Swindell Scores At Salina

The car count may have been a bit on the light side, but the action was intense as the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour slid into the Salina Speedway in central Kansas Thursday night and it was "The Bulldog" Kevin Swindell taking the win.

Nineteen cars lined up for the thirty-lap finale with J.D. Johnson and Seth Bergman sitting on the front row. On the first start both Dustin Morgan and Kevin Swindell spun in turn two, but Swindell was able to keep his car in motion and was not penalized for the restart as he again started in sixth. Bergman would race to the lead on the next start as series point leader Jason Johnson made a big move up from eighth to fourth on the opening lap.

The field settled into single file formation all running the cushion during the early stages of the event before the caution waved for a spin by Tony Bruce Jr. in turn two. On the restart Bergman led Don Droud Jr., Jason Johnson and Swindell into turn one and Kevin pulled off his second big move of the night as he kicked off the heavy cushion in turn one and then shot to the bottom coming out of turn two flying past Johnson and Droud down the back straightaway. It wasn't long before the leaders were back in traffic and the next ten laps were some of the best that we have seen all year with drivers using all lines around the 3/8-mile paper clip racing in and around lapped traffic. Johnson moved back into second and then he passed Bergman for the lead on lap twenty-one with Swindell right behind him.

When Johnson hesitated for a split second measuring up traffic entering turn one three laps later, Swindell dove low into turn one and then drifted up in front of "The Ragin' Cajun" to close the door in turn two to take the lead on lap twenty-four. With traffic still in play Johnson was ready to return the favor but the caution waved on the next lap as Jake Martens slowed on the back stretch with a flat right rear tire.

With an open track and just five laps to go Swindell looked to have this one in the bag, but the caution waved again following the white when J.D. Johnson drove off the back straightaway. With a green-white-checkered restart Jason Johnson could not get the run he needed to attempt a slider for the lead and Swindell pumped his fist in triumph as he closed out the $3,000 victory. Johnson would extend his point lead as the runner-up, Bergman would come home third, Don Droud Jr. finished fourth and Wayne Johnson slipped by Logan Forler on that final restart to take fifth after starting from the sixth row.

This was my first ever visit to the Salina Speedway and I was very impressed with the facility. Track prep was superb on this night and the local announcers were informative and entertaining during the support action from the Mod Lites and Mini-Stocks. IMCA Modifieds and Sport Mods headline the track's weekly Friday night program and it looks like they draw a pretty solid field.

Rolling in the moisture at the Salina Speedway

The ASCS National Tour continues a three night swing as they head south to the Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, just west of Tulsa on Friday night before heading to Lawton, Oklahoma on Saturday night. Swindell stated that he would be at Creek County on Friday night, but that he would have to skip Saturday "to go big car racing". He then said that he wished he didn't have to do that after tonight!

If you can't get to the track remember that you can always follow the ASCS National Tour action live on Racin' Boys Live.

My August of Sprint Cars will continue on Saturday night from another track that I have never seen before. Check back later here on the Back Stretch to see where that might be!

Sixth Knoxville Nationals Title for Donny Schatz

Donny Schatz served notice on Friday night that he was the man to beat when he blew away the competition in the Speed Sport News World Challenge and he backed that up on Saturday night by laying claim to his sixth Knoxville Nationals championship. It was an impressive fifty laps for Schatz, but he definitely hadsome company at the end!

Starting fifth on the grid, Schatz moved to third at the drop of the green trailing Stevie Smith and Jonathan Allard. Smith was setting a torrid early pace and opened a sizable advantage as Schatz eased past Allard for second, and after that Smith's lead slowly wilted away. On lap fourteen Schatz would blow by Smith and then proceed to lead the field until the caution waved on lap twenty-six for the mid-race break where crews added fuel and made any other changes that they could complete within five minutes.

When the field went back to green Schatz quickly pulled away from both Craig Dollansky and Brian Brown and this one looked as though it was all but over, at least as far as who the winner would be. The racing back in the pack was entertaining though with drivers using the entire race track from bottom to top. The caution waved again on lap 34 when the Nationals Rookie-of-the-Year Kyle Larson had the left rear tire on his car let go and the field was brought back to Schatz with sixteen laps remaining.

