Career First For Trey Starks In Knoxville Nationals Opener

If opening night is any indication we are in for a wide open 59th edition of the Knoxville Nationals as nobody would have predicted the podium on Wednesday night. Of course that could all change tonight, especially if defending champion Brad Sweet draws an early spot in the qualifying order and then is able to do what so few of the fastest qualifiers were to do on Wednesday, race his way forward in his heat race to qualify for the feature.

Just a quick refresher on the qualifying system for those of you who are not familiar with the Knoxville Nationals. The field is split into two nights of qualifying where the drivers draw a number for their qualifying order and then points are awarded for the remainder of the night as follows:

Qualifying - 200 points for quick time with two point increments down the list

Five Heat Races - The fastest eight of the ten cars in each heat are inverted and the top four advance to the night's A-Main, fifth through eighth go to the night's B-Main while ninth and tenth go to the C-Main. 100 points goes to the winner of each heat with three point increments all the way to tenth.

Features - The top four from the C tag the back of the B and the top four from the B tag the back of the A-Main where the top eight in points from the cars that transferred from the heats are inverted for the lineup. The winner of the A-Main earns 200 points with two point increments all the way down to the last place car in the C-Main.

And that is how you earn your qualifying night points that then determine whether or not you make the Championship feature on Saturday night where the top sixteen after Wednesday and Thursday are locked in while seventeenth through twenty-sixth have the option of starting in the first five rows of Saturday's B-Main, or returning on Friday night to run another program where the top four in Friday's A-Main lock themselves into rows nine and ten for the Championship feature.

It is an absolutely magnificent system that requires a driver to have to race his or her way into the big show, but every year and especially after last night, the world of social media will go nuts because "the best" drivers are not at the top of the points list. The primary cry will be over the eight car inverts in the heat races, however those who whine about that year after year seem to forget the advantage that comes from drawing an early spot in the qualifying order. The invert for the heats is the great equalizer and remember that the same amount of points are awarded for qualifying as what are awarded for the feature. So, if you want to argue for a fewer number of cars to be inverted in the heats, then you must also have to reduce the importance of qualifying by either dropping its points to say 100 for quick time with two point increments, or leaving it at 200 and dropping the increment by position to one point.

Just a thought, but I say LEAVE IT ALONE! This method of qualifying has made the Knoxville Nationals the premier event that it is and there is no reason to change it, even if it means that Kyle Larson's plans for the rest of the week here are now screwed up. But I digress, on to my notes from Wednesday night.

Ladies first! Paige Polyak was the first car out for qualifying in the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores and her best lap of 15.674 stood up for 14th best in the final rundown. The seventh car out for qualifying Ian Madsen set quick time at 15.165 while Aaron Reutzel's lap of 15.331 was second quick as the 22nd of the 53 cars that took qualifying times. Kyle Larson went out 27th and was ninth quick, Donny Schatz put up the tenth best lap from the 40th position and Gio Scelzi was the latest qualifier to crack the top ten as his eighth best time came from the 49th position in the qualifying order. Only two of the top ten qualifiers would then advance out of their heat race!

Brent Marks was the early mover in heat one after starting sixth as defending track champion Austin McCarl led the way after starting from the pole. (Austin was the 50th driver out for qualifying). Don Droud Jr. had second well in hand until his motor soured with two laps remaining to produce a late caution. On the restart Jamie Ball put a slider on McCarl to take the win with Marks in third while Paul McMahan passed Kerry Madsen in the final laps to become one of those two top qualifiers to transfer. Quick timer Ian Madsen was never a factor in sixth.

Aaron Reutzel started eighth in the second heat, but he used the bottom in turns one and two on the start to move to fifth heading down the back stretch. From there the defending All Stars champion methodically moved forward to finish second to crowd favorite Jac Haudenschild . Newly crowned 360 Nationals Champion James McFadden was third and Spencer Bayston wheeling Harley Van Dyke's #5H this week finished fourth.

The third heat saw the sixth starting Hunter Schuerenberg smack the guardrail exiting turn two and when the fastest qualifiers in the fourth row, Gio Scelzi and Tim Kaeding, scrambled to miss him that allowed the cars ahead to open up an advantage that could not be erased as the race stayed green. Front row starters Wayne Johnson and Scotty Thiel would go one two with Mark Dobmeier and Sheldon Haudenschild next in line.

