Brad Sweet brought a sellout crowd to its feet holding off Donny Schatz in a two lap shootout to win the 58th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway. The green, white, checker restart following a Kerry Madsen crash on lap forty-eight gave Schatz one last opportunity to win Sprint Car racing's biggest event for the eleventh time in the last thirteen years, but he came up just a car length short as Sweet added his name to the elite list of champions.
Twenty-five drivers would lineup for the fifty lap finale, but this one was a three-car race for the win throughout as Sweet raced away from his pole position. Fellow front row starter Chad Kemenah would try to keep pace only to be passed by Kyle Larson and Schatz with those two drivers giving the fans some thrills as they swapped the runner-up position a couple of times in the first fifteen laps. The red flag would wave on lap nineteen when Rico Abreu caught the cushion wrong in turns three and four sending him for a tumble and on the restart as Sweet again pulled away it would be Larson passing Schatz to take second before the mid-race break for crews to add fuel and make changes as necessary.
Once back to green Sweet would continue to work the bottom as Larson went to the top and when the leader caught a hole on lap twenty-eight it pitched him sideways for a split second allowing Larson to go sailing by on the outside. The dominant car all week, Sweet would drive his Napa Auto Parts #49 right back to the lead two laps later and would again open up a gap between himself and the two viable challengers. Schatz would take second from Larson with nine laps remaining and it was as if the teaser music from the movie Jaws was playing as he steadily closed the gap on Sweet.
The gap was down to about ten car lengths with three laps to go and Sweet was able to maintain that same distance as he scored lap forty eight. This one now seemed to be in the bag when all of a sudden the red lights came on as Kerry Madsen had just flipped in between turns three and four.
The tension was thick in the crowd as Madsen's car was hooked up and hauled to the infield so you can only imagine how it was for Sweet as he waited for the two most important laps of his life and when the green flag waved he once again attacked the bottom entering turn one. Schatz went top side and had a great run off the cushion keeping Larson from being able to make a move and as the white flag waved it was Sweet with the slight advantage. The lead duo ran the same lines on the final lap and again Schatz had the momentum coming off turn four. Sweet hit his marks though and found the traction that he needed on the bottom to win the drag race to the line by a mere car length and become the first driver from the state of California to win the Nationals..
Larson would finish in the third spot, with Aaron Reutzel in fourth. Tim Kaeding picked up a couple of positions in the final two laps to finish fifth ahead of Carson Macedo and Chad Kemenah. Logan Schuchart was again strong coming from seventeenth to eighth, Shane Stewart was ninth and one of the four B-Main transfers, David Gravel completed the top ten.
In preliminary action the 1997 Nationals Champion Dave Blaney went flag to flag to win the D-Main. Sam Hafertepe Jr. did the same in the C-Main that saw weekly 360 competitor Clint Garner miss out on a transfer position when he slowed suddenly in turn four coming to the checkers. The B-Main would determine the final four starters for the big show with pole-sitter Parker Price-Miller scoring the win. Daryn Pittman would finish second with Gravel coming from seventh to third and Brock Zearfoss would take the final transfer with a late charge by current track point leader Austin McCarl coming up just short.
Another Knoxville Nationals is in the books and for the first time since 1990 this edition of the "Back Stretch" is actually coming to you from our Saturday night seats on the back stretch where I had the pleasure of sitting next to the mother of A-Main starter Matt Juhl and his happy cheering section. Matt earned his way into the field last night with a fourth place finish in the feature and he drove a steady race tonight to finish 20th in his first Nationals A-Main.
A big thank you goes out to my Positively Racing partner Barry Johnson, his wife Stephanie and daughter Aidan for allowing me to spend several nights at their home in Pella over the last two weeks and to our good friends Keith and Jeff Nachbor and their family for the hospitality and the fantastic pre-race meals. Stephanie and Aidan served up a great lunch as well on championship afternoon! This event is extra special now that my son Morgan is in Des Moines and can join me each night for "the best two weeks of the year" and that fun is enhanced when his fiance Em joins us on Saturday for some live music from the Lance Beebe Band at Dingus prior to race time.
Can't wait to do it all over again in 2019 and hopefully Donny Schatz will get a few more cheers than jeers as he tries to make it sixteen straight years of either winning, or finishing second in the sport's marquee event. Now that is amazing!
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Friday, August 10, 2018
Redemption For Schuchart, Scelzi Punches Golden Ticket In Friday Nationals Action At Knoxville
Five more drivers locked themselves in to the 50-lap Nationals Championship main event lineup with their performances in Friday's action at the 58th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.
The top four finishers in tonight's A-Main will start seventeenth through twentieth on Saturday and two drivers who essentially took themselves out of contention on their qualifying night would do battle for the win. Logan Schuchart was Wednesday's quick qualifier, missed the transfer from his heat race and then outran Donny Schatz to win the B-Main. However, instead of going straight to the scales he went to his pit disqualifying him from the race and taking him out of what likely would have been a point total high enough to start him near the front of the championship event. Brian Brown on the other hand battled a vibration during his qualifying effort on Thursday night and when he wound up 38th in the rundown he decided to call it a night to try to identify the issue and come back stronger on Friday.
As the top qualifier in each group Schuchart and Brown would start the twenty-five lap main event from the front row and then race nearly side-by-side through the first several laps. Running the low line Schuchart would reach the scoring loop first the first four times around the fast half-mile before Brown used the cushion to ease ahead on lap five. The lead would change again on lap ten when Brown was held up by the lapped car of Spencer Bayston who was slowing with a right front tire going down and the caution would wave as Bayston slowed to a stop in turn two.
