National Dirt Track Championships Conclude At TMS
FORT WORTH, Texas (Sept. 16, 2012) – A pair of previous winners at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track made return visits Saturday evening to Victory Lane while the third champion earned redemption during the Port-A-Cool® U.S. National Dirt Track Championship.
Limited Modified champion Steve Whiteaker Jr., of Corpus Christi, Texas, and American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) champ Jason Johnson, of Eunice, La., became multiple winners at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track while Modified champion Chris Brown, of Cleveland, Texas, finally captured the elusive victory after two near misses.
Whiteaker Jr., who won in the Modified division at the 2010 Port-A-Cool® U.S. National Dirt Track Championship, joined Midlothian native Troy Taylor as the only drivers to earn victories in both
the Modified and Limited Modified divisions.
A late-race restart proved to work in Whiteaker Jr.’s favor as he was able to take the lead away from Doug Easterling on Lap 22. He would go on to lead the final nine laps of the 30-lap event for the victory.
Johnson returned to Victory Lane after a lengthy absence as national series sprint cars returned to the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track for the first time since 2004. Johnson, who earned his first victory at TMS in a 2003 World of Outlaws event, became the inaugural winner of an ASCS race at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. The win capped off an impressive evening for Johnson and his team owner and defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse Jr. is the owner of Johnson’s No. 41 sprint car and earlier in the day found himself in Victory Lane at Chicagoland Speedway as the Nationwide Series winner.
“For Ricky and I, ever since we teamed up we’ve always both tried to win on the same day and today was that day,” Johnson said.
The evening provided redemption for Brown. He crossed the finish line first in last year’s Port-A-Cool® U.S. National Dirt Track Championship Modified and March 2008 Limited Modified championships events only to have the wins stripped away after failing post-race inspection on both occasions.
Brown, who started ninth, worked his way through the field to pass polesitter John Whittington on Lap 31. He led the final 10 laps for his first victory.
“We’ve been here a lot and every time we do good, it gets taken away,” Brown said. “So it has been frustrating, but that is really of our own doing. But hopefully tonight it finally worked out.”
