4/28/07
Knoxville Raceway
WoO
58 410s
39 360s
410s
Jason Meyers (2nd car out to time) set the standard in time trials at 14.753 seconds. Joey Saldana (8th car out) was second quick, followed by Paul McMahan (47th), Donny Schatz (21st), Brooke Tatnell (9th), Dusty Zomer (25th), Chad Kemenah (45th), Craig Dollansky (34th), Toni Lutar (3rd) and Danny Lasoski (37th). Greg Jones and Bronson Maeschen failed to get times in. The WoO decided to qualify on one lap only with the number of cars in the field. The crowd and weather were excellent. The track yielded three grooves by night’s end. The signals of the most competitive season in WoO history are here.
D main (started): 1. Chad Hillier 5c (5) 2. Mike Deavers 72 (1) / 3. Jack Dover 53 (3) 4. Robert Bell 71 (6) 5. Tony Shilling 47T (7) 6. Dave Saffell 03 (4) 7. Mike Moore 69 (4) DNS – Randy Anderson 81, Greg Jones 3J, Bronson Maeschen 96
Hillier grabbed the lead from Saffell on the first lap and pulled away in the six lapper. Saffell hit the berm on lap four while running second, and pulled off. Moore went up in smoke on lap two. Shilling went up in smoke on the last lap.
Heat one (started): 1. Kerry Madsen 11H (1) 2. Tatnell 2 (3) 3. Meyers 14 (4) 4. Dion Hindi 11D (5) 5. Brent Antill 1 (7) / 6. Jeremy Campbell 10c (8) 7. Lutar 4x (2) 8. Scott Winters R9 (9) 9. Ryan Anderson 71R (6) 10. Ricky Logan 10 (10) 11. Brian Paulus 28 (12) 12. Jack Potter 47 (11)
Before a lap could be completed, Potter got upside down in turn one. Madsen led flag to flag in the 8 lapper. Hindi and Antill diced for fourth much of the way, as the bottom groove was a car width wide, and the cushion was ¾ of the way up the track.
Heat two (started): 1. Terry McCarl 24 (1) 2. Saldana 9 (4) 3. Danny Lasoski 83 (2) 4. Dusty Zomer (3) 5. Skip Jackson 2x (6) / 6. Brian Brown 21x (5) 7. Jac Haudenschild 35 (8) 8. Justin Henderson D1 (10) 9. Dustin Lindquist 5 (9) 10. Mark Dobmeier 13L (7) 11. Brian Carlson 18 (11) DNS – Clint Garner 40
McCarl led the duration on the bottom, holding off Saldana, as the two claimed dash spots. Lasoski had a slow start, dropping back to fifth. He used the bottom to climb to third. Jackson got the jump on Brown and never looked back to gain the final transfer.
Heat three (started): 1. Tim Shaffer 6 (2) 2. Kemenah 3x (3) 3. McMahan 20 (4) 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (1) 5. Randy Hannagan 1x (5) / 6. Tim Kaeding 11K (9) 7. Jason Martin 36 (8) 8. Calvin Landis 70 (6) 9. Jon Corbin 15x (7) 10. Dennis Moore Jr. 17G (10) 11. Bob Weuve 19 (11) DNS – Kaley Gharst 3
Shaffer snagged the early lead from Hafertepe and held it to the checkers. Kemenah and Hafertepe had a nice battle for second, before Kemenah grabbed it, using the low side.
Heat four (started): 1. Daryn Pittman 21 (1) 2. Schatz 15 (4) 3. Billy Alley 55 (2) 4. Dollansky 7 (3) 5. Steve Kinser 11 (7) / 6. Jason Solwold R19 (6) 7. Zach Chappell 8K (5) 8. Jason Sides 7s (10) 9. Davey Heskin 56 (12) 10. Tony Bruce Jr. 18T (8) 11. Rager Phillips 9P (11) 12. Lynton Jeffrey 12 (9)
Alley led Pittman by .049 of a second on the completion of the first lap as the two dueled side by side. Pittman would gain the point on the second go-around. On lap five, Phillips spun in turn one, collecting Jeffrey. Both went pitside. Bruce exited on lap seven. Kinser grabbed the last transfer early by getting by Chappell and Solwold after a disappointing qualifying lap.