All eyes would be on Kyle Larson to see what he could do from the fourth row in heat race number four, but he went nowhere fast finishing the race where he started in seventh as a pair of sevens, Tasker Phillips and Jeff Swindell were first and second. Justin Peck ran third while the battle to watch was for fourth where Paige Polyak had to fight off a pair of sliders from Dominic Scelzi late to hold her position.

With Larson going nowhere in the race before, the question for the fifth and final heat would be if ten time Nationals champion Donny Schatz could get qualified from seventh. The fourth row starters have to make a move in the opening set of turns to have a chance to crack the top four and Schatz did not pick off any positions early. Then when Brady Bacon drove by him on the front stretch and shut the door on him into turn one, Schatz really lost momentum and he was buried in sixth. Meanwhile up front, Knoxville Nationals Rookie-of-the-Year contender Tanner Thorson, the young man who almost lost his life in a highway accident earlier this year, made a nifty pass on leader Carson McCarl to take the win after starting fourth. McCarl, the current track point leader in the 360 division finished second as Skyler Gee and Trey Starks also transferred.

After the lackluster performance in the final heat race Schatz's team made the risky decision to change motors before the B-Main that was the second race up on the remaining schedule and they caught a break when young Zachary Hampton pounded the turn three guardrail and got upside down on the opening lap of the C-Main. Freddie Rahmer, Jake Bubak and Rusty Hickman would be the top three while the fourth transfer spot would go to Matt Moro who after setting the 51st best time on the night came from the eighth starting spot.

With the motor change complete Schatz and Larson would make it a star studded fourth row for the twelve lap B-Main where only the top four finishers would advance and the six drivers starting in front of them had all posted better qualifying times earlier in the evening. This time Schatz was able to make that big move early as he would be scored in fifth on the opening lap and he would get as high as third before Gio Scelzi charged past him late in the race. Tim Kaeding would take the win as Scelzi made a final lap move around Ian Madsen for second as Schatz nailed down the final transfer spot. Again Larson could not gain much ground as he finished sixth and with his NASCAR commitments at Michigan this weekend the question now is whether or not he will be back to race again on Friday night.

The twenty-five lap A-Main would wrap up the night and I have to wonder if many of the fans were like me, watching the back of the pack to monitor the progress of Schatz rather than the front where pole-sitter Mark Dobmeier raced to the early lead. I nearly missed the pass for the lead as Trey Starks put a slider on Dobmeier in three and four on lap five and when Scotty Thiel spun after being lapped on lap twelve I thought that we would see some new faces up front following the restart. That was not to be though as Starks used the knowledge that he has acquired from racing here weekly this year to maintain his lead and take his first career win here at the Knoxville Raceway in fine fashion. James McFadden who had started second passed Dobmeier with five laps to go but could not reel in Starks as he took the runner-up honors and Sheldon Haudenschild made a final turn pass of Dobmeier to take third.

Wednesday night's winner Trey Starks - Barry Johnson photo

Aaron Reutzel would close out a solid night in the fifth spot to be the high point man with Brent Marks in sixth. Tanner Thorson had a solid showing in seventh after starting tenth, Jac Haudenschild advanced four positions for eighth, ninth went to Paul McMahan and Tim Kaeding came from 21st to tenth at the checkers. And just outside the top ten Schatz passed Gio Scelzi on the final lap to finish eleventh after starting from 24th.

Victory lane from left to right: James McFadden, Trey Starks, Sheldon Haudenschild and Doug Clark - Barry Johnson photo

The points list from the first night as pulled from the Knoxville Raceway website will show that while Reutzel's total should stand up four a top four position after Thursday's qualifying, the drop from 487 to Kaeding's 466 is steep so second after night one does not guarantee a starting spot in the first two row rows for Saturday's finale, nor does a top eight ranking now guarantee a starting spot in the Championship race. Usually following a night of chaos like this, normalcy prevails on night two so we will see what happens. Hope to see you there!

