ROUGEMONT — The day didn’t get off to a good start for Roxboro Late Model driver Justin Johnson but it sure ended on a pleasant note.

Johnson was penalized early in Saturday’s 150-lap Late Model race at Orange County Speedway and was sent to the back of the pack.

But that only seemed to inspire him more as he eventually worked his way to the front, surging past Stacy Puryear of South Boston, Va. with 19 laps to go and never looking back to capture his second straight race win of 2008.

The event was part of OCS’s season-opening NAPA 330 event, which was delayed three hours by rain and included races in the Limited Sportsman, Grand Stock and Pure Stock Divisions.

Saturday’s Late Model contest featured a virtual all-star lineup of area racers, including Puryear, Johnson, David Triplett Jr. of Timberlake, 2006 champion Ronald Hill of Rougemont, Peyton Sellers, and of course defending champion Terry Dease of Oxford.

Back on March 22, Johnson went to victory lane in the Late Model season-opener at South Boston Speedway, where he’s competing on a regular basis this year, and Saturday’s win at Orange County served notice that the No. 44 car is a force to be reckoned with in local racing.

“We’re really excited about this season,” Johnson said after Saturday’s win. “We had a heck of a run today even though it was by no means perfect. It was kind of done against all odds. We were able to come back after we got black-flagged early.”

The penalty came when Johnson got into the back of Sellers’ No. 90 machine on lap 31. Sellers spun out as a result and suffered irreparable damage that put him out of the race with a 13th-place finish.

Johnson received a black flag for the incident but didn’t think he deserved it.

“I was mad about it,” said Johnson when asked about the penalty. “I still think it was a real bad call, and not just because it was me. Even if I had been watching from the stands I would have thought it was the wrong call.

“I didn’t intentionally turn him. I feel like he didn’t give me room to move up the track,” he added.

Triplett then took the lead for 35 laps before his engine blew on lap 77.

Puryear, who finished third, assumed the top position and didn’t relinquish it for the next 50-plus laps. But the Virginia driver began to experience problems (including overheating) late in the race and couldn’t hold off Johnson, or Hill for that matter, who passed him for second-place with four laps remaining.

“I thought I could hold Justin off, but I just got too loose at the end,” Puryear explained. “There’s nothing I could do about it. I think whatever happened to Triplett’s car really made the track slick.”

Triplett’s engine mishap, and the subsequent oil leakage that resulted, caused teenage driver Kenny Forbes of Bullock, who was in the top-five at the time, to spin out and crash, ending his day as well.

Meanwhile, Hill, who started in the back of the field, was quietly working his way into contention and seemingly arrived out of nowhere to grab the runner-up spot from Puryear in the final laps, but it wasn’t enough to get to Johnson.

“We saved the car at the beginning of the race because we started so far back,” he said. “We made our run a little late and couldn’t quite catch Justin. We were running about a tenth of a second faster than he was, but when you’re as far back as we were early, that’s not enough.”

For defending champ Dease, Saturday’s race was the polar opposite of his consistent performance of 2007 (top-five finishes in all but one race, with a lowest finish of sixth). Early car problems knocked Dease out of the contest on lap 24, as he ended up in 14th.

Rounding out the top five places were Randy Burnett in fourth and Craig Moore in fifth.

Triplett was 11th and Forbes settled for 10th. Jonathan Bailey led the first 30 laps and came home in seventh place behind sixth-place finisher Ryan Gray.

There were just three cautions in Saturday’s race.

Black flag gives Anderson Limited win

Danny Willis Jr. led by a wide margin most of the way in the 50-lap Limited Sportsman race but a penalty for jumping the restart on lap 46 ruined his chance at victory.

Consequently, Bruce Anderson, who briefly challenged Willis for the lead, took the win and Justin Snow was the runner-up.

Willis’s team argued with officials in victory lane after the contest, but to no avail as Anderson took home the top prize. Willis had to settle for 14th place.

Some fellow racers and fans seemed to side with Willis, as Snow even questioned the call during his post-race interview.

Defending champion Brian Cole of Roxboro did not begin his season on the best foot, as he suffered a spin out on lap 32 and was never able to get back into contention. Cole was in the top five early on but ended the day in 10th.

Donald Brace, Daryl Carver, last year’s points’ runner-up, and Tripp Massengill were the third, fourth, and fifth-place drivers.

Teenage racer Jeb Burton, son of former NASCAR driver Ward Burton and expected to compete at OCS this year, was not at Saturday’s event.

Capps dominates GS race

A surprisingly small field of six cars competed in the 35-lap Grand Stock event. Eddie Capps went on to dominate, leading the entire way and lapping all but the second-place vehicle of Cory Purnell.

In fact, the first, second and third place cars were well ahead of the rest of the field. Ray Ellington Jr. placed third, followed by James Myers in fourth and C.B. Elliott in fifth.

Nine cars were entered in the race, but three of them were not able to start.

Conspicuously missing from Saturday’s field was defending points’ champion Michael Hatley, who was also expected to compete at OCS this year.

The race ran its course without a caution.

Throckmorton overtakes Pope for Pure Stock victory

Casey Pope held the lead for most of the 20-lap Pure Stock contest until Joey Throckmorton took advantage of a restart on lap 18 and passed him for the win.

Pope settled for second place, and Mike Jones placed third.

Last year’s points’ champion Thomas Penny got mixed up with Augie Saccocio on lap 12 and came across in ninth place.

Justin Tucker came in fourth and Keith Langston notched a fifth-place finish.

Other events

Three other races were part of Saturday’s activities.

Efland’s Gary Lloyd continued to shine with a win in the Southern Ground Pounders 25-lap Sportsman race, while Ricky Seay earned the top spot in the SGP modified contest.

Jason Mays was the winner of the 20-lap Virginia Mini Cup race.

The next race at OCS is scheduled for April 26, when the UARA series pays a visit.