CJ Johnson Takes URSS Win at Wakeeney Make Up Feature

When Mother Nature washed out the final race at the Wakeeney Speedway May 25^th, the United Rebel Sprint Series rescheduled the Feature to made up as part of the Trego County Fair race date. Fans were treated to a fantastic race as Dodge City’s Keefe Hemel led the majority of the race only to have misfortune steal it from his grasp, giving Quinter Kansas’s CJ Johnson the lead and he never looked back to claim his tenth win of the 2009 Season.

Clay Center Kansas’s Howard Van Dyke led the field to the green and grabbed the early lead with Michael Williams, Keefe Hemel, Willie Wynn and Darren Bowman rounded out the top five at the end of lap one. Hemel took the runner-up spot on lap two with Willie Wynn following in the third position.  Lap four saw Bowman shuffle Wynn back to the fourth spot as Hemel was poised to take the lead and made the pass stick on lap five.

Back in the pack, CJ Johnson had made his way into the top five by lap five and was pressuring Wynn for the fourth spot and on lap six took the spot away. Bowman and Johnson split Van Dyke to take over the second and third spots respectively on lap seven and set their sights on Hemel who had built a good lead. Jon Johnson, Wynn and Ray Seemann would soon hook up to battle for the fourth spot, with Johnson grabbing the spot on lap eleven.

2008 URSS National Champion Brian Herbert would join the fray as he made his way to the seventh spot and was pressuring Seemann until his mount broke a rear end to bring out the caution. On the restart Hemel once took the point with a heated battle for the second spot brewing between Bowman and CJ Johnson. The pair raced side by side until lap sixteen when Johnson made the high line work for him to take the position. Bowman soon found himself under pressure from Jon Johnson for the third spot, as the “Kansas Tornado” was glued to his bumper looking for the opening to grab the spot. Lap eighteen saw the caution fly once again as Jon Johnson came to a stop in turns three and four.

On the restart, Hemel once again pulled out to the lead with CJ Johnson in tow, Hemel quickly pulled away from the field. Hemel had his car on a rail as the laps wound down, with lapped traffic once again coming into play Hemel seamed to have the race in hand when with three laps to go Hemel tried to pass a lapped car low on the front straightaway. Hemel made contact with the lapped car damaging his front end to bring out the final caution and ending his run.

On the restart Johnson once again pulled into the lead as the white flag fell. Johnson took the win followed by Darren Bowman, Ray Seemann, Ken Lutters and Jeff Radcliffe rounding out the top five.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to CJ Johnson who came from his ninth starting position to claim the victory.

A-Main: 1-CJ Johnson (45X), 2-Darren Bowman (9B), 3-Ray Seemann (72), 4-Ken Lutters (79), 5-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 6-Howard Van Dyke (74), 7- Reed Bernbeck (C3), 8-Smokey Fairbank (2), 9-Tim Perkins (99), 10-Tyler Kraus (12), 11-Willie Wynn (36W), 12-Keefe Hemel (11), 13-Blake Bogenhagen (27B), 14-Jon Johnson (86), 15-Michael Williams (77W), 16-Brian Herbert (97), 17-Lance Davis (9D), 18-Patrick Bourke (27) DNS, 19-Taylor Milton (91X) DNS

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May 25th Results

Before the rains came on May 25th, two last chance qualifiers were held that featured a lot of the heavy hitters of the URSS in the starting grids. In the first race, 2007 Champion Smokey Fairbank used his outside pole starting position to jump out to the early lead as Reed Bernbeck gave chase. Bernbeck took over the top spot on lap two with Fairbank in his tire tracks.  The pair battled until Fairbank took the position back on lap four.

Jeff Radcliffe made his way to the third position with Mike Spear and Lance Davis hot on his heels as the laps wore down, Radcliffe made the pass for second on lap eight and set his sights on the leader. Blake Bogenhagen quietly made his way to the fifth spot and pressured Davis for the fourth position with Bogenhagen taking the spot on lap nine. Radcliffe continued to dog Fairbank until the final lap as he made the pass for the lead to pick up the victory with Fairbank, Bernbeck, Bogenhagen and Davis rounding out the top five.

In the second last chance qualifier, URSS Regulars Ray Seemann, CJ Johnson and Brian Herbert made up the first three starting spots for the race.  CJ Johnson jumped out to the early lead with Seemann and Herbert in his tracks. Johnson’s lead was short lived as Seemann took the spot away on lap two with Herbert running a close third. Tyler Kraus and Bill Hays were duking it out for the fourth and fifth spots as the leaders pulled away.

Seemann held the lead as Johnson was trying different lines to take the position, Johnson finally found the sweet spot as he passed Seemann for the lead on lap eight. Back in the pack, Tim Perkins made his way to challenge Bill Hays for the final transfer spot. The pair battled for several laps with Perkins making the pass stick on lap eight, Perkins then set his sights on fourth running Kraus but time ran out.

When the checkers fell it was Johnson taking the win with Seemann, Herbert, Tyler Kraus and Tim Perkins grabbing the final transfer position.

B Main #1 – Top Five Transfer   1-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 2- Smokey Fairbank (2), 3-Reed Bernbeck (C3), 4-Blake Bogenhagen (27B), 5-Lance Davis (9D), 6-Van Kuhn (K3), 7-Mike Spear (54), Travis Decker (84T) DNF, Chuck Lutters (55) DNS

B Main #2 – Top Five Transfer  1-CJ Johnson (45X), 2-Ray Seemann (72), 3-Brian Herbert (97), 4-Tyler Kraus (12), 5-Tim Perkins (99), 6-Bill Hays, (2h), 7-Chad Salem (17), 8-Cody Keiswetter (38), 9-Shawn Radcliffe (3)

Heat #1: 1-Darren Bowman (9B), 2-Justin Schwien (76J), 3-Ken Lutters (79), 4-Keefe Hemel (11), 5-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 6-Bill Hays (2H), 7-Chuck Lutters (55) DNF, Randy Bantam (5R) DNS

Heat #2: 1- Jon Johnson (86), 2-Reed Bernbeck (C3), 3-Taylor Milton (91X), 5-Ray Seemann (72), 5-Brian Herbert (97), 6-Travis Decker (84T), 7-Chad Salem (17), Greg Thyfault (27G) DNS

Heat #3: 1-Patrick Bourke, 2-CJ Johnson (45X), 3-Mike Spear (54), 4-Smokey Fairbank (2), 5-Tim Perkins (99), 6-Tyler Kraus (12), 7-Van Kuhn (K3), 8-Cody Keiswetter (38)

Heat #4: 1-Willie Wynn (36W), 2- Lance Davis (9D), 3-Howard Van Dyke (74), 4-Michael Williams (77W), 5-Blake Bogenhagen (27B), 6-Shawn Radcliffe (3), 7-Cody Keiswetter (38) DNF, Jake Martens (0T) DNS