Two drivers earned the right to consider the Front Row Challenge Monday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa and both turned it down. It played out to be the right choice as those two drivers, Daryn Pittman and Brian Brown, left the field in their wake to finish one-two in Terry McCarl’s annual pre-Nationals party where a race just might break out. The story of the night though had to be the performance of the young phenom out of California Kyle Larson.
The UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions winged sprint cars were the headliners for the night while the USAC non-wing cars also ran a full program as a preliminary event to Tuesday night’s “Ultimate Challenge” and Larson was the only driver to file an entry in both divisions. The 20-lap USAC feature would run first with Larson earning the pole position after a thrilling charge in the final two laps of his heat race where he went from fifth to second tallying the most passing points. His lead was immediate upon the drop of the green and he raced away from the field in the same manner after a pair of restarts. In the final segment Dave Darland was almost able to maintain Larson’s pace, but there was no catching the youngster as he cruised to the checkers that waved just in time for him though as something broke in the rear suspension as he crossed the finish line.
Darland would finish in the second spot, the always entertaining (both in and out of the car) Robert Ballou was third, Brady Bacon finished fourth and Levi Jones completed the top five. Jones had his hands full over the final few laps as “The Modern Day Cowboy” Daron Clayton was throwing everything he could at him for the position after racing his way up to sixth from seventeenth. During a pair of frontstretch interviews Ballou provided his thoughts on USAC and their qualifying procedures among other things and twice noted that the motor in his #81 was “old enough to vote”.
The 25-lap All Star finale was up next and earlier both Daryn Pittman and Brian seemed tempted, but could not be convinced to take the Front Row “Challenge” of starting at the rear to make it a $50,000-to-win event for that daring driver. Pittman won the race into turn one with Brown all over him before the caution waved on lap two when Brad Sweet and Jason Meyers tangled in turn two. On the ensuing restart Caleb Helms spun in turn one and on the next attempt to get the race back underway the third-running Mark Dobmeier smacked the guardrail in turn three.
Once back to green Pittman pulled away and not even lapped traffic could help Brown close the gap as Pittman cruised to the checkers. Brown would finish second while not far behind him at the finish would be Kyle Larson who raced his way to third after starting twelfth. The kid seems to be getting the hang of running with the wing around a big and fast half-mile just in time for Knoxville. Tim Kaeding had another solid performance coming from the fifth row to finish fourth while Ryan Bunton was consistent all night to finish fifth.
It was a tough night for the All Star series regulars as the top two in points, Tim Shaffer and Dale Blaney scratched due to mechanical issues prior to the main event. The large crowd was abuzz after the right front wheel came off of Jeff Swindell’s #7K car entering turn one during his heat race and the wheel launched at a high rate of speed over the high guardrail and sailed into a residential area across the street. No word on where it landed or what it may have hit, or even if it was ever found! I enjoyed the banter between announcers Tony Bokhoven and Justin Zoch as the two were reunited for the evening after having worked for several years together at the Knoxville Raceway.
The USAC Sprint Cars return to action tonight at Oskaloosa for The Ultimate Challenge and they will be joined by a full program for the 305 Winged Sprints.
I will take a night off in hope of thwarting this allergy/cold that I feel coming on before heading back up to Knoxville on Wednesday night for the opening of the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals. Wednesday and Thursday’s qualifying nights have always been two of the best nights of racing that you will find anywhere with inverted starts and every single position important for those valuable points. And now, with the change of format for Friday, make it three intense nights of qualifying for the big show on Saturday. If you have never been there before, or if it has been awhile since your last trip to the Nationals, I encourage you to take in at least a night or two this week as it should be spectacular!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Local Driver Bronson Maeschen Scores First Capitani Classic Title
In victory lane Bronson Maeschen told the crowd that he couldn’t win when Cappy was around so it was really nice to be the winner of the inaugural Capitani Classic. The young driver from nearby Pleasantville, Iowa, has been a weekly competitor for several years at the Knoxville Raceway as it was under the leadership of legendary promoter Ralph Capitani, but it took until this season for him to garner his first career feature win here on July 14th. On Sunday night Maeschen made it win number two at Knoxville with this one coming over a stellar field of 67 cars and in front of the event’s namesake himself.
Maeschen and former Knoxville Nationals champion Tim Shaffer lined up on the front row for the 25-lap main event on a track that had just been re-worked on both the bottom and top grooves with Maeschen jetting out to a big early lead. An early caution for a Kyle Larson spin in turn four brought the field back to him, but when the green flag returned so did Maeschen’s big lead as he again left Shaffer and everybody else in his wake. Another caution, this one for a slowing Wayne Johnson, bunched the field and once again the leader pulled away on the restart.
Now Bronson Maeschen has had a reputation for being ultra fast when on his own as he has always qualified well, but his lack of victories in the past perhaps suggested that he had issues dealing with racing conditions. As Bronson approached slower traffic with the laps winding down in this one a couple of forays out of his preferred groove allowed Shaffer, Joey Saldana and Cody Darrah to quickly close the gap and with five laps remaining this one looked to get very interesting. Perhaps sensing that his lead was shrinking fast, Maeschen stayed with his bottom line and got past Josh Schneiderman while Shaffer had to pause a bit as he dealt with Schneiderman exiting turn four. The lead was back up to half a straightaway after that and as Maeschen approached the slower car of Rager Phillips with two laps remaining you could almost sense his level of confidence as he powered around Phillips without missing a beat. The white flag waved and the big crowd cheered as the local driver brought it home for his second career feature win here and the healthy $5,000 top prize.
