Shane Stewart in Victory Lane on Wednesday of the Knoxville Nationals (Doug Johnson Photo)
by Bryan Hulbert and Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, August 12, 2015 – When Shane Stewart rolled into Knoxville on Sunday for the Capitani Classic, he walked away with a $5,000 payday and the goal of beating Donny Schatz. Fast Forward to Wednesday’s RacingJunk.com Qualifying Night, and the Bixby, Okla. shoe put his Jeff Gordon throwback / Kick-It No. 16 in Victory Lane just ahead of Donny; collecting a cool $12,000 payday in his 14th career Knoxville Raceway victory.
“You don’t every let your guard down with him [Schatz]. I’ve been beat a lot this year by him and we’re going to have to be a little better to beat him on Saturday,” said Shane in Victory Lane. “Honestly, I told the guys when we drew No. 71 to just relax, it didn’t make a huge effect on Sunday with twice as many racecars, and I was actually shocked the track slowed down as much as it did but it is what it is. It put us on the front row and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Earning the pole for the evening’s 25 lap feature event, Shane was quick to hit the cushion through the first two turns to hold the lead.
Keeping ahead of Daryn Pittman as traffic came into play on Lap 8 by 1.908 seconds, Stewart nearly tagged the wall through the third and fourth turns trying to clear a group of slower cars.
Losing very little speed, Shane put four slower cars between himself and the race for second involving Daryn Pittman, Wayne Johnson, and Donny Schatz with the trio going three deep on Lap 11 with Johnson taking the runner-up spot.
The first caution of the night on Lap 15 for Ian Madsen, who retired to the Pits with damage to the rear suspension, Stewart lined up with Johnson, Schatz, Pittman, and Gravel in tow. Staying high on the restart, Wayne Johnson dove low, but would not have enough steam to complete the pass, allowing Donny Schatz the opportunity to take over second.
Giving chase into traffic in the closing laps, Shane banked off the cushion in turn one on the final circuit, but would not be denied, crossing the checkered flag 0.614 seconds ahead of the Bad Boy Buggies No. 15.
“This whole team’s phenomenal. Bad Boy Buggies and Chevrolet Performance, without those guys, we wouldn’t be doing this and Tony Stewart himself being here this year, we’re glad to have him here with us. We wanted to get him a win tonight, but we’ll try our damndest on Saturday night,” commented Schatz.
Taking advantage of the mid-race restart, David Gravel was able to shoot to the final podium step with a big run down the back straightaway on Lap 16, “It’s been a crazy year testing how much I love this sport and I love it a lot. We’ve been working really hard, just struggling on the balance of the racecar and two days ago, we got a good balance, got a good Al Parker engine now, and were able to qualify well. I’m looking forward to the feature. If we keeping doing this, we’ll be up here more often.”
Paul McMahan moved up one spot to finish fourth with Justin Henderson from tenth completing the top-five.
Wayne Johnson slipped back to sixth with Daryn Pittman also slipping from second to finish seventh. Advancing from the B-Feature, California’s Rico Abreu charged from 23rd to eighth with Greg Hodnett and Sheldon Haudenschild completing the top-ten.
With 55 drivers timing in, drivers were divided into five Heat Races with Jamie Veal, Willie Croft, Tyler Courtney, Tony Shilling, and Dakota Hendrickson earning wins.
C-Feature action went to Jac Haudenschild with Tasker Phillips topping the B-Feature.
A look at points after the first night of action, and Donny Schatz with quick time, third in his Heat, and runner-up in the feature leads the charge with 492 points. David Gravel is second with 485, followed by Paul McMahan (471), Sheldon Haudenschild (465), and Shane Stewart (460).
