Jimmy Johnson was in the right place at the right time to put himself into position to win Saturday night’s combined Limited/Crate Late Model feature at Georgia’s Hartwell Speedway.
The victory meant a $1,500 payday for the Monroe, Georgia driver as a part of the Wendell Rousey Remembrance Race.
First, Johnson and all the racers had to wait for the clouds to pass from a severe thunderstorm that delayed the start of the night’s events.
Once race time arrived for the feature, Johnson’s first challenge went by the wayside before the race took the green flag, as pole sitter Larry Timms was sidelined with mechanical problems.
That moved third place starter Bubba Russell to the pole, with Johnson sitting in the preferred outside line on the front row. But Russell got the advantage and squeezed into the lead as the race got underway.
Johnson’s second challenge came near the halfway mark, when Brant Carey crashed in turn one. As the field circled the 3/8-mile clay raceway under caution, Russell’s engine began to miss. That sent him to the pits, ending his night and handing the lead to Johnson.
From there, Johnson held off Ashley Poole to score the win.
Poole had to settle for second, with Derrick Harvey in third and Eric Veal in fourth.
The scariest moment of the night came in the Stock Four feature. Pete Whitley controlled the race from the first lap, while Ryan Boles raced his way through the pack to move to second.
As the leader raced off turn four coming to four to go, Boles moved to the outside of Whitley, pulling alongside as they duo swept under the flagstand.
But the two made contact, sending both cars out of control and into the inside turn one guardrail. Boles car became airborne, landing on the crowded pit side of the guardrail, while Whitley’s car came to rest on top of the guardrail.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the crash. Following a lengthy red flag to allow for cleanup, Jeremy Fassett drove to the win, with Gage Cox finishing in second.
Shane Yarbrough powered away from the Hobby field from the drop of the green flag and went on to score the feature victory. Alex Yarbrough, Boo Man Galloway, Jay Motes and Brandon Williams rounded out the top five.
David Archer held off Thomas Segars to take the Modified Street feature win. Kyle Gordon finished in third, with Tyler Canup in fourth and Jennifer Everett in fifth.
Paul Moore led the way for most of the Stock V8 feature, and appeared to be on his way to his first career Hartwell Speedway win. But while trying to put distance between himself and the field on a restart with three laps to go, Moore’s car slipped out from under him, almost sending him spinning. He was able to recover, but not before Rocky Jones and Cord Crowe bypassed him off turn two.
From there, Jones went on to record the victory, with Crowe in second and Moore in third.
Wayne Chapman was flagged as the winner of the Up Front feature, but failed to pass post-race tech. That moved Andrew Smith to victory lane, with Randy Shaw in second, J.J. Sorrow in third, Joel Powell, Sr. in fourth and John Shaw in fifth.
Russell Shore battled back from mechanical gremlins to retake the lead late in the Enduro feature, and went on to score the win. Randy Osborn finished in second, with James Woods in third.
Hartwell Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 9. For more information, visit Hartwell-Speedway.com.
Hartwell Speedway – Hartwell, GA
Race Results – June 2, 2018
Limited/Crate Late Models
1. #98 Jimmy Johnson
2. #418 Ashley Poole
3. #11 Derrick Harvey
4. #3A Eric Veal
5. #32 Bubba Russell
6. #1A Brant Carey
DNS: #07 Larry Timms
Hobby
1. #141 Shane Yarbrough
2. #41 Alex Yarbrough
3. #42 Boo Man Galloway
4. #18 Jay Motes
5. #21 Brandon Williams
6. #00 Jeff Solesbee
7. #11 Jake Anderson
8. #28 Wayne Wilburn
9. #418 Greg Scoggins
DNS: #11 Jake Anderson
DNS: #77 Ervin Atkinson
Modified Street
1. #39 David Archer
2. #5 Thomas Segars
3. #3 Kyle Gordon
4. #112 Tyler Canup
5. #J19 Jennifer Everett
6. #24 Clay Bryson
7. #94 Preston Strickland
8. #56 Mason Russell
Stock V8
1. #101 Rocky Jones
2. #34 Cord Crowe
3. #35 Paul Moore
4. #12 Brandon Long
5. #26 Bradlee Jones
6. #55 Seth Brown
Stock Four
1. #17 Jeremy Fassett
2. #17B Gage Cox
3. #2 Ryan Boles
4. #7X Pete Whitley
5. #218 Daniel Booth
6. #7 Bubba Nation
7. #4 Jonathan Griffith
Up Front
1. #48 Andrew Smith
2. #44 Randy Shaw
3. #45A J.J. Sorrow
4. #89 Joel Powell, Sr.
5. #96 John Shaw
6. #15 Dillion Christian
7. #29 Michael Davis
8. #5 Michael Elrod
9. #10 James Robinson
10. #24 Alex Powell
11. #07 C.J. McCurley
12. #18 Kalen Holmes
13. #8 Stacy Foster
DQ: Wayne Chapman
DNS: Eddy Segars
Enduro
1. #17 Russell Shore
2. #27 Randy Osborn
3. #9 James Woods