Shaffer would finish as the runner-up ahead of Saldana and Darrah while Tim Kaeding came from row seven to finish fifth. Sixth went to the driver who had started next to Kaeding, Brad Sweet, Brian Brown ran seventh, Jason Johnson came from row twelve to finish eighth while Danny Lasoski and Shane Stewart rounded out the top ten.
Cappy Classic Notebook
Jason Johnson started as an alternate when Donny Schatz scratched for the event. “The Ragin’ Cajun” finished as the first non-qualifier in the first of three B-Mains and was apparently considered to be the first alternate over the other two third-place finishers Brian Paulus and Danny Holtgraver.
Schatz won the sixth heat race and then was “given” the twelfth and final starting spot in the Dash during a Revenge Draw process. He scratched from that event when it was reported that he had lost his brakes in the final lap of the heat race and then later scratched from the main event as well.
With the huge car count the format for the evening saw six heat races with the top four cars inverted by qualifying times. The top three finishers would advance to the A-Main and there would then be three B-Mains with the top two out of each. The three B-Mains was a departure from the normal “alphabet” feature method here.
This format really placed an emphasis on qualifying as only 24 of the 67 drivers would make the heat race inverts and each driver would only get one lap on the clock. The first car out for qualifying, Brooke Tatnell set quick time driving the car #98 normally wheeled by J.D. Johnson. Guy Forbrook is serving as the crew chief on this car as well as they make a run at this week’s Nationals.
The event was a track point race toward the 410 Lucas Oil Championship Series and while several of the track’s regulars did well to make the A-Main against the heavy outside competition, point leader Davey Heskin did not make the show. Those that did and their finishing position were Maeschen (1st), Terry McCarl (12th), Tasker Phillips (16th), Rager Phillips (18th) and Josh Schneiderman (19th). McCarl had to come from outside of the invert and pace James McFadden late to transfer out of the sixth heat race and his efforts for the night moved him ahead of Heskin by just eight points with only one night of point racing remaining.
Ralph Capitani gave the command “Push Trucks, push ‘em if ya got ‘em” to get the $1,000-to-win Dash started. Danny Lasoski had this one well in hand until the throttle linkage broke with just four laps remaining. Stevie Smith then held off a hard charging Dale Blaney to take the win although he ran the final few laps trailing some smoke. Smith then had to scratch from his B-Main due to engine problems.
The Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweek action now moves to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the Front Row Challenge on Monday night and the Ultimate Challenge on Tuesday night before returning to Knoxville for the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals Wednesday through Saturday. I hope that you will check into the Back Stretch throughout the week for news and notes from these events and I also encourage you to visit Open Wheel News and Notes as well as Hawkeye Ovals for additional coverage.
Maeschen and former Knoxville Nationals champion Tim Shaffer lined up on the front row for the 25-lap main event on a track that had just been re-worked on both the bottom and top grooves with Maeschen jetting out to a big early lead. An early caution for a Kyle Larson spin in turn four brought the field back to him, but when the green flag returned so did Maeschen’s big lead as he again left Shaffer and everybody else in his wake. Another caution, this one for a slowing Wayne Johnson, bunched the field and once again the leader pulled away on the restart.
Now Bronson Maeschen has had a reputation for being ultra fast when on his own as he has always qualified well, but his lack of victories in the past perhaps suggested that he had issues dealing with racing conditions. As Bronson approached slower traffic with the laps winding down in this one a couple of forays out of his preferred groove allowed Shaffer, Joey Saldana and Cody Darrah to quickly close the gap and with five laps remaining this one looked to get very interesting. Perhaps sensing that his lead was shrinking fast, Maeschen stayed with his bottom line and got past Josh Schneiderman while Shaffer had to pause a bit as he dealt with Schneiderman exiting turn four. The lead was back up to half a straightaway after that and as Maeschen approached the slower car of Rager Phillips with two laps remaining you could almost sense his level of confidence as he powered around Phillips without missing a beat. The white flag waved and the big crowd cheered as the local driver brought it home for his second career feature win here and the healthy $5,000 top prize.
Shaffer would finish as the runner-up ahead of Saldana and Darrah while Tim Kaeding came from row seven to finish fifth. Sixth went to the driver who had started next to Kaeding, Brad Sweet, Brian Brown ran seventh, Jason Johnson came from row twelve to finish eighth while Danny Lasoski and Shane Stewart rounded out the top ten.
Cappy Classic Notebook
Jason Johnson started as an alternate when Donny Schatz scratched for the event. “The Ragin’ Cajun” finished as the first non-qualifier in the first of three B-Mains and was apparently considered to be the first alternate over the other two third-place finishers Brian Paulus and Danny Holtgraver.
Schatz won the sixth heat race and then was “given” the twelfth and final starting spot in the Dash during a Revenge Draw process. He scratched from that event when it was reported that he had lost his brakes in the final lap of the heat race and then later scratched from the main event as well.
With the huge car count the format for the evening saw six heat races with the top four cars inverted by qualifying times. The top three finishers would advance to the A-Main and there would then be three B-Mains with the top two out of each. The three B-Mains was a departure from the normal “alphabet” feature method here.
