While other drivers seemed to be married to the bottom Brian Brown would set sail on the high side around the Knoxville Raceway Sunday night and, after a spirited race with Greg Hodnett, the popular driver who was among those featured in a fitting tribute to the late Ralph Capitani went on to win the race that honors the legendary promoter. This was the 6th Annual Capitani Classic at the Knoxville Raceway, but the first since Cappy had passed away in February.
Sixty-nine 410 Sprint Cars signed in on the evening to once again make it the best single night value in the sport and the qualifying action was intense as only twenty-four drivers would start the 25-lap main event. Using the head-to-head two lap dash Pole Shuffles to set the first four rows of the headliner, Kerry Madsen and Greg Hodnett would start from the front row with Hodnett snaring the early lead.
Caution waved on lap three when Lynton Jeffrey spun in turn one and on the restart Hodnett had a new challenger in Brian Brown. Brown had started eighth on the grid, but immediately went to the top and had quickly made his way to second before the caution and when the field went back to green that high side run continued to work as Brown took over the lead on lap four. Hodnett would battle back though to take the lead on lap six and the two drivers then thrilled the crowd with a back and forth battle between two drivers, and two grooves, with Hodnett digging down low and Brown sailing around the cushion.
Brown would have the edge once again on lap eleven and as he started to put some distance on Hodnett, Kerry Madsen came back into play taking the second spot on lap fifteen. Madsen was cutting into Brown's lead little by little, but it was clear that he would run out of laps until the caution waved with just two to go when the right rear tire on Spencer Bayston's #39 exploded in turns three and four.
Both Madsen and Hodnett were primed to get one last shot at the leader on the restart, but there would be no catching Brown who continued to ride the cushion to a convincing victory. Madsen would finish in the second spot while Brad Sweet slipped past Hodnett to take third. Austin McCarl closed out a solid run in fifth after starting tenth, Ian Madsen came from the seventh row to finish sixth, Joey Saldana had a solid showing in seventh, Danny Dietrich was eighth, Chad Kemenah ninth and Davey Heskin charged to tenth after starting in the 24th and final position.
Cappy Notes.....Non-wing ace Kevin Thomas Jr. drove the Indy Race Parts #71 and made the show running 18th......Cory Eliason, the young driver out of California, thrilled the crowd by winning three Pole Dashes in a row over Brown, Sammy Swindell and Chad Kemenah to start fifth in the main event. Eliason would drive Harley Van Dyke's #5H to a twelfth place finish in the feature......Don Droud Jr. was the only driver to come from outside of the four car invert to make the top three transfer from a heat race. When everybody in front of him went to the bottom at the start of the fourth heat race, the sixth-starting Droud went to the cushion and made it all the way to second before Eliason dropped him back to third at the checkers. This forced Daryn Pittman and Group 2 fast qualifier Tim Shaffer to run the second B-Main where Shaffer was nipped in the final laps by Davey Heskin for the final transfer......Keep your eye on Spencer Bayston this week. Driving the Kevin Swindell owned #39 Bayston pounded the cushion to race to the win in the sixth heat race and will be my pick to be the Nationals Rookie-of-the-Year.
The night started with this well produced video tribute to Ralph Capitani who passed away earlier this year and I know that I was not the only one who had tears in my eyes as the large crowd watched it on the large video screens. It took me back to the memories that I had of this great man from first getting to know him as a young columnist for Hawkeye Racing News and then as the "taxi cab" announcer that IMCA brought with them for a couple of Summer Series events at Knoxville. It was such a thrill when I answered the phone one morning in March of 1998 and the gruff sounding voice on the other end said, "Jeff, this is Ralph Capitani. Would you be interested in announcing at the Knoxville Raceway on a weekly basis this season?"
There was no way that I was going to say "no"!
He will be missed by so many, but his legend and what we now have to enjoy through his leadership will always live on.
Cappy!
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