On the restart Brown put the slider on Dollansky for second and the large crowd started to move to the edge of their seats as Brian was now able to at least keep pace with Schatz. The anticipation turned electric as Brown started to close the gap and with eight laps remaining he was within striking distance for the lead. But when the challenger hopped the cushion in turn two and fell back by over half a straightaway, you could hear the groan of the crowd over the roar of the motors. But wait! As Schatz went to put Cody Darrah a lap down he would get caught up behind the young driver from Pennsylvania and Brown, with new life, would close quickly. As the white flag waved, Brown was within six car lengths, but he lost some ground in turns one and two and it again looked like this one is all over. But as Schatz powered into turn three for one last time he had two cars using two different grooves in front of him and he drifted a bit in turn four alloweing Brian Brown to mount one last gasp effort. Everybody rose to their feet as Brown made his run and as the checkers waved he was up to the rear bumper of the leader only to come up one car-length short of his first Nationals win.

Take away that last turn and it was a pretty dominating performance for Schatz who collected his sixth Nationals title over the past seven years. An amazing stretch for the North Dakota native especially when you consider that he has finished either first or second in this event in eleven of the last thirteen years!

Brian Brown was elated with his second-place finish noting that catching Schatz is one thing, but then what to do with him after that is a whole other challenge! Craig Dollansky was a bit more subdued with his third-place finish, likely disappointed that he did not get out to an early lead after starting on the front row, but instead dropping back to fourth.

Kraig Kinser had a solid week and kept the family name in the limelight as he advanced from ninth to finish in the fourth spot while Jason Meyers made his brief return to the cockpit for the past two weeks memorable by winning Thursday's qualifier and then finishing fifth in the finale.

Shane Stewart had that come-from-the-back magic working early as he quickly raced his way from thirteenth to sixth, but after the break he could advance no further and early leader Stevie Smith would finish behind Stewart in seventh. Lance Dewease had a solid week that, outside of the Posse fans, may have went unnoticed as he came from the eighth row to finish eighth. Tim Kaeding may have been able to do better than ninth if not for a sour sounding motor during the second half of the race and local favorite Davey Heskin was the Hard Charger of the feature coming from 22nd to tenth.

Besides this being the sixth win for Schatz, the other big story from these Nationals will be the fact that the Championship A-Main did not include Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Danny Lasoski.

Lasoski had given up the tenth starting position in the Saturday night B-Main for the opportunity to qualify directly to the A in Friday's new format. But that gamble backfired when he suffered a flat tire in Friday's main event landing him on the pole position for Saturday's C-Main. Jamie Veal would lead that race early before Lasoski and Jac Haudenschild moved past the Aussie and the two veterans thrilled the crowd with a back and forth battle for the lead. Haudenschild would prevail with Lasoski in second, but in the B-Main Jac would drop out while Danny could only advance up to 17th at the finish.

Swindell started sixth in the B-Main needing a top four finish to advance to the finale. Front row starters Mark Dobmeier and Davey Heskin ran off and hid as expected leaving Swindell to battle with Brian Paulus, Greg Hodnett and Jason Johnson for the final two golden tickets to the big dance. Swindell looked good as he passed Paulus for third mid-race, but Brian came right back to punt Swindell back to fourth and leaving him vulnerable to a late race charge from Jason Sides. Now keep in mind that when Lasoski decided to throw his hat back into the ring and run on Friday night, it was Sides who then moved up a spot and accepted that tenth starting position in the B-Main and "Double Down" made the most of the opportunity by passing Swindell and holding on for the final transfer position to the A.

Steve Kinser has been in the A-Main at the Knoxville Nationals every year since 1978, thirty-four straight years a record that will likely never be eclipsed, but that streak ended this week as "The King" could not overcome the first thing that happened to him as he signed in on Wednesday night. It was then that he drew out the final position in the qualifying order on a night that would see a three hour rain delay that would lead to a fast and narrow racing surface. Kinser still posted a respectable 15th fastest time in qualifying, but he failed to transfer out of both his heat race and a stacked B-Main. He was tenth quick on Friday night, but again came up one spot short of a transfer out his heat race. A thrilling three-wide pass for the lead and a win in his Friday B-Main provided some hope, but he was a non-factor in the Friday feature landing him in the eighth row for Saturday's B-Main. As the entertaining battle for the final transfer positions waged on, Kinser was able to move up to tenth at the finish, but his focus would now be on his son Kraig's efforts in the main event. And hopefully, with his fourth-place finish Kraig was able to wash away some of his father's disappointment and replace it with pride.

The 2012 Knoxville Nationals are in the books and I would have to rank these as somewhere in the top ten overall that I have been able to attend since 1976. The new format for Friday's program definitely made this a four night "event" and hopefully we continue to see the stands get closer and closer to being full once again as they were not so long ago. A big "Thank You" to Brian Stickel, Toby Kruse and the entire Knoxville Raceway staff not only for the hospitality that they show all of us here at Positively Racing, but also for putting on one of the best events in racing in a very professional manner!

