Knoxville 360 Nationals Preliminary Results and Stories

Thursday, August 4, 2005
8/4/05

Knoxville Raceway

360 Nationals Prelims

118 cars

Cars were divided into two groups, "odd" and "even". Passing Points were used to determine feature lineups (top twenty in each group to the A) with points added to feature finishes for Saturday's lineups.

"Odd" Group

Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Nate Mosher 22N (2*) 2. Ryan Anderson 71R (1*) 3. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (6*) 4. Kerry Madsen 55 (5) 5. Garry Lee Maier 11x (10) 6. Gavin Punch 81AU (4) 7. Chuck Swenson X (8) 8. Eddie Leavitt Jr. F4 (9) 9. Dustin Lindquist 55L (3) DNS - Jimmy Taylor 23 (7)

Mosher led the distance setting a new ten lap record at 2:48.1. Lindquist was running a strong second on the heavy surface when he appeared to lose a motor on the white flag lap.

Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Dusty Zomer 1z (2*) 2. Larry Ball Jr. 5J (3*) 3. Bryan Howland 51H (1) 4. Bronson Maeschen 96 (8*) 5. Pete Crall 11 (6) 6. Kevin Welsh 2w (4) 7. Dustin Daggett 85 (10) 8. Brent Antill 1 (9) 9. Eric Lutz 5 (7) 10. Larry Pinegar II 1A (5)

Zomer broke Mosher's record in this non-stop 10 lapper, finishing in 2:46.7. Maeschen was the prime mover in this one, using the low side to gain enough points to advance to the A.

Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Ricky Logan 7L (3*) 2. Roger Rager 2K (6*) 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 40R (8*) 4. John Kearney 83B (7*) 5. Stacey Alexander 126 (10*) 6. Darrell Brink 90 (1) 7. Matt Harms 53H (2) 8. Ryan Voss 2H (5) 9. Kent Wolters 1w (9) 10. Nick Smith 15s (4)

Brink led early. A three-way battle for the lead developed as Rager and Stenhouse battled for fourth before N. Smith, running strong, came to a stop on lap six with ignition box ills. Logan used the restart to get by Brink. Stenhouse and Kearney exchanged sliders after the restart, with Stenhouse moving ahead with two to go. Alexander moved up quietly from 10th to earn an A main birth.

Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Mike Dussel 6 (1*) 2. Loren Langerud 56 (6*) 3. Nick Mulheim 38m (2) 4. Darren Stewart 91 (5) 5. David Hall 51 (10*) 6. Scott Winters R19 (4) 7. Roger Crockett 11c (8) 8. Jack Pillon 18JP (3) 9. Don Droud Jr. 5G (9) 10. Jeff Van Dusen 56D (7)

Dussel led flag to flag, leaving the rest of the field behind in his first Knoxville appearance. Langerud passed Stewart and and Winters in one corner to gain third, and then moved by Mulheim to complete a nice second place run. Hall gained an A main appearance, moving up to fifth from the 10th starting spot.

Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Curt Michael 99 (3*) 2. Joe Beaver 53 (1*) 3. Gary Wright (4) 4. John Schulz 2 (5) 5. Dave Ely 3 (6) 6. Rager Phillips 9P (7) 7. Mike Houseman Jr. Y5 (2) 8. Mike Houseman Y2 (10) 9. Mike Chadd 4 (9) 10. Stevie Walsh 20s (8)

Beaver led early until Walsh flipped wildly on lap two. He checked out o.k. at the hospital. Michael took the lead on the restart and pulled away in a mostly single-file affair around the top.

Heat six (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Chad Humston 23c (1*) 2. Eric Jobe 23x (5*) 3. Jesse Hockett 75 (7*) 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15 (9*) 5. Bryan Gossel 6G (2) 6. Jarod Smith 48 (6) 7. Toby Brown 4m (3) 8. Tony Crank 9c (4) 9. Josh Close 7c (10) DNS - Abe Sherwood 44 (8)

Humston smoked the field in the non-stopper. Hockett and Hafertepe moved up nicely, gaining points enough for the A main.

