Trey Starks won Night #1 of the Knoxville Nationals over James McFadden (L) and Sheldon Haudenschild (R) (Ken Berry Racing Pix) (Video Highlight from DirtVision.com)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 7, 2019) – Trey Starks picked a great time to win his first ever main event at the Knoxville Raceway! The Puyallup, Washington native held off a strong field at Knoxville Raceway Wednesday to take home the $12,000 Brandt Professional Agriculture Night #1 of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Aaron Reutzel found himself on top of the point standings, topping the 53-car field with 487 points, ahead of Tim Kaeding (466) and Paul McMahan (465).
Mark Dobmeier shot out from the pole to lead early in the 25-lap feature, ahead of Starks and James McFadden. Starks stayed true to the low side of the track, but performed a slider in front of Dobmeier in turn four to lead lap five. Reutzel, who started eighth, moved into the top five by lap nine, and the leaders entered lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit.
Scotty Thiel brought out the only caution of the race, when he spun in turn three on lap 12. Haudenschild battled back and forth for the fourth spot, while Starks held off Dobmeier for the point.
McFadden gained late, taking second from Dobmeier with five to go. Starks entered lapped traffic again with three laps remaining, but maintained his advantage over McFadden at the line. Haudenschild passed Dobmeier for third on the last lap, while Reutzel settled for fifth. Brent Marks, Tanner Thorson, Jac Haudenschild, Paul McMahan and Tim Kaeding roudned out the top ten.
Jamie Ball, Jac Haudenschild, Wayne Johnson, Tasker Phillips and Thorson won heat races that saw eight of the top ten qualifiers not transfer (top four) to the main event. Freddie Rahmer won the C main, and Kaeding claimed the B.
“I absolutely cannot believe it,” said an emotional Starks in Victory Lane. “This hasn’t been the best year for us for multiple reasons. We’ve had a ton of rain and haven’t got the laps we wanted to here. We learn something every week we come here, and it seems like the last couple weeks nothing has gone our way. After all the bad luck this week, to say we were due for this one is an understatement. To say we were due for this one is an understatement! We’ve needed this one, and tonight was the night to do it. Anybody who knows me running around this place…I don’t run the bottom. This year has taught me how to run the bottom here.”
“We really didn’t need that caution,” said McFadden. “I felt like we could go good on the bottom of three and four. Trey did a good job. He didn’t make too many mistakes. I wish the race was longer. We got better and better as the race went on. I messed up the start a bunch. We seem to bury ourselves in qualifying and can race good. I made too many mistakes in that feature race.”
“We definitely can’t complain after that,” said Sheldon Haudenschild. “There were just too many driver errors there. I’d make a mistake and about spun it out. I’ve just got to clean it up a little bit on my end. The car was really good. I made those mistakes and I was able to run them back down. That just shows how good our car was. I just can’t make that many mistakes in a short 25-lap race.”
The 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues Thursday night with Fraternal Order of Eagles Qualifying Night! For tickets and other information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Brandt Professional Agriculture Night #1 of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (7), 15.165; 2. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (22), 15.331; 3. 7S, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (15), 15.418; 4. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (2), 15.476; 5. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (17), 15.480; 6. 13X, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (18), 15.515; 7. 83J, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (11), 15.523; 8. 71, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (49), 15.548; 9. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (27), 15.548; 10. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (40), 15.567; 11. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (14), 15.611; 12. 7X, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (5), 15.626; 13. 11, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (33), 15.638; 14. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (1), 15.674; 15. 44S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (26), 15.714; 16. 2M, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (46), 15.76; 17. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (37), 15.765; 18. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (21), 15.780; 19. 41S, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (32), 15.794; 20. 1, Travis Rilat, Heath, TX (47), 15.800; 21. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (6), 15.807; 22. 9, James McFadden, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (44), 15.838; 23. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (8), 15.865; 24. 70X, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (10), 15.871; 25. 88, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (38), 15.880; 26. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (4), 15.910; 27. 39, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (24), 15.925; 28. 11C, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (41), 15.945; 29. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (3), 15.948; 30. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (23), 15.967; 31. 1X, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (12), 15.971; 32. 3H, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (19), 16.017; 33. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (43), 16.025; 34. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (35), 16.025; 35. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (20), 16.026; 36. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (50), 16.027; 37. 5H, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (52), 16.028; 38. 64, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (25), 16.034; 39. 7SW, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (45), 16.061; 40. 99X, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (28), 16.068; 41. 85, Chase Wanner, Batavia, IA (48), 16.071; 42. 51, Freddie Rahmer, Salfordville, PA (51), 16.122; 43. 19T, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (42), 16.184; 44. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (13), 16.203; 45. 74, Brodie Tulloch, Upper Caboolture, QLD, Aust. (9), 16.21; 46. 73AF, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (31), 16.223; 47. J4, John Garvin, Sarver, PA (16), 16.228; 48. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (39), 16.268; 49. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (29), 16.324; 50. 9X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (34), 16.334; 51. 2MM, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (36), 16.340; 52. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (30), 16.695; 53. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (53), NT.
