A run all the way through the Pole Shootouts allowed Brad Sweet to move from what would have been a fourth row starting spot all the way to the front for Sunday night's Capitani Classic at the Knoxville Raceway. And, once he earned the pole position for the twenty-five lap main event, there would be no stopping him from there as the World of Outlaws regular captured the $5,000 top prize in the Nationals preview event that pays tribute to the late long time promoter here at the Sprint Car Capital of the World, Ralph Capitani.
Sixty-seven 410 Sprints signed in for the format that splits the field in two for qualifying and heats, then pits the top eight drivers who advanced out of their heat races in a series of two-lap dashes to determine the makeup of the first four rows of the main event. Sweet would be paired up in the first match race against Greg Hodnett as the seventh and eighth fastest qualifiers and once victorious he would then face the next highest qualifier. Down went Shane Stewart, then Terry McCarl followed by Brian Brown and Paul McMahon. When he faced off against Carson Macedo it was for a chance to start from the front row and it was a good thing that the "Big Cat" held a nice advantage coming to the checkers as his car was now out of fuel with one last challenge to make.
Guest announcer Wade Aunger had entertained the crowd with his comments throughout the dashes, a format that is quite common in his homeland of Australia, and his line of the night then came when he said "someone get a saucer, this cat needs some milk!"
A quick refuel and Sweet was pushed off once again to duel with Josh Baughman for the pole position and while Baughman was able to lead early, Brad stormed around the outside on the second lap to take the win.
That dominance of the seven drivers who would share the first four rows with him pretty much set the tone for the main event and Sweet did not disappoint as he pulled out to a big advantage early in the headliner. Macedo would put the Jason Johnson Racing #41 into second early and appeared to be closing the gap a bit as the leader worked traffic until the red flag flew on lap eleven. Just a couple of circuits after pulling a massive wheel stand exiting turn four Matt Juhl was now upside down in turn two, done for the night and thankfully uninjured.
Following the restart Macedo did his best to mount a challenge attempting a big slider entering turn three, but he could not even get to the leader as Sweet again drove away. It would be an impressive win for the driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing #49 and even he quipped in victory lane that he wished that it was next Saturday night instead of Sunday. The performance though has to make him the early favorite to challenge Donny Schatz for Knoxville Nationals supremacy.
Don't count out Macedo as he was again impressive in this his first night out with the 410 under the hood of the 41 car finishing second while Brian Brown who has been virtually unbeatable here this year finished third. Paul McMahon finished fourth and Shane Stewart nipped a hard charging Kerry Madsen for fifth. After winning the second B-Main earlier Madsen had stated that the track was one grooved on the bottom and that it would be difficult for anybody to make a run. He then went out and proved himself wrong by gaining fourteen spots after starting twentieth. Greg Hodnett and Terry McCarl were next in line, seventh and eight while Chad Kemenah and Tim Shaffer completed the top ten.
With heavier rain bypassing the track to the north some intermittent sprinkles did create the need for some extra hot lap sessions to get the track ready for action and that caused the show to run a bit later than normal with the final checkers waving at 11 p.m. In one of those extra hot lap sessions New Jersey driver Kyle Reinhardt ran up on the slowing car of R.J. Johnson on the cushion in turn three, jumped Johnson's right rear and slammed hard nearly head on into the guard rail at top speed before tumbling to a stop. It was a very scary crash to watch, but thankfully Reinhardt was able to climb out of the mangled mess under his own power and walk to the infield.
Now five-time Knoxville 360 Nationals champion Terry McCarl puts on the promoter's cap tonight and Tuesday at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Sadly I will have to miss tonight's Front Row Challenge as this is the first night that I have been home since July 25th! So after a night to regroup I look forward to joining the party, and the racing action on Tuesday for TMAC's Ultimate Challenge before taking in all four nights of the 58th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores. Hope to see you there!
One final note, Joe Hayes and the entire team with Farley Speedway Promotions have to feel cursed as they have once again had a big show wiped out by weather. The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series was set to go at Farley tonight (Monday), but heavy rains overnight have left the place impossible to work in. The track will now set its sites on the annual Yankee Dirt Classic the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend.
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