Henderson and Schatz Go To Victory Lane In Fast and Furious New Friday Format

Whoever was the the architect of the new Friday format at the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville National deserves a hand shake and a pat on the back as it is now every bit as suspenseful and intriguing as the two nights that precede it. Often called the best two nights of racing anywhere, the Wednesday and Thursday qualifying nights featuring inverted starts and a point system that makes each and every position of value always made Friday's "non-qualifier" show seem like something that fans just had to get through until Saturday. After all, the winner of Friday's feature would be "earning" the 11th starting spot in Saturday night's C-Main, but not anymore. Under the new format the top four in the Friday night feature would go directly to Saturday's championship A-Main to start 17th through 20th, plus to make it even more intriguing the fifth-place finisher would drop all the way back to the 11th starting spot in Saturday's B-Main. Can you imagine watching a feature race where the battle for fourth was even more important than the battle for the lead? That was exactly the scenario last evening that thoroughly entertained a large crowd and left them energized for more on Saturday.

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.

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.

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!

No Rust Evident, Meyers Wins Night Two At Knoxville

Jason Meyers has not raced much in 2012, but the reigning World Of Outlaws champion showed no sign of rust Thursday night as he took the win on the second night of qualifying for the 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals.

Mark Dobmeier, who won the second night of qualifying at last year's Nationals, started from the pole position and looked like a good bet to repeat as he raced away to the early lead with Greg Hodnett trying to keep pace. After an exciting performance in his heat race (more on that later), Sammy Swindell was the man to watch but his effort came to an early end on lap five when the u-joint let go on his Big Game Tree Stands car #1 while racing in fourth and sending him to the pits. Jason Meyers had just passed Hodnett for second and on lap seven the caution waved as Hodnett coasted to a halt in turn four.

On the restart an incident coming out of turn two produced a red flag as Ian Madsen spun and collected Danny Lasoski who then went for a tumble in the Zemco #1Z. Once back to green Meyers was all over Dobmeier and after being turned back on his first challenge, Meyers completed the pass for the lead on lap nine. With the lead change our attention moved back a few positions where Tim Shaffer was mounting a charge after starting from the 15th position. The winner of the 50th Nationals in 2010, Shaffer was grinding away at the inside berm on both ends of the speedway and was steadily making his way toward the front of the field. The caution waved one last time on lap fifteen when the left rear tire exploded on Dusty Zomer's #91 going down the front stretch and he spun to a stop just before tagging the guardrail in turn one.



Jason Meyers - Photo by Barry Johnson





Meyers was solid as the leader but the final ten laps saw plenty of action just behind him featuring Stevie Smith, Shaffer, Kraig Kinser and Lance Dewease as they raced for position and once Shaffer made his way to second he started to close the gap on the leader. As the white flag waved Meyers was able to clear one more lapped car that ended up pinching off Shaffer exiting turn four ending any chance he had of making a last lap challenge. Meyers was exuberant to be back in victory lane at Knoxville and was quick to thank Tom Tarlton and the entire team for their efforts that got him there. Shaffer continued to build his already large Knoxville fan base with his charge to second, Kraig Kinser was steady all race in finishing third, Stevie Smith took fourth while Lance Dewease finished fifth.

