CJ Johnson Takes URSS Win at Hutchinson Raceway Park

The United Rebel Sprint Series made its final appearance Friday night at Hutchinson Raceway Park for the 2009 Season with seventeen teams making the pull through the gate. Racers were greeting with gusty winds and the temperature over the century mark, the Staff at HRP gave the racers a fast track despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to spoil the evenings racing.  The racing was fast and furious as the Rebels burned up the 3/8’s mile oval with CJ Johnson besting the field to pick up the win 

Sublette Kansas’s Lance Davis led the field to the green flag but it was Corey Lutters who took the point with Paul Flynn, Davis, Jon Johnson and CJ Johnson rounding out the top five at the end of lap one. Lap two saw the trio of CJ Johnson, Jon Johnson and Tanner Mullens make their way past Davis for the position and set sail after the lead pair of Lutters and Flynn. Flynn took the point on lap three with CJ Johnson turning up the heat of Lutters for the runner up spot.

Back in the pack, Brian Herbert and Darren Bowman started their charge to the front as they wove their way up through the field. Herbert cracked the top five on lap five with Bowman glued in his tire tracks. Soon the join the fray was Satanta, Kansas’s Mike Woodruff making his return to the URSS Series, Woodruff had made his way to the seven spot by lap six and was looking for the right line to take the sixth position from Bowman, with Woodruff making the pass for the sixth position on lap eight.

Up front, CJ Johnson had caught up to Flynn and was pressuring him for the point. As the pair starting coming up on slower cars, they began dicing their way through the traffic. Johnson took advantage of the traffic to make the pass for the lead on lap nine. Flynn never let Johnson get too far out front as he looked to regain the point. Behind the leaders, Jon Johnson, Mullens, Herbert and Woodruff were all locked in a battle for positions three through six, each searching for the opportunity to use lapped traffic to their advantage.

Lap sixteen saw Jon Johnson catch Flynn with the elder Johnson taking the runner-up spot on lap seventeen. Mullens and Woodruff, who had made their way to the fourth and fifth spots respectively, were soon pressuring Flynn. Jon Johnson soon took the spot away from Flynn who was immediately challenged by Mullens. With Mullens closing, Flynn flew into turn one only to have a suspension failure end his night and give the spot to Mullens.

As the laps waned, Woodruff continued to make his way to the front, taking the fourth spot on lap twenty-one. Behind him Herbert and Bowman were locked in a heated battle for the fifth spot. The pair diced back and fourth for several laps before Bowman took the position for good on lap twenty-three. Up front the duo of CJ and Jon Johnson were setting the pace with the elder Johnson making up ground each lap. But as the white flag was shown, it was clear that time had run out and it was CJ Johnson picking up the win with Jon Johnson, Tanner Mullens, Mike Woodruff and Darren Bowman rounding out the top five.

The Keizer Aluminum Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to Josh Fairbank who came from his sixteenth starting spot to claim a seventh place finish.

Heat Race Winners were: #1-Darren Bowman, #2-Brian Herbert, #3-Jon Johnson

A-Main: 1-CJ Johnson (45X), 2-Jon Johnson (86), 3-Tanner Mullens (02), 4-Mike Woodruff (83), 5-Darren Bowman (9B), 6-Brian Herbert (97), 7-Josh Fairbank (51), 8-Howard Van Dyke (74), 9-Lance Davis (9D), 10-Mike Spear (54), 11-Jared Kern (007K), 12-Ken Lutters (79), 13-Paul Flynn (92), 14-Michael Williams (77W), 15-Justin Chaffin (69), 16-Corey Lutters (07), Craig Jecha (17X) DNS

 Heat #1: 1-Darren Bowman, 2-Lance Davis, 3-Ken Lutters, 4-Mike Spear, 5-Jared Kern, 6-Justin Chaffin

Heat #2: 1-Brian Herbert, 2-Tanner Mullens, 3-CJ Johnson, 4-Mike Woodruff, 5-Craig Jecha, Josh Fairbank DNS

 Heat #3: 1-Jon Johnson, 2-Paul Flynn, 3-Corey Lutters, 4-Michael Williams, 5-Howard Van Dyke