Bryan Hulbert - CAMERON, Mo. (May 17, 2013) The term go hard, or go home is one way to describe Johnny Herrera’s performance at the U.S. 36 Raceway as the Albuquerque, N.M. veteran used every piece of “raceable” surface to dominate the U.S. 36 National presented by Racinboys.com; lapping all but second finishing Dustin Morgan.
A staggering 72 starts since his last Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real triumph on November 11, 2011 at the Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. the crafty veteran bolted to the race lead on the third round, working past early leader Cole Wood, through turns three and four.
“I’ve got to give a shout out to my sponsor Print Place who teamed up with me this year. If it wasn’t for Shawn [Petersen], I wouldn’t be out on the series this year so I have to give his that shout out” commented a jovial, but concerned Johnny Herrera who watched his main sponsor transported from the track to an area hospital for evaluation after flipping end over end on the start of his Heat Race.
“I hope he’s doing okay, I haven’t heard from him, but this one goes out to him and, it goes out to my wife. It was her Birthday yesterday. I wasn’t there for it so she said I better win, so, Happy Birthday honey.”
Working to the tail of the field by the fifth lap, after a pair of caution slowed the beginning of the night’s 35 lap Protect the Harvest feature event, it was a matter of running where they weren’t.
Lapping inside the top ten with eight laps remaining, Herrera worked passed the No. 17w of Cole Wood for the second time on the white flag lap, nearly finishing off the field exiting turn four for the checkered flag as the No. 93 of Dustin Morgan laid just ahead of the Print Place, MVT No. 45x.
His seventh Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV America Real victory, Herrera left the U.S. 36 Raceway the third different point lead of the 2013 season and sixth victor in eight events.
Dustin Morgan placed the Ark Wrecking of Oklahoma No. 93 on the podium for the third time in his Lucas Oil ASCS career as Cole Wood posted his best finish against the National Tour with the final step on the Champagne soaked podium.
Brad Loyet worked to fourth with Lucas Wolfe posting an impressive run from twentieth to complete the top five to earn the PitStopUSA.com Hard Charger of the Night. Seth Bergman followed suit, clawing from eighteenth to sixth with Tony Bruce, Jr. continuing the trend of passing from seventeenth to seventh. Jay Russell, Jonathan Cornell, and Logan Forler capped off the top ten from nineteenth.
Paired with the Speedway Motors Warrior Region, the night’s regional high points went to Jay Russell. Jonathan Cornell, Jack Dover, J.R. Topper, and Mitchell Moore made up the five highest earning regional drivers.
A field of 31 took part in the U.S. 36 Nationals presented by Racinboys.com with Dustin Morgan topping Rod End Supply Heat one. Jeff Swindell took Heat two presented by Wesmar. Brad Loyet came from fourth to win in the Ti22 Heat three, thus earning the FSR Radiator High Point Drive of the Night. Speedway Motors Warrior Region driver Jay Russell topped Heat 4 presented by BMRS.
The Hawk Performance Products fastest lap of the night was also earned by Herrera at 11.530 seconds on the 21 degree banked, three-eighths mile oval.
The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real returns to competition at the Valley Speedway on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real
U.S. 36 Raceway - Cameron, Mo.
U.S. 36 National presented by Racinboys.com
Friday, May 17, 2013
Car Count: 31
Rod End Supply Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Dustin Morgan[4]; 2. 53-Jack Dover[3]; 3. 9M-Mitchell Moore[1]; 4. 29-Brandon Hahn[5]; 5. 24-Ricky Stangl[6]; 6. 9-Casey Baker[8]; 7. 86-Kyle Bellm[7]; DNS 32L-David Langford
Wesmar Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 94-Jeff Swindell[1]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell[4]; 4. 17-Harli White[5]; 5. 5M-Miranda Arnold[3]; 6. 45C-Russ Hall[7]; 7. 82-Lucas Wolfe[8]; 8. 38-Cody Baker[6]
Ti22 Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[4]; 2. 92J-J.R. Topper[1]; 3. 2A-Randy Hibbs[2]; 4. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[3]; 5. 77-Tim Crawley[7]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 7. 45-Jeff Lowery[6]; DNF 4X-Shawn Petersen[5]
BMRS Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 76-Jay Russell[1]; 2. 17W-Cole Wood[2]; 3. 4-Jordan Boston[3]; 4. 41-Jason Johnson[6]; 5. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 6. 11W-Wyatt Burks[4]; 7. 3-Billy Alley[7]
The Joie of Seating B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[1]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[4]; 4. 82-Lucas Wolfe[8]; 5. 24-Ricky Stangl[3]; 6. 45C-Russ Hall[5]; 7. 5M-Miranda Arnold[6]; 8. 3-Billy Alley[10]; 9. 11W-Wyatt Burks[9]; 10. 86-Kyle Bellm[12]; 11. 45-Jeff Lowery[11]; 12. 38-Cody Baker[13]; 13. 9-Casey Baker[7]; DNS 4X-Shawn Petersen; DNS 32L-David Langford
Protect the Harvest A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 2. 93-Dustin Morgan[5]; 3. 17W-Cole Wood[1]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 5. 82-Lucas Wolfe[20]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman[18]; 7. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[17]; 8. 76-Jay Russell[7]; 9. 28-Jonathan Cornell[9]; 10. 2L-Logan Forler[19]; 11. 53-Jack Dover[2]; 12. 92J-J.R. Topper[6]; 13. 9M-Mitchell Moore[14]; 14. 4-Jordan Boston[11]; 15. 45C-Russ Hall[22]; 16. 41-Jason Johnson[10]; 17. 94-Jeff Swindell[3]; 18. 29-Brandon Hahn[16]; DNF 17-Harli White[13]; DNF 24-Ricky Stangl[21]; DNF 77-Tim Crawley[15]; DNF 2A-Randy Hibbs[12]
Lap Leaders: Cole Wood (1-2), Johnny Herrera (3-35)
PitstopUSA.com Hard Charger: Lucas Wolfe+15
FSR High Points of the Night: Brad Loyet
Hawk Performance Products Fastest Lap of the Night: Johnny Herrera - 11.530
Provisional(s): N/A
2013 “A” Feature Winners: Jason Johnson-3, Brian Brown-1, Roger Crockett-1, Kyle Bellm-1, Brad Loyet-1, Johnny Herrera-1
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Johnny Herrera 1,021; 2. Jason Johnson 1,012; 3. Brad Loyet 939; 4. Seth Bergman 881; 5. Tony Bruce, Jr. 878; 6. Logan Forler 862; 7. Jeff Swindell 845; 8. Dustin Morgan 842; 9. Cole Wood 771; 10. Lucas Wolfe 703;
The 2013 season marks the twenty-second year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation and into Canada. Anchored by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series, ASCS also consists of nine different Regions throughout the nation.
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, PitstopUSA.com, Engler Machine and Tool, Roush Yates Racing Engines, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Fuel Safe, Saldana Racing Products, SBI Fuel Bladders, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Simpson, LeJoie Seating, Ti 22 Performance, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, DMI Rear Ends, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection Systems.
Additional information regarding the American Sprint Car Series is available at www.ascsracing.com as well as Twitter (@LucasOilASCS) and Facebook. News and information can also be sent to you with the ASCS E-News by texting ASCS to 22828 with any mobile device.
Photo Credit: John Lee