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Herrera earns sprint car win at U.S. National Dirt Track Championship

by Mike Haag | Posted on Sunday, September 11th, 2016

FORT WORTH – Johnny Herrera went wire to wire to capture the American Sprint Car Series Red River Region Sprint Car championship race Saturday during the U.S. National Dirt Track Championship at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.

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Herrera, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, started on the pole and led all 25 laps en route to his fifth series victory of the season and first career win at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. A late caution with five laps remaining erased Herrera’s comfortable lead, but he had a strong restart to quickly regain the advantage and win by 1.306 seconds over Danny Jennings, of Norman, Okla. Blake Hahn, of Sapula, Okla., finished third.

Brandon Kenny, of Woodward, Okla., took advantage of a late caution to overtake leader Tracy Denby Jr. and win the Limited Modified championship race by 0.196 of a second. Denby Jr., a winner of this event in 2014, had led the first 25 laps of the 30-lap event before a caution with five to go set the stage for Kenny. Denby Jr. and Kenny battled side by side for the final three laps before Kenny sealed the win with a strong outside move coming out of the final turn.

Justin Whitehead, of Texarkana, Texas, led 28 of 30 laps, but had to stave off challenges by Taylor Carver and Jason Gore to win the Factory Stock Championship. Whitehead held off Carver, a two-time Factory Stock champion at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, by 1.205 seconds while Gore finished third.

ASCS Red River Region Sprint Car Championship (25 laps) – 1, Johnny Herrera; 2, Danny Jennings; 3, Blake Hahn; 4, John Carney II; 5, Brandon Hanks; 6, Wayne Johnson; 7, Raven Culp; 8, Mickey Walker; 9, Brandon Long; 10, Kade Morton; 11, Caleb Martin; 12, Tucker Doughty; 13, Fred Mattox; 14, Jake Greider; 15, Ryan Padgett; 16, Brian Gramm; 17, Jared Sewell; 18, Gary Floyd; 19, Brad Queen; 20, John Kelly; 21, Charles McManus.

Limited Modified Championship (30 laps) – 1, Brandon Kenny; 2, Tracy Denby Jr.; 3, Chris Dawson; 4, Gabe Tucker; 5, Kale Westover; 6, JJ Jennings; 7, Brandon Ball; 8, Derick Grigsby; 9, Jacob Pirkle; 10, Jeff Autry; 11, Robert Vetter; 12, Clint Dosser; 13, Travis Johnson; 14, Justin Nabors; 15, Taylor Frost; 16, Dustin Robinson; 17, Tom Lorenz; 18, Nick Clinkenbeard; 19, Nathan Pounds; 20, David Tanner; 21, Rowdy Day; 22, Mickey Helms; 23, Kevin Simpson; 24, Tim Clonch.

Factory Championship (30 laps) – 1, Justin Whitehead; 2, Taylor Carver; 3, Jason Gore; 4, Jeff Hauser; 5, Casey Lyles; 6, Bobby Jordan; 7, Dennis Bissonnette; 8, Trey Smitherman; 9, Ricky Sessions; 10, Byron Fletcher; 11, Kenneth Chamberlain; 12, Dustin Robnett; 13, Tim Clonch; 14, Jamey Lough; 15, Tim Pounds; 16, Kirk Martin; 17, Nathan Sexton; 18, Rav Kemp; 19, Jimmy Day; 20, Scotty Nichols; 21, Chance Morris; 22, Chris Davis; 23, Bo Day; 24, Mark Ross.

Story and photo courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations

About the Author

Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 36 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 18 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.