Lonnie Wheatley, KANSAS CITY, Kan. (July 7, 2007) – True champions don't let a little adversity deter their pace for very long. And Gary Wright has proved that over the course of his illustrious career, collecting numerous championships along the way including three consecutive O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National crowns.
Following on the heels of a rough outing in Wednesday night's Daniel McMillin Memorial at Double X Speedway that dropped him out of the series point lead, Wright bounced right back to top the final leg of the O'Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" in a wild 25-lapper atop the ½-mile Lakeside Speedway clay oval on Saturday night.
With his eighth series triumph of the year aboard the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding/Southwest Express No. 9 Maxim, Wright climbed back into a tie for the lead in the series $50,000 championship points chase with Wayne Johnson, who finished tenth after a lap 17 flip while running second.
And to spice things up even more, Jason Johnson is just three points behind the lead duo after charging from 17th to finish second in Saturday's main event.
"I think those lapped cars just about cost me the race," Wright commented after his 114th career ASCS National Tour victory. "How close was Jason?"
Wright had more breathing room than he realized, as he took the checkered flag with four lapped cars and nearly a half straightaway advantage over "The Ragin' Cajun".
Along the way, Wright weathered three red flag periods in a turbulent event that included several front-runners encountering some sort of misfortune along the way.
The feature got under way with a pair of Nebraska racers pacing the field as defending ASCS Midwest Region champion Toby Chapman was on the pole with Mike Boston alongside.
Boston gunned into the lead as the field raced into turn one, with third-starter Wright taking second from Chapman on the second round. A lap later, seventh-starter Wayne Johnson had already made his way into third.
Wright and Wayne Johnson chased Boston until lapped traffic came into play on lap seven. Entering turn one on lap eight, Johnson executed a textbook move in traffic to charge by both Boston and Wright to snare the lead.
Johnson's move would be for naught though, as Stu Snyder flipped in turn three in grinding fashion before the field completed the eighth lap. Shaken from the vicious tumble, Snyder walked away after several minutes to recuperate.
Reverting back to the last completed lap, Boston was to be back on the point. However, Boston suffered a cut left rear tire after driving through the debris from Snyder's crash and was sent tailback after changing tires, thus handing the lead to Wright.
At the same time Snyder flipped, current ASCS Midwest Region point leader Natalie Sather backed her mount into the turn two wall and was forced pitside after running ninth. Eighth-place runner Aaron Berryhill also exited under the red flag period, with tenth-running Jason Johnson benefiting by gaining three positions under the red.
On the ensuing restart, fourth-running Travis Rilat tagged the turn two wall and flipped down the backstretch without injury. Under the red flag, third-running Chapman exited as well with brake line failure, moving Jason Johnson up to fifth.
As the green flag flew again, Wayne Johnson slid past Wright in turns one and two, but Wright quickly returned the favor exiting turn two to reclaim the lead down the backstretch. At the same time, Jason Johnson needed less than a lap to dispose of Josh Fisher and Ryan Anderson to take third.
Back in traffic by the 13th lap, Wright held the point in front of Wayne Johnson and Jason Johnson. But after taking the series point lead on Wednesday night, Wayne Johnson tripped over the inside berm entering turn one on the 17th lap and flipped his mount. He was able to rejoin the chase as the 12th and final car on the lead lap when action resumed.
With a handful of cars separating himself from Jason Johnson on the restart, Wright quickly raced out to nearly a straightaway lead. And even when he reached lapped traffic again in the final circuits, Wright masterfully navigated slower traffic to secure the win.
Jason Johnson's charge from 17th culminated with a second-place finish aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Diesel Service No. 41 Eagle. After starting 12th, Winged Outlaw Warriors kingpin Randy Martin survived the carnage to claim the show position aboard the Diamond Pet Foods No. 14 Maxim.
Rookie phenom Josh Fisher of Smithton, MO, drove the ASAP Properties/River Valley Door & Trim No. 86x Maxim to a fourth place finish, with leading O'Reilly ASCoT Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Foster Landon advancing ten positions to round out the top five aboard the Wells-powered Sooner Surplus Sales/Congressman John Sullivan No. 11F Maxim.
Iowa's Ryan Anderson and Oklahoma's Brad Best both posted their best career ASCS National Tour finishes by crossing the stripe sixth and seventh, respectively, with Mike Peters racing from 20th to eighth. Back aboard the family-owned No. 15s entry for the first time in ASCS National action since the East Bay opener in January, Nick Smith claimed ninth. Wayne Johnson recovered to complete the top ten.
