HURON, S.D. — The annual ASCS Northern Swing ended in spectacular fashion Saturday night as Jason Johnson nabbed his sixth O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour victory of the year with a late move in traffic at Dakota State Fair Speedway.
Johnson snared the point from race-long leader Garry Lee Maier on the 23rd lap and fought off Maier and Wayne Johnson over the final two circuits to claim his 34th-career ASCS National Tour triumph aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports-Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle.
Maier and J. Johnson led the feature field to the green flag, with Maier gunning into the lead. Johnson briefly took the lead away from Maier on the ninth lap when he slid into the top spot in turns one and two. Maier wasted little time returning the favor, however, racing back into the lead a half lap later.
With Maier setting the pace, action simmered to a boil as lapped traffic became a factor over the final seven circuits.
The slightest of hesitations in traffic by Maier on the 23rd lap was all J. Johnson needed to scoot into the lead. As the leaders continued to work traffic, J. Johnson split a pair of lapped cars on the final lap to put the victory on ice.
J. Johnson flashed under the checkered flag with a two car-length advantage for his second ASCoT win in as many tries at Dakota State Fair Speedway, as Maier nipped W. Johnson for second. Point-leader Gary Wright moved from 12th to finish fourth, with Eric Baldaccini fifth.
The finish:
Jason Johnson, Garry Lee Maier, Wayne Johnson, Gary Wright, Eric Baldaccini, Zach Chappell, Gordy Vogelaar, Jody Rosenboom, Chad Meyer, Kenneth Walker, Lee Grosz, Nick Smith, Ron Rosenboom, Eric Lutz, Jordan Martens, Dustin Evink, Chad Chenoweth, Kevin Ingle, Jack Dover, Chuck Swenson, Kathryne Minter, Dave Glennon, Shawn Van Wyhe.