David Gravel celebrates his win at Lake Ozark Speedway's Jason Johnson Classic with Debra Johnson Saturday (Mark Funderburk Racing Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
10/19/19
Lake Ozark Speedway
Eldon, MO
Jason Johnson Classic
28 WoO
19 POWRi Racesaver 305’s
WoO
Fourteen drivers registered times under Spencer Bayston’s year old track record of 11.351 seconds. Jason Sides (19th car out to time) set the new track record at 11.111 seconds. Kraig Kinser (10th car out) was second quick, followed by Sheldon Haudenschild (28th), Jacob Allen (18th), Brian Brown (12th), Ian Madsen (1st), Cale Thomas (15th), Donny Schatz (5th), David Gravel (11th) and Skylar Gee (20th). All day off and on rain showers and cool temperatures set up a super-heavy track. Humidity added vapor trails and moisture all night long.
Heat one (started): 1. Sides 7s (1) 2. Gee 99 (4) 3. Allen 1a (2) 4. Terry McCarl 4 (6) 5. Carson Macedo 2 (5) 6. Thomas 91 (3) / 7. Ayrton Gennetten 3 (9) 8. Kyle Bellm 14K (7) 9. Skylar Hunter 7w (10) 10. Colin Smith o5 (8)
10-lap heats took the top two to the Dash and the top six to the feature. Sides led wire to wire. Gee got a good start around Allen and took second. McCarl claimed fourth by the end of the first lap.
Heat two (started): 1. Brown 21 (2) 2. Kinser 11K (1) 3. Daryn Pittman 83 (4) 4. Logan Schuchart 1s (6) 5. Schatz 15 (3) 6. Matt Juhl 09 (5) / 7. Mason Daniel 33m (7) 8. Greg Wilson w20 (9) 9. Bill Balog 17B (8)
The fast track didn’t allow for much passing. Moves were made on the first lap, with Schuchart getting the biggest jump. Balog stumbled over the cushion but saved it and continued on early.
Heat three (started): 1. Gravel 41 (3) 2. Haudenschild 17 (1) 3. I. Madsen 18 (2) 4. Brad Sweet 49 (4) 5. Brent Marks 19 (5) 6. Kerry Madsen 2m (6) / 7. Shane Stewart 5 (7) 8. Wayne Johnson 2c (8) 9. Cody Ledger 35L (9)
Ian Madsen was penalized for jumping from the pole. That set Gravel up outside row one and he never looked back, holding off Haudenschild for the win.
Dash (started): 1. Sides (1) 2. Haudenschild (4) 3. Brown (3) 4. Gravel (5) 5. Kinser (2) 6. Gee (6)
The 8-lap Dash set the top six starting spots for the feature. Sides kept his sweep hopes alive by leading every lap. Kinser got high and tight early and lost a few spots. Gravel passed him for fourth on lap three. Haudenschild was all over Sides for the lead, but couldn’t find a way around him on a still fast and narrow track.
B main (started): 1. Stewart (3) 2. Balog (4) 3. Daniel (2) 4. Bellm (1) 5. Wilson (8) 6. W. Johnson (5) / 7. Gennetten (7) 8. Ledger (9) 9. Hunter (10) 10. Smith (6)
Smith appeared to be penalized a row to start in the 12-lapper. Bellm was penalized a row from the pole for jumping the start. Johnson was running fifth when he got over the tall cushion in turn four and lost two spots. Gennetten briefly took the sixth and final transfer spot from him, but the veteran reclaimed it at the halfway point.