Schuchart would bring the field back to green and it looked like a repeat of the first five laps of the race with Brown taking the lead on the high side with eleven laps to go. Logan would fight back though to take the lead on lap sixteen and he would pull away from there to take the win. There would be no doubt that this time he would find the scales first before making the right hand turn into victory lane. Brown would be a happy runner-up on this night with Paul McMahon and weekly competitor Matt Juhl also celebrating in victory lane. Sheldon Haudenschild would come up one spot short in fifth and he will now start from the inside of row six in Saturday's B-Main. Jamie Veal made a big run up to sixth after starting eighteenth.
The Speed Sport World Challenge would close out the night with the winner having the opportunity to start Saturday's finale from 25th if the driver was not already qualified. Brooke Tatnell would open up a big lead early, but when the caution waved for a slowing Tom Harris on lap eight the field was brought back to him for the restart. Dominic Scelzi would seize the opportunity and throw a slider on Tatnell in turns three and four to take the lead and a lap later the night got even worse for Tatnell as he spun off the cushion in turn two forcing several drivers to take evasive action.
On the restart James McFadden made a run at Scelzi, but the young Californian was able to ward it off and he would then pull away to the win that will allow him to join his younger brother Gio in Saturday's headliner. Tim Kaeding slipped by Austin McCarl late for second, Kerry Madsen was fourth and McFadden filled out the top five.
The lineups are now set for the E, D, C and B mains with drivers trying to advance from each and the final four starters will come from that B-Main for Saturday's main event. With his two performances this week Brad Sweet looks the strongest, but he will have to beat ten time champion Donny Schatz and the remaining twenty-three drivers in what should be a wide open race. The weather looks perfect and tickets remain for Saturday's show. Hope to see you there!
The top four finishers in tonight's A-Main will start seventeenth through twentieth on Saturday and two drivers who essentially took themselves out of contention on their qualifying night would do battle for the win. Logan Schuchart was Wednesday's quick qualifier, missed the transfer from his heat race and then outran Donny Schatz to win the B-Main. However, instead of going straight to the scales he went to his pit disqualifying him from the race and taking him out of what likely would have been a point total high enough to start him near the front of the championship event. Brian Brown on the other hand battled a vibration during his qualifying effort on Thursday night and when he wound up 38th in the rundown he decided to call it a night to try to identify the issue and come back stronger on Friday.
As the top qualifier in each group Schuchart and Brown would start the twenty-five lap main event from the front row and then race nearly side-by-side through the first several laps. Running the low line Schuchart would reach the scoring loop first the first four times around the fast half-mile before Brown used the cushion to ease ahead on lap five. The lead would change again on lap ten when Brown was held up by the lapped car of Spencer Bayston who was slowing with a right front tire going down and the caution would wave as Bayston slowed to a stop in turn two.
Schuchart would bring the field back to green and it looked like a repeat of the first five laps of the race with Brown taking the lead on the high side with eleven laps to go. Logan would fight back though to take the lead on lap sixteen and he would pull away from there to take the win. There would be no doubt that this time he would find the scales first before making the right hand turn into victory lane. Brown would be a happy runner-up on this night with Paul McMahon and weekly competitor Matt Juhl also celebrating in victory lane. Sheldon Haudenschild would come up one spot short in fifth and he will now start from the inside of row six in Saturday's B-Main. Jamie Veal made a big run up to sixth after starting eighteenth.
The Speed Sport World Challenge would close out the night with the winner having the opportunity to start Saturday's finale from 25th if the driver was not already qualified. Brooke Tatnell would open up a big lead early, but when the caution waved for a slowing Tom Harris on lap eight the field was brought back to him for the restart. Dominic Scelzi would seize the opportunity and throw a slider on Tatnell in turns three and four to take the lead and a lap later the night got even worse for Tatnell as he spun off the cushion in turn two forcing several drivers to take evasive action.
On the restart James McFadden made a run at Scelzi, but the young Californian was able to ward it off and he would then pull away to the win that will allow him to join his younger brother Gio in Saturday's headliner. Tim Kaeding slipped by Austin McCarl late for second, Kerry Madsen was fourth and McFadden filled out the top five.
The lineups are now set for the E, D, C and B mains with drivers trying to advance from each and the final four starters will come from that B-Main for Saturday's main event. With his two performances this week Brad Sweet looks the strongest, but he will have to beat ten time champion Donny Schatz and the remaining twenty-three drivers in what should be a wide open race. The weather looks perfect and tickets remain for Saturday's show. Hope to see you there!
Sweet Domination Again At Knoxville
After checking out for a convincing win in Sunday's Capitani Classic, Brad Sweet again showed that he is the dominant force this week at the Knoxville Raceway during the second night of qualifying Thursday for the 58th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.
It didn't hurt that Sweet drew the first spot in the qualifying order although just like Donny Schatz on Wednesday, the time that he put up to beat ended up fourth on the final rundown with Carson Macedo, Chad Kemenah and Jacob Allen going just a bit faster. Once again the heat races with the top eight inverted and only the top four transferring told the story as for the first time this week the quick qualifier Macedo struggled and finished sixth in the opening heat. Kemenah was much better getting to fourth quickly and then having to ward off a comeback bid by Rager Phillips to hold on to the position. It was a similar story for Allen who looked like a sure qualifier once he passed Skylar Gee mid-race for fourth, but Gee kept coming back at him until the young Canadian jumped the cushion out of four with two laps to go allowing Allen to finally get away.
