2000 RACE RESULTS
O.K. One Stop Racing #1s Modified
Heat - John returned to the track after our USMTS racing trials starting fourth in his heat race. John moved into the lead coming out of turn 2 on the first lap and never looked back. The race was halted when Kyle Koster's transmission exploded on the front stretch, sending shrapnel into the driver's cockpit and injuring Kyle's leg. Kyle received only minor injuries to his right leg, and after a few stitches was able to return to work, and the races already this week.. The only car that was giving chase was the #88 of Wally Wagner who maintained about a distance of about 5 car lengths behind John.
A Feature - John started 3rd in the A feature behind polesitter Mark Neal and outside polesitter Ed Jaros. John took the lead on the first lap and led the first few circuits before being challenged by Greg Peck's #2x Harris. Greg and John would swap the lead over the next 3 circuits, playing a game of "How low can you go?", Greg was able to take control of the race for good on the fifth lap. John would maintain his 2nd position, about 3 car lengths behind Peck, until the 13th circuit when he was challenged by the hard-charging Reece Coffee. Reece was getting tremendous traction on the bottom of the track and moved by John into the 2nd position going down the backstretch. John would hold the 3rd spot until the 15th circuit when Rich Hesse's #31h caught up to him in turn 2 and Rich gave John a bump, got him out of the groove, and Hesse moved by. The caution came out on that lap and scoring reverted to the previous lap, John would resume the 3rd spot on the restart. The race was set up for a green-white-checker finish. John held off the late challenge by Hesse as the caution came out on the final lap, the race finished under yellow. It was a great run for the team, and allowed John to gain points on point leader, Chuck Clark who finished 7th. Again, solid finishes paid dividends.
Standings - John's third place finish allowed him to gain ground in the point standings. John was previously tied with Kyle Koster who was unable to start the feature after his incident in the heat race. Jim Thies who had held the 5th position in the points scored outside the top 10, and John moved into a tie for 5th place position with Thies in the points. The charge to the top continues!
Ritts Racing #57 Late Model
Heat - John started on the outside of the front row and battled a miss in the car for the heat race, he slid back and finished the heat race in the 5th position.
A Feature - John would again forfeit a 3rd position starting spot and start at the rear of the field in the late model after running the modified feature. He started 16th out of 16 cars in the field and at one point during the race had moved up to 15th before running into the back of Larry Watterson's #0d on the 3rd lap and taking out the left front tire. Although the car was brought in on the hook, it appeared that the only damage was cosmetic.
Heat - John drew well for the USMTS's first visit to Park Jefferson, he started on the pole for the 4th heat race. John was in a drag race down the front-stretch at the start with the #21x of PJ Late Model standout John Anderson, John moved past Anderson in turn 1 and opened up about a 3 car length lead over the next couple of laps. But the tone for the evening was set early, after putting a new body on the car during the week, the right rear tire was rubbing the fender. The car was laying over as much as possible on the extremely tacky race track, and after just 4 laps the fender had worn a hole through the tire. John would not finish the heat race and would need to run the B feature.
B Feature - John started the USMTS B feature in 17th, needing a top 11 finish to advance to the evening's A feature. John was moving up early in the race when he made contact with another car before a yellow and cut down his left front tire. John pulled in and got a new tire, the crew got him back out without losing a lap under caution and he resumed the chase for that 11th position transfer spot. While pursuing the pack another car spun in front of John and he was unable to avoid contact. The contact broke off one of the hood pins on the car and John again returned to the pits. The crew removed the hood and sent him back out...again. John had moved up into the 10th spot taking the white flag and was making a move for the 9th position on the final lap when a car blew an engine and spun right in front of the pack John was running in and he got tied up in another incident, the race ended under caution with John tied up at the top of turn 3 & 4. The official's determined that they would score the finish of that race as they crossed the line for the white flag. John was into the A feature.
A Feature - The crew worked diligently between races to get the car put back into to raceable condition. John started 21st in a 25 car field for the 35 lap A main. They were unable to get a clean start on the first attempt and as they were preparing to go green again, John's right rear unexplainably went down. He made a quick swing to the pits and the crew again gave quick service to get him back out, but not before losing one lap. Knowing he was a lap down and that no points were at stake, John patiently worked his way throught the field. Amazingly, for the way the night had gone, avoiding any further incidents! At the end of the 35 laps, John had moved up to 11th in the running order, but given that he was a lap down he finished 17th overall. Not too bad considering he started in the rear and lost a lap early. It was disappointing for how much we had looked forward to the USMTS's visit to Park Jefferson, but better to get the bad luck out on a non-points night.
O.K. One Stop Racing #1s Modified
Heat - Coming off three straight feature wins in the previous 7 days the O.K. One Stop Racing team was anxious to get back on the track at Park Jefferson. John started his heat race in the 4th position and quickly moved to the front in pursuit of pole sitter Mark Neal's yellow and red #3. John was extremely patient as he and Neal distanced themselves from the field. Young Neal drove a great race as John patiently waited in 2nd position until the 6th lap when Neal slipped in turn 2 and John got a nose on him, coming out of turn 3 John moved into the lead and went on to win the heat race.
