MESQUITE, Texas — Jason Johnson outlasted Gary Wright in a frantic duel through lapped traffic to win Friday night’s 20-lap O’Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series feature on the opening night of the 34th-annual Devil’s Bowl Speedway Winter Nationals.
The victory over Wright marked Johnson’s eighth ASCoT National win of the year aboard Lanny Row’s Wesmar-powered The Shop Motorsports/Custom Equipment Design No. 41 Eagle and his 16th overall ASCS triumph of 2007.
Johnson and Wright took the checkered flag in front of Wayne Johnson, who charged all the way to third after starting 18th, with polesitter Nick Smith taking the fourth and final lock-in position to Saturday night’s Winter Nationals finale.
Kenny Adams rounded out the top five.
The opening two segments of the ASCS/Wesmar Challenge were contested, with 22 of the 26 invited drivers taking part.
The field drew for starting position in the first 12-lap segment, with the lineup fully inverted for the second 12-lap segment.
Wright accumulated the most points and earned the pole for Saturday’s final segment of the ASCS/Wesmar Challenge.
He finished second in both Friday night segments, racing from seventh to second behind Wayne Johnson in the first segment and then from 15th to second behind Jason Johnson in the second segment.
The finish:
Jason Johnson, Gary Wright, Wayne Johnson, Nick Smith, Kenny Adams, Kaley Gharst, Jack Dover, Dustin Daggett, Gary Taylor, Travis Rilat, Danny Jennings, Zach Chappell, Natalie Sather, Foster Landon, Dave Glennon, Skip Wilson, Trey Robb, Kenneth Walker, T.J. Winegardner, Chris Tarrant, Kevin Ramey, Justin Zimmerman.