Sweet's heat was up next and even with drivers like David Gravel, Brooke Tatnell and Danny Dietrich starting ahead of him and Shane Stewart alongside, "The Big Cat" charged through the field to finish second behind a driver who has been here a few times before, Sammy Swindell. Sweet would be the only eighth starting driver this week to finish second in his heat race. The three car battle for the fourth and final transfer in this one was worth the price of admission as Gravel, Stewart and Tatnell waged a three car war over the final laps chock full of sliders and pinch offs with Gravel prevailing by less than a car length over Stewart.
As Cory Eliason ran off with the win in the fifth and final heat race this one also featured an entertaining three car battle for the final two transfer spots between Josh Schneiderman, Parker Price-Miller and Terry McCarl. PPM, or "The Law Firm" had passed Schneiderman for third only to have Josh battle back and when that happened McCarl saw his chance to get back into the mix as he picked off Price-Miller late for fourth. How important was this battle? At the end of the night when the points were tallied up it would be Terry McCarl in the sixteenth and final spot for Saturday night's A-Main while just one point behind him and now scheduled to start on the pole of Saturday's B-Main is Parker Price-Miller.
That is what I love about the two qualifying nights at the Nationals, every position counts!
Tonight's B-Main was a good one with some exciting action for the final four transfer positions as pole-sitter Carson Macedo returned to form to go the distance for the win. Parker Price-Miller was a strong second and Trey Starks was looking good for third until a mid-race caution slowed the field and Starks pulled to the infield. The final two transfer spots were now up for grabs with Scott Bogucki trying to ward off Shane Stewart and Danny Dietrich and as those three battled it allowed Jamie Veal to close up a full straightway gap in just two laps. At the checkers it was Stewart in third and the two Aussies, Bogucki and Veal in a drag race to the checkers for fourth with Veal taking it by a nose.
The twenty-five lap feature would close out the evening and this one was decided on the opening lap when Sweet went from sixth to first in impressive fashion. The caution waved after the opening lap was scored as Schneiderman had slapped the back stretch guardrail and was now slow around the high side and the caution waved again on lap two when Swindell spun at the back of the field in turn four.
Once back to green Sweet checked out building up nearly a half lap advantage, even while working traffic as Rico Abreu tried to keep pace in second. David Gravel was on the fly moving through the field quickly from his seventh row starting position and he would be up to third mid-race. His run would stop there though as while he could get to within five car lengths of Abreu he could never make a run for the position. Sweet's lead was over five seconds at one point and by the time the checkers waved it had been cut to two, but that was more likely due to him being a bit more conservative in traffic over the final laps as he posted his second dominating win of the week.
Sweet has been so strong that fans might even root for Donny Schatz to at least keep pace with him and make it interesting on Saturday night!
Abreu was tonight's runner-up with Gravel in third, Tim Kaeding had a solid showing in fourth and Terry McCarl was fifth. Chad Kemenah was sixth and that gave him enough points to join Sweet on the front row for the Championship event with Kyle Larson and Schatz set to go in row two. Cory Eliason was seventh in Thursday's feature followed by B-Main transfers Shane Stewart and Carson Macedo while former Nationals champion Kraig Kinser was tenth.
As one of the crowd favorites you could hear the collective groan when it was announced after qualifying that Brian Brown had scratched for the evening. With a late draw Brown had posted the 38th best time and with a vibration in the motor and a bit of mathematics that showed that it would take a heat race win and then a run through the field from deep in the pack to win the A to maybe make the top twenty-six in points, he decided to regroup and come back Friday where the top four finishers in the night's main event lock themselves into rows nine and ten of the Championship lineup.
With those four important spots up for grabs it will be another exciting night of racing at the Knoxville Raceway tonight and we hope to see you there!
The top twenty-six in points from the Knoxville Raceway website
Final Combined Points
A main
1 49 Brad Sweet 491
2 10H Chad Kemenah 479
3 57 Kyle Larson 475
4 15 Donny Schatz 474
5 87 Aaron Reutzel 473
6 2M Kerry Madsen 473
7 49X Tim Shaffer 471
8 41 Carson Macedo 469
9 71 Gio Scelzi 468
10 3 Tim Kaeding 467
11 18 Ian Madsen 467
12 1A Jacob Allen 465
13 24R Rico Abreu 463
14 27 Greg Hodnett 462
15 2 Shane Stewart 458
16 24 Terry McCarl 455
B main
17 71P Parker Price-Miller 454
18 24W Lucas Wolfe 453
19 9 Daryn Pittman 452
20 4 Brock Zearfoss 444
21 83 Cory Eliason 440
22 13 Mark Dobmeier 437
23 5 David Gravel 431
24 5H Sammy Walsh 431
25 2KS Austin McCarl 429
26 11K Kraig Kinser 426
It didn't hurt that Sweet drew the first spot in the qualifying order although just like Donny Schatz on Wednesday, the time that he put up to beat ended up fourth on the final rundown with Carson Macedo, Chad Kemenah and Jacob Allen going just a bit faster. Once again the heat races with the top eight inverted and only the top four transferring told the story as for the first time this week the quick qualifier Macedo struggled and finished sixth in the opening heat. Kemenah was much better getting to fourth quickly and then having to ward off a comeback bid by Rager Phillips to hold on to the position. It was a similar story for Allen who looked like a sure qualifier once he passed Skylar Gee mid-race for fourth, but Gee kept coming back at him until the young Canadian jumped the cushion out of four with two laps to go allowing Allen to finally get away.