Thursday Point Totals

1 87 Aaron Reutzel 487
2 7S Tim Kaeding 466
3 13X Paul McMahan 465
4 19 Brent Marks 464
5 44S Trey Starks 463
6 18 Ian Madsen 455
7 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 453
8 9 James McFadden 450
9 71 Gio Scelzi 449
10 15 Donny Schatz 447
11 13 Mark Dobmeier 444
12 88 Tanner Thorson 440
13 3H Jac Haudenschild 424
14 19P Paige Polyak 423
15 48 Danny Dietrich 421
16 99 Brady Bacon 416
17 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 410
18 2C Wayne Johnson 410
19 70X Justin Peck 410
20 5J Jamie Ball 410
21 57 Kyle Larson 406
22 83J Lynton Jeffrey 401
23 2KS Austin McCarl 399
24 27 Carson McCarl 397
25 2M Kerry Madsen 396
26 7X Justin Henderson 390
27 5H Spencer Bayston 385
28 41S Dominic Scelzi 384
29 1S Logan Schuchart 384
30 99X Skylar Gee 380
31 7SW Jeff Swindell 377
32 64 Scotty Thiel 377
33 68 Chase Johnson 364
34 39 Sammy Swindell 359
35 1 Travis Rilat 356
36 20 AJ Moeller 341
37 18R Ryan Roberts 337
38 11C Roger Crockett 329
39 11 Hunter Schuerenberg 329
40 19T Kevin Thomas Jr. 322
41 85 Chase Wanner 309
42 45 Rusty Hickman 305
43 51 Freddie Rahmer 302
44 9X Jake Bubak 294
45 1X Don Droud Jr. 294
46 74 Brodie Tulloch 277
47 56 Joe Simbro 270
48 J4 John Garvin 269
49 73AF Joey Moughan 267
50 56N Davey Heskin 258
51 2MM Matt Moro 256
52 35 Zach Hampton 227
53 75 Glen Saville 226

Wednesday Notebook: August 7, 2019

As I get ready for night number one of the 59th Annual Knoxville Nationals it is time to dust off the Notebook for a look at a few subjects that have caught my attention.

First, let's take a quick look at Knoxville where I believe it will be one of the most wide open Nationals that we have seen in sometime. Yes, Donny Schatz could prove me wrong on that tonight, especially if he draws an early qualifying spot, but I believe that this year there are as many as ten drivers who have a legitimate shot at the title and I am going to predict that we will see a first time champion. Who will that be? Here are four drivers that I believe can get it done if the breaks go their way: Brian Brown, David Gravel, Aaron Reutzel and Tim Kaeding. Yep, I know what you are thinking, both Brown and Gravel are already considered to be contenders by most, but Reutzel and Kaeding? The Texan Reutzel has looked fast every time that I have seen him over the past two weeks only to have mistakes drop his finishes lower than what they should have been. If he draws an early qualifying lap and then transfers through the heat look out, he might just be the high point man from Wednesday night. And as far as Kaeding is concerned, nobody passed more cars on Sunday as he started twelfth before winning his B-Main and he then charged through the field from twentieth to sixth in the Capitani Classic aboard Jason Sides' second car. Again, the breaks have to fall his way, but if they do it could be a Cinderella story for TK.

Wow, not even a mention of defending champion Brad Sweet who just won the King's Royal as well? Yea, it could come down to the "Big Cat" and Schatz again, but I for one would like to see something different and it all gets started tonight! I have my grandstand tickets purchased for all four nights to go along with my media credentials because having to cover a race from the infield is like being a basketball writer and having to watch the game from the tunnel leading to the locker room. Yes, you have better access to the players when they come in and out, but you can only see one end of the court during the actual game.

One thing to take note of during the week is that this will be the final Nationals for Hall of Fame flagman Doug Clark. Don't do a Wikipedia search on him as I just did trying to find out how long he has worked at Knoxville (this isn't the politician or the serial killer), but I do know that he has been there for well over twenty years when I had the pleasure of working with him every race night. You won't find a bigger personality around a race track and his reputation of being straight and fair has been consistent throughout his career. If you are at Knoxville this week, take a moment after the races one night and find Doug in the push off lane on the front stretch. Shake his hand and thank him for all that he has done for the sport of dirt track racing and if you are lucky you will get a smile and that deep voiced laugh that he is famous for.

Another dirt track racing era will come to end this Sunday night when Mick Trier promotes his final race at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. I first got to know Mick some forty years I ago when I made a smart ass comment in the Back Stretch about his announcing and despite that our friendship grew over the years. First of all I must say that both Mick and his brother Tim Trier, who lost his battle with cancer a couple of years ago, were two of my favorite announcers ever although Mick will be known more for his promoting of weekly racing at Stuart, Des Moines and Vinton. In his early years he worked with Dave Van Patten and Robert Lawton and it is easy to see what an influence that they had on his style and approach to promoting. Just like most good race track promoters you will probably find more people that will complain about him than laud him, but the results speak for themselves. The weekly racing program at Vinton has been as good as you can find over the past several years with solid car counts and a grandstand full of fans who are as involved with the night of racing as you will find anywhere. The show starts on time and runs off in a quick fashion often ending before the track lights are needed during the height of summer.