Fisher, Anderson, Wright, Rilat and Boston topped heat race action for the 44-car field. Jason Johnson won the First "B" Main, with Stu Snyder making a late move past Peters to win the Second "B" Main.
O’Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" Round Four Results from Lakeside Speedway:
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to Twin "B" Mains):
Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 86x-Josh Fisher, 2. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 3. 11F-Foster Landon, 4. 51x-Mike Peters, 5. 82-Jason Danley, 6. 86k-John Kearney, 7. 96c-Jim Cameron, 8. 5ma-Mallory Armfield, 9. 18w-Chris Walker.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 2. 84-Toby Chapman, 3. 23F-Matt Fox, 4. 8b-Bobby Becker, 5. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 6. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 7. 14c-Mike Trent, 8. 17b-Jason Becker. DNS: 23-Eric Jobe.
Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 3p-Rusty Potter, 3. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 35a-Adam Main, 5. 41-Jason Johnson, 6. 2d-Stu Snyder, 7. 76-Jay Russell, 8. 04-Brad Graham, 9. 9m-Dale McCarty.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 35-Brad Best, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 72-Curtis Boyer, 5. 98-Gabe Maycock, 6. 93-Steve Mahannah, 7. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 8. 28-Chris Parkinson. DNS: 75-Tyler Blank.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 51-Mike Boston, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 59-Dex Eaton, 6. 7h-Rob Hartman, 7. 21h-Terry Hinck, 8. 21L-Mike Lefholz.
Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A” Main):
Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 84-Toby Chapman, 2. 51-Mike Boston, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 5. 29-Travis Rilat, 6. 86x-Josh Fisher.
"B" Mains (Top 3 From Each Transfer to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 4. 8b-Bobby Becker, 5. 96c-Jim Cameron, 6. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 7. 18w-Chris Walker, 8. 93-Steve Mahannah, 9. 17b-Jason Becker, 10. 98-Gabe Maycock, 11. 86k-John Kearney, 12. 76-Jay Russell, 13. 28-Chris Parkinson. DNS: 23-Eric Jobe.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 2d-Stu Snyder, 2. 51x-Mike Peters, 3. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 4. 82-Jason Danley, 5. 35a-Adam Main, 6. 14c-Mike Trent, 7. 21h-Terry Hinck, 8. 59-Dex Eaton, 9. 04-Brad Graham, 10. 7h-Rob Hartman, 11. 5ma-Mallory Armfield, 12. 9m-Dale McCarty. DNS: 21L-Mike Lefholz, 75-Tyler Blank.
O’Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" "A" Main Results from Lakeside Speedway:
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 86x-Josh Fisher, 5. 11F-Foster Landon, 6. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 7. 35-Brad Best, 8. 51x-Mike Peters, 9. 15s-Nick Smith, 10. 94-Wayne Johnson, 11. 3p-Rusty Potter, 12. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 13. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 14. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 15. 51-Mike Boston, 16. 72-Curtis Boyer, 17. 23F-Matt Fox, 18. 84-Toby Chapman, 19. 29-Travis Rilat, 20. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 21. 94s-Natalie Sather, 22. 2d-Stu Snyder, 23. 98-Gabe Maycock.
Lap Leaders: Mike Boston 1-7, Gary Wright 8-25.
Note: Gabe Maycock used a Winged Outlaw Warriors provisional to start the main event. After advancing to eighth, Maycock was disqualified following the feature event for the use of an illegal right rear tire.
O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Gary Wright and Wayne Johnson 2,944, 3. Jason Johnson 2,941, 4. Travis Rilat 2,811, 5. Foster Landon 2,526, 6. Darren Stewart 1,781, 7. Andy Shouse 1,559, 8. Chris Schmelzle 1,318, 9. Chuck Swenson 1,152, 10. Nick Smith 1,114.
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Natalie Sather 932, 2. Jason Danley 864, 3. Toby Chapman 860, 4. Chuck Swenson 779, 5. Ryan Anderson 700, 6. (tie) Mike Boston and Brian Brown 678, 8. Don Droud, Jr. 668, 9. Rick Ideus 599, 10. Seth Brahmer 502.
Following on the heels of a rough outing in Wednesday night's Daniel McMillin Memorial at Double X Speedway that dropped him out of the series point lead, Wright bounced right back to top the final leg of the O'Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" in a wild 25-lapper atop the ½-mile Lakeside Speedway clay oval on Saturday night.