Sweet's heat was up next and even with drivers like David Gravel, Brooke Tatnell and Danny Dietrich starting ahead of him and Shane Stewart alongside, "The Big Cat" charged through the field to finish second behind a driver who has been here a few times before, Sammy Swindell. Sweet would be the only eighth starting driver this week to finish second in his heat race. The three car battle for the fourth and final transfer in this one was worth the price of admission as Gravel, Stewart and Tatnell waged a three car war over the final laps chock full of sliders and pinch offs with Gravel prevailing by less than a car length over Stewart.
As Cory Eliason ran off with the win in the fifth and final heat race this one also featured an entertaining three car battle for the final two transfer spots between Josh Schneiderman, Parker Price-Miller and Terry McCarl. PPM, or "The Law Firm" had passed Schneiderman for third only to have Josh battle back and when that happened McCarl saw his chance to get back into the mix as he picked off Price-Miller late for fourth. How important was this battle? At the end of the night when the points were tallied up it would be Terry McCarl in the sixteenth and final spot for Saturday night's A-Main while just one point behind him and now scheduled to start on the pole of Saturday's B-Main is Parker Price-Miller.
That is what I love about the two qualifying nights at the Nationals, every position counts!
Tonight's B-Main was a good one with some exciting action for the final four transfer positions as pole-sitter Carson Macedo returned to form to go the distance for the win. Parker Price-Miller was a strong second and Trey Starks was looking good for third until a mid-race caution slowed the field and Starks pulled to the infield. The final two transfer spots were now up for grabs with Scott Bogucki trying to ward off Shane Stewart and Danny Dietrich and as those three battled it allowed Jamie Veal to close up a full straightway gap in just two laps. At the checkers it was Stewart in third and the two Aussies, Bogucki and Veal in a drag race to the checkers for fourth with Veal taking it by a nose.
The twenty-five lap feature would close out the evening and this one was decided on the opening lap when Sweet went from sixth to first in impressive fashion. The caution waved after the opening lap was scored as Schneiderman had slapped the back stretch guardrail and was now slow around the high side and the caution waved again on lap two when Swindell spun at the back of the field in turn four.
Once back to green Sweet checked out building up nearly a half lap advantage, even while working traffic as Rico Abreu tried to keep pace in second. David Gravel was on the fly moving through the field quickly from his seventh row starting position and he would be up to third mid-race. His run would stop there though as while he could get to within five car lengths of Abreu he could never make a run for the position. Sweet's lead was over five seconds at one point and by the time the checkers waved it had been cut to two, but that was more likely due to him being a bit more conservative in traffic over the final laps as he posted his second dominating win of the week.
Sweet has been so strong that fans might even root for Donny Schatz to at least keep pace with him and make it interesting on Saturday night!
Abreu was tonight's runner-up with Gravel in third, Tim Kaeding had a solid showing in fourth and Terry McCarl was fifth. Chad Kemenah was sixth and that gave him enough points to join Sweet on the front row for the Championship event with Kyle Larson and Schatz set to go in row two. Cory Eliason was seventh in Thursday's feature followed by B-Main transfers Shane Stewart and Carson Macedo while former Nationals champion Kraig Kinser was tenth.
As one of the crowd favorites you could hear the collective groan when it was announced after qualifying that Brian Brown had scratched for the evening. With a late draw Brown had posted the 38th best time and with a vibration in the motor and a bit of mathematics that showed that it would take a heat race win and then a run through the field from deep in the pack to win the A to maybe make the top twenty-six in points, he decided to regroup and come back Friday where the top four finishers in the night's main event lock themselves into rows nine and ten of the Championship lineup.
With those four important spots up for grabs it will be another exciting night of racing at the Knoxville Raceway tonight and we hope to see you there!
The top twenty-six in points from the Knoxville Raceway website
Final Combined Points
A main
1 49 Brad Sweet 491
2 10H Chad Kemenah 479
3 57 Kyle Larson 475
4 15 Donny Schatz 474
5 87 Aaron Reutzel 473
6 2M Kerry Madsen 473
7 49X Tim Shaffer 471
8 41 Carson Macedo 469
9 71 Gio Scelzi 468
10 3 Tim Kaeding 467
11 18 Ian Madsen 467
12 1A Jacob Allen 465
13 24R Rico Abreu 463
14 27 Greg Hodnett 462
15 2 Shane Stewart 458
16 24 Terry McCarl 455
B main
17 71P Parker Price-Miller 454
18 24W Lucas Wolfe 453
19 9 Daryn Pittman 452
20 4 Brock Zearfoss 444
21 83 Cory Eliason 440
22 13 Mark Dobmeier 437
23 5 David Gravel 431
24 5H Sammy Walsh 431
25 2KS Austin McCarl 429
26 11K Kraig Kinser 426
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Hodnett Wins; Larson and Schatz Top The Points List On Opening Night of Knoxville Nationals
Wednesday was supposed to be a slug fest featuring Kyle Larson and Donny Schatz, the drivers who finished first and second in last year's grand finale, and while at the end of opening night of the 58th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville National presented by Casey's General Stores those two drivers sat atop the points list they each had very different routes to get there.
If you are reading this I am going to assume that you know the history of Donny Schatz and the Knoxville Nationals (winner of ten of the last twelve years and the runner-up the other two) so when he drew the opportunity to be the first car on the track for qualifying Wednesday night, let's just say that many in the crowd already had the story line for the week figured out. His best lap of 15.208 was better than anyone had put up during hot laps so when Logan Schuchart went out third and beat it, the crowd went wild. The fifth car out to qualify, Kerry Madsen beat it as well and again the crowd erupted and that reaction was repeated when current All Stars point leader Aaron Reutzel was strong mid-session and dropped Schatz back to fourth on the final list. Only at the Knoxville Nationals will you see this type of reaction during qualifying!