Mick will tell you that he has good people that work for him and he is right about that, but no matter how many good people you assemble they won't excel without a good leader and Mick Trier has been just that. The Benton County Speedway does have another race scheduled for the IMCA Dirt Knights Tour in September, but that will be run by a new promoter so this Sunday's Season Championship will be it for Trier. Or at least he says so right now. Either way it is my hope that I can convince my wife that she needs to be at her third night of racing in a row on Sunday so that we can be there for the finale. Congratulations Mick, you've done well.

A few weeks ago about two thirds of the way down in this entry of the Back Stretch I gave an example of how social media has effected our sport and I have had several readers ask me if this was just an illustration or if it was an actual occurrence. And, if so, who was the driver? Yes, this actually happened and due to the fact that the driver has removed the post from his team's Facebook page I will not reveal that information, well not here at least. Hopefully by me telling the story and illustrating the difference in how the same situation would have been handled before it might make him and others think twice about how they use the all powerful social media in the future.

The annual argument that promoter Terry McCarl should be live streaming the racing from the Osky Challenge events is taking place on social media again with most people having the view that McCarl is "missing out" on additional revenue by not allowing a live internet broadcast, or even live audio of the event. TMAC is taking the old school approach where if you want to know what is going on with the race, then you need to buy a ticket and judging from the crowd that was packed into both the grandstands and the infield on Monday night I would say that "old school" is working just fine. I have written several times about the long term effect that I feel this live internet access will have on our sport so I am not going to rehash it now, but I do want to call out those internet jockeys who I have seen argue about the cost of Pay Per Views with some even going so far as to say that promoters should be putting their events on the internet for free. Well first of all, some already do which just boggles my mind because the economics of it just don't make sense, but as far as I am concerned if you are able to leave your car in the garage, sit in your recliner, eat your own food and drink your own beer and pay the same price that I paid for a ticket to watch that same race, well then I think you should be pretty happy about that.

Oh yes, and that track just down the road from you that was also running a show on that same night that was charging eight bucks a ticket, where young drivers are getting their start and hoping to advance to the stage where they too will be racing at a big event that is televised live on the internet, they missed out on your eight bucks, and your food money, and those three beers that you would have bought. So eventually that track closes and we no longer have that proving ground for young drivers to get their start in events that just aren't "big enough" for these internet fans to attend. Sure the big events flourish, but without the base just how long will they sustain?

And that, I fear, is the long term effect on the sport from so many events being broadcast online. Believe me, I really hope that I am wrong on this one.

Honestly I don't blame the broadcast providers, they are filling a demand that is obviously there and most are doing a very good job of it. In fact I am going to promote one right now as my friend Trenton Berry with RacinDirt.com is going to make one of his dreams come true tomorrow night when he brings the United States Modified Touring Series to the track that he grew up at, the Dallas County Speedway. The little bullring in Urbana, Missouri, has never hosted an event of this magnitude and if you are in the vicinity I hope that you will take it in and remember, take a lawn chair!

Grandpa Jimmy Carter has to be beaming today after the performance of all three of his boys at the Harris Clash on Tuesday night. The Deer Creek Speedway in southeast Minnesota proved to be a worthy host to the event for the second year in a row with Austin Arneson of Fargo, North Dakota, besting an amazing field of 92 IMCA Modifieds. Tom Berry Jr. who was originally from Medford, Oregon, but is now based out of North Dakota was second with Cayden Carter taking third. Cayden's younger brother Brayton Carter won the IMCA Northern Sport Mod main event while their first cousin Carter Vandenberg finished fifth in the field of fifty-four.

That's all for today, plenty of big events coming up around the area so get out, buy a ticket and support the one of your choice!

Gravel Over Brown In Cappy Classic Thriller

Last year Brad Sweet used the Sunday night Bell Helmets Capitani Classic to serve notice that he was poised to challenge for the Knoxville Nationals Championship in the week ahead, a race that he then won six nights later. Did David Gravel do the same thing last night? Using an unusual move here at Knoxville, Gravel swept around Brian Brown with five laps remaining, the final lead change in a back and forth battle resulting in a win for the World of Outlaws regular from Connecticut in the race that honors the late legendary promoter Ralph Capitani.

Brown would start from the pole position in the twenty-five lap headliner with Gravel, behind the wheel of the Jason Johnson Motorsports #41, right behind him in third and they would immediately set a quick pace as the lead duo. A near disaster for Brock Zearfoss and Brad Sweet on lap four would allow Brown and Gravel to get away even further from the rest of the field. Racing for third Sweet threw a big slider into turn one and as he came up the track in turn two Zearfoss did not yield on the cushion. Contact would send both drivers scrambling to maintain control and those behind them to hesitate as well with Gio Scelzi the prime benefactor moving from fifth to third.

Back and forth for the lead - Barry Johnson photo

The race for the lead was heating up as Gravel took the lead on lap eight just before Kerry Madsen got into the fence coming down the front stretch ending up sideways in front of oncoming traffic. Tim Shaffer barely clipped the front of Madsen's car with his right rear tire and he would spin to a halt as well with both drivers returning to the race after a visit to the work area.



On the restart Brown came charging back taking the lead on lap ten only to have Gravel return the favor on lap twelve as they thrilled the crowd changing lanes and swapping the point. To add to the intrigue Scelzi was lurking in third, close enough to pounce on a mistake, but not able to mount a challenge of his own.

Brown would return to the lead on lap fifteen now firmly committed to the bottom so on lap twenty Gravel made the winning pass in a manner that you don't often see here at Knoxville. Entering turn one just one car width higher than the berm hugging Brown, Gravel would drive right around the leader at the apex of the corner and rocket away from Brown down the back stretch. It was reminiscent of an old fashioned slingshot move in the draft from Daytona or Talladega and when Scelzi also sailed past Brown on the cushion it looked like Gravel's pass had also momentarily stalled the momentum for Brown.

David Gravel sweeps around Brian Brown for the lead - Barry Johnson photo

Now it was Gravel leading down low and Scelzi chasing up high and with lapped traffic ahead in that lower groove it looked like Gio had a chance. After lap twenty-three was scored though, Scelzi jumped the cushion in one and two allowing Gravel to close out the win in style and for Brown to return to second at the checkers. Scelzi would join the two warriors on the podium in third with Sweet in fourth and the ninth starting Daryn Pittman in fifth.

Keep your eye on Tim Kaeding this week as the California native drove a team car to Jason Sides from twelfth to win the first B-Main in just twelve laps and then came from twentieth to finish sixth in the feature. Ian Madsen was seventh, reigning 360 Nationals Champion James McFadden was eighth, Sheldon Haudenschild charged  from eighteenth to ninth and Aaron Reutzel moved from nineteenth to tenth, but that finish would have been even better for the Texas driver had he not jumped the cushion in turn four late in the race giving back a couple of positions.

Victory lane left to right Brian Brown, David Gravel, Jaxx Johnson, Gio Scelzi and Hall of Fame Starter Doug Clark - Barry Johnson photo

The event drew 77 entries and was completed in a timely fashion as we were on the road home by 10:20. If you are wondering why there was not a story here in the Back Stretch from McFadden's win in the 360 Nationals on Saturday night, I skipped that night of racing to attend a retirement party for my good friend Kurt Moon. The man that I have always considered to be my "Sprint Car Guru", I traveled to the Nationals for many, many years with him until he took on greater responsibilities not only in his extremely well run business, the Brown's Shoe Fit store in Mount Pleasant, but also as the head golf coach at Iowa Wesleyan University and his most cherished role as grandfather to two wonderful kids. It was an easy decision for me to make as there will be another 360 Nationals Saturday night in 2020 and years beyond, but there will never be another night where friends, family and former employees would come from near and far to tell stories about how much this man has meant to us all.

Best of all, I was able to get him to agree to join me once again for a trip to Knoxville on Sunday night, his first visit to the track that he in essence grew up at in eight years, and after witnessing a race like this you can bet that Kurt will be back at Knoxville again soon!

Next up are the Sage Fruit Osky Challenges with Monday's Front Row Challenge featuring the 410's with Kyle Larson and Tony Stewart among the entries as well as the Racesaver 305 Winged Sprints, while Tuesday's Ultimate Challenge will include the Lucas Oil ASCS National 360's and the POWRi WAR non wing Sprint Cars. Following that it will be on to Knoxville for the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.

Hope to see you there!

McFadden From Third To First On A Late Restart For 360 Nationals Prelim Winm

Australian driver James McFadden was in the right place at the right time to take the lead and the eventual win on night number two of the My Place Hotels Knoxville 360 Nationals Friday night. The 29th Annual event will wrap up on Saturday night with a talent laden field all looking for the top honors at the world famous Knoxville Raceway.

Drawing an early qualifying spot was not as important here on night two as it would be the fourteenth car to hit the track, the #12N of Joey Saldana setting quick time with the only lap of the week under sixteen seconds at 15.993. James McFadden was second quick as he went out fourth to time while another Aussie, Scott Bogucki showed that there was still plenty of speed in the track when he went out as the twenty-sixth of fifty-five entries and posted the third best time. Nationals rookie Ayrton Gennetten had to take evasive action on his first lap when Dan Henning was slow to exit the track, but the white flag still waved for him and he was still able to put up the fourth fastest lap at the time on his second time around. Then just a couple of qualifiers later, Michael Bookout was still in the primary groove in turn four when Kyle Bellm was running his first lap, but this time he was given the green again so that he could run two straight laps without being impeded. A third generation driver, the grandson of Gene and the son of Steve, Gennetten was pushed back into the staging lane but apparently after being told that his only unimpeded lap was currently fourth on the board he chose to just head for the scales. That lap would end up eighth on the final rundown.

Five heats with six cars inverted and only four transferring to the A-Main were up next and after several of the quick qualifiers had work hard to get into the top four on Thursday night, Saldana made a nifty move to go from sixth to second on the opening lap of the first heat race. He was not able to track down Blake Hahn though who ran away with the win.

Young Gio Scelzi and McFadden were the third row starters in the second heat and while McFadden charged up to second behind winner Josh Baughman, Scelzi had to pass Delaware's Curt Michael coming to the white flag to take fourth.

Pole-sitter Clint Garner appeared to bury the throttle while still in turn three and he had nearly four car lengths on everybody else at the starting stripe, but the green flag stayed out and Garner ran away with heat race number three ahead of Austin and Terry McCarl with Jon Agan taking fourth. Third row starters Scott Bogucki and Ayrton Gennetten were relegated to the B-Main.

As the fourth heat race came to green the sixth starting Paul McMahan flared out wide and was even with the second row as the green waved. For the first time this week though, the caution came out as the field raced down the back stretch and they would try it again. Driving Tony Stewart's #14 McMahan would again flare out wide coming to the start and this time he had fully passed the second row coming to the chalk line and again the start was called off. However, despite the two jumps, no penalty was given to McMahan and while he stayed in his spot on the third try he quickly advanced through the field to finish a close second to Kyle Bellm. It took several laps, but Davey Heskin was finally able to slip past the young lady from Canada Alex Hill for the fourth and final transfer.

The first attempt to start the fifth heat race was a mess as outside front row starter Lance Moss moved way out to the cushion while pole-sitter Roger Crockett hugged the bottom. It would actually be the fourth starting McKenna Hasse that would go through the door left open by Moss to take the lead exiting turn two, but the caution waved as the start was called back. The second start was an even bigger mess as again Moss flared out and it looked like there were four cars on the front row as they hit the chalk line, but the race stayed green with Crockett and the sixth starting Brian Brown driving away from the field. This would be a good one for the lead in the closing laps as Brown threw a slider at the leader with two to go only to have Crockett cross him over and maintain the point for the win. Fifth starting Harli White was impressive driving past Christian Bowman for third to put her on the pole for the twenty lap main event while Hasse could only think "what might have been" as she headed to the B-Main in fifth.

With thirteen more cars tonight than were here on Thursday, a C-Main was needed Randy Hannagan driving one of Devon Dobie's #23 cars taking the win. Rob Weuve had to ward off a late charge from both Bryan Grimes and ASCS National Series Rookie Tucker Doughty for the fourth and final transfer to the B-Main.

It would be a full field of twenty-four starters going twelve laps in the B with the top four moving on and on lap six the first red flag of the week would be needed when Aussie Brodie Tulloch nailed the guardrail in turn three and rolled over. On the restart Bogucki, Matt Juhl and Gennetten maintained their positions to advance while Matt Moro went to work on Shane Golobic for fourth. The two drivers crossed the stripe wheel to wheel as the white flag waved with Moro finding enough bite on the bottom on the final lap to put his My Place Hotels sponsored #2M into the show.