This format really placed an emphasis on qualifying as only 24 of the 67 drivers would make the heat race inverts and each driver would only get one lap on the clock. The first car out for qualifying, Brooke Tatnell set quick time driving the car #98 normally wheeled by J.D. Johnson. Guy Forbrook is serving as the crew chief on this car as well as they make a run at this week’s Nationals.
The event was a track point race toward the 410 Lucas Oil Championship Series and while several of the track’s regulars did well to make the A-Main against the heavy outside competition, point leader Davey Heskin did not make the show. Those that did and their finishing position were Maeschen (1st), Terry McCarl (12th), Tasker Phillips (16th), Rager Phillips (18th) and Josh Schneiderman (19th). McCarl had to come from outside of the invert and pace James McFadden late to transfer out of the sixth heat race and his efforts for the night moved him ahead of Heskin by just eight points with only one night of point racing remaining.
Ralph Capitani gave the command “Push Trucks, push ‘em if ya got ‘em” to get the $1,000-to-win Dash started. Danny Lasoski had this one well in hand until the throttle linkage broke with just four laps remaining. Stevie Smith then held off a hard charging Dale Blaney to take the win although he ran the final few laps trailing some smoke. Smith then had to scratch from his B-Main due to engine problems.
The Southern Iowa Sprint Speedweek action now moves to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for the Front Row Challenge on Monday night and the Ultimate Challenge on Tuesday night before returning to Knoxville for the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals Wednesday through Saturday. I hope that you will check into the Back Stretch throughout the week for news and notes from these events and I also encourage you to visit Open Wheel News and Notes as well as Hawkeye Ovals for additional coverage.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Stewart In Command Once Again at 360 Nationals
The green flag waved and Shane Stewart was gone. Literally. The Bixby, Oklahoma, driver completely dominated the 25-lap finale for his third straight and fourth overall title in the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway.
Roger Crockett brought the field to the green flag with Stewart to his outside and by the time they hit the back stretch Shane was already halfway down it before the rest of the pack exited turn two. The battle for second was a good one though as Crockett, Brady Bacon and Kevin Swindell went at it with Swindell securing the spot following a good slider on Bacon in turn two. From there it was a chase through traffic with Swindell actually cutting into the lead mid-race even though he was still a full straightaway back. Stewart was flawless though and that was all the closer that Swindell would get as the race went non-stop. Swindell would have to settle for second with Bacon not too far behind him in third, Jack Dover was fourth and Crockett held on the complete the top five. Dusty Zomer finished sixth, opening night winner Danny Lasoski was seventh, Brian Brown was the hard charger in eighth, Wayne Johnson was ninth and Tim Kaeding finished tenth.
After the race Stewart displayed the calm confidence of a driver who had just collected his third straight win in such a dominating fashion and he made it clear that when he drives Paul Silva's #57, he has no idea what is done to the car before he climbs aboard. Stewart has put together an interesting schedule in 2012 driving winged sprint cars for several different owners and when he is not in the #57 he takes on a much more significant role in the setup of his ride. When he noted that it is tough to drive six different cars, Kevin Swindell chimed in "at least they are the same type of cars" as he has driven midgets, 360's, 410's, ARCA Stock Cars and just about anything else when given the opportunity.
Saturday Notebook
E-Main....Young Trey Starks ran in the top five early when he made his Knoxville Raceway debut with the World of Outlaws here in May and he had to be disappointed to find himself in the E-Main for the 360 Nationals. Starks made the most of it though as he went flag-to-flag to win the 8-lap opener for the night. Current ASCS Warrior Region point leader Kyle Bellm finished second. Gary Wright made one slow lap and then pulled in to put the wrap on his efforts here at Knoxville in this his final season of competition.
D-Main.....Matt Covington won the 360 season opener here a couple of years ago and tonight he pulled away from the field to win the D ahead of J.D. Johnson and Jonathan Allard. Danny Smith was in a qualifying spot, but slowed coming to the checkers and dropped to 13th.
C-Main.....Daryn Pittman, A.J. Johnson and Ryan Roberts got upside down on the front stretch as the green flag waved with all three drivers climbing from their battered cars under their own power. Sam Hafertepe Jr. was looking to be the third driver to win from the pole tonight and appeared to have things well in hand as the field behind him raced for the five transfer spots into the B-Main. R.J. Johnson slowed on lap four while running second and Matt Juhl had his power plant go up in flames as he was racing in fourth with just two laps remaining. On the restart Jason Meyers was able to drive past Glenn Styres for second and he then powered past Hafertepe on the final lap for the win. Behind that the race for the fifth and final transfer saw Covington and Jeff Swindell swap sliders for two laps with the veteran Swindell prevailing.
B-Main......Gary Taylor turned over eight times down the back straightaway on the opening lap and as the wrecker towed away his mangled race car both Dennis Moore Jr. and Swindell fixed damaged front wings in the work area. Moore had started eighth and would now have to go to the rear moving the outside row behind him, including Brian Brown, up a spot. Front row starters Justin Henderson and Seth Brahmer drove away from the field with Tim Shaffer chasing in third. Tony Bruce Jr. settled into the fourth and final transfer and was looking good to make the show until the final lap when Brown, who had restarted tenth, made the pass in turn one. This would put Brown in the 24th and final starting position for the main event and while Stewart's dominating performance would be the story, Brown's run up to eighth in the flag-to-flag finale would be the show.
