Clanton Cruises To Knoxville Late Model Nationals Opening Night Victory

It was a high speed ride around the rim of the Sprint Car Capital of the World Thursday night as Shane Clanton went flag to flag for victory in the opener for the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. The cushion was tall and fast on this night and while a few drivers in the back half of the field were able to stick the bottom and make a pass here and there, up front it was either a slide job or fall in line for the twenty-five laps of green flag racing.

Clanton started from the pole position, drove low into turn one and then slid to the cushion in front of Tad Pospisil to hold the lead down the back stretch as drivers behind him shuffled for early advantages on the fast racing surface. Caution would wave early in the race when Chris Madden slowed on lap three and could not limp into the infield and following the restart it would be Hudson O'Neal setting up to make a run at the leader. O'Neal's attempt at a slide job in turns one and two came up short on lap eight and two laps later O'Neal's night would come to an end with transmission issues.

Shane Clanton on point - Barry Johnson photo

For this restart it would be Jonathan Davenport and Earl Pearson Jr. setting up shop behind the leader and just when it looked like Davenport might get the bottom to work to take over second, EPJ sailed around him on the top side to take up the chase of Clanton. Brandon Sheppard was the driver on the move after starting tenth using some big sliders in turns three and four to gain positions and once he got to fourth it was going to be interesting to see if he would make a similar run at Davenport.

That slider attempt came about five laps from the finish, but when Brandon could see that he did not have "Superman" cleared he backed out of it and then tried to regain momentum. Meanwhile up front Clanton had to leave the top a couple of times to get around lapped traffic in the closing laps, but it is much easier to slide a car that is a lap slower than you and Shane completed the moves with precision to score the win.

Pearson, Davenport and Sheppard were all within striking distance at the checkers while Kyle Strickler moved from twelfth to finish fifth. Tim McCreadie and Jimmy Owens were next in line followed by Ryan Gustin who had started from the inside of row seven. Brian Shirley followed him forward from fifteenth to finish ninth while Chase Junghans completed the top ten.

Knoxville Knotes......The format for the Late Model Nationals is similar to the Sprint Car Nationals, but with two big differences. The Late Models race both qualifying nights with their best point total being used to set Saturday's lineups. And the field is split into two groups each night meaning that two drivers earn 200 each for setting fast time in their group, so the point spread from time trials is not as pronounced as the Sprint Car Nationals. The top six cars are inverted for each of the six heat races with the top three finishers making the A-Main and the remainder having to come out of one of two B-Mains to set the twenty-four car field. In my opinion, with 48 cars in attendance they should run it the same as they do with the Sprint Cars; everybody qualifies as one, five heats with an eight car invert and the top four making the A. Do that and let the bitchin' begin! But hey, the cream will rise to the top on Saturday night just the same way that it does in August......The quick qualifier from group one, Spencer Hughes could only gain one spot in the first heat race while up front Shane Clanton gave a preview of things to come passing Ross Robinson on the final lap to take the win....Chris Madden clocked in 14th best in group one and that landed him on the front row for the second heat where he then ran away and hid from the rest of the field. The driver to watch here was Justin Zeitner who started sixth after being second quick in qualifying. Using the high line Zeitner quickly charged up to second and then held on to that spot until the checkers despite showing smoke over the final two laps. Unfortunately that would force him to a backup car dropping him form a fourth row start in the feature back to the tail where he would later record a DNF. Despite that, Zeitner's 448 points ranked him seventeenth on night one which might be enough to lock him into Saturday night's main event.....In the third heat as Ryan Gustn ran away with the win Tim McCreadie passed Tim Lance mid-race to come from sixth to third.....Brandon Overton was quick time overall and the best in group two, but when he jumped the cushion in turn three and slapped the guardrail on the opening lap, he was playing catch up the rest of the way. Earl Pearson Jr. dropped Daniel Hilsabeck out of the top three with five laps to go and Overton was only able to get to fourth sending him to the second B-Main.....Aaron Marrant's car showed some smoke during hot laps, qualifying and all twelve laps of the fifth heat that he would win, but it was nothing compared to what billowed out of Billy Moyer's car while he was running second. That would end the night, and perhaps the whole weekend for Hall of Famer.....Jonathan Davenport wasted no time coming from sixth to third in just the first two laps of the final heat race that was highlighted by a three car battle for the final transfer spot in the closing laps. At the checkers it would go to Brandon Sheppard who slipped by both Frank Heckenast Jr. and Garrett Alberson on the final lap......Bobby Pierce started on the outside of the front row of the first B-Main, but jumped the cushion on the opening lap. He slowed to draw a caution, but since the leaders crossed the line before it waved he was sent to the rear of the field for the lap one restart. Perhaps he thought this was one of those "free restart" scenarios, or as I have called it in the past "the stupidest rule in racing?" Not here at Knoxville! Back to the race, Mike Marlar was languishing in fourth one spot out of a transfer until Jesse Sobbing spun just past the mid-race mark. On the restart Marlar would show why he is a three-time champion of this event as he quickly went to the front to take the win over Ricky Thornton Jr. and Spencer Hughes, leaving Chris Simpson as the first man out.....Starting from the pole, the second B-Main seemed like it would be all Brandon Overton, but when his right front tire went flat it sent him into the turn three guardrail ending his night with six laps remaining. Contact on the restart with Daniel Hilsabeck would send Tyler Bruening for a spin and he too would retire, plus Daulton Wilson slowed to a halt early in the race while running third. This race of attrition would see Alberson, Hilsabeck and Chris Spieker be the three transfers of the six cars that finished......Jonathan Davenport's total of 489 points tops the list after night one followed by Earl Pearson Jr., Shane Clanton, Tim McCreadie and Jimmy Owens. They all go at it again tonight to try to improve upon their standings!

That will do it for me as a series of non-racing activities and events will fill up these final three weekends of September. My next planned racing will be a big one though as I hope to attend all five nights, Tuesday through Saturday of the Summit Racing USRA Nationals October 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. In the meantime I hope that you will get out there and take my place at one of the many great events in our area!