There were story lines all over the place as the 24-car starting field assembled for the 25-lap main event with the two biggest involving veteran drivers who have enjoyed tremendous success at Knoxville over the years. Danny Lasoski had turned down the opportunity to start tenth in Saturday's B-Main for the chance to go directly to the A by finishing in the top four tonight and he would line up in the tenth position. And Steve Kinser, who has amazingly qualified for thirty-five straight A-Mains at the Knoxville Nationals, would start fifteenth after having to qualify out of one of tonight's three B-Mains.
Two of the sport's young and rising stars, David Gravel and Cody Darrah would start from the front row and they ran the entire first lap side-by-side with Darrah officially leading at the stripe. Danny Holtgraver and Dale Blaney settled into those valuable third and fourth spots as Gravel maintained the pressure on Darrah. The caution waved for a Joey Moughan spin on lap three and one lap after the restart Gravel would drive past Darrah for the lead. Lasoski was on the move and was looking to move into the fifth position on the ninth lap when he suddenly slowed, the victim of a flat right rear tire. The Zemco crew was able to make the tire change during the caution to send Lasoski back to action, but his chances of getting up to the top four were now all but gone.
On the restart Kinser made a big move and was up to sixth when the caution waved again on lap eleven for Jeff Swindell who had looped the #7K in turn three. Justin Henderson had replaced Holtgraver in the top four as the field was lined up once again and the crowd was ready for "The King" to make the move that would put him into the top four and continue the streak of consecutive A-Main starts. But when the green flag waved Kinser faded back to ninth and it was Kerry Madsen who was now on the charge. The final fourteen laps would produce some of the most intense racing of the week as Henderson moved up to challenge Gravel for the lead, Darrah and Blaney raced wheel-to-wheel for third and Madsen did everything he could to reel in that top four. Henderson took the lead from Gravel with three laps to go, but that may have gone unnoticed by most as Madsen was now within striking distance of Blaney and Darrah. Blaney found the bite on the bottom and eased into the third spot leaving Darrah as the ultimate "man on the bubble" with Madsen ready to pounce. As the white flag waved Madsen charged past Darrah out of turn four, but the youngster out of Pennsylvania was not to be denied as Darrah drove to the inside of Madsen in turn one and was able make it stick to regain the position. He then held off Madsen through three and four for perhaps the most coveted fourth-place finish in racing.
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| Cody Darrah - Photo by Barry Johnson |
Justin Henderson would take the win ahead of Connecticut native David Gravel. Dale Blaney would nail down racing's ultimate mulligan as he went from having the week's lowest point total to a start in the Championship feature by finishing third while Darrah and Madsen completed the top five.
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| Dale Blaney - Photo by Barry Johnson |
The night was not yet complete though as the traditional World Challenge event, now sponsored by Speed Sport News, would close out the evening with a twenty-four car field set to race for twenty laps. Sammy Swindell started on the pole and opened a big lead that was soon erased by a Kyle Larson spin in turn four. The winner of Wednesday main event Larson slid up the track and collected 360 Nationals champ Shane Stewart with damage eliminating both cars for the remainder of the event. Another caution on lap five for Jonathan Allard bunched the field with Donny Schatz now lined up behind Swindell for the restart. What happened next was perhaps a preview of Saturday's finale as Schatz blew past Swindell for the lead on lap seven and then drove away to victory in a dominating fashion. Swindell would finish a distant second and Jason Meyers continued to impress by coming from ninth to third. Craig Dollansky will start from the front row in the Championship and he tuned up for it by coming from twelfth to fourth while Tim Shaffer remains a threat after racing from thirteenth to fifth.
Friday Notebook......So just who came up with the new Friday format? I am guessing that new Knoxville GM Toby Kruse had something to do with it......Darrah's night may have been completely different if not for a spin by Critter Malone with two laps remaining in the second heat race. Josh Schneiderman had closed the door on Darrah's challenge and had the second and final transfer spot locked up before the caution for Malone that gave Darrah new life. On the restart Darrah sized up the Knoxville regular and then drove past him on the final lap for the right to start on the front row of the night's main event, rather than having to come back later in one of the three B-Mains......Weekly competitors Rager Phillips and Terry McCarl gave the crowd a show with a thrilling back and forth battle for the lead in the fifth heat with the veteran McCarl taking the win.....The seven heats had a four-car invert with the top two finishers advancing to the feature. Dusty Zomer would be the only driver to come from outside of the invert to crack the top two as he finished second to Jeff Swindell in the sixth heat.....Two cars would transfer out of each of the three B's and Steve Kinser lined up third in the first one. The red flag waved on the opening lap as Lee Sowell hooked the cushion and went for a wild ride while Austin Johnson and Mike Reinke also got upside down behind him. For Johnson it continued a week to forget as it was his third wing bender in the past seven days. Once back to racing Joey Moughan and Greg Wilson were able to hold back Kinser until mid-race when Kinser went to the middle and they ran three-wide for the lead in turn one. Kinser went from third to first with that pass and went on to take the win while Kevin Swindell made an exhilarating late charge to pass Wilson off of turn four at the checkers for the second transfer position......Brad Sweet was on the fly but could not chase down Chad Kemenah and Cap Henry in the second B, while Tony Bruce Jr. would come up just shy of transferring out of the third one finishing behind Bronson Maeschen and James McFadden.
The stage is set for what should be a fantastic finale with several "name" drivers still needing to advance to the main event and some of the favorites starting back a bit in the lineup. While I would love to see Sammy Swindell win his second Nationals title, it will be tough enough for him to just get out of the B-Main tonight even though he just needs to advance from sixth into the top four. With track regulars Davey Heskin and Mark Dobmeier on the front row I look for them to pull away and with Greg Hodnett and Jason Johnson also starting ahead of him it will be tough to move forward. Plus, if you throw away his qualifying laps, Tim Shaffer has been the most impressive "racer" of the week and he starts seventh. And I am just talking about the B-Main here. If Sammy transfers out of this one he still starts 21st or worst in the 50-lap finale.
After last night's performance, and given recent history, Donny Schatz has to be the odds-on favorite to win his sixth Knoxville Nationals, but I think that both Craig Dollansky and Brian Brown have a great opportunity to win their their first as they start second and fourth respectively. The weather is perfect, the field is set. There is no live television and listening to it on the internet or following on Twitter is nowhere near the same as being there. So, if you are in the area, make the trip, go to the ticket window and buy your seat for what could be one of the best Nationals ever!
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