Lance Dewease - Photo by Barry Johnson

Kraig Kinser - Photo by Barry Johnson

Thursday Notebook.....Robert Bell is a fan favorite here for his perseverance and efforts on a shoestring budget, and frankly he runs pretty darn well with so little resources. Tonight he drew the first qualifying spot and after completing his first lap announcer Tony Bokhoven said emphatically "Quick Time!" and several fans in the stands (including me) pumped their fists, stood, cheered and high-fived their neighbors as if he had just out-qualified the fifty car field. Bell's time did hold up enough to place him in the invert as he started from the pole in heat race number four.....Ian Madsen would be the fastest qualifier tonight and a series of events helped him to qualify out of the first heat race. On the opening lap Jason Johnson and Cody Darrah tangled not once, but twice while going down the back stretch and the result saw Darrah upside down in turn three and Johnson with a flat left rear tire. This moved Madsen up a row for the restart and he settled into fourth, but he ended up in third when Mike Moore's motor let go with two laps remaining. If not for his spin in the feature, Madsen could have been on the pole for the Championship by finishing eighth or better, but he still has to be happy to be locked in and set to start in the sixth row.....Tony Bruce Jr. won that first heat nipping Josh Hodges at the stripe when Hodges' motor soured exiting turn four......The second heat had a dramatic ending to it just as Tyler Walker passed under the checkers for the win. Calfornia driver Geoff Ensign appeared to have the fourth and final transfer position in hand as he was well ahead of both Terry McCarl and Brian Brown. But as he raced down the back stretch Ensign's car suddenly erupted into a huge ball of flames sending him into a spin entering turn three. Both McCarl and Brown were closing fast and quickly reacted to miss Ensign with McCarl going high and Brown banking off the back stretch guardrail and going low. McCarl ran out of room driving up on the fence before his left front dug in causing him to roll over onto his top. Since Brown maintained his motion he was scored in the fourth position in the official finish while Ensign and McCarl were placed as the last two cars still running on that final lap in seventh and eighth. McCarl was able to make repairs and was later set to start near the front of the B-Main, but when his left front brake locked up he spun the car while lining up behind the pace car. Needing a second push start he was then sent to the rear and could only get up to 13th at the finish......Jack Dover and Bronson Maeschen both suffered mechanical issues in the third heat......Danny Lasoski and Nationals rookie Logan Schuchart swapped sliders in the fourth heat, but they were racing for sixth at the time and both would end up in the B-Main. Roger Crockett dropped out while running in third allowing Stevie Smith to take the fourth transfer spot. Smith would go on to run fourth in the feature and his point total of 479 will start him from the pole position in Saturday's finale. Craig Dollansky will start next to him on that front row......The fifth heat race will have fans buzzing for the rest of the weekend as Sammy Swindell charged quickly up from seventh to third. As he went to work on Wayne Johnson for second, Johnson made sure that Sammy would have to work for it and Swindell jumped the cushion in turn three. Somehow the veteran driver kept his car off the wall, then delivered two wheelstands before getting back up to speed in turn four now running fourth behind Greg Hodnett. Swindell soon drove past Hodnett once again for third and the crowd couldn't wait for him to reel in Johnson to see what would happen when they went at it again. With two laps to go Johnson stumbled a bit on the cushion in turn three and Swindell went low, then emphatically shut the door on Johnson exiting turn four to take the second position. The winner was Joey Moughan, but he will likely be the answer to a trivia question when this one is discussed in the future as in "hey, who won that heat race at the Nationals when Wayne Johnson and Sammy Swindell went at it for second?"......The top four were pretty solid throughout the B-Main with Tim Kaeding taking the win. Dusty Zomer raced from fourth to second on a late restart while Daryn Pittman and Lasoski were the final transfers.....In the post race press conference Meyers was asked if he had any rust to shake off given his light schedule this year. Meyers answered that it was more of a scenario where the team had to learn how to gel given so few races, but Kraig Kinser later confirmed that having run behind Meyers throught the 25-lap distance, there was no rust to shake off.

Sammy Swindell - Photo by Barry Johnson

The first sixteen positions in the Championship feature have been set as well as the first five rows for the B-Main on Saturday. Fans are really looking forward to the new Friday night format as more than sixty cars are expected to return tonight with the top four in the main event earning the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th starting positions for the Championship. That battle for fourth tonight should be intense as it will be the difference between being in the A and starting eleventh in the B-Main.

Stevie Smith - Photo by Barry Johnson

For more coverage of the Nationals be sure to check in with colleagues Eric Arnold and Morgan Broeg. It will be a fun Friday night at the Knoxville Raceway and we hope to see you there!

Kyle Larson Wins Knoxville Nationals Opener

Whenever Mother Nature intervenes in the Knoxville Nationals you can bet that it will shake things up and produce some interesting results. So it was no surprise that after a late afternoon downpour created a nearly three hour delay on Wednesday, most of the names that were making noise were ones that you likely did not expect to see running near the front. And, when the final checkered flag waved in the wee hours of Thursday morning it was the California phenom Kyle Larson taking the win on opening night of the 52nd Annual event sponsored by Goodyear.

Davey Heskin - Photo by Barry Johnson

It was amazing that the show even went on at all following the torrential downpour that reportedly dumped three quarters of an inch of rain on a track that had already been watered and prepped for action. For most tracks it would have been "see ya tomorrow", but at Knoxville with the Dunkin family and a strategically paved infield, it takes an all night rain to wash things out during the Nationals. The track was fast as the top seventeen qualifiers eclipsed the fifteen second mark, but it was also narrow as only five of those seventeen were able to advance into the top four in the heat races to transfer into the 25-lap main event.

