By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, Iowa – (August 11, 2016) – Tim Kaeding out ran the field and the weather to win Thursday’s Toyota Qualifying Night feature during the 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Kaeding moved up quickly from his fourth starting position and passed Dale Blaney for the lead on lap eight and pulled away for the victory.
Kaeding immediately dedicated his victory to Bryan Clauson.
“I have to give this one to BC, here is another one to 200,” said Kaeding in victory lane. “I grew up racing with his Dad, great family, hell of a race car driver.”
Before the feature event Ricky Stenhouse Jr. paced the field driving the Matt Wood Racing sprint car that Clauson drove.
Dale Blaney and Justin Henderson started on the front row for the 25-lap feature event. Blaney took the lead while Kaeding and Henderson raced for second. Kaeding dove to the bottom and in turn three to get the spot on lap two. McCarl was also on the move driving by Brooke Tatnell for fourth on lap three. Two laps later though Jason Johnson drove by Tatnell and McCarl to get fourth and moved forward.
Up front Kaeding started to close in on Blaney for the lead with six laps in. Kaeding made his move through turns one and two. Kaeding and Blaney raced side by side before Kaeding dove into turn three to take the lead on lap eight. Blaney battled back on the outside before getting held up in traffic in turn three on lap 10, allowing Kaeding to pull away.
Blaney started to close in on Kaeding again when the caution flag came out for Henderson slowing off turn four when his engine expired.
Kaeding pulled away during the restart while Johnson dove under Blaney to take away second position coming off the second corner. Blaney tried to battle back before Johnson got away in turn three. One lap later McCarl disposed of Blaney for third.
While Kaeding pulled away Johnson closed on McCarl for second. Johnson and McCarl swapped the position back and forth before Johnson secured the spot.
Up front it was all Kaeding as he pulled away for the victory over Johnson, McCarl, Kerry Madsen, and Blaney. Over the last five laps Kaeding was driving so hard he couldn’t even breath.
“I couldn’t even tell you the last five laps. I held my breath and almost lost consciousness coming to the checkered because I didn’t want to screw up,” said Kaeding. “I knew Jason and Terry were behind me on that restart. We had a great car tonight. I could stick the bottom in one and two. In three and four not so much.”
Brad Sweet was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.465 seconds. Rager Phillips, Ryan Bunton, Brent Marks, Jac Haudenschild, and Brooke Tatnell won heat race event. Jon Agan won the C-Main while Sweet won the B-Main event.
56th Annual 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores
Toyota Qualifying Night
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, IA
Thursday August 11, 2016
Qualifications: 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 15.465; 2. 83 – Joey Saldana, 15.520; 3. 5 – David Gravel, 15.527; 4. 1AUS – Kerry Madsen, 15.541; 5. 41 – Jason Johnson, 15.595; 6. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 15.626; 7. 57 – Kyle Larson, 15.654; 8. 77X – Parker Price-Miller, 15.656; 9. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 15.676; 10. 1Z – Lucas Wolfe, 15.678; 11. 7X – Terry McCarl, 15.680; 12. 3H – James McFadden, 15.686; 13. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 15.693; 14. 99 – Brady Bacon, 15.695; 15. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 15.705; 16. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 15.715; 17. 71M – Dave Blaney, 15.729; 18. 55L – Aaron Reutzel, 15.740; 19. 2 – Danny Lasoski, 15.749; 20. 51S – Stevie Smith, 15.763; 21. 1D – Justin Henderson, 15.771; 22. 1H – Dale Blaney, 15.799; 23. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr. , 15.800; 24. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 15.800; 25. 17B – Bill Balog, 15.811; 26. 1XX – Don Droud Jr. , 15.811; 27. 23S – Trey Starks, 15.831; 28. 19M – Brent Marks, 15.841; 29. 22 – Jac Haudenschild, 15.853; 30. 7D – Dustin Selvage, 15.857; 31. 10V – Rager Phillips, 15.870; 32. 6R – Ryan Bunton, 15.873; 33. 21H – Cap Henry, 15.877; 34. 1A – Jacob Allen, 15.916; 35. 4 – Jon Agan, 15.944; 36. 