By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 5, 2018) — Brad Sweet showed he will be a contender for the upcoming Knoxville Nationals with the Kasey Kahne Racing team following an outstanding performance Sunday night in route to winning the Weld Racing Capitani Classic at Knoxville Raceway. Sweet from Grass Valley, California won all seven rounds of the pole shuffle to earn the pole position and led all 25-laps in route to the victory. The win was Sweet’s first Capitani Classic victory.
“I wish it was Saturday night, I would be a lot more excited,” said Sweet about his team using the event as a test session for the upcoming Knoxville Nationals later this week. “That’s what we came here to do, try a few things. The car got really good in the A. There is room for improvement. Obviously, Donny Schatz isn’t here, David Gravel, and some of the favorites. We did what we needed to do and got some notes and got some ideas to get that car a little bit better. I think we’ll be in the hunt for sure.”
Sweet took the lead from the drop of the green flag and drove to a sizeable lead. Carson Macedo made the biggest move early in the feature sweeping around Paul McMahan and Josh Baughman in turn four to go from fourth to second position.
Following a lap 11 red flag for Matt Juhl getting upside down in turn two Sweet drove away from the field while McMahan moved by Macedo for the second position second. McMahan’s time in second was short lived thought as Macedo was able to pick up momentum and retake the second spot on lap 16.
Up front it was all Sweet leading wire-to-wire for the victory over Macedo, Brian Brown, McMahan, and Shane Stewart.
Capitani Classic
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, Iowa
Sunday August 5, 2018
Qualifying Group #1: 1. 12 – Lynton Jeffrey, 15.412; 2. 17X – Josh Baughman, 15.417; 3. 13X – Paul McMahan, 15.511; 4. 24 – Terry McCarl, 15.547; 5. 27 – Greg Hodnett, 15.647; 6. 59 – Sammy Swindell, 15.655; 7. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 15.667; 8. 99G – Skylar Gee, 15.702; 9. 9 – Matt Juhl, 15.713; 10. 70 – Dave Blaney, 15.736; 11. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 15.742; 12. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 15.750; 13. 3H – James McFadden, 15.832; 14. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 15.852; 15. 9K – Daryn Pittman, 15.852; 16. 5H – Sammy Walsh, 15.883; 17. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 15.889; 18. 83 – Cory Eliason, 15.893; 19. 44 – Trey Starks, 15.905; 20. 17B – Bill Balog, 15.907; 21. 2KS – Austin McCarl, 15.924; 22. 3P – Sawyer Phillips, 15.932; 23. 2C – Wayne Johnson, 15.942; 24. 7 – Carson McCarl, 15.948; 25. 12N – Cole Duncan, 16.028; 26. 19P – Paige Polyak, 16.045; 27. 3 – Tim Kaeding, 16.057; 28. 75 – Glen Saville, 16.074; 29. 28AU – Allan Woods, 16.126; 30. 9 – Rager Phillips, 16.153; 31. 44M – Chris Martin, 16.323; 32. 19 – Bob Weuve, 16.439; 33. 15 – Bobby Mincer, 16.449; 34. 85 – Chase Wanner, 16.451.
Qualifying Group #2: 1. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 15.587; 2. 41 – Carson Macedo, 15.599; 3. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 15.599; 4. 21 – Brian Brown, 15.618; 5. 2 – Shane Stewart, 15.672; 6. 49S – Brad Sweet, 15.686; 7. 4K – Kasey Kahne, 15.786; 8. 56N – Davey Heskin, 15.795; 9. 71 – Gio Scelzi, 15.828; 10. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 15.836; 11. 29 – Willie Croft, 15.844; 12. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 15.870; 13. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 15.897; 14. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 15.917; 15. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.928; 16. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 15.935; 17. 40 – Clint Garner, 15.940; 18. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 15.948; 19. 14 – Tony Stewart, 15.963; 20. 26 – Joey Saldana, 15.975; 21. 35V – Jamie Veal, 16.059; 22. 49 – Josh Schneiderman, 16.133; 23. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 16.140; 24. 71A – RJ Johnson, 16.145; 25. 11 – Roger Crockett, 16.169; 26. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 16.175; 27. 95 – Matt Covington, 16.209; 28. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 16.270; 29. 17W – Harli White, 16.296; 30. 68 – Chase Johnson, 16.429; 31. 7S – Skylar Hunter, 16.604; 32. 2K – Kevin Ingle, 17.165; 33. 91 – Kyle Reinhardt, NT.
