]; 14. 24-Garet Williamson[19]; 15. 5T-Ryan Timms[22]; 16. 7M-Chance Morton[20]; 17. 44-Chris Martin[18]; 18. 0-Eric Baldaccini[21]; 19. 1X-Tim Crawley[11]; 20. 17B-Ryan Bickett[23]; 21. 55B-Brandon Anderson[10]; 22. 95-Matt Covington[13]; 23. 50Z-Zach Chappell[12]; 24. 88-Travis Reber[24]