A HARD CHARGE TO THE FRONT YIELDS A THIRD-PLACE FINISH FOR JOHNSON IN THE 40-LAP FEATURE AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY AS HE RECORDS HIS THIRD TOP FIVE FINISH OF THE THREE RACE WEEKEND

HAUBSTADT, INDIANA (May 14, 2017) – After their fifth-place finish at Eldora Speedway on Saturday night, the JJR Marshall Racing team packed up and headed 265 miles to the southwest to Haubstadt, Indiana to race the postponed and rescheduled race at the always popular quarter-mile oval at Tri-State Speedway. There were 35 on hand for this show on Mother’s Day and everyone’s goal was the same . . . to be holding the winner’s check at the end of the night. It was a beautiful day under clear blue skies and the fans of southern Indiana were in for a show as the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series invaded Haubstadt to compete.

Philip, Jeff and Jakob always have the forty-one cleaned and polished and looking professional, even after a long drive and a short turnaround between races. Jason eagerly waited in line for his two time trial laps as he was the 24th driver to hit the track aboard the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/FK Shocks #41 Maxim. When he did get called to the speedway he made his time on the track count as he circled the speedway the first time around in 12.816 seconds. He stayed on the loud pedal and improved his time the second time around coming across the timing stripe in 12.577 seconds, which ended up being seventh quick overall.

When the times were sorted and the heat race lineups were finalized, the Rocky Mount, Missouri resident would find the #41 on the outside of the front row in heat three with polesitter Paul McMahan sharing the row. Row two was comprised of Brent Marks and Justin Peck with Greg Wilson and Carson Macedo in row three with Cory Bruns and Dakota Jackson making up the fourth and final row. When the green flag dropped, Jason pedaled down his right foot and set sail in the Fischer Body Shop/CCC Maxim. He was in clean air as it flowed over the top of his Vortex Wing buffering off the wicker bill. He led wire to wire taking the heat race victory by just under 2 seconds over Paul McMahan, Carson Macedo and Justin Peck with Brent Marks capturing the last transfer position of the heat race.

Advancing to his fifth consecutive Craftsman Club Dash, Jason worked with the crew to ready his entry for the 8-lap race to set the first four rows for the feature event based on the finishing order. A zero pill was drawn for the inversion, which put Brady Bacon and David Gravel on the front row of the Dash with Jason and Sheldon Haudenschild holding down row two. Parker Price-Miller and Brad Sweet were in row three as Paul McMahan and Hunter Schuerenberg made up the final row. The initial start was short lived as the yellow was thrown as McMahan spun. On the restart, Bacon took the lead as Jason got shuffled back to the sixth spot on this tight and racy oval. With one lap down though trouble found the leader, Brady Bacon, as he flipped in turn four. Jason would restart from the fifth position and at the start he took over the fourth spot, but not for long as Parker Price-Miller regained the spot for good. David Gravel would go onto take the victory ahead of Haudenschild, Sweet, and Price-Miller with Jason coming home fifth in the KSE Racing Products/www.racediecast.com #41. Paul McMahan would finish sixth as Schuerenberg and Bacon rounded out the finishing order.

Knowing he would start from the inside of row three, from the fifth starting spot, Jason began to focus and refine his race strategy for the 40-lap feature event that lied ahead for the team. The horn sounded and the determined driver climbed into the cockpit of his Maxim Racing entry as he prepared to do battle around the famous Haubstadt oval before heading to Pennsylvania Posse country for the first Eastern swing of the 2017 season. The grandstands were packed with racing fans as the cars rolled onto the racing surface that the track crew groomed right before the A-Main. Each of the fans certainly has their favorite driver, but their love of sprint car racing was about to grow as these professional pilots manhandle these high-speed cars around this quarter mile speed plant for 40 laps. Gravel brought the field to the green as Jason wheeled the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT)/Engler Machine & Tool #41 into the sixth position. Haudenschild was chasing down Gravel and used the high side to make the pass for the lead on lap six. Jason began his charge forward on lap ten as he moved into the fifth spot and then on the very next lap he secured the fourth position on the leaderboard. A mid-race caution regrouped the field and on the restart the Ragin’ Cajun charged into the show position and started to catch the race leader Parker Price-Miller and runner-up David Gravel. He was making some headway, but he had some other racers behind him that wanted his spot on the track like Sheldon Haudenschild, Shane Stewart and Brady Bacon. The Louisiana-born driver kept his focus and ran his lines consistently to hold the third position as the laps clicked by quickly. Parker Price-Miller would go onto to collect his first career World of Outlaws win as Gravel followed him across the line just ahead of Jason and Shane Stewart with Brady Bacon coming home fifth. A great run for the forty-one at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana!