8/9
Knoxville Raceway
49 410s
40 360s
410s
Terry McCarl (11th car out to time) set the standard in time trials at 15.562 seconds. Chris Walraven (4th car out) was second quick, followed by Shane Stewart (31st), Calvin Landis (33rd), Troy Little (3rd), Toni Lutar (9th), Ricky Logan (20th), Johnny Herrera (28th), Kerry Madsen (38th) and Randy Anderson (25th). Tyler Houseman failed to get a time in. Roger Crockett hot lapped and qualified his 410 in preparation for the upcoming nationals, but only competed in the 360 class tonight.
Heat one (started): 1. Tim Kaeding 7T (3) 2. Wayne Johnson 12x (4) 3. Bob Bennett 3B (1) 4. Jeff Mitrisin 5J (2) / 5. Ra. Anderson 1s (5) 6. McCarl 24 (6) 7. Derek Beckman 50D (7) 8. Eddie Leavitt Jr. 1A (9) / 9. Joe Bustillos 37 (8)
Heats were tough on quick qualifiers tonight, as six of the top ten in time trials were relegated to the B after the heat races. Ra. Anderson and McCarl were the first victims as Bennett ran a strong race on the cushion, and Mitrisin on the bottom to hold off Ra. Anderson who got around McCarl at the halfway point in some tight racing. Kaeding got out front early and ran away.
Heat two (started): 1. Justin Henderson R19 (2) 2. Skip Jackson 21 (3) 3. Jaymie Moyle 10 (1) 4. Erin Crocker 16 (4) / 5. Madsen 82 (5) 6. Walraven 56 (6) 7. Scott Young F22 (8) 8. Ryan Anderson 71R (9) / 9. Marty Perovich 17 (7) 10. Doug Strong 43 (10)
Henderson led from the drop of the green and was never challenged. Crocker held off a determined Madsen for the final transfer.
Heat three (started): 1. Brian Brown 6 (2) 2. Clint Garner 55 (3) 3. Stewart 4m (6) 4. Adam West 20 (1) / 5. Herrera 5 (5) 6. Travis Rilat 29 (9) 7. Jeff Johnson 11J (7) 8. Adam Clarke 14A (4) / 9. Marty Wilcox 3 (8) 10. Greg Jones 35 (10)
Brown blistered the field from the word go. West showed some moxy in holding on to the last transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. Kevin Frey 2K (1) 2. Logan 17G (3) 3. Dennis Moore Jr. 0 (2) 4. Landis 70 (6) / 5. Eric Vanderploeg 57a (5) 6. Jesse Hockett 75 (8) 7. Jon Agan 4 (4) 8. Robert Bell 71 (9) / 9. Corey Haigh 17x (7) DNS - Travis Cram 92
Logan was on the move most of the way and came inches short of besting Frey at the line. Kiwi Haigh is a teammate to Logan in a second Gifford car this week. Cram suffered from mechanical ills and didn't take to the track after time trials.
Heat five (started): 1. Colin Northway 60 (1) 2. Brooke Tatnell 66 (2) 3. Lynton Jeffrey 4K (4) 4. Lutar 4x (5) / 5. Max Dumesny 1 (3) 6. Little 20AU (6) 7. Matt Moro 47 (8) 8. Mark Hurd 44m (9) / 9. Mike Moore 69 (7) 10. Houseman 50 (10)
Northway led the duration. Houseman brought out the first heat race caution when he stopped on the backstretch on lap two. He retired. Lutar used the bottom to perfection in working over Dumesny after the restart for the final transfer.
C main (started): 1. M. Moore (1) 2. Wilcox (3) / 3. Perovich (2) 4. Jones (7) 5. Bustillos (5) 6. Haigh (4) 7. Strong (6) 8. Houseman (8) DNS - Cram
A single file affair that M. Moore led from the outset. Wilcox and Perovich had a brief battle for second early on.
