C J Johnson Sweeps the URSS Wheatshocker Rebel Nationals

The stage was set for a battle royal and for the second straight night the fans in the packed Grandstand saw a show that would leave them standing and cheering for their favorite drivers lap after lap.  Thirty-Eight Drivers checked in for the second night of racing, with only ten available positions for the $2,000 to win Feature it was time to put the pedal to the metal. When the dust settled, second generation Racer C. J. Johnson made it a clean sweep as he picked up the win at the Inaugural “Wheatshocker Rebel Nationals.”

Jetmore Kansas’ Randy Washburn led the field to the green as the pack headed into turn two Washburn spun after contact with Paul Flynn to bring out the caution. On the restart Mike Woodruff jumped to the lead with Taylor Velasquez, C J Johnson, Ray Seemann and Brian Herbert rounding out the top five. Flynn who restarted in the 19^th spot was on a mission to get back to the front as he made his way to the thirteenth position at the end of lap one. Woodruff held the lead as Johnson followed in the tire tracks as the twenty-car field all searched the track for the line, with side-by-side action throughout the field. Flynn sliced his way through the field to the eighth spot by lap four to put pressure on Jon Johnson for the seventh spot.

Patrick Bourke made his presence known as he pressured Flynn for the sixth spot and took the position on lap ten. Upfront Johnson, Velasquez and Seemann were all in Woodruff’s tire tracks as they battled for positions two through four. Lap seventeen saw the leader Woodruff starting to encounter lapped traffic, Johnson used a lapped car to take the lead on lap seventeen relegating Woodruff to the runner up spot. Lap nineteen saw fifth place Herbert pull off track ending his bid for the night. Velasquez, Seemann and Flynn were locked in a heated battle for position for several laps as they wove their way through traffic. Lap twenty-one saw Flynn make the pass for the fifth spot and set his sights on Velasquez.

Johnson lengthened his lead putting several lapped cars between himself and Woodruff by lap 25 and looked like he would pull away easily for the win. But as luck would have it the caution would wave on lap twenty-six and once again bunch up the field. On the restart Johnson took the lead with Woodruff hot on his heels. Johnson used the high line in turns one and two and hugged the bottom in turns three and four to his advantage to hold of the challenges from Woodruff. Jon Johnson quietly worked his way up to the front as he came to challenge Seemann and Flynn for position. Johnson made the pass on Seemann to grab the fifth spot on lap twenty-eight. Johnson quickly set to work on fourth place Flynn and took the spot on lap twenty-nine.

Woodruff tried using the same line that C J was using but couldn’t make his car work as he made his challenge for the lead as the white flag came out, Seemann and Flynn were locked in a drag race for the fifth position. When the checkers flew it was C J Johnson completing the sweep with Woodruff, Velasquez, Jon Johnson and Seemann rounding out the top five.  

The Weld Racing Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to C J Johnson who came from his ninth place staring spot to take the win.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels “B-Main Award” went to Smokey Fairbank who finished tenth in the A-Main.

Heat Race winners were Bill Hays, Keefe Hemel, Cody Salem and Barry Crane.

A-Main: 1-C J Johnson (45X), 2-Mike Woodruff (83X), 3-Taylor Velasquez (21), 4-Jon Johnson (86), 5-Ray Seemann (72), 6-Paul Flynn (92), 7-Taylor Milton (91X), 8-Patrick Bourke (27), 9-Keefe Hemel (11), 10-Smokey Fairbank, 11-Cody Salem (23), 12-Willie Wynn (36W), 13-Kris Miller (33), 14-Ty Williams (1), 15-Kasey Beckham (25), 16-Barry Crane (30C), 17-Corey Lutters (07), 18-Brian Herbert (97), 19-Randy Washburn (0T), 20-Darren Bowman (9B)

Non-Qualifier Races – Top Five to A-Main

Non-Qualifier #1

1-Smokey Fairbank, 2-Barry Crane, 3-Ty Williams, 4-Kris Miller, 5-Darren Bowman, 6-Bill Hays, 7-Darren Berry, 8-Lance Davis, 9-Reed Bernbeck, 10-Josh Fairbank, 11-John Colbert, 12-Shawn Radcliffe, 13-Michael Williams

Non-Qualifier #2

1-Kasey Beckham, 2-Keefe Hemel, 3-Cody Salem, 4-Willie Wynn, 5-Corey Lutters, 6-Ken Lutters, 7-Randy Bantam, 8-Jeff Radcliffe, 9-Tim Perkins, 10-Mike Spear, 11-Jason Stephens, 12-Greg Thyfault, 13-Justin Chaffin