I have seen a lot of good races over the years, but it takes something amazing to send shivers down my spine and that happened on the final lap of the 410 Sprint Car feature Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway. In a twenty-lap race that had been very common for the first fifteen, the final five circuits around the legendary half-mile, including the banzai charge into turn three by one of the sport's most popular drivers made it a night to remember, especially given the situation that we are all living through right now.
The race actually got off to a rough start when eighth starting Trey Starks got crossed up on the cushion in turn one and then slid sideways down the track entering turn two. Several cars were able to slip by him, but leading 410 rookie-of-the-year contender Ryan Giles could not quite squeeze his car to the bottom and contact put Giles up and over and severely damaged the front axle of Starks' car and sending both to the trailer prior to the restart.
Front row starters Lynton Jeffery and Terry McCarl had Brian Brown in between them entering turn one on the opening lap and it would be McCarl taking the lead down the back stretch with Jeffery holding on to second. The caution would fly after the leaders clicked off lap two when Hunter Scheurenburg slowed on the back stretch a victim of an apparent engine failure and on the restart it would take two more laps before Brown sailed around the outside of Jeffery to take second.
The next ten laps did not yield much to write about, supported by the fact that the highlight package (to be linked later in the article so that you read about it first!) skipped ahead as well, but when McCarl had to leave the cushion to deal with lapped traffic that allowed Brown to close in. On lap seventeen Brown threw a slider entering turn three, but the veteran McCarl executed the crossover move to perfection and the two would race side-by-side down the front stretch with T-Mac still holding the lead by a nose at the line.
With McCarl now sliding to the top in turn two, Brown aimed for the bottom at the exit and he would drive to the lead down the back stretch. With this great battle going on in front of him, Rico Abreu had found a bite on the bottom and was closing quickly to soon make it a a three car classic for the lead. Brown would lead with two to go, but a slight bobble off the cushion in four allowed both McCarl and Abreu to close in on him entering turn one.
They would exit turn two three wide with Brown on the cushion, McCarl a car-length back in the middle and Abreu another car-length back digging around the bottom and with the lapped car of Mike Ayers just ahead of them, Rico would have to drift to the cushion entering turn three and at that point it looked like he would be out of it. Wrong!
That big run off the cushion of turn four as the white flag waved allowed Abreu to again power around the bottom to pass McCarl for second and, as Brown again made the slightest of slip off the cushion in turn two Rico had a big run on him going down the back stretch. Now this was a drag race to get to the bottom of turn three and as Brown started to move down the track, Abreu did not lift and not only would he take the lead into the corner, but he would keep his car stuck to the bottom long enough to not allow Brown to cross him over and the crowd went wild as Rico took the win. Brown would finish second with McCarl not far behind in third while Austin McCarl and Matt Juhl completed the top five.
Okay, so now you can watch the highlight package and I will admit that I used it to fine tune my description. After all, it is hard to take good notes when you are trembling with excitement! And believe me, that drag race into turn three looked much more dramatic from Section I Row 34 than it does here proving once again that it is always better to be there in person whenever possible.
Knowing that there would be a huge field of 360's brought me to Knoxville in the first place this night as it would be night two of a Midwest Power Series doubleheader with the Jackson Motorplex, plus a point race for the Nebraska 360 Sprints. And after having raced just down the road in Osborn, Missouri, the night before several of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series drivers would be in attendance as well. The combination brought out a stout field of forty-six that was whittled down to twenty-four for the twenty lap main event with four-time ASCS champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. and defending Knoxville track champion Carson McCarl starting from the front row.
Hafertepe would have the edge at the drop of the green and he would pace the field for the first eight laps until Friday night's winner at Jackson, Justin Henderson powered by him on the inside of turn three. Hafertepe would stay close over the second half of the race that went non-stop, but he could never mount a challenge as Henderson won for the second night in a row and with a clean sweep bonus from GRP Motorsports the result was a sweet $9,000 weekend for the second generation driver from Tea, South Dakota. Hafertepe, who won at Osborn on Friday, would have to settle for the runner-up honors on this night as McCarl closed in on current point leader Jamie Ball with a third-place run. Brian Brown finished fourth and Clint Garner was fifth.
When I was here a few weeks ago Devin Kline told everybody in victory lane that it would be his one and only appearance for the season. Car owner Matt Allen had other ideas though and this was the night that the second Allen Racing Team Car would be ready to go with Kline again behind the wheel and he would earn the outside front row starting spot for the fifteen lap Pro Series feature. Veteran driver Chris Walraven would beat him to the point though and lead the first seven circuits, but when Walraven guess wrong on where the slower car of Jaslyn Jones was going to go entering turn one, Kline took advantage.
The caution waved with three laps remaining when Chase Young spun in turn three and on the restart Kline drove away as an entertaining three car battle for second played out behind him. The victory would make Kline the all-time winningest driver in the 305/Pro Sprint Series while Brandon Worthington moved from fifth to second over the final three laps. Devin Wignall picked up the third spot late dropping Walraven to fourth at the checkers while Mike Mayberry filled out the top five.
With the show pushed back an extra four due to the heat the final checkered flag still waved just past eleven o'clock on a very well presented show with no intermission. The late trip home though has me wondering about my original plan to head north to the Benton County Speedway tonight for my first trip to Vinton in 2020, so I may let the weather and the prospect of a nap make that decision as the day goes on. I really sound old now, don't I?
In the days ahead I look forward to two straight nights of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa as on Tuesday night the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) will attack the big half-mile and then on Wednesday night there is a bunch of extra money on the line for the second annual Caleb Hammond Memorial.
Hope to see you there!
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