Twenty-six 305 c.i. Sprint provided support tonight with much of the purse money being taken back to the tiny northern Iowa town of Arthur. Casy Friedrichsen put the slider on Bart Friedrichsen for the lead on lap five and then picked his way through traffic for the win. Bart was second, Alan Ambers finished third, pole-starter Matt Stephenson took fourth and Mitchell Alexander filled out the top five.
The 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals is in the books and the 410's take center stage tonight at Knoxville Raceway for the inaugural running of the Capitani Classic honoring longtime track promoter Ralph Capitani who retired at the end of last season. The weather is perfect today here in Iowa and the racing should be fantastic. What better way to spend a Sunday night in August?
Hope to see you there!
Roger Crockett brought the field to the green flag with Stewart to his outside and by the time they hit the back stretch Shane was already halfway down it before the rest of the pack exited turn two. The battle for second was a good one though as Crockett, Brady Bacon and Kevin Swindell went at it with Swindell securing the spot following a good slider on Bacon in turn two. From there it was a chase through traffic with Swindell actually cutting into the lead mid-race even though he was still a full straightaway back. Stewart was flawless though and that was all the closer that Swindell would get as the race went non-stop. Swindell would have to settle for second with Bacon not too far behind him in third, Jack Dover was fourth and Crockett held on the complete the top five. Dusty Zomer finished sixth, opening night winner Danny Lasoski was seventh, Brian Brown was the hard charger in eighth, Wayne Johnson was ninth and Tim Kaeding finished tenth.
After the race Stewart displayed the calm confidence of a driver who had just collected his third straight win in such a dominating fashion and he made it clear that when he drives Paul Silva's #57, he has no idea what is done to the car before he climbs aboard. Stewart has put together an interesting schedule in 2012 driving winged sprint cars for several different owners and when he is not in the #57 he takes on a much more significant role in the setup of his ride. When he noted that it is tough to drive six different cars, Kevin Swindell chimed in "at least they are the same type of cars" as he has driven midgets, 360's, 410's, ARCA Stock Cars and just about anything else when given the opportunity.
Saturday Notebook
E-Main....Young Trey Starks ran in the top five early when he made his Knoxville Raceway debut with the World of Outlaws here in May and he had to be disappointed to find himself in the E-Main for the 360 Nationals. Starks made the most of it though as he went flag-to-flag to win the 8-lap opener for the night. Current ASCS Warrior Region point leader Kyle Bellm finished second. Gary Wright made one slow lap and then pulled in to put the wrap on his efforts here at Knoxville in this his final season of competition.
D-Main.....Matt Covington won the 360 season opener here a couple of years ago and tonight he pulled away from the field to win the D ahead of J.D. Johnson and Jonathan Allard. Danny Smith was in a qualifying spot, but slowed coming to the checkers and dropped to 13th.
C-Main.....Daryn Pittman, A.J. Johnson and Ryan Roberts got upside down on the front stretch as the green flag waved with all three drivers climbing from their battered cars under their own power. Sam Hafertepe Jr. was looking to be the third driver to win from the pole tonight and appeared to have things well in hand as the field behind him raced for the five transfer spots into the B-Main. R.J. Johnson slowed on lap four while running second and Matt Juhl had his power plant go up in flames as he was racing in fourth with just two laps remaining. On the restart Jason Meyers was able to drive past Glenn Styres for second and he then powered past Hafertepe on the final lap for the win. Behind that the race for the fifth and final transfer saw Covington and Jeff Swindell swap sliders for two laps with the veteran Swindell prevailing.
B-Main......Gary Taylor turned over eight times down the back straightaway on the opening lap and as the wrecker towed away his mangled race car both Dennis Moore Jr. and Swindell fixed damaged front wings in the work area. Moore had started eighth and would now have to go to the rear moving the outside row behind him, including Brian Brown, up a spot. Front row starters Justin Henderson and Seth Brahmer drove away from the field with Tim Shaffer chasing in third. Tony Bruce Jr. settled into the fourth and final transfer and was looking good to make the show until the final lap when Brown, who had restarted tenth, made the pass in turn one. This would put Brown in the 24th and final starting position for the main event and while Stewart's dominating performance would be the story, Brown's run up to eighth in the flag-to-flag finale would be the show.
Twenty-six 305 c.i. Sprint provided support tonight with much of the purse money being taken back to the tiny northern Iowa town of Arthur. Casy Friedrichsen put the slider on Bart Friedrichsen for the lead on lap five and then picked his way through traffic for the win. Bart was second, Alan Ambers finished third, pole-starter Matt Stephenson took fourth and Mitchell Alexander filled out the top five.
The 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals is in the books and the 410's take center stage tonight at Knoxville Raceway for the inaugural running of the Capitani Classic honoring longtime track promoter Ralph Capitani who retired at the end of last season. The weather is perfect today here in Iowa and the racing should be fantastic. What better way to spend a Sunday night in August?
Hope to see you there!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Tatnell Tops Podium On Night Number Two
Brooke Tatnell passed Rager Phillips on lap eleven and then went on to post the victory on night number two of the 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals.
Tony Bruce Jr. jumped out to the early lead from the pole position and opened up a nice advantage over second-running Rager Phillips. But Phillips, putting the knowledge of his home track into play soon started to reel in the leader and on lap eight he powered by Bruce for the lead. A caution for Matt Juhl who had tagged the guardrail in turn one on lap nine bunched the field up once again and Tatnell then went to work on the restart.