C main (started): 1. Droud (12) 2. Houseman (2) / 3. Antill (4) 4. Voss (6) 5. Leavitt (5) 6. Van Dusen (16) 7. T. Brown (3) 8. Lutz (10) 9. Pillon (7) 10. Pinegar (14) 11. Chadd (11) 12. Houseman Jr. (1) 13. Close (15) 14. Crank (8) 15. Wolters (9) 16. Taylor (17) 17. N. Smith (13) DNS - Lindquist, Walsh

Houseman led the 10 lapper until he took the white flag and Houseman Jr. spun while running second. Droud had charged through the field and took the lead on the green, white, checker restart to complete a strong run.

B main (started): 1. Maier (2) 2. Wright (1) 3. Madsen (5) 4. Mulheim (4) / 5. Howland (3) 6. Schulz (7) 7. Droud (20) 8. Winters (14) 9. Ely (9) 10. Swenson (16) 11. Daggett (11) 12. Crockett (19) 13. Houseman (18) 14. J. Smith (17) 15. Phillips (12) 16. Punch (13) 17. Stewart (6) 18. Brink (15) 19. Crall (8) 20. Gossel (10) DNS - Welsh, Harms

The initial try at green saw Crockett come to a stop. The next try at green saw Gossel get upside down in turn one. The restart saw Maier jump into the lead with Wright in tow. The veterans diced through traffic to leave the rest behind. Stewart had moved into a transfer spot on the white flag lap when he suffered a flat and coasted to a stop on the back chute. That gave the final transfer to Mulheim.

A main (started): 1. Zomer (1) 2. Wright (22) 3. Logan (6) 4. Hockett (11) 5. Mosher (2) 6. Mitrisin (12) 7. Jobe (8) 8. Alexander (19) 9. Michael (3) 10. Mulheim (24) 11. Maeschen (16) 12. Hafertepe (14) 13. Hall (20) 14. Langerud (4) 15. Stenhouse (7) 16. Maier (21) 17. Humston (10) 18. Beaver (17) 19. R. Anderson (15) 20. Kearney (18) 21. Dussel (9) 22. Rager (5) 23. Madsen (23) 24. Ball (13)

Before the race could get started, Ball retired with rear end ills. Madsen hit the berm at the first try at green and broke some front end parts ending his night. Rager had no brakes and retired, and Dussel spun on the second restart. Once underway, the lead in the 20 lapper went to Zomer. Michael followed, battling with Stenhouse for second. On lap 10, Beaver got sideways and R. Anderson flipped. The incident collected Mitrisin who lost his top wing. He was able to rejoin at the tail. No one was injured. The restart saw Zomer leading Michael, Stenhouse, Langerud and Logan. Michael took the point immediately, and Stenhouse followed him past Zomer. On lap 17, Stenhouse ran into the back of Michael, hooking the cars' nerf bars together. Stenhouse was able to continue, however, Michael spun, and restarted at the tail. Under caution, officials black flagged Stenhouse for a flat tire and Maier ran out of fuel. Langerud inherited the lead for the lap 17 restart, but an ill-timed slide job by Zomer ended his night in a hard flip. Zomer led the rest of the way for his first Knoxville win. Wright ran a steady race to earn hard-charger honors, moving up 20 spots.

"Even" Group

Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jake Peters 57x (7*) 2. Seth Brahmer 13 (1*) 3. JD Johnson 98 (3*) 4. Dave Glennon 5v (5) 5. Ryan Jamison 51J (4) 6. Luke Cranston 20 (2) 7. Travis Rilat 29 (10) 8. Sean Walden 14w (9) 9. Glenn Styres 0 (6) DNS - Jerrod Hull 50 (8)

Brahmer led in dominating fashion until he got into turn three a little hot on lap seven, handing the point to a hard-charging Peters.

Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Randy Martin 14 (2*) 2. Matt Moro 2m (1*) 3. Johnny Herrera 45x (3) 4. Josh Higday 24 (9*) 5. Jonathan Allard 0x (8) 6. Troy Meyer 11m (6) 7. Jamie McDonald NZ3 (4) 8. Natalie Sather 94s (7) 9. Geoff Dodge 44x (5) 10. Derek Drown 26 (10)

Martin led flag to flag. Higday was on a mission, moving up five spots.

Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Danny Jennings 61J (3*) 2. Jason Johnson 41 (6*) 3. Brian Brown 21 (9*) 4. Jason Danley 82 (7*) 5. Doug Wilson 86 (2) 6. Ricky Fauver 5sp (10) 7. Adam West 30 (8) 8. Louie Carufel 47x (1) 9. Alan Zoutte 33 (4) 10. Jon Eldreth 25 (5)

Eldreth exited early. Jennings swept around the front row to lead the distance. Brown looked to be the fastest car on the track, making a couple of bids at J. Johnson for second.

Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jesse Giannetto D1 (1*) 2. John VanDenBerg 7N (4*) 3. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (2) 4. Brett Mather 54 (7*) 5. Jason Martin 36 (3) 6. Trevor Lewis 56T (8) 7. Dustin Selvage 7 (5) 8. Kerry McAlister 15K (6) 9. Ken Stolfus 121 (10) 10. Dan Thornburg 57T (9)

Giannetto dusted the field in this non-stop, mostly single-file affair. Mather was the mover, Thornburg exited on lap four with a smoking powerplant.

Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (1*) 2. Danny Wood 14AJ (4*) 3. Johnny Anderson 7a (5*) 4. Eric Baldaccini B4 (9*) 5. Dave Anderson 53x (7) 6. Davey Heskin 56x (3) 7. Nate Van Haaften 3v (8) 8. Rick Ideus 3R (6) 9. Chris Morgan 7x (2)

Heimbaugh led flag to flag. Ideus was running a strong fourth when he stopped on lap nine. Baldaccini did a nice job in his first laps around Knoxville. Wood was subbing for an injured Wayne Johnson.

Heat six (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Zach Chappell 50z (3*) 2. Billy Alley 22 (9*) 3. Cody Branchcomb 94 (4*) 4. Steve King 88 (5) 5. Jeff Cook 10c (2) 6. Jake Martens 48x (6) 7. Brett Geldner 1B (1) 8. Lee Sowell 51x (7) 9. Rodney Turner 69 (8)

Turner retired immediately. Chappell ran away, though Alley appeared to be the fastest car in slicing through the field.

C main (started): 1. Dodge (7) 2. Sather (4) / 3. Walden (3) 4. Selvage (1) 5. Morgan (9) 6. Drown (11) 7. Sowell (8) 8. McAlister (6) 9. Styres (10) 10. Thornburg (13) 11. Geldner (2) 12. Carufel (5) 13. Zoutte (12) 14. Eldreth (14) DNS - Ideus, Stolfus, Turner, Hull

Selvage led early before Sather took the point on lap three. Dodge was coming hard and made his winning pass on lap seven. One lap later Zoutte spun, but the transfer cars held their own in the 10 lapper.

B main (started): 1. Bruce (2) 2. Allard (4) 3. J. Martin (10) 4. Fauver (6) / 5. King (5) 6. Meyer (14) 7. Jamison (8) 8. Martens (16) 9. Lewis (11) 10. Glennon (3) 11. Wilson (9) 12. Dodge (21) 13. Cranston (13) 14. Herrera (1) 15. Sather (22) 16. Cook (12) 17. Rilat (17) 18. West (18) 19. Heskin (15) 20. D. Anderson (7) 21. Van Haaften (19) 22. McDonald (20)

Herrera took the early advantage before a lap three McDonald spin. The restart saw Herrera leading Bruce, Allard, J. Martin and King. The 12 lapper went non-stop until McDonald spun again on the white flag lap. Now Herrera had a flat left rear, which disintegrated when the race went green. Rilat had moved from 17th to fourth but also had a flat, and was sent in. The green, white, checker finish was led by Bruce. Fauver held out for the last transfer over a persistent King, who did a 360 spin before the previous caution.

A main (started): 1. Alley (5) 2. Chappell (1) 3. Peters (6) 4. B. Brown (2) 5. R. Martin (7) 6. Higday (12) 7. Giannetto (8) 8. J. Johnson (3) 9. Allard (22) 10. VanDenBerg (9) 11. Wood (11) 12. Moro (15) 13. Branchcomb (19) 14. J. Martin (23) 15. Bruce (21) 16. J. Anderson (16) 17. Fauver (24) 18. Heimbaugh (10) 19. Jennings (4) 20. Brahmer (14) 21. Mather (18) 22. Danley (17) 23. Baldaccini (13) 24. JD Johnson (20)

Despite a first lap incident involving JD Johnson and Baldaccini, who flipped, this 20 lapper went non-stop. Alley had second by turn two, grabbed the lead on lap two and never looked back, winning by almost nine seconds and lapping up to seventh place. Allard earned hard-charger honors.

