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23rd Hoosier Dirt Classic to Greg Johnson, Tim Clark, Steven Godsey

In a caution-free 23rd Annual Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown Speedway Saturday night, Bedford, IN’s Greg Johnson led wire-to-wire to nab his first ever win in the prestigious event. Johnson becomes the second different winner in the first three races for the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series in 2006.

Tim Tungate and Greg Johnson brought the field down to the green flag with Johnson immediately darting ahead while Tungate, Scott James, Justin Rattliff, Brad Neat, and Bryan Barber battled for positions two through six. Tungate and James separated themselves from the others and swapped the bridesmaid position back and forth several times throughout the early laps of the race with James finally gaining control of 2nd by lap 8. Behind them, Brad Neat had sole possession of 4th and was reeling in Tungate looking for third.

Meanwhile, Johnson had managed to stretch his advantage to nearly a full straightaway. As he began slicing his way through the back of the field on lap 12, James and 3rd-running Neat slowly closed the gap between themselves the race leader. On back in the field, 9th-starting Mike Jewell found the high side of the track to his liking and was slowly gaining ground on everyone. Jewell moved into 7th at the race’s midway point on lap 20 and nabbed 6th from Rattliff just a few ticks later.

With half the fans watching Jewell work the rim, the other half was watching James and Neat continue to close in on Johnson. Although working through lapped traffic to near perfection, Johnson’s lead had dwindled down to mere car lengths as the leaders received the ten-to-go signal. The nail in the coffin was a swift move with 8 laps to go as Johnson methodically put three backmarkers between himself and James/Neat duo. As Neat applied heavy pressure to James in a bid for that runner-up spot, a now 4th-running Jewell was closing the gap quickly and looking to make it a three-way battle for second.

With no cautions to aid them, everyone seemingly ran out of time and, when the checkered flag flew, Bedford, IN’s Greg Johnson crossed the stripe first as he was crowned the winner of the 23rd Annual Hoosier Dirt Classic. The John Hall owned, Tim Hartley powered, Intimidator Grand Prix carries sponsorship from J&H Construction and Hall’s Angus Farms.

“We knew we were pretty good when we unloaded,” Johnson said in victory lane. “This track was in great shape tonight and I have to thank John Hall and everyone with this race team as they gave me a great car tonight.”

Greendale, IN hotshoe Scott James held on for 2nd in his Jay Dickens powered Rocket GTO. 3rd spot was Dunnville, KY’s Brad Neat in a Cornett/Rayburn Monte Carlo. Mike Jewell of Scottsburg, IN was 4th in his MasterSbilt Grand Prix powered by Bullock. Franklin, IN’s Steve Barnett crossed in 5th in his Clements Rayburn GTO.

Brad Neat set fast time during Racing Optics Time Trials with a quick lap of 14.722. Mason Racin’ Heat Race winners were Tim Tungate and Justin Rattliff while Greg Johnson and Scott James grabbed the wins in the Arizona Sport Shirt Heats. Brad Barrow and Steve Godsey were winners of the Design 500 B-Mains.

The 20 lap Super Stock main event saw Brad Cummings take the field to the green flag with Tim Clark in tow. When Cummings came around to complete the first lap, the gearing went out on the car, causing him to pull into the infield. With Cummings out, Tim Clark inherited the lead and had to contend with Dave Barnett. Barnett tried numerous times to get around Clark on the highside, but to no avail. Barnett would fade back, allowing Clark to pull away to a good lead at the seven-lap mark. Behind Clark, Jay Deckard would get around Barnett for the second position. Barnett then had to contend with Mike Cawood, who would get around him for the third spot. Randy Moore made his move on Deckard as well, going around him for the fourth position. Back up front, Cawood and Deckard waged a battle for the second position. Cawood emerged as the winner, moving to the second position. Cawood turned up the wick a little and started to reel in the leader Clark. Clark, however, had too much for Cawood and held on at the finish. Following Clark and Cawood were Deckard, Matt Boknecht, and Greg Amick rounded out the top five.

When the 15 lap Bomber feature took the green flag, Bub Cummings led the pack. Normally, this means the race is already in the bag, however tonight was a different story. A pileup resulting in a yellow forced the original start to be nullified. During the yellow, Cummings pulled into the infield with an undisclosed problem. With Cummings out, this gave the point to Jason Combs. Combs would now lead the pack to the green flag. Combs led the first lap with a battle for the third spot brewing behind him. Steve Godsey and Edgar Godsey went side by side for the third position, with Steve taking the advantage away from Edgar. Behind them, Jacoby Hines got around Jim Pfeiffer for the fifth position. Back to the battle up front, Steve Godsey would get around Bobby Johnson for the runner up spot. Combs then saw his lead shrink pretty quickly, as Godsey pulled along side for the lead. With Combs on the bottom groove, and Godsey up on the rim, the battle became interesting with less than six to go. While the front two fought for the lead, a three wide battle for third took place between Edgar Godsey, Hines, and Johnson. Godsey would go to third, while Hines took fourth, and Johnson back to fifth. While that was happening, Steve Godsey got around Combs for the point. One lap later, on lap 12, the caution flew for Chad Stapleton who had parked his car against the backstretch wall. When the green flew on the restart, Godsey pulled away from Combs and would not look back en route to the win. Following Godsey to the line was Combs, Hines, Edgar Godsey, and Pfeiffer rounded out the top five.