Oh yes, and as for Kyle Larsen, he drew the very last position in the 45 car qualifying order but still posted a respectable tenth quick effort. So after the first event it was Schatz plus 12 points on Larson.
Heat race action was up next and with a narrow race track it was going to be a challenge for the fastest qualifiers to get to the top four transfer positions from the eight car invert. Schuchart, the fastest qualifier, came up just a few car lengths short in the first heat finishing fifth while Madsen made a late move past Shane Golobic to take fourth in the second heat. Reutzel gave the fans another thrill with a final lap pass of multi-time IRA champion Bill Balog to take fourth in the third heat and as the fourth heat lineup took to the track it would have been hard to imagine that Schatz would not be able to at least achieve what Madsen and Reutzel had just accomplished.
Knoxville veteran Bobby Mincer (we still claim him as a 34 Raceway guy) and former World of Outlaws traveler Clyde Knipp would start from the front row and if you asked them after the checkered flag fell both would would have told you that they had just run the best ten laps of their lives. Well that is if you would have been able to get Bobby to stop screaming, his excitement being heard by the photographers in the infield in turns three and four on the cool down lap. Knipp, driving the VanderEcken #10 car was brilliant in winning the race going away while Mincer stayed glued to the bottom and finally gave up second to Matt Juhl late in the race. Lucas Wolfe was chasing them in fourth and while Schatz was able to get within striking distance in the closing laps, Wolfe did not flinch and sent the champ to the B-Main as fans were jumping up and down and high-fiving each other. Well, at least they were in Section I, home of the pickle nachos. There was literally a buzz in the crowd as the fifth heat was pushed off with Kyle Larson starting next to Ian Madsen in row four.
Brock Zearfoss would charge from the fifth starting spot to take the win, the first driver to come from outside of the first two rows tonight to do so with Larson charging all the way up to second. A tip of the hat to young Chase Wanner who turned some heads by finishing third after starting from the pole while Willie Croft sent Australians James McFadden and Ian Madsen to the B-Main by holding on to fourth.
After two events Larson had closed the gap on Schatz to just three points.
The B-Main was absolutely stacked with talent with only the top four able to advance and since it was started straight up the four drivers who started up front took the checkers up front. It was a good battle for the lead with Schatz taking it early only to have Schuchart fight back and make the pass, once again setting off a round of cheers, but the drama in this one took place soon after the checkers waved. Perhaps it was the excitement of the moment and the fact that he had just outrun Donny Schatz at Knoxville, or that he wanted to have as much time possible to make some adjustments to the car before the feature, maybe both, but the race winner Logan Schuchart did not go straight to the scales as the rule dictates. The resulting disqualification wiped out what would have likely been a point total that would have locked him into the A-Main for Saturday night and if he would have been able to make any kind of progress at all in Wednesday's feature perhaps even a prime starting spot in the first two rows of the championship race. It will be interesting to see how well Logan bounces back when he gets his mulligan on Friday night.
This was a huge break for Austin McCarl who was then able to start the main event from 24th but after he was able to get up to as high as twelfth he slowed with mechanical issues and ended the race in the pit area.
The twenty-five lap main event was a bit of an unusual race to watch as while veteran driver Greg Hodnett raced out to the early lead you couldn't help but to divert your attention to the back of the field to watch the stars from the B-Main, Schatz, Ian Madsen, Daryn Pittman and McCarl make their moves toward the front. Ian was actually leading that group through the field when the red flag flew for a grinding crash in turn four involving Clyde Knipp and Jamie Ball. Both cars rolled hard and it was good to see the young drivers walk away frustrated, but uninjured.
McCarl's caution came on lap fourteen and with six laps remaining Dominic Scelzi tried to make the hard left hand turn into the infield on the front stretch, but slid to a halt to slow the race one last time. Some of the best racing of the night up front came on the lap fourteen restart when Tim Shaffer, Larson and Gio Scelzi raced three wide for second off turn two and while it looked like Larson would have it, "The Steel City Outlaw" Shaffer battled back on the bottom and held on to the position,
On the final restart Schatz was now in eighth and he had at least one sitting duck ahead of him as the left wing panel on the fifth place car of Lucas Wolfe was coming apart. Shaffer gave Hodnett a good run on the restart, but it was not enough as Hodnett pulled away for the win and Shaffer finished second ahead of Larson. Sixteen-year-old Gio Scelzi again impressed with his fourth-place finish while Schatz was workmanlike coming all the way to fifth. And, checking in on that that two driver point race, the two position difference in the feature would give Larson the advantage by just one point and as it turned out those two finished the night ranked first and second.
The rest of the top ten in the race looked like this. Ian Madsen to sixth from twenty-second, Lucas Wolfe holding on to seventh, Aaron Reutzel eighth, Kerry Madsen ninth and Brock Zearfoss tenth.
With their point totals of 475 and 474, Larson and Schatz are on top for now however these are two of the lowest "best" point totals that we have seen from a qualifying night in some time. If Thursday's action sees more of the top qualifiers advance out of their heat races, perhaps running first, second or third instead of fourth, we could easily see two, three and maybe even four drivers beat these totals and drop the two pre-event favorites back a row or two for Saturday night's finale.
Another exciting night of racing is on the card at Knoxville and we hope to see you there!