The veteran Austrailian driver made the pass on Phillips and then eased ahead as Rager soon found himself under fire from other challengers. Tim Kaeding was working the low line of the speedway and moved into the second spot late, but he was not able to cut into Tatnell's advantage enough to mount a challenge.
Tatnell would take the victory with Kaeding in second, Dusty Zomer settled into the third spot while Roger Crockett slipped past Phillips late for fourth. Tim Shaffer came from the seventh row to finish in the sixth spot, two-time defedning event champion Shane Stewart was seventh, Wayne Johnson finished eighth, Jason Meyers came from from the tenth row to finish ninth and Jason Johnson filled out the top ten.
Friday Notebook
Qualifying.....The seventh car out to time, Shane Stewart posted the quick time for the night at 16.809 more than half a second slower than Thursday nights fastest lap. Roger Crockett was second quick just one one-hundredth of a second slower at 16.810.
Heats.....After going out late and posting a disappointing 21st fastest time, Jason Johnson picked up some points by winning heat race number one......Jordan Boston ran off with the second heat with Dusty Zomer putting a mean slider on Jamie Veal early to grab the fourth and final transfer position.....Brad Loyet won the third heat race and Sam Hafertepe Jr. took heat race number four. In that fourth heat Jeff Swindell became the first driver to start from outside of the invert to transfer as he finished fourth.....Johnny Herrera won the fifth heat with Jason Meyers passing Sheldon Haudenschild on the final lap to be the second driver outside of the invert to transfer.
C-Main.....Jonathan Allard cruised to an easy win ahead of Kevin Ramey, Kody Barksdale and Jeff Ensign. Geoff Dodge was challenging Ensign for the final transfer before blowing a right rear late.
B-Main.....This one got off to rough start with three drivers getting upside down in turn two on the opening lap. Josh Riggins, Josh Hodges and Carson McCarl all climbed out of the damaged rides uninjured. Leader Kaley Gharst was coming out of turn four for the checkers as Dyland Peterson spun in turn four causing a caution and a green-white-checker restart. Dennis Moore Jr. took advantage of this going from fifth to third at the finish behind Gharst and Seth Brahmer while Dustin Daggett went to the middle groove to pass Glenn Styres out of turn four for the final transfer. Styres and Jamie Veal were the big losers on that restart as both would have transferred to the A if not for the late caution.
Full results from Friday and the lineups for Saturday's feature races can be found here and with such a deep field just about any of the twenty-four starters will be capable of taking the win. Starting on the front row though, Shane Stewart would have to be considered the pre-race favorite to post his third straight 360 Nationals title. A full program for the 305 Sprints will be on the card as well and perhaps we'll see you there on the Back Stretch.
Tony Bruce Jr. jumped out to the early lead from the pole position and opened up a nice advantage over second-running Rager Phillips. But Phillips, putting the knowledge of his home track into play soon started to reel in the leader and on lap eight he powered by Bruce for the lead. A caution for Matt Juhl who had tagged the guardrail in turn one on lap nine bunched the field up once again and Tatnell then went to work on the restart.
The veteran Austrailian driver made the pass on Phillips and then eased ahead as Rager soon found himself under fire from other challengers. Tim Kaeding was working the low line of the speedway and moved into the second spot late, but he was not able to cut into Tatnell's advantage enough to mount a challenge.
Tatnell would take the victory with Kaeding in second, Dusty Zomer settled into the third spot while Roger Crockett slipped past Phillips late for fourth. Tim Shaffer came from the seventh row to finish in the sixth spot, two-time defedning event champion Shane Stewart was seventh, Wayne Johnson finished eighth, Jason Meyers came from from the tenth row to finish ninth and Jason Johnson filled out the top ten.
Friday Notebook
Qualifying.....The seventh car out to time, Shane Stewart posted the quick time for the night at 16.809 more than half a second slower than Thursday nights fastest lap. Roger Crockett was second quick just one one-hundredth of a second slower at 16.810.
Heats.....After going out late and posting a disappointing 21st fastest time, Jason Johnson picked up some points by winning heat race number one......Jordan Boston ran off with the second heat with Dusty Zomer putting a mean slider on Jamie Veal early to grab the fourth and final transfer position.....Brad Loyet won the third heat race and Sam Hafertepe Jr. took heat race number four. In that fourth heat Jeff Swindell became the first driver to start from outside of the invert to transfer as he finished fourth.....Johnny Herrera won the fifth heat with Jason Meyers passing Sheldon Haudenschild on the final lap to be the second driver outside of the invert to transfer.
C-Main.....Jonathan Allard cruised to an easy win ahead of Kevin Ramey, Kody Barksdale and Jeff Ensign. Geoff Dodge was challenging Ensign for the final transfer before blowing a right rear late.
B-Main.....This one got off to rough start with three drivers getting upside down in turn two on the opening lap. Josh Riggins, Josh Hodges and Carson McCarl all climbed out of the damaged rides uninjured. Leader Kaley Gharst was coming out of turn four for the checkers as Dyland Peterson spun in turn four causing a caution and a green-white-checker restart. Dennis Moore Jr. took advantage of this going from fifth to third at the finish behind Gharst and Seth Brahmer while Dustin Daggett went to the middle groove to pass Glenn Styres out of turn four for the final transfer. Styres and Jamie Veal were the big losers on that restart as both would have transferred to the A if not for the late caution.