C main (started): 1. Henderson (2) 2. Sides (4) / 3. Logan (1) 4. Moore Jr. (3) 5. Hillier (7) 6. Heskin (8) 7. Weuve (5) 8. Deavers (9) 9. Carlson (6) DNS – Potter, Phillips, Paulus
Henderson led flag to flag in the 10-lap, mostly single-file event. Carlson exited on lap five.
Dash (started): 1. Schatz (1) 2. Madsen (2) 3. Saldana (4) 4. Shaffer (5) 5. Pittman (6) 6. Meyers (9) 7. Kemenah (3) 8. McCarl (7) 9. Tatnell (8) 10. McMahan (10)
McMahan spun after contact before a lap could be completed. He restated at the rear. Side by side action ensued and previewed what was to come. Saldana nearly ran down Madsen for second, and Pittman just came short on a drag race to the checkers with Shaffer.
B main (started): 1. Solwold (6) 2. Brown (2) 3. Chappell (3) 4. Haudenschild (10) / 5. Henderson (15) 6. Lutar (1) 7. Landis (5) 8. Corbin (8) 9. Sides (16) 10. Campbell (9) 11. Bruce (12) 12. Ry. Anderson (4) 13. Dobmeier (7) 14. Martin (11) 15. Kaeding (13) 16. Lindquist (14) DNS – Winters, Jeffrey
Carnage ensued when the green dropped when Lindquist jumped the cushion in turn one and flipped the Forbrook 5. On the restart, Martin tried the middle groove and drifted into Kaeding who was riding the cushion. The two touched wheels and slammed into the wall at full force, destroying both mounts. No one was injured. Once green, Brown assumed command of the event, pursued by Solwold who moved around Lutar and Chappell nicely. Solwold nabbed the lead from Brown on the white flag lap after a good battle for position. Even a novice sprint car fan would have kept an eye on Haudenschild from row five, predicting he would finish in a transfer. He did.
A main (started): 1. Schatz (1) 2. Saldana (3) 3. Meyers (6) 4. Dollansky (12) 5. McCarl (8) 6. Shaffer (4) 7. Pittman (5) 8. Lasoski (13) 9. Tatnell (9) 10. Solwold (21) 11. Kemenah (7) 12. Kinser (23) 13. Sides (26, pr.) 14. Jackson (20) 15. Haudenschild (24) 16. Henderson (25, pr.) 17. Hannagan (18) 18. Zomer (11) 19. Brown (17) 20. Hindi (16) 21. Madsen (2) 22. McMahan (10) 23. Antill (22) 24. Chappell (19) 25. Alley (14) 26. Hafertepe (15)
Hafertepe tipped over before a lap could be completed. He went pitside after futile attempts at repair. Nineteen green flag laps ensued with three clear grooves in turns one and two, low, high and middle. Alley exited on lap three. Schatz grabbed a narrow lead over Madsen, who took it for his own on lap two. The pair drove side by side until Schatz claimed the lead for awhile on lap three. Saldana entered the pictured and worked under Madsen for second. As the lead pair were in traffic on lap 12, Saldana took the point. Six laps later, Schatz used a lapped car to work back into the lead. On lap 19, Chappell slowed high in turn four, bringing caution. The restart saw Schatz leading a surging Meyers, Saldana, Madsen and McCarl. Two more laps were in the books before McMahan and Kinser contacted, sending Kinser into a roll, landing on all fours. After quick repair he joined the tail, but McMahan was done. Now Schatz led Madsen who had produced two spots in two laps, Saldana, Meyers and McCarl back to green. Three laps later, on the white flag lap, Madsen surrendered a podium finish with possible rear-end problems, and bringing out the final caution and setting up a green, checker finish. Schatz was able to hold off the persistent Saldana to maintain his five point lead in the standings and collect $10,000. Action all over the track was the norm in the feature event, and the result was fans clamoring for a two-day show next April.