If you are reading this I am going to assume that you know the history of Donny Schatz and the Knoxville Nationals (winner of ten of the last twelve years and the runner-up the other two) so when he drew the opportunity to be the first car on the track for qualifying Wednesday night, let's just say that many in the crowd already had the story line for the week figured out. His best lap of 15.208 was better than anyone had put up during hot laps so when Logan Schuchart went out third and beat it, the crowd went wild. The fifth car out to qualify, Kerry Madsen beat it as well and again the crowd erupted and that reaction was repeated when current All Stars point leader Aaron Reutzel was strong mid-session and dropped Schatz back to fourth on the final list. Only at the Knoxville Nationals will you see this type of reaction during qualifying!
Oh yes, and as for Kyle Larsen, he drew the very last position in the 45 car qualifying order but still posted a respectable tenth quick effort. So after the first event it was Schatz plus 12 points on Larson.
Heat race action was up next and with a narrow race track it was going to be a challenge for the fastest qualifiers to get to the top four transfer positions from the eight car invert. Schuchart, the fastest qualifier, came up just a few car lengths short in the first heat finishing fifth while Madsen made a late move past Shane Golobic to take fourth in the second heat. Reutzel gave the fans another thrill with a final lap pass of multi-time IRA champion Bill Balog to take fourth in the third heat and as the fourth heat lineup took to the track it would have been hard to imagine that Schatz would not be able to at least achieve what Madsen and Reutzel had just accomplished.
Knoxville veteran Bobby Mincer (we still claim him as a 34 Raceway guy) and former World of Outlaws traveler Clyde Knipp would start from the front row and if you asked them after the checkered flag fell both would would have told you that they had just run the best ten laps of their lives. Well that is if you would have been able to get Bobby to stop screaming, his excitement being heard by the photographers in the infield in turns three and four on the cool down lap. Knipp, driving the VanderEcken #10 car was brilliant in winning the race going away while Mincer stayed glued to the bottom and finally gave up second to Matt Juhl late in the race. Lucas Wolfe was chasing them in fourth and while Schatz was able to get within striking distance in the closing laps, Wolfe did not flinch and sent the champ to the B-Main as fans were jumping up and down and high-fiving each other. Well, at least they were in Section I, home of the pickle nachos. There was literally a buzz in the crowd as the fifth heat was pushed off with Kyle Larson starting next to Ian Madsen in row four.
Brock Zearfoss would charge from the fifth starting spot to take the win, the first driver to come from outside of the first two rows tonight to do so with Larson charging all the way up to second. A tip of the hat to young Chase Wanner who turned some heads by finishing third after starting from the pole while Willie Croft sent Australians James McFadden and Ian Madsen to the B-Main by holding on to fourth.
After two events Larson had closed the gap on Schatz to just three points.
The B-Main was absolutely stacked with talent with only the top four able to advance and since it was started straight up the four drivers who started up front took the checkers up front. It was a good battle for the lead with Schatz taking it early only to have Schuchart fight back and make the pass, once again setting off a round of cheers, but the drama in this one took place soon after the checkers waved. Perhaps it was the excitement of the moment and the fact that he had just outrun Donny Schatz at Knoxville, or that he wanted to have as much time possible to make some adjustments to the car before the feature, maybe both, but the race winner Logan Schuchart did not go straight to the scales as the rule dictates. The resulting disqualification wiped out what would have likely been a point total that would have locked him into the A-Main for Saturday night and if he would have been able to make any kind of progress at all in Wednesday's feature perhaps even a prime starting spot in the first two rows of the championship race. It will be interesting to see how well Logan bounces back when he gets his mulligan on Friday night.
This was a huge break for Austin McCarl who was then able to start the main event from 24th but after he was able to get up to as high as twelfth he slowed with mechanical issues and ended the race in the pit area.
The twenty-five lap main event was a bit of an unusual race to watch as while veteran driver Greg Hodnett raced out to the early lead you couldn't help but to divert your attention to the back of the field to watch the stars from the B-Main, Schatz, Ian Madsen, Daryn Pittman and McCarl make their moves toward the front. Ian was actually leading that group through the field when the red flag flew for a grinding crash in turn four involving Clyde Knipp and Jamie Ball. Both cars rolled hard and it was good to see the young drivers walk away frustrated, but uninjured.
McCarl's caution came on lap fourteen and with six laps remaining Dominic Scelzi tried to make the hard left hand turn into the infield on the front stretch, but slid to a halt to slow the race one last time. Some of the best racing of the night up front came on the lap fourteen restart when Tim Shaffer, Larson and Gio Scelzi raced three wide for second off turn two and while it looked like Larson would have it, "The Steel City Outlaw" Shaffer battled back on the bottom and held on to the position,
On the final restart Schatz was now in eighth and he had at least one sitting duck ahead of him as the left wing panel on the fifth place car of Lucas Wolfe was coming apart. Shaffer gave Hodnett a good run on the restart, but it was not enough as Hodnett pulled away for the win and Shaffer finished second ahead of Larson. Sixteen-year-old Gio Scelzi again impressed with his fourth-place finish while Schatz was workmanlike coming all the way to fifth. And, checking in on that that two driver point race, the two position difference in the feature would give Larson the advantage by just one point and as it turned out those two finished the night ranked first and second.
The rest of the top ten in the race looked like this. Ian Madsen to sixth from twenty-second, Lucas Wolfe holding on to seventh, Aaron Reutzel eighth, Kerry Madsen ninth and Brock Zearfoss tenth.