A driver locked into a tight battle for the track's weekly 410 points championship, Davey Heskin landed on the front row alongside former World of Outlaws traveler Randy Hannagan with Heskin vaulting to the early lead. Hannagan gave chase in second despite showing a wisp of smoke off the right bank and when the caution waved for a slowing Mike Reinke in turn four at the mid-race point, Hannagan's car caught fire as he pulled into the pits a victim of a broken fitting. On the restart both Jason Sides and Kyle Larson were able to power past Heskin and Sides began to pull away from the field. But his luck soon took a turn for the worse as his left rear tire blew with just six laps remaining sending the #7S into a quick flip.

Jason Sides - Photo by Barry Johnson

With every point being so critical here Paul Sides and the crew did their best to send Jason back onto the track in time for the restart even with a damaged top wing as Larson now assumed the lead. Brian Paulus moved into the second spot before the caution waved two laps later as Sides came to a stop in turn four and the stage was now set for the final four lap sprint to the finish. Larson was the leader with Paulus and Heskin just behind with much of the resilient crowd expecting the fourth-running Donny Schatz to make a late move. As the green flag waved Larson put some distance on Paulus as Schatz drove by Heskin for third. Davey came right back though and returned the favor in the next set of turns. As Doug Clark displayed the white flag to Larson coming off of turn four the crowd groaned as Paulus suddenly slowed ending perhaps his best night at Knoxville ever.

A green-white-checkered restart was the last hurdle that Larson would have to clear to collect his first career win here at Knoxville and he did it with ease guiding the Abreu Vineyards #1K to the win. Heskin would hold off the five-time Nationals Champ Schatz to finish second. Craig Dollansky had to qualify out of the B-Main and then came from 22nd to fourth to post the highest point total for the night while Lucas Wolfe posted a fifth-place effort.

Craig Dollansky - Photo by Barry Johnson



Joey Saldana - Photo by Barry Johnson

Wednesday Notebook.....The track conditions were about as equal as we have seen here in regard to qualifying as Joey Saldana set the standard despite being the 28th car out on the track. Steve Kinser was the last of the 47 cars to time in and he was 15th fastest. The rest of the night would be one to forget for "The King" though as Kinser first came out for the wrong heat race (the fourth) before being sent back in. He then passed Kevin Swindell on the final lap to finish fifth, still one spot short of a transfer in the fifth heat before being a non-factor in a stout B-Main where he finished eighth. All this added up to a point total that ranked 26th after the first night, a position that would normally find him mired in the middle of the pack for Saturday's C-Main. However, with the new Friday night format, Kinser can come right back and put himself into the championship feature by finishing in the top four on Friday night.....As Saldana finished a distant sixth in the first heat race it became obvious that it was going to be difficult for the top qualifiers to get into the top four from an eight-car invert. Third quick qualifier Jonathan Allard was the most impressive running second in the third heat race and that was after he had to restart at the rear following a change of his nose wing. Allard had some damage in a scuffle on the start that saw Austin Johnson get upside down in just about the same place that he did on Saturday night..... NASCAR car star, and sprint car graduate, Jeff Gordon waved the flags for the third heat race.....Jac Haudenschild had a transfer to the A locked up before his driveline decided to abandon ship while he was running in third during the fourth heat. On the restart Brad Sweet and Lucas Wolfe waged a thrilling battle for the fourth position and after Sweet put the squeeze on Wolfe to thwart his challenge, Lucas came right back on the final lap and muscled his way underneath Sweet to edge him out at the line. It was perhaps the move of the night as otherwise Wolfe would have been starting eighth in that power-laden B-Main. Instead he starts seventh and finishes fifth in the feature placing him fifth in points so far and is a virtual lock for Saturday night's headliner.....How stacked was the B-Main? The top four were Saldana, Dollansky, Shane Stewart and Paul McMahan. Along with Dollansky's charge to fourth in the feature, Stewart is making it a habit coming from the back during the Nationals as he started 23rd and finished seventh.

Steve Kinser - Photo by Barry Johnson

The weather has cooled off and the chances of rain have diminished so it will be interesting to see if things get a little more predictable here as the second half of the field goes to qualify on Thursday night. The premier event in Sprint Car racing is right here in Knoxville, so if you are in the area we hope to see you sometime during the next three nights!

Lucas Wolfe- Photo by Barry Johnson

And finally, in a flashy fashion during the annual Press Luncheon on Thursday, the World of Outlaws officially announced that STP will be the title sponsor for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars in 2013. This is fantastic news for the Outlaws and for the Sprint Car fans that love them as there is no other corporate name that says "motorsports" better than STP.

Shane Stewart - Photo by Barry Johnson