By Bill W.
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 1, 2020) – Kyle Larson won his seventh straight Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 feature on Saturay night, setting a record with the series. The victory came at the Knoxville Raceway, where the Elk Grove, California-native swept the World of Outlaws weekend in June. Larson earned $5,000 for the win aboard the Paul Silva wrenched #57, and even lost a contact lens along the way.
The 25-lap feature was slow to get started. On the first try, Kasey Kahne got above the turn two cushion and slowed near the wall. Aaron Reutzel did the same on the bottom of turn one. Both visited the work area and returned to action.
The second try at green was no better. AJ Moeller broke his front end after contact with another car in turn two and slid down in front of the field. Fortunately, he didn’t turn over, or collect anyone.
Once green, it was for good, and Gio Scelzi took the early advantage ahead of Lynton Jeffrey and Larson. Brian Brown passed Kerry Madsen for fourth on lap two. Larson sized up Jeffrey, and took third on the third circuit.
Rico Abreu, who started thirteenth, shot from seventh to fifth on lap five. Brown claimed third from Jeffrey on the same lap. Abreu followed him into fourth a lap later.
Up front, Larson was gaining on Scelzi, and slid across turn four to take the point on lap eight. He was in lapped traffic a lap later, and by lap 12, had a straightaway lead. Brown and Scelzi see-sawed back and forth in a battle for second that saw three passes for that position until Brown claimed the spot with ten to go.
Abreu captured third from Scelzi and passed Brown in lapped traffic on lap 16. Larson’s lead over the three-way battle for second was over seven seconds by lap 19. Scelzi and Brown would return to battle, this time for the third spot, in the late stages.
Larson won convincingly over Abreu, Scelzi, who gained third on the last lap, Brown and Shane Stewart. Kerry Madsen, Cory Eliason, Davey Heskin, Ian Madsen and Josh Schneiderman rounded out the top ten. Larson posted quick time over the 46-car field. Heskin, Brown, Schneiderman, Hunter Schuerenberg and Moeller were heat winners. Scelzi and Jeffrey won the Dashes, Ayrton Gennetten won the C main, and Aaron Reutzel claimed the B main.
“It’s really cool,” said Larson of his record breaking seventh win in a row. It was his sixth career win at Knoxville. “I did read that earlier today, and it added pressure to tonight. Qualifying well is important in every format you run. It was a good solid night You could get that diamond going in one and two a lot. Even late, I could make time following the top all around. I lost a contact, so I couldn’t see as well as I needed to, but my car was just good and I had some lines working for me. I could make runs off of two and then slide them in three and four. The contact made it difficult. I hope I have a spare set in my bathroom bag!”
The 18-lap 360 feature went non-stop, with Lynton Jeffrey leading early from the pole over Tim Shaffer and Kelby Watt. The fast track lent to multiple grooves, and saw several charges. Garner ran fourth, with Matt Juhl climbing into the top five by lap nine.
The leaders entered lapped traffic on the tenth circuit, and Shaffer pressured Jeffrey. Juhl used the low side to gain fourth from Garner with five to go.
Shaffer reeled in Jeffrey and slid in front of him on lap fifteen, but Jeffrey shot back by to the flag stand, and pulled away the rest of the way, winning in the Ridge & Sons Racing #83J. Jeffrey won his first ever 360 feature here over Shaffer, Juhl, who gained third over Watt with two to go, and Garner. Scott Bogucki, Ayrton Gennetten, Jamie Ball, Josh Higday and hard-charger Carson McCarl completed the top ten. Higday and Shaffer set quick time over their respective groups, while Ricky Montgomery, Christian Bowman, Dylan Westbrook and AJ Moeller won heats. Michael Faccinto claimed the C main, and Harli White took the B main.
“He gave me a good run,” said Jeffrey of Shaffer. “I’ve got to thank Destiny Motorsports for this one. This is a car they didn’t want. We were proud to have it. It’s a winner. It’s just good to win anything. I’ve won some decent races here, just not enough of them over the years. You just gotta be proud when you do it.”
The 30th Annual MyPlace Hotels Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank commence Thursday, August 6 through Saturday, August 8! For tickets and other information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com, and Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will conclude their four-race stretch through the Midwest with a visit to the Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota, on Sunday evening, August 2. Celebrating the grand re-opening of the state-of-the-art facility, the All Star visit to Huset’s will award a $20,000 top prize.
Online Coverage:
Each and every event on the 2020 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit www.floracing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. To check out exclusive content, visit https://bit.ly/2XR863e.
