Lake Cumberland Speedway
New engine helps Johnson sail at Lake Cumberland
Greg Johnson heads for victory. (Brian McLeod)
BURNSIDE, Ky. (May 22) — Sidelined in recent weeks without a powerplant for his Gary Engle-owned car, Greg Johnson of Bedford, Ind., didn't wait long to get rolling again. Johnson led all 40 laps Saturday at Lake Cumberland Speedway, earning $3,000 for his first career National All Star Racing Association victory.
Johnson's team installed a new Dargie Racing Engine on Saturday and he ran virtually unchallenged to victory at the 3/8-mile oval in southcentral Kentucky.
Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, Ky., never seriously threatened Johnson in finishing second while reigning NASRA champion and current points leader Aaron Ridley of Chatsworth, Ga., was third. David Webb of Nicholasville, Ky., and Wayne Chinn of Bradford, Ohio, rounded out the top five in front of a big crowd that watched nearly 100 cars compete in five divisions.
Fast qualifier and heat race winner Bobby Wolter Jr. of Lexington, Ky., was seventh, after drawing a caution for getting into the outside wall between turns one and two. The only other yellow came for a flat left-rear tire for Victor Lee of Stanford, Ky., earlier in the race.
The night's racing was marred by a violent fight following time trials. Two drivers were disqualified from the event and suspended from racing at Lake Cumberland the remainder of the season by promoter Brandon Hardgrove after the melee broke out in the infield pit area.
Dustin Linville of Bryantsville, Ky., and Skylar Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., a NASRA winner earlier this season, were in the middle of a fracas triggered by an incident between the drivers two weeks earlier at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky.
Linville and Marlar scuffled briefly before drivers broke up their initial confrontation, but crew members joined in to create a donnybrook that left participants with black eyes, bloody noses, rippled clothing and more before order was restored by police, Hardgrove, several track workers and series officials. The track's medical personnel treated injuries.
Notes: Johnson's Rayburn Race Car is sponsored by West Coast Freight. ... Johnson won last fall's inaugural Harold Hardgrove Memorial at Lake Cumberland. ... The event was the first sanctioned race at Lake Cumberland since a Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series event in May 2007. ... The race was rescheduled after a May 15 rainout. ... Johnson is the first driver to win at Lake Cumberland this season with an open-competition powerplant; the previous winners have used crate engines. ... David Marlar entered the event, but Michael Chilton substituted for him in the C.J. Rayburn-owned No. I-96 car after time trials. .... The fight in the pits wasn't just a bunch of guys pushing each other around, and driver Steve Barnett of Franklin, Ind., was glad to be an onlooker and not part of it. "Boy, that kinda reminded me of the old days," Barnett said. ... Besides Dustin Linville and Skyler Marlar, among drivers failing to make the feature: Steve Stollings, Tim Taylor and Joe Patrick. ... NASRA competitors take a four-week break before returning to action June 19 with a $3,000-to-win event at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky.
NASRA @ Lake Cumberland: (1) Greg Johnson, (2) Justin Rattliff, (3) Aaron Ridley, (4) David Webb, (5) Wayne Chinn, (6) Marty O'Neal, (7) Bobby Wolter Jr., (8) Todd Coffman, (9) Arnie Fields, (10) Christian Rayburn, (11) Brian Smith, (12) Dale Dillon, (13) Steve Barnett, (14) Jason Welshan, (15) Mike Weeks, (16) Tyrel Todd, (17) Michael Chilton, (18) Daniel Shelton, (19) Steve Elliott, (20) Victor Lee. Fast qualifier (among 28 cars): Wolter, 13.339 seconds. Heat race winners: Wolter, Johnson, Rattliff. Consolation winner: Welshan.