White and Heskin would bring the field to green for the A-Main and they would check out with Davey leading around the bottom and Harli chasing around the cushion. Crowd favorite Brian Brown would move from fifth to third, but even he was not making up much ground on White as the laps clicked away. Lapped traffic would start to present a challenge mid-race and when White stumbled on the cushion in turn two on lap nine that allowed both Brown and Gio Scelzi to make the move around her exiting turn four.

Those two would now set their sights on Heskin and as they closed the gap on the leader, seemingly from out of nowhere the seventh starting James McFadden had now joined the chase. You could throw a blanket over the top four as they completed lap sixteen with Brown diving under Heskin to take the lead in turn one. Racing down the back straightaway contact between Scelzi and McFadden caused Gio's car to do a wheel stand and when the front end returned to the surface he was unable to turn the car entering three sliding up the track and into the guardrail ending his night.

James McFadden - Barry Johnson photo

Without the lap being scored, Heskin returned to the front for the restart with Brown poised to strike again. As the green flag waved Heskin first headed for the bottom in turn one before sliding up to the cushion to block Brown. That seemed to be exactly what McFadden had anticipated though as he darted to the inside and blew past both cars to take the lead in turn two and he would then drive away over the final four laps to take the win with Brown coming home in second. Austin McCarl also made a big move following the restart getting up to third after starting from fourteenth in the TMAC Motorsports #17A, but Joey Saldana would pass him back in the final turns to finish in third. Heskin dropped to fifth at the checkers with McMahan taking sixth. Clint Garner made a big charge from eighteenth to seventh, Matt Juhl bettered that though moving from twenty-first to eighth as Colby Copeland and Terry McCarl filled out the top ten.


This one was a classic Knoxville feature race that built up to a big crescendo at the finish and the stage is now set for Championship Saturday night with the A-Main to lineup like this:

James McFadden - Joey Saldana
Brian Brown - Paul McMahan
Dusty Zomer - Aaron Reutzel
Wayne Johnson - Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Thomas Kennedy - Ryan Giles
Davey Heskin - Colby Copeland
Cory Eliason - Parker Price-Miller
Harli White - Justin Henderson
Terry McCarl - Carson McCarl
Matt Juhl - Lee Grosz
Plus four qualifiers from the B-Main

Brian Brown left and Joey Saldana right join winner James McFadden on the podium - Barry Johnson photo

A full program for the Pro Sprints will also be on the card Saturday night and then on Sunday it will be the 8th Annual Bell Helmets Capitani Classic as the 410's get their chance to see the track before next week's Knoxville Nationals. Make the trip if you can!

360 Nationals Opener Goes To Ryan Giles

The My Place Hotels Knoxville 360 Nationals opened its three day run on Thursday night under near perfect weather conditions as forty-two drivers tried to roll up as many qualifying points as possible in order to make Saturday night's Championship main event. The standard Knoxville points system where drivers can earn up to 200 points in both qualifying and the A-Main along with 100 points to win a heat race is used with six cars inverted in each of the five heats where four cars transfer to the qualifying night A-Main.

Drawing an early qualifying spot is usually important and tonight was no different as the ninth car out, Dusty Zomer in the Guy Forbrook prepared #5 set quick time in Zomer's first night back at Knoxville after a two year absence. The first car out Lee Grosz was second quick while hometown driver Calvin Landis was third fastest as the seventh car out. The biggest surprise had to be Spencer Bayston who brought the A.G. Raines owned #3B to the track as the second car out, but could only muster the 35th best lap missing the invert for the heat races.

The track is now using a two cone starting box for the original starts where the drivers pick up the pace at the first cone and then get the green at the second cone. I mention this because it seemed like one driver would have a full car length on the other front row starter once they got to the starting stripe and that used to be a no no here.

As the green flag waved on the first heat Devon Dobie had two car lengths on Dominic Scelzi when they hit the stripe, but the race stayed green and Dobie ran away with the win. Dusty Zomer had to work hard to crack the top four after starting sixth and he would finally get by John Carney II with two laps remaining for the final transfer.

Jeff Swindell had the point in the second heat until Kevin Ingle spun and following the restart Thomas Kennedy would put the slider on Swindell to take the lead and the win. Aaron Reutzel was slow coming up to speed on that lap two restart, but he recovered nicely to reel in and then pass Sawyer Phillips for the final transfer.