Contingency Awards/Results: Knoxville Raceway – August 1, 2020:
Entries: 46
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 15.384
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 15.216
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Davey Heskin
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Brian Brown
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Josh Schneiderman
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: AJ Moeller
Computer Man C-Main Winner: Ayrton Gennetten
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Gio Scelzi
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Lynton Jeffrey
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Tim Kaeding
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Rico Abreu (+11)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 71-Shane Stewart, 15.364; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne, 15.487; 3. 17-Josh Baughman, 15.537; 4. 56N-Davey Heskin, 15.682; 5. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell, 15.704; 6. 44-Chris Martin, 15.955; 7. 35-Zach Hampton, 16.025; 8. 55m-McKenna Haase, 16.039; 9. 14K-Victoria Knutson, 16.622; 10. 56-Joe Simbro, 16.712
Group (B)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 15.246; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 15.398; 3. 21-Brian Brown, 15.534; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.628; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic, 15.705; 6. 70-Cale Thomas, 15.743; 7. 99-Skylar Gee, 16.012; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 16.189; 9. 50-Mike Ayers, 16.595
Group (C)
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 15.326; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 15.521; 3. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.553; 4. 44S-Trey Starks, 15.814; 5. 5-Ian Madsen, 15.890; 6. 3-Tim Kaeding, 15.998; 7. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, 16.018; 8. 35P-Skylar Prochaska, 16.029; 9. 3p-Sawyer Phillips, 16.220
Group (D)
1. 83-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.548; 2. O9-Matt Juhl, 15.608; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 15.722; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.767; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.784; 6. 13-Paul McMahan, 15.846; 7. 7-Justin Henderson, 15.862; 8. 3X-Ayrton Gennetten, 15.941; 9. 7Taz-Tasker Phillips, 18.316
Group (E)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 15.216; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi, 15.510; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.606; 4. 20-AJ Moeller, 15.608; 5. 4-Terry McCarl, 15.634; 6. 17A-Austin McCarl, 15.783; 7. 11-Zeb Wise, 15.966; 8. 9W-Ryan Giles, 16.051; 9. 15-Bobby Mincer, 16.619
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 56N-Davey Heskin [1]; 2. 71-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 9-Kasey Kahne [3]; 4. 17-Josh Baughman [2]; 5. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [5]; 6. 44-Chris Martin [6]; 7. 56-Joe Simbro [10]; 8. 35-Zach Hampton [7]; 9. 14K-Victoria Knutson [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic [5]; 5. 70-Cale Thomas [6]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 8. 50-Mike Ayers [9]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 49-Josh Schneiderman [3]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 3. 5-Ian Madsen [5]; 4. 44S-Trey Starks [1]; 5. 3-Tim Kaeding [6]; 6. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [7]; 7. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [9]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 9. 35P-Skylar Prochaska [8]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]; 3. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [4]; 4. O9-Matt Juhl [3]; 5. 7-Justin Henderson [7]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 8. 3X-Ayrton Gennetten [8]; 9. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [9]
Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 20-AJ Moeller [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 5. 17A-Austin McCarl [6]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [5]; 7. 11-Zeb Wise [7]; 8. 15-Bobby Mincer [9]; 9. 9W-Ryan Giles [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 3. 9-Kasey Kahne [1]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 6. 20-AJ Moeller [2]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [5]; 4. 49-Josh Schneiderman [2]; 5. 71-Shane Stewart [6]; 6. 56N-Davey Heskin [4]
C-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 3X-Ayrton Gennetten [1]; 2. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [8]; 3. 35P-Skylar Prochaska [5]; 4. 9W-Ryan Giles [6]; 5. 15-Bobby Mincer [4]; 6. 35-Zach Hampton [2]; 7. 50-Mike Ayers [3]; 8. 14K-Victoria Knutson [7]
B-Main (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [3]; 3. 7-Justin Henderson [6]; 4. 17A-Austin McCarl [5]; 5. 3-Tim Kaeding [7]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [8]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 8. 70-Cale Thomas [4]; 9. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [16]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [11]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [9]; 12. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [19]; 13. 44-Chris Martin [10]; 14. 11-Zeb Wise [14]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 16. O7-Gerard McIntyre [15]; 17. 56-Joe Simbro [17]; 18. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [12]; 19. 3X-Ayrton Gennetten [18]
