CJ Johnson Claim URSS Win at RPM Speedway Finale

The United Rebel Sprint Series made its final appearance of the 2010 Season Friday night and the Rebels put on a show for the fans. With the points races tight in both the Kansas region and the National standings points leader Ty Williams was looking to stretch his 36-point lead over Brian Herbert. Raymond Seemann was also looking to gain valuable points on Williams and Herbert. When the dust settled it was the “Natural” CJ Johnson claiming his second URSS Feature win of the year.

Ransom Kansas’s Ken Lutters led the field to the green but it was Forgan Oklahoma’s Kaden Taylor grabbed the lead with Lutters, Kris Moore, Jeff Radcliffe and Shelby Stapel rounding out the top five after lap one. Moore quickly snatched the runner spot on lap two with Point leader Ty Williams grabbing the fifth spot on lap two. Williams blew by Ken Lutters and Jeff Radcliffe on the high side to take the third spot on lap three. Williams soon set his sights on the runner up spot and soon Kris Moore was in a battle to hold the spot with Williams taking the spot on lap five. 

Up front Taylor was making the most of his outside front row starting position as he paced the field using the cushion to hold his lead. Williams continued to try to run down the leader using the same line as Taylor. Back in the pack Raymond Seemann and CJ Johnson were working their way to the front. Seemann grabbed the fifth spot on lap seven with Johnson right on his tail as they set their sights on fourth running Jeff Radcliffe.

Taylor was soon being pressured by Williams for the lead and on lap eight Taylor missed the cushion going into turn three causing him to slide up the track giving Williams the opening to take the lead on lap nine. Taylor gathered up his mount and held the second spot despite the miscue. Johnson used lapped traffic to make his way to the third spot on lap twelve as Kris Moore and Jeff Radcliffe soon had their hands full with Raymond Seemann as he looked to grab the third spot.

Williams was working through lapped traffic as the field hit the half way mark when he made contact with Jared Kern in turn four causing Kern to spin to bring out the caution. Williams came to a stop on the front Stretch with a flat right rear tire, he was towed to the pits to change the tire unfortunately the contact caused more damage to his racecar ending his night.

On the restart CJ Johnson jumped into the lead with Kris Moore, Barry Crane and Raymond Seemann rounding out the top at lap fourteen. Soon Brian Herbert was pressuring Radcliffe for the fifth spot. The pair put on a show as Herbert turned up the heat but it was Radcliffe holding the position at the stripe each lap. Darren Bowman soon joined the fray as the trio would battle for the next five laps. Soon Seemann would make the pass for the third spot relegating Moore to the fourth spot on lap twenty-two.

Up front Johnson held the point as Barry Crane was trying to make up ground along with third place Raymond Seemann working their way through lapped traffic once again. As the checkers fell it was CJ Johnson taking the win with Barry Crane, Ray Seemann, Kris Moore and Darren Bowman rounding out the top five.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to Brian Herbert who raced his way from his fifteenth starting spot to finish in the sixth position.

Heat #1: 1-Ty Williams, 2-CJ Johnson, 3- Jeff Radcliffe, 4-Darren Bowman, 5-Brian Herbert, 6-Kirby Hagans, 7-Smokey Fairbank

Heat #2: 1-Keefe Hemel, 2-Barry Crane, 3-Ken Lutters, 4-Shawn Radcliffe, 5-Corey Lutters, 6-Blake Bogenhagen, 7-Craig Jecha

Heat #3: 1-Raymond Seemann, 2-Shelby Stapel, 3-Kris Moore, 4-Kaden Taylor, 5-Nick King, 6-Jared Kern, 7-Mike Spear

A-Main: 1-CJ Johnson (45X), 2-Barry Crane (30C), 3-Raymond Seemann (72), 4-Kris Moore (49), 5-Darren Bowman (9B), 6-Brian Herbert (97), 7-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 8-Shelby Stapel (7), 9-Corey Lutters (07), 10-Kirby Hagans (4), 11-Keefe Hemel (11), 12-Smokey Fairbank (2), 13-Kaden Taylor (16K), 14-Jared Kern (007K), 15-Nick King (83), 16-Shawn Radcliffe (3), 17-Ken Lutters (74), 18-Mike Spear (54), 19-Blake Bogenhagen (27B), 20-Craig Jecha (17X), 21-Ty Williams (1)