It was a beautiful late September night in south central Iowa as the Tenth Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals kicked off in front of a nice crowd on a Thursday night and it was a pair of World of Outlaw regulars who would finish up front on the first night of qualifying.
Brandon Sheppard and Jason Utter started the twenty-five lap, $7000-to-win main event from the front row with the youngster Sheppard taking the early lead. A four car scramble in turn three on lap seven left Joel Callahan and Dennis Erb Jr. up against the guardrail and in need of a tow. Jimmy Owens and Austin Hubbard were also involved and headed to the pits during the red-flag cleanup for repairs.On the restart Josh Richards threw the slider on Sheppard and when Brandon got into the guardrail exiting turn two he dropped back to fifth. Darrell Lanigan then took up the chase of Richards with Jason Feger racing in third and Sheppard trying to make his way back to the front. Just as Lanigan put a nose under Richards in turn three on lap fourteen Scott Bloomquist slowed on the front stretch with apparent suspension issues slowing the field once again.
Lanigan continued to pressure Richards following the restart as Dale McDowell moved to the fourth spot, but the caution came out three laps later as Frankie Heckenast jumped the cushion and drilled the guardrail in turn two. It was a tough break for the Chicagoland driver who had been fast all night riding the high side. Bub McCool, who had started thirteenth was now up to fifth for the single-file restart as Richards would bring Lanigan, Feger and McDowell back to the green with eight to go. Lanigan was able to pull even with Richards on three occasions, but could not complete the pass as "Kid Rocket" would score the victory. Lanigan was second, Feger and McDowell swapped the third spot back and forth following the final restart with Feger joining the podium while McDowell and McCool filled out the top five. Billy Moyer finished in the sixth position, Chad Simpson was seventh, John Blankenship came from the back to finish eighth, Sheppard faded to ninth and Earl Pearson Jr. started last and finished tenth.
Qualifying Notes.....Seventy-two Late Models signed in for the tenth edition of this event that grows in popularity each year. The field has been split in two for qualifying as the first 36 cars out to time will run heat races one two and three while the second half of the field will run heats four, five and six. Don O'Neal established the early mark to beat at 17.363 while young Ryan Gustin posted the second quickest time in his first appearance here at the legendary half-mile. Scott Bloomquist qualified third quick in that first group behind O'Neal and Gustin despite being impeded on his first lap by Canadian Stewart Hayward. Brian Birkhofer has to be disappointed with his 28th best time in that first group ......The second group is now qualifying with Dale McDowell establishing the time to beat at 17.718 and that will hold up. Jesse Stovall is the final car out to qualify and he goes second quick in this group while 2006 race winner Brian Shirley is third in group two......All eight former champions of this event are in competition with Scott Bloomquist being the only two-time champion.....Eight cars are inverted in each of the six qualifying heats with the top three going to the A-Main, the next three to the B, seventh through ninth to the C and the remainder of the field will be running the D-Main......Fast qualifier Don O'Neal suffered a flat left rear tire on the opening lap of the first heat race. Rodney Sanders would lead the field back to green for the restart, but he then slowed to a halt in turn two, a tough break for the USMTS Modified star who has been moonlighting in a Late Model in 2013. Brian Harris was running second mid-race before motor issues forced him pitside. Billy Moyer would take the win, Jared Landers finishes second and Jason Feger holds off a late charge from O'Neal to take third.....Ryan Gustin caught the berm in turn three on the second lap of heat number two and then spun up the track collecting Chris Spieker. Former winner Tim McCreadie stopped on the front stretch on lap three, but pushed off and restarted far back from the field. Bub McCool passed Ryan Unzicker on the lap three restart and then held on for the win. Unzicker was the runner-up and Austin Hubbard fought off World 100 champ John Blankenship to qualify in third. Brian Birkhofer picked up some speed and finished in fifth.....Yankee Dirt Track Classic champion Joel Callahan fought off UMP Summernationals champ Brandon Sheppard by a nose at the stripe to win the third heat. Callahan had just taken the lead from Kent Robinson two laps earlier. Frank Heckenast Jr. passed Robinson for fourth while Scott Bloomquist is going to the B-Main in fifth....Earl Pearson Jr. spun on the second lap of the fourth heat. A few of the drivers were caught sleeping on the restart allowing Dale McDowell to make a big move up to second. Matt Furman dropped out while fourth on lap six of twelve. Tony Jackson Jr. ran away with the victory over McDowell and Jason Utter.....Congratulations to my niece Maeve Broeg who was just named the Homecoming Queen at Williamsburg High School!.....Texas native Morgan Bagley opened up a big lead early in heat race number five only to have it erased when Tim Isenberg spun in turn four with three laps remaining. Bagley then held back Josh Richards on the restart to complete the win. Chad Simpson moved to third ahead of B-Main transfers Brady Smith and Jimmy Owens.....The field went four-wide down the front stretch at the drop of the green for the sixth heat. Steve Francis, Darrell Lanigan and Dennis Erb Jr. were the top three and Jimmy Mars passed Justin Kay on the final lap for fourth.....Jesse Stovall has a hole in his radiator and has scratched for the night.....Jason Jaggers smoked a motor in hot laps and did not qualify.....Unofficial event rookies include Gustin, Sanders, Michael Smith (West Virginia), Dennis Vandermeersch, Stewart Heyward, Greg Kimmons, Travis Dickes, Ray Sveegen and Jonathan Brauns.....Mike Fryer and Andy Eckrich were also early scratches for the evening......Four cars will move from the D-Main to the C-Main. A pair of young Iowans Ryan Gustin and Spencer Diercks started form the front row in the D. Gustin was gone from the drop of the green and won by a full straightaway over Rodney Sanders, Tim McCreadie and Matt Furman. It was a new 10-lap track record for the Late Models at Knoxville with a time 3.12.000.....Once again the top four will move up out of the C-Main to the B-Main and Gustin will be one to watch scheduled to start 19th. Chris Simpson dropped out on the first lap after starting third and on the third lap the caution waved for a slowing Jonathan Brauns. Brian Shirley hopped the cushion in turn two on the opening lap allowing fourth starting Shannon Babb to take the lead. Babb would dominate for the win with Mike Marlar second. Brian Shirley and Terry Phillips raced for the third spot while Ryan Gustin made an amazing charge in the closing laps erasing a straightaway difference to challenge for the final transfer on the final lap. Gustin was able to pull even with Phillips in turn three as Phillips tried to pass Shirley and when Phillips came up the track in turn four he closed the door on Gustin and held him off by a car-length at the checkers. Gustin will regroup and come back on Friday to try to improve his point total.....The B-Main lineup was stacked with O'Neal, Bloomquist, Owens, Blankenship, Mars, Pearson and Birkhofer among the drivers who were looking for the final six transfer positions in the 15-lap event. Eddie Carrier Jr. opened up an early lead as O'Neal, Owens and Bloomquist raced for second and this one went non-stop with no change of position in the top five. Carrier was the winner followed by O'Neal, Owens, Bloomquist and Blankenship. The sixth and final transfer came down to the final lap and when Denny Eckrich stumbled a bit coming off of turn two that allowed Earl Pearson Jr. to blow past him entering turn three and make the A-Main.
A second round of qualifying will ire off on Friday night with the big finale on Saturday. Unfortunately I have other plans for the next two nights so make sure that you check in with the live results at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com to stay up-to-date on the results and notes from Bill Wright.
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