Johnson wins winged sprint car main, Barnes fourth

Unlike her last track outing in a USAC Western Sprint Car Series three weeks ago, Amy Barnes of Minden enjoyed some better luck when she tried out winged sprint car competition at Champion Speedway on Saturday night.

The night went even better for Travis Johnson of Tacoma, Wash., who nearly lapped the entire field on his way to winning the 40-lap winged sprint car main event.

Johnson, who finished third in the USAC Western Series main event on Aug. 11 at Champion, only needed 11 laps to work his way through the pack and into the lead. He never faced another serious challenge in the race, which only saw one yellow flag (lap 36).

Barnes, who was knocked out of the USAC event early by a collision in her heat race, gained a measure of redemption when she won her heat race - besting Johnson in the process - then finished fourth in the main event. She also posted a qualifying time of 12.57 to earn a berth in the trophy dash, where she finished fourth.

"We were expecting a little bit more, but we finished fourth and that's good," Barnes said. "We had a good car tonight. It was just practice, pretty much."

It was a tune-up run for her scheduled race on Sept. 15, when the USAC Western Sprint Series returns to Champion.

We didn't really come out here to gain anything," the 20-year-old Barnes said. "It was just a testing date for us, pretty much to get some time out here before USAC comes back."

Mike McCreary of Placerville, Calif., who also competed in the USAC Western Series event on Aug. 11, finished second in Saturday's main event and Mike Ogden of Reno was third. McCreary also won the trophy dash. Barnes won the first heat race and Ogden won the second. Johnson turned the fastest qualifying time of 12.27 seconds.

Monster trucks Thursday night at Champion Speedway. Gates open at 5 p.m., with action set to get under way at 7.