Local favorite Joe Beaver scratched from the third heat leaving just seven cars to take the green and this would be a good battle between Brady Bacon and young California native Mason Daniel. Coached by Danny Lasoski, Daniel showed that he is a good student as he passed Bacon mid-race to take the win and as Calvin Landis and Sammy Swindell battled for fifth that allowed Chris Martin to hold on for fourth at the checkers.

Disappointed with his 29th best qualifying time Jack Dover walked away with the win in the fourth heat after starting from the pole. The winner was trailing a bit of smoke though and while that poor qualifying lap put him on the front of his heat, Dover would start nineteenth in the feature.

Justin Henderson started third and went to the front quickly to win the fifth and final heat race ahead of Wayne Johnson, Brad Comegys and Trey Starks.

With their quick qualifying laps Grosz and Landis would start from the front row of the twelve lap B-Main, but Parker Price-Miller would blow by them both in the opening laps. Sammy Swindell in Scott Brown's #11x and Jamie Ball were battling for the fourth and final transfer spot when Swindell slammed the door on Ball entering turn one. Hard to tell from the stands whether Ball hit the inside berm or the rear bumper of Swindell, but he turned hard right slamming into the turn one guardrail. On the restart Sawyer Phillips swept around the outside of Swindell only to have Sammy come right back exiting turn four to retain the fourth and final transfer position. Swindell had moved to third and appeared to be headed to the feature when the lapped car of Casey Greubel spun right in front of the veteran in turn four with two laps remaining.

Swindell took evasive action and lined up third for the restart and when the green flag flew the action was right behind him where Phillips and the fifteenth starter Spencer Bayston had both passed Landis in turn two. Entering turn three though the left front tire blew on Swindell's car sending him sliding up the track where amazingly both Phillips and Bayston were able to avoid him. Sammy's misfortune was a huge break for Landis though as he would restart in third ahead of both Phillips and Bayston and the Arizona native would not let it slip away again as he would take the checkers in third behind Price-Miller and Grosz while Phillips would hold back the hard charging Bayston for the final transfer.

With the top eight in points inverted for the twenty lap A-Main lineup track regulars Ryan Giles and Rob Kubli would go from the front row with Giles getting a nice jump as the green flag waved. The caution would wave on lap eight for a pair of issues as while Dominic Scelzi slowed with a blown right rear, Lee Gosz had spun at the exit of turn two. Kubli was having a career night in third, but on the restart he and Wayne Johnson would make contact and the scramble was on with drivers entering turn three four wide. Kubli looked like he would recover until contact from Aaron Reutzel turned him into the turn four guardrail.

Ryan Giles had the bottom locked in - Barry Johnson photo

On this restart Thomas Kennedy spun his tires in second and when Wayne Johnson checked up behind him that allowed Reutzel to vault from fourth to second only to have that all wiped out when Landis spun in turn one before the lap could be scored. Kennedy would have a much better restart this time although he could not keep pace with Giles. First Johnson and then Reutzel would drop the Canadian Kennedy back to fourth and with a handful of laps remaining Reutzel would take second. Giles had a full straightaway on them though and was just a few feet from taking the checkers when instead the caution waved for another spin by Grosz on the back stretch.

It would have been a shame if this very late caution had cost the leader this race on a green-white-checkers restart, but Giles kept his cool and again walked away from his challengers to take the win. Reutzel and Johnson would maintain second third as Cory Eliason picked off fourth from Kennedy. Justin Henderson came from twelfth to finish sixth, Dusty Zomer dropped to seventh after cracking the top five early in the race, current tack point leader Carson McCarl was steady in eighth as B-Main winner Parker Price-Miller came from the eleventh row to finish ninth. Two-time defending ASCS National Tour champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. filled out the top ten.

Race winner Ryan Giles is joined by Aaron Reutzel on the left and Wayne Johnson on the right - Barry Johnson photo

As it all shakes out though it would be Zomer with the most points at the end of the night with Reutzel, Johnson, Hafertepe and Kennedy next in line. Feature winner Giles is sixth on the list.

Fifty-nine drivers are slated for action on Friday night (how did that happen?) as night number two of the My Place Hotels 360 Nationals takes place at the world famous Knoxville Raceway. Hope to see you there!