A main (started): 1. Gravel (4) 2. Haudenschild (2) 3. Schuchart (11) 4. Sweet (12) 5. Pittman (8) 6. Sides (1) 7. Kinser (5) 8. Schatz (14) 9. Stewart (19) 10. Marks (15) 11. K. Madsen (18) 12. Balog (20) 13 I. Madsen (9) 14. Macedo (13) 15. McCarl (10) 16. Thomas (16) 17. Allen (7) 18. Daniel (21) 19. Gee (6) 20. Brown (3) 21. Juhl (17) 22. Bellm (22) 23. W. Johnson (24) 24. Wilson (23)
The Jason Johnson Racing cars that won the 2016 Knoxville Nationals (Jason Johnson) and 2019 Knoxville Nationals (David Gravel) paced the field for the 41-lapper. Sides got out to the early lead over Haudenschild and Brown. Gravel took third on lap two, and the leaders were in lapped traffic on lap seven. As traffic got heavy on lap eight, Gravel used the low side to shoot by both Haudcnschild and Sides for the lead. Haudenschild emerged in second. He tailed Gravel in traffic and used the high side to take the lead on lap 14, before Juhl tipped over. Haudenschild took the inside line on the double-file restart ahead of Gravel, Sides, Brown and Gee. Gee moved into fourth. A few laps later, Brown slowed with ignition issues, surrendering his good run. Haudenschild had the inside line again on the restart, ahead of Gravel, Sides, Gee and Pittman. Pittman grabbed second this time. The leaders were back in lapped traffic on lap 24 before Gee came to a stop after a good run and brought out another caution. Gravel used this restart to shoot back into the lead. Pittman took third and Schuchart moved up to fourth. Lapped traffic was again a factor on lap 32. Three laps later, Macedo and Schatz contacted. Macedo spun. K. Madsen clipped him, but continued on. Gravel would lead the rest of the way to the popular win for his team. Stewart was the hard-charger. A race within a race occurred between K. Madsen and Balog. K. Madsen would take the season-long Midwest Thunder Sprints Series presented by OpenWheel101.com title (his third in a row) by staying one spot in front of Balog. K. Madsen netted $2,000 for his title, while Balog took home $1,000. Brown netted $550 for third.
POWRi Racesaver 305’s
Heat one (started): 1. Kenny Potter 55 (2) 2. Michael Stien 24 (4) 3. Tim Fricke 43MB (6) 4. Weston Miller 16w (9) 5. Danny Merrell 41 (3) 6. Kaitlyn Boland 15K (1) 7. Austin Couch 38 (5)
Heats were 8 laps in distance, and passing points set up the feature. K. Potter led the distance on a fast track. Fricke did well to shoot up to third on the first lap. W. Miller came from the tail to fourth by the second lap.
Heat two (started): 1. Jett Carney 6J (1) 2. Jason Howell o5 (3) 3. Junior Jenkins 23 (4) 4. Jordan Welch 23J (6) 5. Garret Williamson 1 (5) 6. Scott Walton 6 (2)
Carney led the distance in a mostly single-file event.
Heat three (started): 1. Jack Potter 15 (4) 2. J Kinder 88 (1) 3. Mike Moore 69 (5) 4. Nicholas Rasa 26B (3) 5. Matt Fair 00 (2) 6. Jordan Miller 7 (6)
Kinder led early on, but J. Potter was all over him. Potter would snag the lead at the halfway point after a great battle.
A main (started): 1. J. Potter (1) 2. K. Potter (2) 3. Stien (3) 4. Moore (7) 5. Welch (11) 6. Kinder (9) 7. Williamson (13) 8. W. Miller (8) 9. Jenkins (10) 10. Merrell (14) 11. Fair (15) 12. Walton (17) 13. Carney (5) 14. Couch (16) 15. Boland (18) 16. J. Miller (19) 17. Fricke (4) 18. Howell (6) 19. Rasa (12)
The 20-lap feature was shortened to 15 after several stoppages. J. Potter led the distance ahead of teammate K. Potter. On lap four, Moore conducted a slide job gone bad, sending Fricke into the wall in a battle for fourth. Fricke was taken in for observation. Howell spun on the restart, collecting Rasa, who tipped over. Both were o.k., but done. Boland spun on that restart, before things got going. The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap seven. Carney passed Moore for fourth on lap 11. Two laps later, the lapped car of Boland came down in front of Carney clipping his right front. Both cars tipped over, and drivers were o.k. J. Potter won the two-lap Dash to the finish. Welch was the hard-charger.