Full results from Friday and the lineups for Saturday's feature races can be found here and with such a deep field just about any of the twenty-four starters will be capable of taking the win. Starting on the front row though, Shane Stewart would have to be considered the pre-race favorite to post his third straight 360 Nationals title. A full program for the 305 Sprints will be on the card as well and perhaps we'll see you there on the Back Stretch.
Lasoski and Cornell Highlight 360 Nationals Opener
The 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals opened up Thursday night with two west central Missouri based drivers waging a battle that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout the 20-lap main event. In the end experience and perhaps a little luck landed Danny Lasoski in a place that nobody knows as well as he does, victory lane at the Knoxville Raceway.
The Thursday night entry list of 56 had been trimmed to 24 starters for the night’s main event with Jonathan Cornell and Ryan Anderson on the front row. Cornell, a former Rookie-of-the-Year here at Knoxville in the 360 class, has been sticking closer to his Sedalia, Missouri, home this year running weekly and winning often at Double X Speedway and currently ranking second behind Kyle Bellm in the ASCS Warrior Region point standings. Anderson, from the small western Iowa town of Deloit, has been a mainstay at the Knoxville Raceway for many years running in both the 410’s and 360’s perhaps and was recently featured in Flat Out magazine for his impressive accomplishments given his very tight racing budget. Cornell vaulted to the lead at the drop of the green and moved to the cushion on the big half-mile while third-starting Danny Lasoski did not take long to drive by Anderson for second. The winningest driver in the track’s storied history, Lasoski worked his familiar low line around the speedway and steadily reeled in Cornell easing past him for the lead on lap number five.
Driving a brand new car #1M put together by owner Mark Burch for the weekend, Lasoski pushed the lead to about ten car-lengths over the next couple of laps before Cornell started to fight back. At the mid-race mark Cornell had pulled back to within striking distance and he made a run on Lasoski for the lead. The veteran from Dover, Missouri, drove hard into turn three though and then slid up the track in four to block Cornell’s run, but it was on temporary as two laps later Cornell was able to kick off the cushion and drive past Lasoski for the lead. The two swapped safe sliders in a thrilling fashion over the next two set of turns and as they raced down the back stretch Cornell saw that Danny Jennings was just ahead and racing in his preferred high line. Cornell aimed his #28 for the bottom, but Lasoski was already there and the two nearly made contact as Lasoski regained the lead and Cornell had to regroup now nearly a half-straightaway back. His high line was still fast though and Cornell was making up ground when the caution waved on lap sixteen for Terry McCarl who had spun in turn four.
On the restart Lasoski worked a line where he would enter a set of turns low and then drift up on the exit in order to close off any high-line cushion runs from his challenger and it was working well as the white flag waved. Coming out of turn two on that final lap Cornell was rocket and appeared to have enough momentum to make one last run at the leader, but after setting the car on the cushion in three and then aiming for a lower line out of four Cornell’s bid for the win ended abruptly as his left rear tire disintegrated. Would he have been able to beat Lasoski to the line? I may be in the minority with this opinion, but I don’t think so as “The Dude” was flawless out of four in capturing yet another checkered flag at the track he calls “home”.
Brian Brown capped an amazing run by coming from 19th to second, more on “Blackjack” later, Kevin Swindell was solid in third, Jack Dover finished in the fourth spot while Cornell limped across the line in fifth. While watching that race for the lead I couldn’t help but to scan back a few times at that amazing race between Brown, Swindell and Dover for what we all thought would be for third until that final turn. Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Paul McMahan, Ryan Anderson and Kyle Larson completed the top ten.
Thursday Notes:
Qualifying…..There is no denying that drawing an early opportunity to qualify is important here whether it is the 360 or 410 Nationals. An early run can earn a driver points that he would otherwise never expect while a late qualifying opportunity can put you behind the eight-ball from the start, especially this week when only the top 30 qualifiers make the heat race inverts. Tonight’s top three qualifiers were among the first eleven to take to the track while Dustin Selvage was impressive establishing the fourth fastest lap as the 25th car out to take time. Conversely one of the pre-event favorites Brian Brown was the 50th driver to go out to qualify and he ended up 35th in the final rundown. One driver though who went out after Brown disproved the theory that a late qualifying effort will never produce good results as Kevin Swindell qualified sixth quick…..Jac Haudenschild in the Phillips Floors #7K had a busy qualifying session as his left rear tire blew in turn four as he was coming to the green for his first lap. After changing the tire I was surprised to see him come back out just a few cars later, in the middle of qualifying, to take two laps on the clock. As qualifying ended his fastest lap was announced as the tenth best in the rundown, but his car was then pushed back toward the front stretch as it was determined that Jac should have instead only been given one lap of qualifying at the end for missing his time slot. This lap landed him in the 20th position…..Current track point leader Clint Garner was fast time on the night as the 11th car out to qualify…….Irving, Texas, driver Shawn Peterson suffered front end damage when he slid into the end of the infield guardrail while exiting the track after his qualifying effort.
1st Heat…..Front row starters Kyle Larson and Logan Forler raced side-by-side for much of this eight-lapper with “Young Money” Larson prevailing. Forler, Kevin Swindell and Brad Sweet also transferred while fastest qualifier Clint Garner found himself on the pole for the B-Main after finishing fifth.
2nd Heat…..The southeast Iowa based Sprint Invaders organization had to be proud of this front row featuring two of their regulars in Tony Shilling and Bobby Mincer. Shilling dominated this one winning with ease ahead of Ryan Anderson, Brady Bacon and Mincer. Of note here was that Daryn Pittman who qualified miserably started tenth and could only climb to eight at the finish.
