---

Bill Johnson Opens Elko Dirt Nationals With UMSS-I

Elko, MN
By: Greg Parent (7-9-10)
The opening night of the AMSOIL Elko Dirt Nationals brought sunny skies and hot temperatures, as a record field of 29 UMSS-IMCA sprint cars signed into the paved pit area on Friday evening July 9. Efforts earlier in the week to lay the dirt surface down were interrupted by heavy rains resulting in a dry, rough track. St. Peter driver Bill Johnson, a regular at the Arlington Raceway, found his outside front row starting position in the feature race to his liking. Johnson led the entire distance in a race that resembled more of a marathon rather than a sprint, as the time limit shortened the scheduled 20 lap distance to 16 laps in the caution-plagued main event. Commenting on his opening night victory, Johnson stated "It helped to start up front tonight. I didn't notice the roughness much, as I was focused on all those restarts. We would hardly get going, and the yellow would be back out. Beating a real strong field of cars like we had tonight was fun. Hopefully I can make it two straight on Saturday."

The twenty car starting grid for the scheduled 20 lap US Air Force UMSS-IMCA feature race saw Danny Lee and Bill Johnson pace the field. The race was under the first of many cautions right away when Jerry Richert Jr got turned around and Johnny Parsons bounced off him in turn two. Parsons restarted, but Richert's car had a crushed header pipe and was done for the night. Bill Johnson jumped out to an early lead on the complete restart to lead the opening lap. The race then saw a series of yellow flags fly in the first six laps, as several younger drivers were having difficulties on the dry racing surface. When Greg Gunderson got turned around on the front stretch with seven laps in the books, the race was already approaching the time limit.

Chris Graf had worked his way to second when he got by Danny Lee on lap seven. Ninth starter Dusty Ballenger gained third one lap later. A violent flip on the front stretch with eight laps in saw Tony Kaus' sprinter destroyed, and the race was under the red flag. Following the clean-up, UMSS officials decided to cut the distance to 15 laps due to the time limit. When the green replaced the red, Johnson held off a bid by Graf to grab the lead and continued to show the way up front. Brad Barickman was steadily moving forward from his 11th starting position, and he got by Danny Lee on lap nine for fourth. A six lap green flag run saw the leaders take the white flag, but moments later rookie Jared Goerges spun in turn four. A two lap dash to the finish was called, but Jesse Smith looped his car in turn two the next time. A one lap dash to the checkers saw Bill Johnson hold off Chris Graf to earn the opening night victory in a race cut to 16 laps. Brad Barickman got around Dusty Ballenger late in the race to finish third while Danny Lee completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Jennifer Eriksen, Brandon Allen, Johnny Parsons, Cody Hahn and Dave Becker.

On the opening night of a four race series at Elko Speedway, the standard UMSS racing format of heats and challenge races was not in effect. With the large car count, Elko Speedway officials wanted four heats, a B Main, and the Feature. With Leigh Thomas unable to compete due to a broken rocker arm while warming his motor up ahead of time, the heat races saw seven cars in each. With only three cautions slowing the pace in the heats, Brad Barickman breezed to victory in the Metro Air first heat, Jerry Richert Jr raced to the win in the Sprintsource.com second heat, Chris Graf gassed the field in the Driverwebsites.com third heat, and Alan Gilbertson mastered the Mastell Brothers Trailer Service fourth heat. After an opening lap caution, the 12 lap Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems B Main went nonstop with 2009 UMSS Rookie of the Year Cody Hahn topping Johnny Parsons, Tony Kaus and Dan Menk. Those four cars earned the final transfer spots to the feature.

Racing action for the UMSS and IMCA sprint cars continues on Saturday night July 10 for the second round at the Elko Speedway during the AMSOIL Dirt Nationals. The combination show of UMSS and IMCA sprint cars then return for another double-header weekend on July 16-17 at one of Minnesota's premier racing facilities.

UMSS Race Results - Elko Speedway July 9, 2010 (Race #5):
Metro Air Heat Race #1 (8 laps): Brad Barickman, Bill Johnson, Luke Nagel, Brett Allen, Shannon Eriksen, Tony Kaus, Kevin Nickel, Leigh Thomas DNS.
SprintSource.com Heat Race #2 (8 laps): Jerry Richert Jr, Danny Lee, Jennifer Eriksen, Donovan Peterson, Cody Hahn, Bruce Allen, Ronnie Erickson DNF.
Driverwebsites.com Heat Race #3 (8 laps): Chris Graf, Greg Gunderson, Jared Goerges, Brandon Allen, Johnny Parsons, Dwain Wilmes, Andy Jones DNF.
Mastell Brothers Trailer Service Challenge Heat Race #4 (8 laps): Alan Gilbertson, Jesse Smith, Dusty Ballenger, Dave Becker, Dan Menk, Mike Stien, Mike Luks.
Bryant Heating and Cooling Systems Challenge B Main (12 laps): Hahn, Parsons, Kaus, Menk, Stien, Luks, Jones, Erickson, Wilmes, S Eriksen, Nickel.
US Air Force UMSS-IMCA A Main (16 laps): Johnson, Graf, Barickman, Ballenger, Lee, J Eriksen, Brandon Allen, Parsons, Hahn, Becker, Menk, Smith DNF, Goerges DNF, Kaus DNF, Gunderson DNF, Brett Allen DNF, Peterson DNF, Nagel DNF, Gilbertson DNF, Richert DNF.
Lap Leader: Johnson 1-16
(10) cautions.
Current UMSS Top Six Point Standings: Barickman 1170, Brandon Allen 1136, Parsons 1126, Hahn 1109, Becker 1094, Thomas 1030.
GRP Motorsports/BP Trading Company Rookie Standings: Andy Jones 810, Ronnie Erickson 786, Jared Goerges 428.

Photo courtesy of Stan Meissner (Feature Winner Bill Johnson in Action):

Back to News