C J Johnson Sweeps URSS Elmwood Park Speedway Weekend

The United Rebel Sprint Series made their annual appearance at the historic half-mile Elmwood Park Speedway a memorable one as the racing action was non-stop and had the crowd on their feet both nights. The Northern and Eastern Region racers put on a show as the point races in both Regions are close and with the season winding down, every spot gained was crucial to the Racers. When the checkered flag dropped it was C J Johnson taking the hard fought victory.

Lenora, Kansas’s Cody Keiswetter led the field to the green but it was Ken Lutters who jumped into the lead. It was short lived as Holyoke Colorado ‘s Corey Koberstien jumped the cushion and did several aerobatic tumbles before coming to rest in the middle of turns one and two. Koberstien was uninjured in the single car accident but wa finished for the night. On the restart, Lutters was again jumped out to the lead followed by Keiswetter, Bill Hays, Cody Salem and Dennis Fair rounding out the top five. Salem and Hays made their way pass Keiswetter on lap three with Smokey Fairbank hot on his heels.

Lutters started to stretch his lead as Salem gave chase, Hays was being  pressured by CJ Johnson who had made his way up to the fourth spot by lap four. Fairbank used the low groove to take and third spot from Hays on lap six. Hays was being stalked by CJ Johnson, Jon Johnson and Ray Seemann as the trio made their way to the front. CJ made his move to the top-side as he over took Fairbank for the third spot and set his sights of Salem. Jon Johnson took the fourth spot from Fairbank on lap eight as he took off after the front runners.

Lutters continued to hold the point as Salem, CJ Johnson, Jon Johnson and Fairbank were closing the gap each lap. C J and Jon turned up the heat on Lutters as the pair started to encounter lapped traffic. CJ made the pass on Lutters on lap fourteen as Jon Johnson was on Lutters rear bumper. Lap fifteen saw the “Kansas Tornado” make the pass and set off after the leader. Further back in the pack, Cody Salem, Ray Seemann and Smokey Fairbank were in a heated battle for positions four through six as they all were looking for that magic line to make the pass. Seemann and Fairbank made their move and relegated Salem to the sixth place on lap seventeen.

Lap eighteen saw Jon Johnson do a 360 in turn one and keep going but an inadvertent caution flag flew bunching up the field. On the restart CJ Johnson jumped out to the lead with Seemann dogging the leader. Justin Schwien had made his way from his seventh starting spot pressure Ken Lutters for the fifth spot on lap twenty, the pair battled for the spot until Schwien took it for good on lap twenty-two as he set off after Fairbank.

Up front Seemann and Jon Johnson continued to dog C J for the lead as the pair used every inch of the racetrack to find an advantage to get them to the leader. As the laps wore down, Seemann and the elder Johnson closed the gap but feel short of getting a shot to take the lead as the checkered flag fell for Johnson. Seemann, Jon Johnson, Smokey Fairbank and Justin Schwien rounded out the top five.

The Weld Racing Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to CJ Johnson who came from his tenth starting spot to claim the win.

Heat race winners were Justin Schwien, Ray Seemann and Jon Johnson.

A-Main: 1-C J Johnson (45X), 2-Ray Seemann (72), 3-Jon Johnson (86), 4-Smokey Fairbank (2), 5-Justin Schwien (76J), 6-Ken Lutters (79), 7-Cody Salem (23), 8-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 9-Corey Lutters (07), 10-Randy Bantam (5R), 11-Reed Bernbeck (C3), 12-Cody Keiswetter (38), 13-Dennis Fair (74), 14-Josh Fairbank (51), 15-Willie Wynn (36W), 16-Bill Hays (2H), 17-Larry Radcliffe (7R), 18-Corey Koberstien (29), Chad Salem (777) DNS