With their point totals of 475 and 474, Larson and Schatz are on top for now however these are two of the lowest "best" point totals that we have seen from a qualifying night in some time. If Thursday's action sees more of the top qualifiers advance out of their heat races, perhaps running first, second or third instead of fourth, we could easily see two, three and maybe even four drivers beat these totals and drop the two pre-event favorites back a row or two for Saturday night's finale.
Another exciting night of racing is on the card at Knoxville and we hope to see you there!
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Macedo's Star Power Continues To Rise With Ultimate Challenge Triumph
Twenty-one year old Carson Macedo was already a rising star in the world of open wheel racing having won the King of the West 410 Series in 2015, picking up three USAC Midget wins with Keith Kunz Motorsports in 2016 and winning twelve times last year in Joe Gaerte's #3G 410 car. This year has been solid as well driving for Gaerte as the young Californian currently ranks second in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions point standings, just four points behind Aaron Reutzel, but what he has done and who he has done it for over the past five nights has vaulted him to superstar status.
Stepping into the Jason Johnson Racing #41 for two weeks at Knoxville, Macedo won in his debut on Friday night of the 360 Nationals and then appeared to have Saturday night's finale well in hand until Terry McCarl found a different line that worked better in the final three laps. Still, standing on the podium at Knoxville with McCarl and Brian Brown was quite impressive and on Sunday night Macedo was again the runner-up, this time to World of Outlaws regular Brad Sweet in the Capitani Classic for the 410's.
With the JJR team skipping the two events at Oskaloosa, Macedo had a night off on Monday before being asked to drive Tony Stewart's #14 in Tuesday's Lucas Oil ASCS National Series event at the Ultimate Challenge and just like that the phenom was ready to add to his star power. A battle for position in his heat race with sixty-two year old Sammy Swindell gave the crowd a thrill as Carson completed the pass for second by pinching off Swindell from the bottom as they entered turn one and despite the fact that it was a maneuver that the legend has used thousands of times over his career Sammy made sure that Macedo knew how he felt about it after the checkered flag. The crowd loved it.
Under the ASCS passing points system that pass for second would land Macedo on the outside of the second row for the twenty-five lap main event while Swindell was the last of the sixteen drivers who qualified for the A from the heats. Another California visitor Willie Croft would start from the pole position and he would lead lap one only to have Macedo sweep around him on the outside of turn four coming to score lap two. The caution would wave before they reached the line though as Gio Scelzi had coasted to a halt after smoke billowed from the engine of the Indy Race Parts #71.
On the restart Croft was able to hold off Macedo for a lap before the caution waved again when fourth running Jack Dover spun in turn three apparently after his front wing collapsed. A quick trip to the work area for repairs then put Dover at the back for the restart.
Again Croft got a nice run into turn one, but Macedo had Stewart's Textron #14 cranking on the cushion in turns three and four and he would race to the lead officially on lap three. Croft would keep pace with the new leader and as traffic came into play he was able to get to within a few car lengths only to have Macedo again put some separation between them. John Carney II was on the move after starting sixth and he would pass Croft with a handful of laps remaining and after making up ground on the leader shortly after taking second, Carney's run leveled off and Macedo would have nearly a full straightaway advantage as he took the checkered flag. Croft was solid in finishing third, Blake Hahn came from thirteenth to fourth and Trey Starks was fifth after starting tenth. National series regulars Wayne Johnson, Johnny Herrera and Seth Bergman were next in line while Paul Nienheiser and Shane Golobic completed the top ten.
The POWRi WAR Wild Card Series non-wing sprints were also on the card and for all intents and purposes this one was decided coming out of turn two on the opening lap of the first heat race. Pole-sitter Austin Sears slid sideways in front of the field and clipped the right rear of Kevin Thomas Jr.'s car turning him hard right. Thomas stayed upright, but the scramble behind saw the cars of Katlynn Leer and Brandon Stevenson tangle and tumble together with Mitch Wissmiller also involved. All drivers were okay, yet obviously frustrated with Sears and after the long delay to tow each car to the pits Thomas was one of the four cars able to restart.
KTJ would win easily after originally starting fifth, but with Mitchell Davis running second after starting the race from the eighth position he would have more passing points than Thomas. Why is this significant? Well a challenge had been put out that if the top point getter chose to start from the rear he, or she, would then get an extra $1,200 if they could go on to win and Thomas had already stated before the event had started that he would accept the challenge if he had the opportunity. That would have made the twenty-five lap feature much more interesting!
As it was Dylan Kadous and Isaac Chapple would start from the front row with Thomas and Davis in row three due to the six car invert. At the drop of the green Thomas would quickly move to third and as the field rumbled down the back stretch for the first time contact from Thomas would send Kadous for a full spin. Cars behind him jumbled up, but when Kadous continued on it looked like the race would stay green except for the fact that poor Katlynn Leer was again upside down, a tough night for the young lady who had to be excited about racing so close to her home in Moulton.
On the restart Chapple would lead the first three laps before Thomas dove under him in turn one and the rout was on. Lapping cars all the way up to the fifth spot before the caution waved on lap twenty, Thomas was in full control driving his Indy Race Parts car #71. The same car that he will put a wing on for this week's 410 Nationals. The caution was for Kadous who had a loose tail tank and with the Series rules where lapped cars stay in line, in this case it really didn't matter that Thomas had a six car cushion on the restart as he drove away to the dominating victory. Riley Kreisel had a great battle with Chapple for second mid-race and was very happy to be the runner-up to the 2017 non-wing Sprint Car driver of the year. Zach Daum finished third, Chapple was fourth and point leader Landon Simon was the final car on the lead lap in fifth.