A Feature - John's point average remained low enough to garner him a 6th place starting position. In the early laps John battled with Paul Hemmingson for the 4th spot, John eventually secured that position and went in pursuit of the lead pack including polesitter Wally Wagner, Doug Snyder and Jim Thies. Wagner had distanced himself from the next two cars and John reeled in Thies and Snyder, just as John was preparing to make his move on Thies in turn 3, Snyder's #1sr spun and John laid needed to lay his car sideways to avoid a head on impact. After avoiding a wreck, John's car stalled on the infield and brought out the first caution. John would restart following the caution in the 21st position. Over the closing laps John would move all the way up to the 11th position, coming up just a car length short of a top 10 finish. Although it was certainly not the extension to the win streak we had hoped for it was a solid finish given the circumstances.
Standings - The tight modified points race finally spread out a little bit this week. Rich Hesse who had held the 4th spot in the points blew an engine in his heat race and did not make it out for the feature. John's 11th place finish moved him up into a tie for the 6th position in the points with Kyle Koster. Charlie Clark's 2nd place finish allowed him to move past Mark Wenzlaff who finished 9th into the point lead. John is 54 points out of the lead.
Ritts Racing #57 Late Model
Heat - John started on the outside of the front row and drove a very good race, chasing polesitter Landon Smith to the checkers for a very solid second place finish.
A Feature - John would again start at the rear of the field in the late model after running the modified feature. He started 16th out of 16 cars in the field and at one point during the race had moved up to 13th before eventually fading to finish 14th, the last car running. The track was very dry and John tried every possible line to get some bite. He wasn't able to find anywhere that there was any traction left and really never got any momentum going.
Sioux Speedway
July 18-19, 2000 - O.K. One Stop Sioux Speedway Nationals
Heat - Coming off of his first feature win, we returned to the Sioux Center track for the O.K. One Stop Sioux Nationals. John's performance at the track has been exceptional since the track returned to action in 1998. John started the heat race 6th out of 6 cars on this cloudy & drizzly Tuesday night. The track had been packed in but there was an almost constant light drizzle that served to keep the track quite slick. John was able to move into 4th position, but could not move any farther forward in this heat race that included very little passing.
Tuesday A Feature - Tuesday's A Feature got underway with John on the outside pole, with Mark Wenzlaff's #29W sitting on the pole. When the green came out it was a drag race between these two Park Jefferson regulars. John beat Wenzlaff to turn one, and pushed in the middle of the corner, but he managed to straighten the car and open up a 2 car length lead going into turn 3. Working to keep up with John, Wenzlaff went hard into turn 3 and slipped a little, before he had a chance to correct he was over the corner and heading into the trees. During a fairly lengthy caution to get Wenzlaff out of the trees, the rain became heavier, and just when they were ready to send 'em green, they thought better of it and postponed the feature to Wednesday night. John would start the postponed feature from the pole position, on the inside of Mike Bosma's #5B, when the green flag fell, John established his dominance, beating Bosma to the corner and setting out ahead of the field. The race was halted on the first lap as Ron Luitgens #00 and Gary March #5M got together on the front stretch. When it restarted John & Bosma ran away from the pack, Bosma was able to stay within a few car lengths of John for the first 5 laps but the #1s soon pulled away and cruised to a second consecutive feature win!
Wednesday A Feature - The first 4 finishers in Tuesday's feature received passes into the Wednesday finale. John drew to decide how many cars would be inverted - 0, 4, or 8. John drew a 4 which put point leader, and July 4th feature winner, Jason Weatherton #4 on the pole, and John would start 4th. Weatherton took the early lead and John gave chase, fighting an ill handling car for the first couple laps. The car had a significant push in the middle of the corner, but after a couple laps, John got the car figured out, and moved by Weatherton into the lead. Weatherton was on John's heels and when John slipped in the middle of 3 & 4 was able to slide by coming out of 4, but John got a strong run off the corner after righting the car and powered back by on the inside coming to the line. John was ahead by a nose at the line and when the caution came out the following lap for a spin, John would maintain the lead. Following that restart John checked out and never looked back, finishing a half straightaway ahead of Weatherton and nearly a half lap ahead of the third and fourth place runners. The team is on a roll, winning 3 consecutive A Features! Awesome -- after going 4 years without a win in a modified we've captured 3 straight. Saturday we'll try to extend the streak to 4 at Park Jefferson!
Standings - John's two wins moved him into the top five behind point leader Jason Weatherton. John will need some help from Weatherton to secure his 2nd Sioux Speedway title on Labor Day. Jason had two strong finishes at the Nationals and will lead John by 26 points going into the final night's show.