Summary
O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Arizona Sport Shirts
Brownstown Speedway
Brownstown, IN
April 22, 2006

Racing Optics Fast Qualifier: Brad Neat/14.722

Mason Racin’ Heat #1: Tim Tungate, Brad Neat, Mike Jewell, Chris Combs, CJ Rayburn, Christian Rayburn, Brent Londeree, Mike Bowersox, Shannon Reed, Doug Ault

Mason Racin’ Heat #2: Justin Ratliff, Aaron Hatton, Mark Barber, Rohn Moon, Brad Barrow, Gary Hardin, Greg Ault, Daniel Bohall, Randy Riggle, Paul Crockett

Arizona Sport Shirts Heat #3: Greg Johnson, Steve Barnett, Bobby Wolter Jr, Marty O’Neal, Steve Godsey, Mike Bechelli, Mark Bechelli, Rickey Riggle, Jeremy Masters

Arizona Sport Shirts Heat #4: Scott James, Bryan Barber, Steve Hillard, Justin Blackwell, Tim Prince, Dan Deaton, Brian Wilhite, Mike Ruble, Rick Burton

Design 500 B-Main #1: Brad Barrow, Christian Rayburn, Brent Londeree, Greg Ault, Daniel Bohall, Gary Hardin, Randy Riggle, CJ Rayburn, Shannon Reed, Paul Crockett, Doug Ault

Design 500 B-Main #2: Steve Godsey, Tim Prince, Mark Bechelli, Mike Bechelli, Rickey Riggle, Jeremy Masters, Dan Deaton, Brian Wilhite, Mike Ruble, Rick Burton

23rd Annual Hoosier Dirt Classic: Greg Johnson, Scott James, Brad Neat, Mike Jewell, Steve Barnett, Bryan Barber, Steve Hillard, Justin Ratliff, Tim Tungate, Aaron Hatton, Mark Barber, Steve Godsey, Chris Combs, Rohn Moon, Brad Barrow, Tim Prince, Bobby Wolter Jr, Marty O’Neal, Justin Blackwell, Christian Rayburn, Dan Deaton

Race Statistics:
Entries: 38
Cautions: 0
Lap Leaders: Greg Johnson 1-40
PPM Racing Products Hard Charger of the Race: Steve Godsey
Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the race: Justin Rattliff
Series Provisionals: Dan Deaton

SUPER STOCKS (35 entries)

HEAT ONE: Brad Cummings, Jay Deckard, Greg Amick, Kevin Jones, David Brewer, Chris Deweese, Jeremy Burton, Mike Gossar, John Phelps

HEAT TWO: Dave Barnett, Randy Moore, Matt Boknecht, Geoff Strange, Jason Johnson, Barry Gerkin, Dave Waggoner, Jimmy Saunders

HEAT THREE: Tim Clark, Mike Cawood, Troy Clark, Jason Hehman, Dustin Petro, Toby Perry, Matt Harmon, Keith Deppe, Gary Green

HEAT FOUR: Rick Applegate, Jerry Adams, Randy Gilland, Tyler Cain, Mike Stigdon, Bill Wilson, Jeff Wilson, Tom Ault

CONSI: Chris Deweese, David Brewer, Mike Stigdon, Tom Ault, Jason Johnson, Toby Perry, Dustin Petro, Tim Neal, Mike Gossar, Jeremy Burton, Jimmy Saunders, Barry Gerkin, Matt Harmon, John Phelps

FEATURE: Tim Clark, Mike Cawood, Jay Deckard, Matt Boknecht, Greg Amick, Randy Moore, Chris Deweese, Dave Barnett, Troy Clark, David Brewer, Jerry Adams, Kevin Jones, Rick Applegate, Tom Ault, Tyler Cain, Mike Stigdon, Randy Gilland, Geoff Strange, Jason Hehman, Brad Cummings

BOMBERS (30 entries)

HEAT ONE: Bobby Johnson, Brian Smiley, John Mayer Jr, Jim Pfeiffer, Paul Owens, Josh Hayes, Greg Baker, Jeremy Helton, Kenny Baker, Aaron Fields

HEAT TWO: Jason Combs, Edgar Godsey, Nick Mitchell, Josh Turner, Jamie Wilson, Doug Klyn, Paul Childers, Brian Robinson, Ron Pardue

HEAT THREE: Bub Cummings, Steve Godsey, Scott Jones, Tim Meade, Roger Reichenbacker, Dewayne Gross, Scott Barker, Chad Stapleton, Randy Lawyer, Wes Tipton

CONSI: Josh Hayes, Dewayne Gross, Jeremy Helton, Chad Stapleton, Paul Childers, Doug Klyn, Kenny Baker, Randy Lawyer, Brian Robinson, Greg Baker, Scott Barker, Aaron Fields

FEATURE: Steve Godsey, Jason Combs, Jacoby Hines, Edgar Godsey, Jim Pfeiffer, Bobby Johnson, Tim Meade, John Mayer Jr, Paul Owens, Nick Mitchell, Josh Turner, Dewayne Gross, Josh Hayes, Jeremy Helton, Roger Reichenbacker, Chad Stapleton, Scott Jones, Paul Childers, Brian Smiley, Bub Cummings