Once again Terry McCarl and his entire team delivered two fun nights of racing with the Osky Challenges just down the road from Knoxville and we are now ready for the main course with tonight's first of two qualifying nights at the 58th Annual Knoxville Nationals. Plenty of good seats remain, especially for Wednesday and Thursday's action that in my opinion are the two most intriguing nights of racing that you will see all year. Hope that you will join us on the Back Stretch!
Stepping into the Jason Johnson Racing #41 for two weeks at Knoxville, Macedo won in his debut on Friday night of the 360 Nationals and then appeared to have Saturday night's finale well in hand until Terry McCarl found a different line that worked better in the final three laps. Still, standing on the podium at Knoxville with McCarl and Brian Brown was quite impressive and on Sunday night Macedo was again the runner-up, this time to World of Outlaws regular Brad Sweet in the Capitani Classic for the 410's.
With the JJR team skipping the two events at Oskaloosa, Macedo had a night off on Monday before being asked to drive Tony Stewart's #14 in Tuesday's Lucas Oil ASCS National Series event at the Ultimate Challenge and just like that the phenom was ready to add to his star power. A battle for position in his heat race with sixty-two year old Sammy Swindell gave the crowd a thrill as Carson completed the pass for second by pinching off Swindell from the bottom as they entered turn one and despite the fact that it was a maneuver that the legend has used thousands of times over his career Sammy made sure that Macedo knew how he felt about it after the checkered flag. The crowd loved it.
Under the ASCS passing points system that pass for second would land Macedo on the outside of the second row for the twenty-five lap main event while Swindell was the last of the sixteen drivers who qualified for the A from the heats. Another California visitor Willie Croft would start from the pole position and he would lead lap one only to have Macedo sweep around him on the outside of turn four coming to score lap two. The caution would wave before they reached the line though as Gio Scelzi had coasted to a halt after smoke billowed from the engine of the Indy Race Parts #71.
On the restart Croft was able to hold off Macedo for a lap before the caution waved again when fourth running Jack Dover spun in turn three apparently after his front wing collapsed. A quick trip to the work area for repairs then put Dover at the back for the restart.
Again Croft got a nice run into turn one, but Macedo had Stewart's Textron #14 cranking on the cushion in turns three and four and he would race to the lead officially on lap three. Croft would keep pace with the new leader and as traffic came into play he was able to get to within a few car lengths only to have Macedo again put some separation between them. John Carney II was on the move after starting sixth and he would pass Croft with a handful of laps remaining and after making up ground on the leader shortly after taking second, Carney's run leveled off and Macedo would have nearly a full straightaway advantage as he took the checkered flag. Croft was solid in finishing third, Blake Hahn came from thirteenth to fourth and Trey Starks was fifth after starting tenth. National series regulars Wayne Johnson, Johnny Herrera and Seth Bergman were next in line while Paul Nienheiser and Shane Golobic completed the top ten.
The POWRi WAR Wild Card Series non-wing sprints were also on the card and for all intents and purposes this one was decided coming out of turn two on the opening lap of the first heat race. Pole-sitter Austin Sears slid sideways in front of the field and clipped the right rear of Kevin Thomas Jr.'s car turning him hard right. Thomas stayed upright, but the scramble behind saw the cars of Katlynn Leer and Brandon Stevenson tangle and tumble together with Mitch Wissmiller also involved. All drivers were okay, yet obviously frustrated with Sears and after the long delay to tow each car to the pits Thomas was one of the four cars able to restart.
KTJ would win easily after originally starting fifth, but with Mitchell Davis running second after starting the race from the eighth position he would have more passing points than Thomas. Why is this significant? Well a challenge had been put out that if the top point getter chose to start from the rear he, or she, would then get an extra $1,200 if they could go on to win and Thomas had already stated before the event had started that he would accept the challenge if he had the opportunity. That would have made the twenty-five lap feature much more interesting!
As it was Dylan Kadous and Isaac Chapple would start from the front row with Thomas and Davis in row three due to the six car invert. At the drop of the green Thomas would quickly move to third and as the field rumbled down the back stretch for the first time contact from Thomas would send Kadous for a full spin. Cars behind him jumbled up, but when Kadous continued on it looked like the race would stay green except for the fact that poor Katlynn Leer was again upside down, a tough night for the young lady who had to be excited about racing so close to her home in Moulton.
On the restart Chapple would lead the first three laps before Thomas dove under him in turn one and the rout was on. Lapping cars all the way up to the fifth spot before the caution waved on lap twenty, Thomas was in full control driving his Indy Race Parts car #71. The same car that he will put a wing on for this week's 410 Nationals. The caution was for Kadous who had a loose tail tank and with the Series rules where lapped cars stay in line, in this case it really didn't matter that Thomas had a six car cushion on the restart as he drove away to the dominating victory. Riley Kreisel had a great battle with Chapple for second mid-race and was very happy to be the runner-up to the 2017 non-wing Sprint Car driver of the year. Zach Daum finished third, Chapple was fourth and point leader Landon Simon was the final car on the lead lap in fifth.
Once again Terry McCarl and his entire team delivered two fun nights of racing with the Osky Challenges just down the road from Knoxville and we are now ready for the main course with tonight's first of two qualifying nights at the 58th Annual Knoxville Nationals. Plenty of good seats remain, especially for Wednesday and Thursday's action that in my opinion are the two most intriguing nights of racing that you will see all year. Hope that you will join us on the Back Stretch!
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