3rd Heat…..This one saw a pair of big passes out of turn two on the final lap. Danny Jennings slipped by Henry Van Dam to take the win while, even more importantly, Jack Dover blew by Randy Martin for the fourth and final transfer position. Jonathan Cornell finished third.
4th Heat…..Texan Larry Howery was scheduled to start fourth, but instead chose to tag the tail. Jesse Gianetto who recently replaced Tyler Groenendyk in the #10 car pulled away to victory with Paul McMahan finishing second. Defending NASCAR Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. returned to his roots tonight and finished third while Tony Norem held off Davey Heskin by six one hundredths of a second to finish fourth. With the Nationwide series racing up the road at the Iowa Speedway in Newton Saturday night, only some weather-altered schedules would allow Stenhouse to compete in the finals of the 360 Nationals, so his efforts here tonight showed just how much he loves to get back behind the wheel of a winged sprint car.
5th Heat…..Talk about a stacked field, this one included former Outlaws Jac Haudenschild, Terry McCarl (driving the #94 car this weekend), Danny Lasoski, Randy Hannagan and Brian Brown. Hannagan would be the only driver to win a heat from the sixth starting spot tonight with Lasoski running second. R.J. Johnson did a nice job holding down the third spot while Brown joined Stenhouse as the only drivers to come from outside of the invert to transfer from a heat race. Haudenschild did not finish sending him to the C-Main.
C-Main…..Shawn Peterson’s tough night continued as he smacked the turn four guardrail on the opening lap knocking down his front end for the second time this evening…..Haudenschild appeared to have this one in the bag, but either he slowed some on the final lap or Ryan Roberts hit the turbo boosters as Roberts made up nearly a full straightaway to pass the veteran from Ohio for the win. Derek Hagar and Justin Carver also transferred.
B-Main…..My attention was on Terry McCarl in this one as he did not look good in his heat and starting fifth he needed to move to the top four to continue his evening. As pole-sitter Clint Garner stretched an early lead, McCarl struggled through the early laps before finding his rhythm. Arguably the best Iowa sprint car driver ever, McCarl showed why as he steadily picked his way toward the front and passed Garner for the win. The three-car battle for the final two transfer spots between Jon Agan, Jake Martens and Russ Hall went right down to the final turns as Agan and Martens ran side-by-side into turn three with Hall looking for racing room. When Agan slid sideways at the apex of the corner Hall had to back off to keep from hitting him as Martens took third and Agan recovered to finish fourth. Frustrated that he had been shut out of the main event, Hall pounded the back bumper of Agan a couple of times on the cool down lap.
As you can see there was plenty of action to keep a race fan very entertained and, with another roster stacked with interesting names, look for more of the same on Friday night as qualifying continues for the 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals. For more Positively Racing coverage of this event make sure that you also check in with Eric Arnold and Morgan Broeg.
The Thursday night entry list of 56 had been trimmed to 24 starters for the night’s main event with Jonathan Cornell and Ryan Anderson on the front row. Cornell, a former Rookie-of-the-Year here at Knoxville in the 360 class, has been sticking closer to his Sedalia, Missouri, home this year running weekly and winning often at Double X Speedway and currently ranking second behind Kyle Bellm in the ASCS Warrior Region point standings. Anderson, from the small western Iowa town of Deloit, has been a mainstay at the Knoxville Raceway for many years running in both the 410’s and 360’s perhaps and was recently featured in Flat Out magazine for his impressive accomplishments given his very tight racing budget. Cornell vaulted to the lead at the drop of the green and moved to the cushion on the big half-mile while third-starting Danny Lasoski did not take long to drive by Anderson for second. The winningest driver in the track’s storied history, Lasoski worked his familiar low line around the speedway and steadily reeled in Cornell easing past him for the lead on lap number five.
Driving a brand new car #1M put together by owner Mark Burch for the weekend, Lasoski pushed the lead to about ten car-lengths over the next couple of laps before Cornell started to fight back. At the mid-race mark Cornell had pulled back to within striking distance and he made a run on Lasoski for the lead. The veteran from Dover, Missouri, drove hard into turn three though and then slid up the track in four to block Cornell’s run, but it was on temporary as two laps later Cornell was able to kick off the cushion and drive past Lasoski for the lead. The two swapped safe sliders in a thrilling fashion over the next two set of turns and as they raced down the back stretch Cornell saw that Danny Jennings was just ahead and racing in his preferred high line. Cornell aimed his #28 for the bottom, but Lasoski was already there and the two nearly made contact as Lasoski regained the lead and Cornell had to regroup now nearly a half-straightaway back. His high line was still fast though and Cornell was making up ground when the caution waved on lap sixteen for Terry McCarl who had spun in turn four.
On the restart Lasoski worked a line where he would enter a set of turns low and then drift up on the exit in order to close off any high-line cushion runs from his challenger and it was working well as the white flag waved. Coming out of turn two on that final lap Cornell was rocket and appeared to have enough momentum to make one last run at the leader, but after setting the car on the cushion in three and then aiming for a lower line out of four Cornell’s bid for the win ended abruptly as his left rear tire disintegrated. Would he have been able to beat Lasoski to the line? I may be in the minority with this opinion, but I don’t think so as “The Dude” was flawless out of four in capturing yet another checkered flag at the track he calls “home”.
