C J Johnson Races His Way to Another URSS Win at RPM Speedway

The United Rebel Sprint Series made its final appearance at the RPM Speedway Friday night as thirty-five teams checked into the pits to do battle on the 3/8’s oval. Drivers from the Northern, Southern and Eastern Regions made the trip and gave the fans a show. When the checkered flag dropped it was Quinter Kansas’s C J Johnson picking up the victory, but it was a hard fought win.

Edison Nebraska’s Bill Hays led the field to the green flag, with Ken Lutters jumping out to the lead, with Jason Martin, Hays, Kirby Hagans and Ty Williams rounding out the top five at the end of lap one. Taylor Velasquez and Brian Herbert made their way to the fourth and fifth spots on lap two. Lap three saw Martin grab the lead from Lutters as Velasquez grabbed the third Position from Hays. Martin’s lead was a short lived one as Velasquez powered his way to the point on lap four.

Kirby Hagans took the third spot on lap seven as C J Johnson started making his way to the front as he took the fourth spot. Herbert and Lutters battled for the fifth spot as Herbert made the pass stick on lap eight.  The top five stayed the same as they were starting to come upon traffic Johnson used it to his advantage to make his way past Hagans to grab the fourth position on lap ten. Johnson drew a bead on second place Martin as the pair worked their way through traffic. Johnson took the position on lap thirteen dropping Martin to third.

Velasquez had built up a slight lead as Johnson and Martin battled for the runner-up spot, as Velasquez started into lapped traffic Johnson started to close the gap between the pair. Johnson made his way to Velasquez and turned up the pressure on the young Oklahoma driver. Velasquez held Johnson off for four laps before Johnson used a lapped car to his advantage to take the point on lap sixteen. Velasquez stayed glued to Johnson’s bumper as the pair made their way through traffic.

Back in the pack, Hagans held the third spot as Martin and Herbert turned up the heat on Hagans. The trio raced their way through lapped traffic with each trying different lines to gain the advantage, but Hagans held the spot at the flag-stand each lap. Jon Johnson was holding down the sixth position but Justin Schwien was steadily making his way to him. The pair put on a show as Schwien was up on what was left of the cushion and gaining ground on Johnson each lap. Schwien was persistent as he made the high-line work as he wrestled the spot away from Johnson on lap twenty-four.

As the white flag waved, C J Johnson still held the lead over Velasquez, and as the checkered flag fell it was C J Johnson taking the win with Taylor Velasquez, Kirby Hagans, Jason Martin and Brian Herbert rounding out the top five. The victory for Johnson made it a clean sweep of all four races at RPM Speedway this year.

The Weld Racing Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to CJ Johnson who raced his way from his tenth place starting spot to take the Win.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels B-Main Award went to Jon Johnson who finished seventh in the A Main.

B-Main winners were Darren Berry and Jon Johnson. 

Heat Race winners were Paul Flynn, Ray Seemann, Ty Williams, Brian Herbert and Ken Lutters.

A-Main: 1- C J Johnson (45X), 2-Taylor Velasquez (21), 3-Kirby Hagans (4), 4-Jason Martin (1J), 5-Brian Herbert (97), 6-Justin Schwien (76J), 7-Jon Johnson (86), 8-Ray Seemann (72), 9-Paul Flynn (92), 10-Smokey Fairbank (2), 11-Corey Lutters (07), 12-Ken Lutters (79), 13-Cody Salem (23), 14-Ty Williams (1), 15-Bill Hays (2H), 16-Craig Jecha (17X), 17-Dennis Fair (74), 18-Lance Davis 9(DJ), 19-Larry Radcliffe (7R), 20-Darren Berry (12)