TBT.....for those of you who use Facebook you know that this means that somebody has likely posted a picture from sometime in their past on a Thursday that will stir your memories. Well it was definitely Throw Back Thursday at the Knoxville Raceway last night as several drivers who created memories here as far back as the 1980's were back in the spotlight with Terry McCarl passing Danny Lasoski on a late restart to take the win on the second night of qualifying for the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.
As expected, the racing on Thursday was much more exciting than the night before although a crash as the green flag fell on the first heat race did put a damper on the evening.
The all important pill draw for the qualifying order had Dale Blaney as the first marquee driver in the fifth slot and his time would hold up for third quick by the end of the session. The eleventh car out to time Kerry Madsen would have the second fastest time of the night and it was the twelfth car out, Brad Sweet who would set quick time with a lap of 15.086. For the second night in a row the track fell off enough that the drivers going out late had no chance of cracking the top five, but they would then get the opportunity to redeem themselves during the five heat races.
Christopher Bell who was originally slated to run on Wednesday night in the Kunz #67 instead ran tonight driving the Cooper #01 and after qualifying 42nd the phenom was playing catch up all night.
Kevin Swindell also had a disappointing qualifying lap that would put him on the fifth and final row for the first heat race and as the field came to green it was a sloppy start with cars on the outside flaring out of line and others trying to fill in the gaps. When the middle of the pack bunched up, Swindell hopped a wheel and was vaulted up into the front stretch catch fence and his car then landed hard on all four wheels. Watching live it did not seem like a serious incident, but as the safety crew scrambled around the car it soon became obvious that it was. The hard landing had taken its toll and according to his father Sammy during an interview with KNIA, Kevin was complaining of having no feelings in his legs. The superb crew here at Knoxville took their time to get Kevin out of the car and he was then later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Des Moines. On Tuesday morning per Kevin's Twitter feed "@KevinSwindell: Thanks everyone for the love. Long road ahead. Enjoy every minute you got."
I have been a Sammy Swindell fan for years and of course I have pulled for Kevin as well. I am sure that all of us right now as race fans are praying for him to make a full recovery.
Once back to action R.J. Johnson went flag-to-flag to win the first heat while quick qualifier Sweet made it up to third. Chad Kemenah would run off with the lead in the second heat as the fastest qualifier in the race Kerry Madsen quickly made his way into the top four. On lap six though Kemenah's motor would let go in dramatic fashion and when he spun in his own fluids trying to enter the pits, the caution waved. Madsen would then dispose of Billy Alley two laps after the restart to become the first eighth-place starter of the week to win a heat race.
Dusty Zomer was not pleased with his qualifying time, but he recovered nicely to run away with the win in heat race number three from the front row. Even with a solid eleventh place run in the main event Zomer's point total was not enough to crack the top 26 so he will be one of the many who will give it another run during Friday night's fantastic format. Dale Blaney caught a break when Sam Hafertepe Jr. scratched out of his fourth starting spot as this now allowed "The Low Rider" to start sixth instead of eight and Blaney made the most of it by running third behind Jason Johnson. Hafertepe's scratch also benefited Logan Schuchart who started eighth instead of tenth and he was closing in on Randy Hannagan for fourth as the checkers waved.
Throw Back Thursday started to kick in during the fourth heat as Danny Lasoski looked strong coming from sixth to take the win over Aussie James McFadden. And TBT then went full tilt in the fifth and final heat race with Steve Kinser leading the way and Terry McCarl sliding into second early on. Earlier in the night Sammy Swindell was on the track and checking with his son Kevin as he was extracted from the car and now in this heat race the ageless veteran was driving like a man possessed as he stormed his way up from eighth to third. Sammy would put the slider on McCarl to take over second on lap five and then, for perhaps the last time ever at the Knoxville Nationals, the fans were treated to one more battle between "The King" and "Slammin' Sammy" for the win.
Kinser would hold him at bay for a couple of laps before Sammy powered by with two to go as the crowd roared for both drivers. Swindell would take the win while Terry McCarl would slip by Kinser for second on the final lap.
Bill Balog who did not make the call for that exciting final heat race would score the win in the C-Main just ahead of Jeff Swindell who brought Gil Sonner's #47 all the way to the front after starting at the back of the ten car field. Ryan Bernal and Bobby Mincer also transferred.
The B-Main produced one of the best four car races for the lead that you will ever see as Greg Wilson, Clint Garner, Brian Brown and Tim Shaffer sliced and diced through traffic over the closing laps. The only thing that would have made it more exciting would have been if a fifth car was added to the mix since the top four would all transfer to the A-Main. That wish nearly came true though as on the final laps Brent Marks closed in quickly and was only a few car lengths behind Shaffer when the checkers waved.
With Lasoski on the pole, and given his stellar performance in the heat race, it looked like a good possibility that tonight's 25-lap main event would be a race for second and "The Dude" supported that assumption as he raced out to a big early lead. The action behind him was simply phenomenal though and frankly too rapid fire to take my eyes off of in order to shorthand any notes. At one point around lap six there was a four-car battle for sixth working through turn four when all of a sudden here comes James McFadden off of the bottom to pass them all after he had started thirteenth.
On lap eight Dale Blaney smacked the wall in turn one and even though he gathered it up and tried to get back up to speed, he then coasted to a stop in turn four to pull the caution just as Sammy Swindell's night came to an end in a puff of smoke. On the restart Kerry Madsen began to make his move to the front in an effort to keep pace with Terry McCarl who was now up to third at the mid-race point after starting ninth.
The red flag would wave on lap fourteen when Brooke Tatnell went for a tumble on the cushion in turn four and on the restart Lasoski pulled away from McCarl at the drop of the green. However, when Clint Garner clipped the cone on the front stretch the caution waved and Lasoski was told via the one-way Raceceiver communications that he needed to get a little deeper into turn four before he could hit the loud pedal.
This time McCarl would stay with Lasoski and with a big run down the Back Stretch Terry would drive to the bottom to take the lead away in a convincing fashion. With "T-Mac" now pulling away the attention went back to Brian Brown whom, up until until this race, was not having a real good season at Knoxville. That thrilling race in the B-Main that made him run several different lines obviously paid off for Brown as he then cut his way through the feature field to finish fifth after starting in the twelfth and final row. And with that run Brown locked himself into the big one on Saturday where he will start 14th.
McCarl was in full celebration mode in victory lane and his point total will start him in the eighth position for Saturdays Championship feature. Lasoski closed out a solid performance in second and that will start him in sixth on Saturday while Jason Johnson was thrilled with his podium finish in third. The driver who missed several months after recovering from a back injury has earned the ninth starting spot in the Championship main event. Finishing fourth in the feature, Kerry Madsen was the high point man for the night and he will start next to the eight-time champion Donny Schatz on the front row tomorrow night.
Joey Saldana's sixth-place finish lands him outside of row two for Saturday and the other A-Main qualifiers from tonight are Brad Sweet (5th), Dale Blaney (11th) and Lucas Wolfe (13th).
I mentioned Friday's "fantastic" format earlier as drivers will have a shot to race their way into the Championship lineup by finishing in the top four in tonight's feature. The weather is perfect, the track is racy and the action will be intense as the full lineups for Saturday's finale will be set by tonight's results. Enjoy!
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