Saturday 360 Nationals lineups:

A main: 1. Billy Alley 22 2. Jake Peters 57x 3. Dusty Zomer 1z 4. Zach Chappell 50z 5. Ricky Logan 7L 6. Brian Brown 21 7. Jesse Hockett 75 8. Nate Mosher 22N 9. Randy Martin 14 10. Gary Wright 9 11. Eric Jobe 12. Jason Johnson 41 13. Jeff Mitrisin 10 14. Josh Higday 24 15. Jesse Giannetto D1 16. Curt Michael 99 17. John VanDenBerg 7N 18. Stacey Alexander 126 19. Danny Wood 14AJ 20. Loren Langerud 56

B main: 1. Bronson Maeschen 96 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15 3. Jonathan Allard 0x 4. Nick Mulheim 38m 5. Matt Moro 2m 6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 40R 7. Cody Branchcomb 94 8. David Hall 51 9. Chad Humston 23c 10. Danny Jennings 61J 11. Johnny Anderson 7a 12. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 13. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 14. Garry Lee Maier 11x 15. Joe Beaver 53 16. Jason Martin 36 17. Ryan Anderson 71R 18. Roger Rager 2K 19. Mike Dussel 6 20. Seth Brahmer 13

C main: 1. Ricky Fauver 5sp 2. John Kearney 83B 3. Brett Mather 54 4. Eric Baldaccini B4 5. Jason Danley 82 6. Larry Ball Jr. 5J 7. Kerry Madsen 55 8. JD Johnson 98 9. Bryan Howland 51H 10. Steve King 88 11. John Schulz 2 12. Ryan Jamison 51J 13. Troy Meyer 11m 14. Dave Glennon 5v 15. Dave Ely 3 16. Trevor Lewis 56T 17. Scott Winters R19 18. Jake Martens 48x 19. Johnny Herrera 45x 20. Doug Wilson 86

D main: 1. Dustin Daggett 85 2. Chuck Swenson X 3. Don Droud Jr. 5G 4. Roger Crockett 11c 5. Luke Cranston 20 6. Darren Stewart 91 7. Jarod Smith 48 8. Rager Phillips 9P 9. Jeff Cook 10c 10. Mike Houseman Y2 11. Gavin Punch 81AU 12. Geoff Dodge 44x 13. Pete Crall 11 14. Dave Anderson 53x 15. Travis Rilat 29 16. Darrell Brink 90 17. Natalie Sather 94s 18. Bryan Gossel 6G 19. Adam West 30 20. Davey Heskin 56x

E main: 1. Nate Van Haaften 3v 2. Jamie McDonald NZ3 3. Kevin Welsh 2w 4. Matt Harms 53H 5. Toby Brown 4m 6. Dustin Selvage 7 7. Brett Geldner 1B 8. Mike Houseman Jr. Y5 9. Brent Antill 1 10. Sean Walden 14w 11. Eddie Leavitt Jr. F4 12. Ryan Voss 2H 13. Jack Pillon 18JP 14. Tony Crank 9c 15. Louie Carufel 47x 16. Kerry McAlister 15K 17. Rick Ideus 3R 18. Lee Sowell 51x 19. Ken Stolfus 121 20. Dustin Lindquist 55L

F main: 1. Eric Lutz 5 2. Kent Wolters 1w 3. Mike Chadd 4 4. Josh Close 7c 5. Glenn Styres 0 6. Alan Zoutte 33 7. Chris Morgan 7x 8. Rodney Turner 69 9. Larry Pinegar II 1A 10. Nick Smith 15s 11. Jeff Van Dusen 56D 12. Stevie Walsh 20s 13. Derek Drown 26 14. Jon Eldreth 25 15. Dan Thornburg 57T 16. Jimmy Taylor 23 17. Jerrod Hull 50 18. Abe Sherwood 44