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 2. 70 – Dave Blaney, 3. 24 – Terry McCarl, 4. 12 – Lynton Jeffrey, 5. 3P – Sawyer Phillips, 6. 12N – Cole Duncan, 7. 44 – Trey Starks, 8. 44M – Chris Martin, 9. 85 – Chase Wanner, 10. 5H – Sammy Walsh, 11. 3 – James McFadden. DNS: 75 – Glenn Saville (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 2. 17X – Josh Baughman, 3. 27 – Greg Hodnett, 4. 99G – Skylar Gee, 5. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 6. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 7. 17B – Bill Balog, 8. 28AU – Allan Woods, 9. 19P – Paige Polyak, 10. 19 – Bob Weuve. DNS: 2C – Wayne Johnson. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 2. 09 – Matt Juhl, 3. 13X – Paul McMahan, 4. 59 – Sammy Swindell, 5. 83 – Cory Eliason, 6. 9K – Daryn Pittman, 7. 2KS – Austin McCarl, 8. 9 – Rager Phillips, 9. 7 – Carson McCarl, 10. 15 – Bobby Mincer. DNS: 3 – Tim Kaeding. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 2. 21 – Brian Brown, 3. 4K – Kasey Kahne, 4. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 5. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 6. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 7. 49 – Josh Schneiderman, 8. 14 – Tony Stewart, 9. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 10. 11 – Roger Crockett, 11. 7S – Skylar Hunter. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps): 1. 56N – Davey Heskin, 2. 2 – Shane Stewart, 3. 41 – Carson Macedo, 4. 29 – Willie Croft, 5. 40 – Clint Garner, 6. 26 – Joey Saldana, 7. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 8. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 9. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 10. 17W – Harli White, 11. 2K – Kevin Ingle. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps): 1. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 2. 49S – Brad Sweet, 3. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 4. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 5. 35V – Jamie Veal, 6. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 7. 95 – Matt Covington. DNS: 81 – Lee Jacobs, 71A – R.J. Johnson, 68 – Chase Johnson. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Pole Shuffle Round #1: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 27 – Gregg Hodnett.
Pole Shuffle Round #2: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 2 – Shane Stewart
Pole Shuffle Round #3: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 24- Terry McCarl
Pole Shuffle Round #4: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 21 – Brian Brown
Pole Shuffle Round #5: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 13X – Paul McMahan
Pole Shuffle Round #6: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 41 – Carson Macedo
Pole Shuffle Round #7: 49S – Brad Sweet defeated 17X – Josh Baughman
B-Main #1 (12 Laps): 1. 12 – Lynton Jeffrey, 2. 59 – Sammy Swindell, 3. 3H – James McFadden, 4. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 5. 9K – Daryn Pittman, 6. 5H – Sammy Walsh, 7. 3 – Tim Kaeding, 8. 83 – Cory Eliason 9. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 10. 99G – Skylar Gee, 11. 2KS – Austin McCarl, 12. 12N – Cole Duncan, 13. 17B – Bill Balog, 14. 44 – Trey Starks, 15. 44M – Chris Martin, 16. 15 – Bobby Mincer, 17. 19 – Bob Weuve, 18. 3P – Sawyer Phillips, 19. 28AU – Allan Woods, 20. 85 – Chase Wanner, 21. 9 – Rager Phillips, 22. 7 – Carson McCarl, 23. 19P – Paige Polyak. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #2 (12 Laps): 1. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 2. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 3. 40 – Clint Garner, 4. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 5. 26 – Joey Saldana, 6. 29 – Willie Croft, 7. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. 35V – Jamie Veal, 9. 14 – Tony Stewart, 10. 13 – Mark Dobmeier, 11. 49 – Josh Schneiderman, 12. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 13. 17W – Harli White, 14. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 15. 7S – Skyler Hunter, 16. 2K – Kevin Ingle, 17. 11 – Roger Crockett, 18. 95 – Matt Covington, 19. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 20. 21K – Thomas Kennedy. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (25-Laps): 1. 49S – Brad Sweet, 2. 41 – Carson Macedo, 3. 21 – Brian Brown, 4. 13X – Paul McMahan, 5. 2 – Shane Stewart, 6. 2M – Kerry Madsen, 7. 27 – Greg Hodnett, 8. 24 – Terry McCarl, 9. 10H – Chad Kemenah, 10. 49X – Tim Shaffer, 11. 71 – Giovanni Scelzi, 12. 4K – Kasey Kahne, 13. 3H – James McFadden, 14. 4 – Brock Zearfoss, 15. 71P – Parker Price-Miller, 16. 59 – Sammy Swindell, 17. 17X – Josh Baughman, 18. 12 – Lynton Jeffrey, 19. 56N – Davey Heskin, 20. 87 – Aaron Reutzel, 21. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 22. 09 – Matt Juhl, 23. 40 – Clint Garner, 24. 70 – Dave Blaney.