360s
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Bryan Dobesh 2D (2*) 2. Jake Peters 57x (5*) 3. Matt Moro 2m (1*) 4. Ryan Roberts 18R (4) 5. Dave Hall 51 (6) 6. Tyler Thompson 48 (3) 7. Jonathan Cornell 2TX (9) 8. Dustin Selvage 7 (7) 9. Nate Van Haaften 3 (10) 10. Alan Zoutte 33 (8)
Moro recovered from a hot lap flip to lead early in the 7 lapper. Dobesh took command on lap two and held off the charges of Peters, as both utilized the low side to perfection. Three-wide action with Roberts shooting between Hall and Thompson was a heat highlight.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. John Hall 7H (1*) 2. Johnny Anderson 7a (3*) 3. Pete Crall 1 (2*) 4. Josh Schneiderman 49 (8*) 5. Gregg Bakker 11x (9*) 6. Nate Mosher 22N (7) 7. Tom Lenz 8L (10) 8. CJ Houseman Y5 (5) 9. Doc Sloan D12 (4) 10. Tyler Houseman 50 (6)
A chain reaction saw CJ Houseman bump Sloan, who rode into T. Houseman, who hit the wall hard and spun. He was done for the night. The contact also hurt Sloan who exited after a couple of laps. J. Hall led the distance, and held off Anderson at the line by .021 of a second in an exciting finish. Schneiderman moved up nicely to gain fourth and a transfer.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Mike Houseman Jr. Y2 (1*) 2. Brett Mather 54 (2*) 3. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (6*) 4. John Kearney 86 (8*) 5. Larry Pinegar II 00 (5) 6. Tim Newman 18 (7) 7. Danny Heskin 65 (4) 8. Don Dawson II 6D (10) 9. Rick Ideus 5 (3) 10. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (9)
Houseman Jr. led flag to flag. Heimbaugh came to a rest on the frontstretch on lap three and was done for the night. The other caution slowed the action when Ideus hurt his motor on lap six and retired while running fifth. The stacked heat saw nice battles between veterans Mitrisin, Pinegar and Kearney.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Chuck Swenson X (1*) 2. Joe Beaver 53 (2*) 3. Josh Higday 2x (7*) 4. Natalie Sather 94s (5*) 5. John Schulz 2 (8) 6. Russ Hall 29 (6) 7. Glen Hunt G74 (4) 8. David Langford 32L (3) 9. Mitch Runge 28 (9)
Swenson got the jump on Beaver and never looked back. Higday was in third upon completion of the first lap, but couldn’t climb any further, despite a lap two stoppage for R. Hall who spun. On the restart Runge got upside down in turn three. He was unhurt. Langford was also involved and retired.
C main (started): 1. Selvage (2) 2. Van Haaften (5) / 3. CJ Houseman (3) 4. Sloan (6) 5. Zoutte (7) 6. Hunt (1) 7. Langford (4) DNS – Heimbaugh, Ideus, Runge, T. Houseman
Selvage led a 6 lapper devoid of much action for the duration. Langford dropped out on the first lap.
B main (started): 1. Pinegar (4) 2. Roberts (2) 3. Schulz (1) 4. Mosher (5) / 5. D. Hall (3) 6. Thompson (8) 7. Carlson (7) 8. Lenz (6) 9. Heskin (11) 10. Van Haaften (12) 11. Cornell (9) 12. Selvage (13) 13. Dawson (10) DNS – R. Hall
Roberts led early pursued by Pinegar in the 10 lapper. Dawson spun on lap three bringing caution. Roberts led Pinegar, Schulz, D. Hall and Mosher back to green. Mosher made a move on the high side to get by D. Hall and Schulz for third before a lap five stoppage for a spun Cornell, who collected Selvage with heavy contact. No one was injured. Mosher was relegated to fifth after the restart, but regained the final transfer using the cushion, after a lengthy battle with D. Hall.
A main (started): 1. Swenson (2) 2. Higday (1) 3. Peters (5) 4. Anderson (7) 5. Mitrisin (8) 6. Houseman Jr. (3) 7. Kearney (11) 8. Mather (10) 9. Bakker (15) 10. J. Hall (4) 11. Dobesh (6) 12. Beaver (12) 13. Moro (13) 14. Schulz (19) 15. Mosher (20) 16. Schneiderman (9) 17. Pinegar (17) 18. Sather (16) 19. Roberts (18) 20. Antill (14)
Higday jumped out to an early lead and pulled away in the 15 lapper. It looked like a repeat of the week before until a lap three Sather spin slowed the pack. Higday’s lead back to green was over Swenson, Peters, J. Hall, Anderson and Kearney. Swenson stuck the X machine on the low side and outpulled Higday in turn two to take the lead for good, pulling away. Peters moved under Higday shortly after and tried to track down his fellow South Dakotan. Higday was able to battle back around Peters on the final lap after a battle in heavy traffic. The win was Swenson’s second at Knoxville.