Heat one (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Jamie Ball (3); 2. Austin McCarl (1); 3. Brent Marks (6); 4. Paul McMahan (7) / 5. Kerry Madsen (5); 6. Ian Madsen (8); 7. Chase Johnson (4); 8. Chase Wanner (9) / 9. Don Droud Jr. (2); 10. Joey Moughan (10)
Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.6: 1. Jac Haudenschild (2); 2. Aaron Reutzel (8); 3. James McFadden (4); 4. Spencer Bayston (1) / 5. Logan Schuchart (5); 6. Sammy Swindell (3); 7. Justin Henderson (6); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (7) / 9. Freddie Rahmer (9); 10. John Garvin (10)
Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:44.5: 1. Wayne Johnson (2); 2. Scotty Thiel (1); 3. Mark Dobmeier (4); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (5) / 5. Tim Kaeding (8); 6. Gio Scelzi (7); 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9); 8. Roger Crockett (3) / 9. Davey Heskin (10); 10. Hunter Schuerenberg (6)
Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.1: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Jeff Swindell (1); 3. Justin Peck (4); 4. Paige Polyak (6) / 5. Dominic Scelzi (5); 6. Danny Dietrich (8); 7. Kyle Larson (7); 8. Ryan Roberts (3) / 9. Joe Simbro (10); 10. Rusty Hickman (9)
Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:43.2: 1. Tanner Thorson (4); 2. Carson McCarl (2); 3. Skylar Gee (1); 4. Trey Starks (6) / 5. Brady Bacon (8); 6. Donny Schatz (7); 7. Travis Rilat (5); 8. AJ Moeller (3) / 9. Jake Bubak (10); 10. Brodie Tulloch (9)
C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:49.5: 1. Freddie Rahmer (1); 2. Jake Bubak (7); 3. Rusty Hickman (2); 4. Matt Moro (8) / 5. Brodie Tulloch (3); 6. Joe Simbro (6); 7. John Garvin (5); 8. Glen Saville (10); 9. Joey Moughan (4); 10. Zach Hampton (9); DNS - 11. Hunter Schuerenberg; 12. Don Droud Jr.; 13. Davey Heskin
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:21.2: 1. Tim Kaeding (2); 2. Gio Scelzi (6); 3. Ian Madsen (1); 4. Donny Schatz (8) / 5. Danny Dietrich (3); 6. Kyle Larson (7); 7. Kerry Madsen (10); 8. Brady Bacon (4); 9. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 10. Dominic Scelzi (12); 11. Justin Henderson (9); 12. Logan Schuchart (11); 13. Sammy Swindell (15); 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (20); 15. Chase Johnson (14); 16. AJ Moeller (18); 17. Rusty Hickman (23); 18. Jake Bubak (22); 19. Ryan Roberts (17); 20. Travis Rilat (13); 21. Chase Wanner (19); 22. Freddie Rahmer (21); 23. Matt Moro (24); 24. Roger Crockett (16)
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Trey Starks (4); 2. James McFadden (2); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 4. Mark Dobmeier (1); 5. Aaron Reutzel (8); 6. Brent Marks (6); 7. Tanner Thorson (10); 8. Jac Haudenschild (12); 9. Paul McMahan (7); 10. Tim Kaeding (21); 11. Donny Schatz (24); 12. Gio Scelzi (22); 13. Tasker Phillips (14); 14. Wayne Johnson (13); 15. Austin McCarl (16); 16. Ian Madsen (23); 17. Carson McCarl (15); 18. Spencer Bayston (17); 19. Skylar Gee (20); 20. Justin Peck (9); 21. Jamie Ball (11); 22. Paige Polyak (5); 23. Jeff Swindell (19); 24. Scotty Thiel (18). Lap Leaders: Dobmeier 1-4, Starks 5-25. $350 FK Rod Ends Hard-charger: Schatz.
Thursday Point Totals
1
87
Aaron Reutzel
487
2
7S
Tim Kaeding
466
3
13X
Paul McMahan
465
4
19
Brent Marks
464
5
44S
Trey Starks
463
6
18
Ian Madsen
455
7
17
Sheldon Haudenschild
453
8
9
James McFadden
450
9
71
Gio Scelzi
449
10
15
Donny Schatz
447
11
13
Mark Dobmeier
444
12
88
Tanner Thorson
440
13
3H
Jac Haudenschild
424
14
19P
Paige Polyak
423
15
48
Danny Dietrich
421
16
99
Brady Bacon
416
17
7TAZ
Tasker Phillips
410
18
2C
Wayne Johnson
410
19
70X
Justin Peck
410
20
5J
Jamie Ball
410
21
57
Kyle Larson
406
22
83J
Lynton Jeffrey
401
23
2KS
Austin McCarl
399
24
27
Carson McCarl
397
25
2M
Kerry Madsen
396
26
7X
Justin Henderson
390
27
5H
Spencer Bayston
385
28
41S
Dominic Scelzi
384
29
1S
Logan Schuchart
384
30
99X
Skylar Gee
380
31
7SW
Jeff Swindell
377
32
64
Scotty Thiel
377
33
68
Chase Johnson
364
34
39
Sammy Swindell
359
35
1
Travis Rilat
356
36
20
AJ Moeller
341
37
18R
Ryan Roberts
337
38
11C
Roger Crockett
329
39
11
Hunter Schuerenberg
329
40
19T
Kevin Thomas Jr.
322
41
85
Chase Wanner
309
42
45
Rusty Hickman
305
43
51
Freddie Rahmer
302
44
9X
Jake Bubak
294
45
1X
Don Droud Jr.
294
46
74
Brodie Tulloch
277
47
56
Joe Simbro
270
48
J4
John Garvin
269
49
73AF
Joey Moughan
267
50
56N
Davey Heskin
258
51
2MM
Matt Moro
256
52
35
Zach Hampton
227
53
75
Glen Saville
226