B main (started): 1. McCarl (1) 2. Herrera (4) 3. Ra. Anderson (6) 4. Madsen (5) / 5. Walraven (2) 6. Vanderploeg (12) 7. Beckman (10) 8. Dumesny (9) 9. Rilat (18) 10. Moro (15) 11. Hockett (14) 12. J. Johnson (11) 13. Young (13) 14. Clarke (7) 15. Ry. Anderson (17) 16. Hurd (19) 17. Wilcox (22) 18. Leavitt (16) 19. Little (3) 20. Bell (20) 21. M. Moore (21) 22. Agan (8)
As McCarl held the point at the start, Little and Walraven tucked in behind him. Ra. Anderson made his move into the top three a couple of laps later. Little held third on lap eight when Herrera helped him into a 360 spin. He kept it going, but was running in the back before it was over. The race went non-stop until the white flag was shown. Bell stopped in turns three and four. With McCarl leading Herrera, the restart saw Madsen sneak the final transfer from Walraven.
A main (started): 1. Stewart (8) 2. W. Johnson (4) 3. Logan (5) 4. Kaeding (10) 5. McCarl (21) 6. Lutar (6) 7. Moyle (19) 8. Jackson (9) 9. Herrera (22) 10. Crocker (3) 11. D. Moore (14) 12. Madsen (24) 13. Mitrisin (11) 14. Brown (13) 15. Northway (16) 16. Henderson (12) 17. Landis (7) 18. Ra. Anderson (23) 19. Frey (17) 20. West (18) 21. Tatnell (15) 22. Garner (1) 23. Bennett (20) 24. Jeffrey (2)
Garner shot out to the early lead, leaving W. Johnson and Crocker battling for second a straightaway behind by lap seven. Garner's motor was leaking oil and it caught up to him at that point, when he spun out. Jeffrey, who was running fourth, brought his mount pitside with motor concerns. With two gone out of the top five, W. Johnson assumed the lead ahead of Crocker, Logan, Stewart and Kaeding. The race would go non-stop from there. W. Johnson led the next ten laps before Stewart would catch him and pass on lap 17. W. Johnson battled back to take the lead on the next circuit. The two diced back and forth for the lead in a great race. Ironically, the lapped car of Garner played a part in the end, and Stewart powered by W. Johnson on lap 19 and carried home the win. McCarl charged through sixteen positions as the hard-charger. Moyle, Herrera and Madsen also moved up double digit positions before all was said and done.
360s
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Kevin Welsh 18w URC (2*) 2. Jesse Giannetto D1 K-ville (1*) 3. Johnny Anderson 7a K-ville (3*) 4. Bobby Mincer 15 SIA (4*) 5. Derek Drown 26 ASCS-S (9*) 6. Danny Jennings 61J ASCS-S (6) 7. Natalie Sather 94 WISSOTA (5) 8. Matt Sutton 3 SIA (10) 9. Mike Houseman 83 K-ville (7) 10. Greg Nikitenko K9 WISSOTA (8)
Four heats pitted invited 360 drivers into a passing points format. Eighteen would qualify through the heats and six through two B mains. Welsh outdrug Giannetto and held on for a flag to flag win. Jennings was working on Mincer at one time for third, but a sick motor failed him late. Drown was able to get around him and earn enough points to put him in the feature. Jennings pushed outside the track for a motor change, but never returned.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jerrod Hull 50 SIA (2*) 2. Zach Chappell 50z ASCS (3*) 3. Cody Branchcomb 94c ASCS (1*) 4. Josh Higday 24 K-ville (4*) 5. Darren Stewart 91 ASCS (10*) 6. Kevin Ramey 7m ASCS-S (6) 7. Roger Crockett 11c NST (9) 8. Eric Jobe 23 WOW (7) 9. Jerry Brey 17J MST (5) 10. John VanDenBerg V10 K-ville (8)