40 – Clint Garner, 15.957; 37. 44 – Chris Martin, 15.979; 38. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 15.985; 39. 18JS – Jason Solwold, 15.991; 40. 7M – Kaley Gharst, 16.043; 41. 88 – D.J. Netto, 16.080; 42. W20 – Greg Wilson, 16.114; 43. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg, 16.135; 44. OO – Dane Lorenc, 16.151; 45. 5H – Cory Eliason, 16.176; 46. 5R – Byron Reed, 16.193; 47. 49T – Tim Shaffer, 16.227; 48. 7J – Joe Swanson, 16.280; 49. 3 – Billly Alley, 16.304; 50. 31B – Shane Golobic, 16.332; 51. 21T – Ray Allen Kulhanek, 16.352; 52. 13V – Seth Brahmer, 16.395; 53. 28 – Brian Paulus, 16.427; 54. 19W – Bob Weuve, 16.435; 55. 23 – Jimmy Light, 16.442; 56. 4K – Kody Kinser, 16.487; 57. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 16.743; 58. 83C – Adam Cruea, 16.757; 59. 15B – Bobby Mincer, 16.849; 60. 71B – Robert Bell, 17.370;
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 10V – Rager Phillips, 2. 40 – Clint Garner, 3. 1D – Justin Henderson, 4. 24 – Terry McCarl, 5. 49 – Brad Sweet, 6. 1XX – Don Droud Jr., 7. 1ST – Gary Tyalor, 8. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 9. 88N – D.J. Netto, 10. 5R – Byron Reed. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 6R – Ryan Bunton, 2. 1H – Dale Blaney, 3. 44 – Chris Martin, 4. 3H – James McFadden, 5. 71M – Dave Blaney, 6. 83 – Joey Saldana, 7. 57 – Kyle Larson, 8. 23S – Trey Starks, 49X – Tim Shaffer, 10. W20 – Greg Wilson. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 19M – Brent Marks, 2. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 3. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 4. 21H – Cap Henry, 5. 5 – David Gravel, 6. 55L – Aaron Reutzel, 7. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 8. 77X – Parker Price-Miller, 9. 7J – Joe Swanson, 10. 20N – Hunter Schuerenberg. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. 22 – Jac Haudenschild, 2. 18JS – Jason Solwold, 3. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 4. 1AUS – Kerry Madsen, 5. 2 – Danny Lasoski, 6. 1A – Jacob Allen, 7. 99 – Brady Bacon, 8. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 9. 3 – Billy Alley, 10. 00 – Dane Lorenc. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (10 Laps): 1. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 2. 17B – Bill Balog, 3. 7D – Dustin Selvage, 4. 41 – Jason Johnson, 5. 1Z – Lucas Wolfe, 6. 7M – Kasley Gharst, 7. 51S – Stevie Smith, 8. 5H – Cory Eliason, 9. 4 – Jon Agan, 10. 31B – Shane Golobic. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 4 – Jon Agan, 2. 49X – Jon Agan, 3. W20 – Greg Wilson, 4. 88N – D.J. Netto, 5. 5R – Byron Reed, 6. 31B – Shane Golobic, 7. 28AM – Brian Paulus, 8. 4K – Kody Kinser, 9. 13V – Seth Brahmer, 10. 19 – Bob Weuve, 11. 7J – Joe Swanson, 12. 15B – Bobby Mincer, 13. 13 – Clyde Knipp, 14. 23 – Jimmy Light, 15. 83 – Adam Cruea, 16. 20N – Hunter Schurenberg, 17. 00 – Dane Lorenc, 18. 3 – Billy Alley, 19. 21T – Ray Allen Kulhanek, 20. 71B – Robert Bell. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 49 – Brad Sweet, 2. 5 – David Gravel, 3. 57 – Kyle Larson, 4. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 5. 2 -Danny Lasoski, 6. 83 – Joey Saldana, 7. 51S – Stevie Smith, 8. 23C – Tyler Courtney, 9. 55L – Aaron Reutzel, 10. 77X – Parker Price-Miller, 11. 23S – Trey Starks, 12. 1A – Jacob Allen, 13. 71M – Dave Blaney, 14. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 15. W20 – Greg Wilson, 16. 11K – Kraig Kinser, 17. 5H – Cory Eliason, 18. 7M – Kaley Gharst, 19. 99 – Brady Bacon, 20. 88N – D.J. Netto, 21. 15H – Sam Hafertepe, 22. 1Z – Lucas Wolfe, 23. 1XX – Don Droud Jr, 24. 4 – Jon Agan.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 3K – Tim Kaeding, 2. 41 – Jason Johnson, 3. 7X – Terry McCarl, 4. 1AUS – Kerry Madsen, 5. 1H – Dale Blaney, 6. 19M – Brent Marks, 7. 3H – James McFadden, 8. 49 – Brad Sweet, 9. 13JT – Mark Dobmeier, 10. 21H – Cap Henry, 11. 5 – David Gravel, 12. 22 – Jac Haudenschild, 13. 17B – Bill Balog, 14. 57 – Kyle Larson, 15. 1D – Dustin Selvage, 16. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 17. 1ST – Gary Taylor, 18. 40 – Clint Garner, 19. 44 – Chris Martin, 20. 18JS – Jason Solwold, 21. 6R – Ryan Bunton, 22. 1D – Justin Henderson, 23. 10V – Rager Phillips, 24. 71A – R.J. Johnson.
Lap Leader: Blaney 1-7, Kaeding 8-25.