Join us tomorrow night, Thursday, August 13 for night #2 of the 55th FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores! For more information on Knoxville Raceway, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (14), 14.953; 2. 7, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (10), 15.099; 3. 31C, Justyn Cox, Clarksburg, CA (1), 15.216; 4. 89, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (16), 15.255; 5. 93H, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (2), 15.263; 6. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (17), 15.279; 7. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (4), 15.316; 8. 51, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (46), 15.317; 9. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (5), 15.352; 10. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (41), 15.359; 11. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust (35), 15.378; 12. O, Bud Kaeding, Campbell, CA (8), 15.390; 13. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (25), 15.393; 14. 12X, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (13), 15.410; 15. 9, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (54), 15.413; 16. 17W, Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN (40), 15.423; 17. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (3), 15.439; 18. 16, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (51), 15.442; 19. 83, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (39), 15.454; 20. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (27), 15.455; 21. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (44), 15.502; 22. 27, Greg Hodnett, Spring Grove, PA (31), 15.531; 23. 1D, Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD (37), 15.542; 24. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (26), 15.586; 25. 4R, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (9), 15.600; 26. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (43), 15.612; 27. 17, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (45), 15.636; 28. 7D, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (21), 15.657; 29. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (22), 15.657; 30. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (29), 15.673; 31. 35AU, Jamie Veal, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (53), 15.677; 32. 29C, Willie Croft, Roseville, CA (24), 15.692; 33. 71X, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (49), 15.697; 34. 22, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (18), 15.698; 35. 81X, Lee Jacobs, Dalton, OH (19), 15.715; 36. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (6), 15.718; 37. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (34), 15.731; 38. 5V, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (7), 15.739; 39. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (15), 15.742; 40. 4, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (47), 15.758; 41. 13X, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (36), 15.767; 42. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (20), 15.795; 43. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (50), 15.800; 44. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (23), 15.820; 45. 2KS, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (52), 15.835; 46. 55W, Logan Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (12), 15.849; 47. 81, Austin Johnson, Pleasant Hill, IA (32), 15.857; 48. 2L, Logan Forler, Boise, ID (28), 15.899; 49. 23, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (11), 16.000; 50. 7X, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (33), 16.000; 51. 4S, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (38), 16.093; 52. O5, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO (55), 16.424; 53. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (48), 16.999; 54. 96AU, Bruce White, Merrylands West, NSW, Aust. (30), 17.363; 55. 17M, Todd Mickelson, Minot, ND (42), 18.095.
Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:38.1: 1. Jamie Veal (2); 2. Ian Madsen (6); 3. Donny Schatz (8); 4. Scott Bogucki (1) / 5. Josh Schneiderman (3); 6. Bryan Clauson (5); 7. Paige Polyak (4); 8. Tasker Phillips (7) / 9. Jac Haudenschild (9); 10. Logan Wagner (10)
Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:41.2: 1. Willie Croft (2); 2. Greg Hodnett (4); 3. Kraig Kinser (1); 4. David Gravel (8) / 5. Josh Baughman (3); 6. Bud Kaeding (6); 7. Matt Covington (7); 8. Mike Moore (5) / 9. Austin Johnson (10); 10. Glen Saville (9)
Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:40.2: 1. Tyler Courtney (2); 2. Justin Henderson (4); 3. Shane Stewart (5); 4. Paul McMahan (7) / 5. Dustin Selvage (3); 6. Jason Sides (6); 7. Colby Copeland (1); 8. Logan Forler (10) / 9. Justyn Cox (8); 10. Brady Bacon (9)
Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:39.9: 1. Tony Shilling (2); 2. Davey Heskin (4); 3. Jordyn Brazier (1); 4. Wayne Johnson (6) / 5. Aaron Reutzel (5); 6. Austin McCarl (3); 7. Cody Darrah (8); 8. Bob Weuve (7) / 9. Jimmy Light (10); 10. AJ Moeller (9)
Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:42.3: 1. Dakota Hendrickson (1); 2. Daryn Pittman (6); 3. Lee Jacobs (2); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (8) / 5. Rico Abreu (7); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 7. Jon Agan (4); 8. Jacob Allen (3) / 9. Craig Dollansky (9); 10. Kaley Gharst (10)
C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.5: 1. Jac Haudenschild (2); 2. Justyn Cox (1); 3. Logan Wagner (5); 4. Craig Dollansky (6) / 5. Brady Bacon (4); 6. Jimmy Light (7); 7. Austin Johnson (8); 8. Danny Smith (9); 9. Glen Saville (3); 10. Bruce White (12); 11. Todd Mickelson (11); 12. Kaley Gharst (10); DNS - AJ Moeller, Brad Loyet, Bronson Maeschen
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:22.2: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Cody Darrah (1); 3. Rico Abreu (5); 4. Bryan Clauson (8) / 5. Jason Sides (7); 6. Matt Covington (3); 7. Lynton Jeffrey (11); 8. Austin McCarl (17); 9. Jac Haudenschild (21); 10. Aaron Reutzel (10); 11. Bud Kaeding (6); 12. Paige Polyak (12); 13. Bob Weuve (4); 14. Josh Schneiderman (14); 15. Mike Moore (9); 16. Josh Baughman (15); 17. Logan Wagner (23); 18. Craig Dollansky (24); 19. Dustin Selvage (16); 20. Justyn Cox (22); 21. Jacob Allen (18); 22. Logan Forler (20); 23. Jon Agan (13); 24. Colby Copeland (19)
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Shane Stewart (1); 2. Donny Schatz (8); 3. David Gravel (7); 4. Paul McMahan (5); 5. Justin Henderson (10); 6. Wayne Johnson (3); 7. Daryn Pittman (2); 8. Rico Abreu (23); 9. Greg Hodnett (9); 10. Sheldon Haudenschild (6); 11. Bryan Clauson (24); 12. Davey Heskin (11); 13. Tasker Phillips (21); 14. Cody Darrah (22); 15. Kraig Kinser (18); 16. Tony Shilling (15); 17. Jamie Veal (12); 18. Tyler Courtney (14); 19. Lee Jacobs (16); 20. Dakota Hendrickson (20); 21. Willie Croft (13); 22. Jordyn Brazier (19); 23. Scott Bogucki (17); 24. Ian Madsen (4). Lap Leader: Stewart 1-25. Hard-charger: Abreu.
Points Accumulated Wednesday…
1
15
Donny Schatz
492
2
7
David Gravel
485
3
51
Paul McMahan
471
4
93H
Sheldon Haudenschild
465
5
16
Shane Stewart
460
6
9
Daryn Pittman
457
7
24R
Rico Abreu
456
8
12X
Wayne Johnson
455
9
89
Cody Darrah
450
10
1D
Justin Henderson
445
11
7TAZ
Tasker Phillips
445
12
27
Greg Hodnett
439
13
17W
Bryan Clauson
435
14
18
Ian Madsen
431
15
56
Davey Heskin
429
16
95
Matt Covington
410
17
35AU
Jamie Veal
408
18
22
Tony Shilling
404
19
7S
Jason Sides
403
20
71X
Tyler Courtney
402
21
29C
Willie Croft
398
22
11K
Kraig Kinser
394
23
O
Bud Kaeding
393
24
81X
Lee Jacobs
390
25
19
Bob Weuve
389
26
12
Lynton Jeffrey
385
27
4
Dakota Hendrickson
384
28
83
Aaron Reutzel
384
29
31C
Justyn Cox
384
30
84
Scott Bogucki
377
31
21AU
Jordyn Brazier
376
32
19P
Paige Polyak
370
33
69
Mike Moore
369
34
17A
Austin McCarl
365
35
49J
Josh Schneiderman
362
36
17
Josh Baughman
356
37
7D
Dustin Selvage
348
38
4R
Jon Agan
340
39
1A
Jacob Allen
331
40
13X
Jac Haudenschild
330
41
5V
Colby Copeland
312
42
2KS
Craig Dollansky
304
43
55W
Logan Wagner
301
44
2L
Logan Forler
293
45
99
Brady Bacon
281
46
75
Glen Saville
275
47
81
Austin Johnson
272
48
23
Jimmy Light
270
49
20
AJ Moeller
263
50
7X
Kaley Gharst
253
51
4S
Danny Smith
236
52
O5
Brad Loyet
219
53
96AU
Bruce White
217
54
96
Bronson Maeschen
212
55
17M
Todd Mickelson
210