Brey spun on the initial start. Hull rode the cushion to victory. VanDenBerg was charging before losing a stop, coming to rest, and bringing out a lap five caution. On the restart, Crockett, who was running sixth, looked like he might pass both Ramey and Higday for fourth. Stewart joined the fray and the four raced in tight quarters to the finish line.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Loren Langerud 56 WISSOTA (3*) 2. Dave Hesmer 1 K-ville (2*) 3. Billy Alley 22A K-ville (8*) 4. Dave Ely 75 URC (4*) 5. Joe Beaver 53 K-ville (7*) 6. John Schulz 2J SIA (1) 7. Chuck Swenson X WISSOTA (9) 8. Dustin Daggett 85 SOD (6) 9. Bill Johnson 33 SOD (5) 10. Rick Ideus 5B ESTS (10)
Ideus exited on lap three. Langerud took the lead from Hesmer early. Hesmer and Alley were in a racelong duel. Alley settled for third after a nice battle. Ely is driving the Eagle/Ostrich Dennis Moore Jr. drove to the 360 Nationals title.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Chris Coyle 56c URC (3*) 2. Mike Woodring 19 ESS (8*) 3. Ed Ergenbright 11 K-ville (10*) 4. Randi Miller 00 ASCS-RM (1) 5. Ken Klabunde 28 ESTS (4) 6. Brian Harvill 31B ASCS-S (6) 7. Rusty Potter 3P WOW (7) 8. Rob Dietrick 10 ESS (5) 9. Phil Dietz 72x MST (9) 10. Ryan Jamison 51J (2)
Jamison was running a strong second, when he bowed out on lap three. Coyle checked out on the field, while Woodring and Ergenbright were making entertaining runs through the field. Miller is driving Larry Weeks 00 this weekend.
B main one (started): 1. Crockett (3) 2. Miller (1) 3. Swenson (2) / 4. Houseman (7) 5. Potter (4) 6. Nikitenko (6) 7. Daggett (7) 8. Sather (5) 9. B. Johnson (9) 10. Ideus (10) DNS - Jennings
Nikitenko was sent to the tail for jumping on the first attempt at a start. Crockett set sail and roasted the field after taking the lead from Miller on lap two. Ideus blamed fuel problems for his exit on lap six. Sather spun on lap ten, bringing caution. The finishing order was not affected by the ensuing restart.
B main two (started): 1. Ramey (2) 2. Schulz (3) 3. Harvill (4) / 4. Sutton (5) 5. Jobe (6) 6. Dietz (9) 7. Dietrick (7) 8. Brey (8) 9. Klabunde (1) 10. VanDenBerg (10) DNS - Jamison
VanDenBerg was launched after contact with Harvill for a transfer on lap three. VanDenBerg may have reached record heights with his ground pounder. He was uninjured. The restart saw Ramey leading Schulz, Harvill, Sutton and Jobe. That's the way it would end. Sutton and Jobe put on the most entertaining race in this B.
A main (started): 1. Hull (1) 2. Welsh (2) 3. Alley (7) 4. Langerud (4) 5. Giannetto (9) 6. Ergenbright (5) 7. Coyle (3) 8. J. Anderson (12) 9. Mincer (15) 10. Chappell (8) 11. Crockett (19) 12. Stewart (11) 13. Beaver (18) 14. Ramey (20) 15. Swenson (23) 16. Branchcomb (14) 17. Drown (13) 18. Miller (21) 19. Schulz (22) 20. Ely (17) 21. Harvill (24) 22. Hesmer (10) 23. Woodring (6) 24. Higday (16)
Despite two restarts, Hull led the twenty lapper wire to wire hooked on the cushion. Miller spun bringing out the first caution on lap three. Lap nine saw a plug wire come loose on Higday's mount causing him to stop. He re-entered the fray. On lap nine, Hull led Langerud, Welsh, Woodring, Ergenbright and a charging Alley. Woodring was running solidly in the top five when bowing out. Hesmer retired on lap 16. Giannetto impressed after the restart. After falling back as far as fourteenth, he charged back to a fifth place finish. The win was worth $2000, and was Hull's first at Knoxville. Crockett and Swenson both moved forward eight positions. More competitors will make up the Tournament of Champions field, as some were racing elsewhere tonight, or in the 410 class.