8/16/09
Knoxville Raceway
49th Annual Knoxville Nationals
B main (started): 1. Jac Haudenschild R19 (1) 2. Jason Meyers 14 (11) 3. Danny Lasoski 6 (17) 4. Jason Johnson 41 (2) / 5. Bronson Maeschen 1 (5) 6. Johnny Herrera 2w (9) 7. Chad Kemenah 63 (3) 8. Danny Smith 4 (4) 9. Dean Jacobs 97 (6) 10. Skip Jackson 2 (8) 11. Jack Dover 53 (14) 12. Mark Dobmeier 13 (15) 13. Daron Clayton 92 (18) 14. Ed Lynch Jr. 2L (20) 15. Calvin Landis 70 (10) 16. Greg Wilson w20 (7) 17. Jesse Giannetto D1 (19) 18. Justin Henderson G1 (16) 19. Fred Rahmer 51 (12) 20. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (21) 21. Billy Alley 22 (22) 22. Ricky Logan 10a (13)
Haudenschild led early in the 22-lapper on the dry-slick track, but it was Kemenah who slid by for the lap two lead. Henderson spun by the pit entrance in turn four a lap later, bringing a caution. Kemenah led Haudenschild, J. Johnson, D. Smith and Maeschen back to green flag racing. On lap four, Haudenschild slid by Kemenah for the lead again, and pulled away as the rest of the event went non-stop. Eyes were on Meyers and Lasoski, who were putting on clinics from deep in the pack. By the time they got to second and third, respectively, Haud was long gone. J. Johnson held onto the final transfer. Clayton was the Rookie of the Nationals.
A main (started): 1. Donny Schatz 15 (6) 2. Joey Saldana 9 (2) 3. Stevie Smith 1z (1) 4. Tim Kaeding 83 (4) 5. Shane Stewart 57 (14) 6. Kraig Kinser 20K (7) 7. Tim Shaffer 83x (11) 8. Dale Blaney 2B (3) 9. Craig Dollansky 19E (18) 10. Haudenschild (21) 11. Lasoski (23) 12. Steve Kinser 11 (20) 13. Dusty Zomer 17G (10) 14. Tyler Walker 24T (5) 15. Jonathan Allard 0 (13) 16. Greg Hodnett 22H (16) 17. Terry McCarl 24 (15) 18. Lucas Wolfe 5w (17) 19. J. Johnson (24) 20. Paul McMahan 71x (12) 21. Jason Solwold 6NX (9) 22. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (8) 23. Brian Brown 21 (19) 24. Meyers (22)
Saldana and S. Smith dueled with Saldana getting the lap one lead. S. Smith came right back to the point on lap two, but the pass was negated by a caution for Meyers, who flattened a right front tire. Saldana took back the point ahead of S. Smith, Kaeding, Blaney and Schatz. Saldana had a good restart, and six laps later, Meyers right rear tire exploded. The damage was enough to sideline him. The restart saw the top five unchanged, but S. Kinser had worked into the top ten (from 20th) in the first eight laps. S. Kinser continued to mark forward and in a duel for seventh on lap ten, he and Walker contacted, sending S. Kinser sideways. He was able to straighten the car and keep going, and was further aided when Brown came to a stop in turn four. The restart with ten laps down saw Hafertepe Jr. duck into the work area, as well. The restart saw Saldana leading S. Smith, Kaeding, Schatz and Blaney. The next twelve laps wnet uninterrupted. Saldana entered lapped traffic and had about an eight car length lead, when a slowing Hafertepe Jr. (who retired) gave officials a chance to conduct their fuel stop. The restart with 18 laps to go saw Saldana still in the lead, ahead of S. Smith, Schatz, Kaeding and Blaney. The rest of the event went non-stop. Schatz appeared to bide his time in third, and turned it on with seven laps to go, shooting under S. Smith for second. He dismissed Saldana, who got a bit loose high in turns three and four on lap 35, and pulled away for his fourth straight Nationals win. Saldana held off a late S. Smith charge for second. Stewart completed a solid surge in the top five, while Haudenschild and Lasoski, who ended up with hard-charger honors had late charges. The win was the 12th in Donny's career at Knoxville and it was worth $150,000.