With his eighth series triumph of the year aboard the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction/Whiteco Commercial Funding/Southwest Express No. 9 Maxim, Wright climbed back into a tie for the lead in the series $50,000 championship points chase with Wayne Johnson, who finished tenth after a lap 17 flip while running second.
And to spice things up even more, Jason Johnson is just three points behind the lead duo after charging from 17th to finish second in Saturday's main event.
"I think those lapped cars just about cost me the race," Wright commented after his 114th career ASCS National Tour victory. "How close was Jason?"
Wright had more breathing room than he realized, as he took the checkered flag with four lapped cars and nearly a half straightaway advantage over "The Ragin' Cajun".
Along the way, Wright weathered three red flag periods in a turbulent event that included several front-runners encountering some sort of misfortune along the way.
The feature got under way with a pair of Nebraska racers pacing the field as defending ASCS Midwest Region champion Toby Chapman was on the pole with Mike Boston alongside.
Boston gunned into the lead as the field raced into turn one, with third-starter Wright taking second from Chapman on the second round. A lap later, seventh-starter Wayne Johnson had already made his way into third.
Wright and Wayne Johnson chased Boston until lapped traffic came into play on lap seven. Entering turn one on lap eight, Johnson executed a textbook move in traffic to charge by both Boston and Wright to snare the lead.
Johnson's move would be for naught though, as Stu Snyder flipped in turn three in grinding fashion before the field completed the eighth lap. Shaken from the vicious tumble, Snyder walked away after several minutes to recuperate.
Reverting back to the last completed lap, Boston was to be back on the point. However, Boston suffered a cut left rear tire after driving through the debris from Snyder's crash and was sent tailback after changing tires, thus handing the lead to Wright.
At the same time Snyder flipped, current ASCS Midwest Region point leader Natalie Sather backed her mount into the turn two wall and was forced pitside after running ninth. Eighth-place runner Aaron Berryhill also exited under the red flag period, with tenth-running Jason Johnson benefiting by gaining three positions under the red.
On the ensuing restart, fourth-running Travis Rilat tagged the turn two wall and flipped down the backstretch without injury. Under the red flag, third-running Chapman exited as well with brake line failure, moving Jason Johnson up to fifth.
As the green flag flew again, Wayne Johnson slid past Wright in turns one and two, but Wright quickly returned the favor exiting turn two to reclaim the lead down the backstretch. At the same time, Jason Johnson needed less than a lap to dispose of Josh Fisher and Ryan Anderson to take third.
Back in traffic by the 13th lap, Wright held the point in front of Wayne Johnson and Jason Johnson. But after taking the series point lead on Wednesday night, Wayne Johnson tripped over the inside berm entering turn one on the 17th lap and flipped his mount. He was able to rejoin the chase as the 12th and final car on the lead lap when action resumed.
With a handful of cars separating himself from Jason Johnson on the restart, Wright quickly raced out to nearly a straightaway lead. And even when he reached lapped traffic again in the final circuits, Wright masterfully navigated slower traffic to secure the win.
Jason Johnson's charge from 17th culminated with a second-place finish aboard Lanny Row's Wesmar-powered The Shop Diesel Service No. 41 Eagle. After starting 12th, Winged Outlaw Warriors kingpin Randy Martin survived the carnage to claim the show position aboard the Diamond Pet Foods No. 14 Maxim.
Rookie phenom Josh Fisher of Smithton, MO, drove the ASAP Properties/River Valley Door & Trim No. 86x Maxim to a fourth place finish, with leading O'Reilly ASCoT Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Foster Landon advancing ten positions to round out the top five aboard the Wells-powered Sooner Surplus Sales/Congressman John Sullivan No. 11F Maxim.
Iowa's Ryan Anderson and Oklahoma's Brad Best both posted their best career ASCS National Tour finishes by crossing the stripe sixth and seventh, respectively, with Mike Peters racing from 20th to eighth. Back aboard the family-owned No. 15s entry for the first time in ASCS National action since the East Bay opener in January, Nick Smith claimed ninth. Wayne Johnson recovered to complete the top ten.
Fisher, Anderson, Wright, Rilat and Boston topped heat race action for the 44-car field. Jason Johnson won the First "B" Main, with Stu Snyder making a late move past Peters to win the Second "B" Main.