Brian Brown capped an amazing run by coming from 19th to second, more on “Blackjack” later, Kevin Swindell was solid in third, Jack Dover finished in the fourth spot while Cornell limped across the line in fifth. While watching that race for the lead I couldn’t help but to scan back a few times at that amazing race between Brown, Swindell and Dover for what we all thought would be for third until that final turn. Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Paul McMahan, Ryan Anderson and Kyle Larson completed the top ten.
Thursday Notes:
Qualifying…..There is no denying that drawing an early opportunity to qualify is important here whether it is the 360 or 410 Nationals. An early run can earn a driver points that he would otherwise never expect while a late qualifying opportunity can put you behind the eight-ball from the start, especially this week when only the top 30 qualifiers make the heat race inverts. Tonight’s top three qualifiers were among the first eleven to take to the track while Dustin Selvage was impressive establishing the fourth fastest lap as the 25th car out to take time. Conversely one of the pre-event favorites Brian Brown was the 50th driver to go out to qualify and he ended up 35th in the final rundown. One driver though who went out after Brown disproved the theory that a late qualifying effort will never produce good results as Kevin Swindell qualified sixth quick…..Jac Haudenschild in the Phillips Floors #7K had a busy qualifying session as his left rear tire blew in turn four as he was coming to the green for his first lap. After changing the tire I was surprised to see him come back out just a few cars later, in the middle of qualifying, to take two laps on the clock. As qualifying ended his fastest lap was announced as the tenth best in the rundown, but his car was then pushed back toward the front stretch as it was determined that Jac should have instead only been given one lap of qualifying at the end for missing his time slot. This lap landed him in the 20th position…..Current track point leader Clint Garner was fast time on the night as the 11th car out to qualify…….Irving, Texas, driver Shawn Peterson suffered front end damage when he slid into the end of the infield guardrail while exiting the track after his qualifying effort.
1st Heat…..Front row starters Kyle Larson and Logan Forler raced side-by-side for much of this eight-lapper with “Young Money” Larson prevailing. Forler, Kevin Swindell and Brad Sweet also transferred while fastest qualifier Clint Garner found himself on the pole for the B-Main after finishing fifth.
2nd Heat…..The southeast Iowa based Sprint Invaders organization had to be proud of this front row featuring two of their regulars in Tony Shilling and Bobby Mincer. Shilling dominated this one winning with ease ahead of Ryan Anderson, Brady Bacon and Mincer. Of note here was that Daryn Pittman who qualified miserably started tenth and could only climb to eight at the finish.
3rd Heat…..This one saw a pair of big passes out of turn two on the final lap. Danny Jennings slipped by Henry Van Dam to take the win while, even more importantly, Jack Dover blew by Randy Martin for the fourth and final transfer position. Jonathan Cornell finished third.
4th Heat…..Texan Larry Howery was scheduled to start fourth, but instead chose to tag the tail. Jesse Gianetto who recently replaced Tyler Groenendyk in the #10 car pulled away to victory with Paul McMahan finishing second. Defending NASCAR Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. returned to his roots tonight and finished third while Tony Norem held off Davey Heskin by six one hundredths of a second to finish fourth. With the Nationwide series racing up the road at the Iowa Speedway in Newton Saturday night, only some weather-altered schedules would allow Stenhouse to compete in the finals of the 360 Nationals, so his efforts here tonight showed just how much he loves to get back behind the wheel of a winged sprint car.
5th Heat…..Talk about a stacked field, this one included former Outlaws Jac Haudenschild, Terry McCarl (driving the #94 car this weekend), Danny Lasoski, Randy Hannagan and Brian Brown. Hannagan would be the only driver to win a heat from the sixth starting spot tonight with Lasoski running second. R.J. Johnson did a nice job holding down the third spot while Brown joined Stenhouse as the only drivers to come from outside of the invert to transfer from a heat race. Haudenschild did not finish sending him to the C-Main.
C-Main…..Shawn Peterson’s tough night continued as he smacked the turn four guardrail on the opening lap knocking down his front end for the second time this evening…..Haudenschild appeared to have this one in the bag, but either he slowed some on the final lap or Ryan Roberts hit the turbo boosters as Roberts made up nearly a full straightaway to pass the veteran from Ohio for the win. Derek Hagar and Justin Carver also transferred.
B-Main…..My attention was on Terry McCarl in this one as he did not look good in his heat and starting fifth he needed to move to the top four to continue his evening. As pole-sitter Clint Garner stretched an early lead, McCarl struggled through the early laps before finding his rhythm. Arguably the best Iowa sprint car driver ever, McCarl showed why as he steadily picked his way toward the front and passed Garner for the win. The three-car battle for the final two transfer spots between Jon Agan, Jake Martens and Russ Hall went right down to the final turns as Agan and Martens ran side-by-side into turn three with Hall looking for racing room. When Agan slid sideways at the apex of the corner Hall had to back off to keep from hitting him as Martens took third and Agan recovered to finish fourth. Frustrated that he had been shut out of the main event, Hall pounded the back bumper of Agan a couple of times on the cool down lap.
As you can see there was plenty of action to keep a race fan very entertained and, with another roster stacked with interesting names, look for more of the same on Friday night as qualifying continues for the 22nd Annual Arnold Motor Supply Knoxville 360 Nationals. For more Positively Racing coverage of this event make sure that you also check in with Eric Arnold and Morgan Broeg.
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