Johnson, Heinrich and House each
earn $1,000 for North Central wins

By Clint Wood, Brainerd Dispatch

BRAINERD, MN (July 20) - A race isn't officially over until the checkered flag. Just ask Brainerd's John Thompson and Cory Crapser of Eau Claire, WI. Both started on the front row and led their respective 25-lap feature races Tuesday at North Central Speedway until the last lap, when they were passed and left to settle for second. They not only lost their races but the $1,000 winning purse available to each winner.

Tim Johnson maintained his lead in the 25-lap WISSOTA Super Stock feature en route to winning $1,000 and his sixth feature this season.

Thompson was passed by Nate Heinrich in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature and Crapser was passed by Nathan House in the WISSOTA Street Stock feature.

The 18-year old Heinrich, who won his fifth feature this season, also collected a clean sweep.

Heinrich said he made the decision to race Tuesday afternoon. He said a friend told him about the special so they drove from Alexandria to Brainerd. He won both Midwest Modified features during the Minnesota Modified Nationals two weeks ago at Viking Speedway in Alexandria.

Heinrich piloted his rocket high in turn two to pass Thompson.

“I always run high because I really like it,” he said. “Usually no one knows it’s there; the berm always stays there and all the marbles always stay covered. It felt fast up there so I just kept going.”

Thompson, who started from the pole and raced in the middle or on the low side, said he didn't know Heinrich was running the high line.

“He was up in no man's land,” he said. “If you went up there and saw it you wouldn't think it was possible to be up there. It was rough and just cruddy. I didn't know there was anything up there.”

Thompson knew there was another racer in front of him when he raced into lapped traffic earlier. He barely bumped him on turn two on lap 13. He said the tangle could have caused his car to have a flat tire or something else could have been broken. The contact also slowed him down but he had built a good lead already.

“I figured they would be coming and freight training around me,” he said.

Heinrich, who has been racing Midwest Modifieds for two years, made the winning pass on the third and final restart with three laps to go.

On the single file restart, it was Thompson, Heinrich, Justin Jones, Tim Brown, Danny Vang and Brian Murphy. At the finish, it was Heinrich, Thompson, Jones, Murphy, who started 18th, and Vang.

House also started in the back of the field; he began the WISSOTA Street Stock feature in the ninth spot. Lapped traffic came into play in his victory with six laps to go.

Crapser and Mark Johnson, who started fourth and won the last two features at NCS, and House were running one, two and three at the time. A lapped car slowed down Crapser, which allowed Johnson and House to sandwich him down the backstretch. House, who had won another feature at NCS this season, made the winning pass on the outside of turn two. He was followed by Johnson, Crapser, Bobby Young, the two time winner who started seventh, and Cory Rosen, who started 17th.

Tim Johnson's victory also came after a pass high in turn two; he overtook at least three cars on a restart. Five laps into the feature, polesitter Dave Mass was at the point for a double-file restart with Kyle Peterlin outside and Dustin Nelson in the second row. Dan Yaunick, who started sixth, and Johnson were in the third row for the restart.

Johnson, a three-time feature winner at NCS this season, flew through the field on the high side of turn two and passed Mass exiting the turn.

“I mean I was slipping and sliding and everybody else was trying to grab everything they could,” Johnson said. “Finally I figured it out. I got on the outside. I figured I was going to go up there and try it, so I went up there and the car came around pretty good.”

After five more cautions, which shortened the feature to 25 laps, Johnson was followed by Peterlin, Jeff Tardy, who started 11th, Jay Anderson and Nelson, the current WISSOTA national point leader. Johnson said he could hear the cars behind him but only saw one of the racer's nosepieces below him once.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature - Tim Johnson, Kyle Peterlin, Jeff Tardy, Jay Anderson, Dustin Nelson
Heat 1 - Dave Mass, Dustin Nelson, Jeff Tardy
Heat 2 - Kyle Peterlin, Dan Yaunick, Jamie Morgan
Heat 3 - Steve Beach, Matt Sinna, Tim Johnson
Heat 4 - Dustin Strand, Chris Wark, Jim Martinson
B Feature 1 - Ryan Aho, John Kropuenske, Joel Collins
B Feature 2 - Scott Holland, Ken Puckett, Butch Butcher

WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature - Nathan House, Mark Johnson, Cory Crapser, Bobby Young, Cory Rosen
Heat 1 - Jim Randall, Bobby Young, Randy Sprague
Heat 2 - Darrel Hazelton, Nathan House, Duane Thorsvik
Heat 3 - Cory Crapser, Jimmy Gullikson, Mark Johnson
Heat 4 - Charlie Novak, Wade Blumke, Jason Grimesclint
B Feature - Cory Rosen, Tom Turcotte, Tim Johnson, Tony Yezek, Jeff Innes, Charlie Beens

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature - Nate Heinrich, John Thompson, Justin Jones, Brian Murphy, Danny Vang
Heat 1 - John Thompson, Justin Jones, John Remington
Heat 2 - Nate Heinrich, Danny Vang, Tim Siercks
Heat 3 - Danny Bayer, Tim Brown, Mike Jones
Heat 4 - Troy Jordan, George Sniezek, Mark Anderson
Heat 5 - Monte Hall, Scott Dillenburg, Lenny Loeschke
B Feature 1 - Chad Schwegel, Brian Murphy, Travis Wermter
B Feature 2 - Brad Feierabend, Jesse Lodermeier, Ryan Kriese