O’Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" Round Four Results from Lakeside Speedway:
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to Twin "B" Mains):
Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 86x-Josh Fisher, 2. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 3. 11F-Foster Landon, 4. 51x-Mike Peters, 5. 82-Jason Danley, 6. 86k-John Kearney, 7. 96c-Jim Cameron, 8. 5ma-Mallory Armfield, 9. 18w-Chris Walker.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 2. 84-Toby Chapman, 3. 23F-Matt Fox, 4. 8b-Bobby Becker, 5. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 6. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 7. 14c-Mike Trent, 8. 17b-Jason Becker. DNS: 23-Eric Jobe.
Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 3p-Rusty Potter, 3. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 4. 35a-Adam Main, 5. 41-Jason Johnson, 6. 2d-Stu Snyder, 7. 76-Jay Russell, 8. 04-Brad Graham, 9. 9m-Dale McCarty.
Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 35-Brad Best, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 72-Curtis Boyer, 5. 98-Gabe Maycock, 6. 93-Steve Mahannah, 7. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 8. 28-Chris Parkinson. DNS: 75-Tyler Blank.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 51-Mike Boston, 2. 94-Wayne Johnson, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 94s-Natalie Sather, 5. 59-Dex Eaton, 6. 7h-Rob Hartman, 7. 21h-Terry Hinck, 8. 21L-Mike Lefholz.
Pole Dash (Finishing Order Determines Front Three Rows of “A” Main):
Pole Dash (5 Laps): 1. 84-Toby Chapman, 2. 51-Mike Boston, 3. 9-Gary Wright, 4. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 5. 29-Travis Rilat, 6. 86x-Josh Fisher.
"B" Mains (Top 3 From Each Transfer to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 41-Jason Johnson, 2. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 4. 8b-Bobby Becker, 5. 96c-Jim Cameron, 6. 22J-Jasiel Randolph, 7. 18w-Chris Walker, 8. 93-Steve Mahannah, 9. 17b-Jason Becker, 10. 98-Gabe Maycock, 11. 86k-John Kearney, 12. 76-Jay Russell, 13. 28-Chris Parkinson. DNS: 23-Eric Jobe.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 2d-Stu Snyder, 2. 51x-Mike Peters, 3. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 4. 82-Jason Danley, 5. 35a-Adam Main, 6. 14c-Mike Trent, 7. 21h-Terry Hinck, 8. 59-Dex Eaton, 9. 04-Brad Graham, 10. 7h-Rob Hartman, 11. 5ma-Mallory Armfield, 12. 9m-Dale McCarty. DNS: 21L-Mike Lefholz, 75-Tyler Blank.
O’Reilly ASCoT "Show-Me Showdown" "A" Main Results from Lakeside Speedway:
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9-Gary Wright, 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 3. 14-Randy Martin, 4. 86x-Josh Fisher, 5. 11F-Foster Landon, 6. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 7. 35-Brad Best, 8. 51x-Mike Peters, 9. 15s-Nick Smith, 10. 94-Wayne Johnson, 11. 3p-Rusty Potter, 12. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 13. 86-Jesse Giannetto, 14. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 15. 51-Mike Boston, 16. 72-Curtis Boyer, 17. 23F-Matt Fox, 18. 84-Toby Chapman, 19. 29-Travis Rilat, 20. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 21. 94s-Natalie Sather, 22. 2d-Stu Snyder, 23. 98-Gabe Maycock.
Lap Leaders: Mike Boston 1-7, Gary Wright 8-25.
Note: Gabe Maycock used a Winged Outlaw Warriors provisional to start the main event. After advancing to eighth, Maycock was disqualified following the feature event for the use of an illegal right rear tire.
O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Gary Wright and Wayne Johnson 2,944, 3. Jason Johnson 2,941, 4. Travis Rilat 2,811, 5. Foster Landon 2,526, 6. Darren Stewart 1,781, 7. Andy Shouse 1,559, 8. Chris Schmelzle 1,318, 9. Chuck Swenson 1,152, 10. Nick Smith 1,114.
ASCS Midwest Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Natalie Sather 932, 2. Jason Danley 864, 3. Toby Chapman 860, 4. Chuck Swenson 779, 5. Ryan Anderson 700, 6. (tie) Mike Boston and Brian Brown 678, 8. Don Droud, Jr. 668, 9. Rick Ideus 599, 10. Seth Brahmer 502.
