CJ Johnson Sweeps URSS Weekend at Elmwood Park Speedway

The United Rebel Sprint Series finished off the Norton County Fair Sunday night as twenty-one teams made it the historic half-mile to do battle.  Fans saw some great racing with a few new names up at the front and some old fashion white knuckled rim riding along the cushion. It was Quinter native C.J. Johnson claiming his second straight victory as he nursed an ailing engine to the finish.

Edison, Nebraska’s Bill Hays led the field to the green as Michael Williams jumped out to the lead with Keefe Hemel, Hays, Ken Lutters and Smokey Fairbank rounding out the top five. Cody Salem broke into the top five on lap two, relegating Fairbank to the sixth spot.  The father and son duo of Jon and CJ Johnson worked their way up to Salem’s back bumper by lap four and started to apply the pressure for the fifth spot.

Up front Williams was using the cushion to try and pull away from second place Hemel who was using the same line. Hemel started to close the gap a little bit each as the laps clicked off. Lap seven saw Salem take the fourth spot from Lutters, who was immediately pressured by Johnson for the spot. Salem took third from Hays on lap nine with Johnson taking the fourth spot from Hays on lap ten.

As Williams started to encounter lapped traffic, Hemel, Salem and Johnson al closed the gap as they wove their way through the slower cars. Johnson took the third spot away from Salem on lap eleven and set his sights on Hemel for the second position. Johnson grabbed the runner up spot the following lap and then used a lapped car to his advantage to claim the point on lap thirteen.  Hemel and Salem both made quick work of Williams to take the second and third spots respectively.

The only caution of the night flew as Reed Bernbeck looped his ride in turn one to bunch up the field. On the restart, Johnson once again assumed the point, with Hemel and Salem in his tire tracks. Jon Johnson and Ray Seemann made their way into the top five on lap seventeen. The final laps saw the leaders once again encounter lapped traffic, but the top five would remain the same as the laps dwindled down. As the checkers were waived it was CJ Johnson took the win with Hemel, Salem, Jon Johnson and Ray Seemann rounding out the top five.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels “Hard Charger Award” was picked up by CJ Johnson who raced his way from his tenth place starting spot to pick up the win.

Heat Race winners were: #1-Smokey Fairbank, #2-Keefe Hemel, #3-Cody Salem

A-Main: 1-CJ Johnson (45X), 2-Keefe Hemel (11), 3-Cody Salem (22), 4-Jon Johnson (86), 5-Ray Seemann (72), 6-Smokey Fairbank (2), 7-Bill Hays (2H), 8-Josh Fairbank (51), 9-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 10-Tim Perkins (99), 11-Jon Matthews (5), 12-Ken Lutters (79), 13-Jeremy Lueck (75), 14-Red Bernbeck (C3), 15-Cody Keiswetter (38). 16-Chad Salem (17), 17-Shawn Radcliffe (3R), 18-Michael Williams (77W), 19-Judd Sheaffer, Blake Bogenhagen DNS, Randy Bantam DNS

Heat 1: 1-Smokey Fairbank, 2-Jon Johnson, 3-Ray Seemann, Reed Bernbeck, 5-Jeremy Lueck, Blake Bogenhagen, 7-Randy Bantam

Heat 2: 1-Keefe Hemel, 2-CJ Johnson, 3-Micheal Williams, 4-Bill Hays, 5-Josh Fairbank, 6-Jon Matthews, 7-Shawn Radcliffe

Heat 3: 1-Cody Salem, 2-Ken Lutters, 3-Jeff Radcliffe, 4-Tim Perkins, 5-Judd Sheaffer, 6-Cody Keiswetter, 7-Chad Salem