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [13]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 5. 71-Shane Stewart [10]; 6. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [7]; 8. 56N-Davey Heskin [12]; 9. 5-Ian Madsen [15]; 10. 49-Josh Schneiderman [8]; 11. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [2]; 12. 87-Aaron Reutzel [21]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]; 14. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [14]; 15. 7-Justin Henderson [23]; 16. O9-Matt Juhl [18]; 17. 17A-Austin McCarl [24]; 18. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [22]; 19. 17W-Shane Golobic [19]; 20. 13-Paul McMahan [25]; 21. 17-Josh Baughman [16]; 22. 9-Kasey Kahne [5]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [17]; 24. 44S-Trey Starks [20]; 25. 11-Zeb Wise [26]; 26. 20-AJ Moeller [11] Lap Leaders: Gio Scelzi (1-7), Kyle Larson (8-25)
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of August 1, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 3898
2. Cory Eliason – 3794
3. Paul McMahan – 3650
4. Zeb Wise – 3606
5. Josh Baughman – 3386
6. Skylar Gee – 3366
7. Greg Wilson – 3318
8. Kyle Larson – 2552
9. Brock Zearfoss – 2404
10. Danny Dietrich – 2336
360 Results
Time Trial Group One (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 35, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (4), 16.160; 2. 83J, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (6), 16.242; 3. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (22), 16.248; 4. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (7), 16.311; 5. 76, Brad Comegys, Bondurant, IA (5), 16.335; 6. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (8), 16.339; 7. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (18), 16.375; 8. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.390; 9. 115, Nick Parker, Tucson, AZ (14), 16.454; 10. 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA (12), 16.471; 11. 66, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO (20), 16.502; 12. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (16), 16.538; 13. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (17), 16.539; 14. 83, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (11), 16.583; 15. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (21), 16.601; 16. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (13), 16.680; 17. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. (1), 16.689; 18. 33H, Colton Heath, Marysville, WA (10), 16.731; 19. 5H, Michael Faccinto, Hanford, CA (2), 16.734; 20. 88X, Scottie McDonald, Porter, TX (15), 16.756; 21. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (19), 16.896; 22. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (23), 17.008; 23. 90, Lance Norick, Broken Arrow, OK (3), 17.068; 24. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (24), NT
Time Trial Group Two (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 14, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (8), 16.039; 2. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (14), 16.315; 3. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (20), 16.490; 4. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA (2), 16.492; 5. 17WX, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (1), 16.526; 6. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (10), 16.566; 7. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (18), 16.583; 8. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (16), 16.635; 9. 47X, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (7), 16.637; 10. 35S, Jason Shultz, Carlisle, PA (3), 16.709; 11. 24D, Danny Sams III, North Port, FL (9), 16.745; 12. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (4), 16.747; 13. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (17), 16.901; 14. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (19), 16.902; 15. 28F, Davie Franek, Sussex, NJ (22), 16.911; 16. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (13), 16.912; 17. 11B, Ben Woods, Newton, IA (6), 16.929; 18. 88, Kyle Offill, Tracy, CA (11), 16.981; 19. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (5), 17.013; 20. 1BX, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (12), 17.038; 21. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (21), 17.055; 22. 1B, Chelsea Blevins, Janesville, CA (15), 17.556; 23. 6, Frank Rodgers III, Lucas, IA (23), 17.789
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.7: 1. Ricky Montgomery (1); 2. Nick Parker (2); 3. Clint Garner (3); 4. Kelby Watt (5); 5. Brad Comegys (4); 6. Josh Higday (6); 7. Michael Faccinto (10); 8. Kaleb Johnson (11); 9. Sawyer Phillips (8); 10. Nathan Mills (7); 11. Alex Hill (9); 12. Lance Norick (12)
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.3: 1. Christian Bowman (2); 2. Harli White (1); 3. Calvin Landis (3); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 5. Jeff Swindell (4); 6. Carson McCarl (5); 7. Chase Randall (8); 8. Scottie McDonald (10); 9. Colton Heath (9); 10. Ryan Leavitt (11); 11. John Anderson (12); 12. Rob Kubli (7)
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.1: 1. Dylan Westbrook (2); 2. Scott Bogucki (3); 3. Danny Sams III (1); 4. Tim Shaffer (6); 5. Shane Golobic (4); 6. Jamie Ball (5); 7. Joe Beaver (7); 8. Davie Franek (8); 9. Tom Lenz (11); 10. Alan Zoutte (10); 11. Ben Woods (9) DNS – Frank Rodgers III
Heat four (started), 7 Laps, 2:00.3: 1. AJ Moeller (3); 2. Blake Hahn (1); 3. Matt Juhl (4); 4. Jason Shultz (2); 5. Ayrton Gennetten (6); 6. Matt Moro (7); 7. JJ Hickle (8); 8. Kyle Offill (9); 9. Eric Bridger (5); 10. Brandon Wimmer (10); 11. Chelsea Blevins (11)
C main (started), 8 Laps, 2:20.8: 1. Michael Faccinto (1); 2. Kaleb Johnson (5); 3. Brandon Wimmer (4); 4. Tom Lenz (6) / 5. Scottie McDonald (3); 6. Ryan Leavitt (7); 7. Frank Rodgers III (10); 8. Chelsea Blevins (8); 9. Lance Norick (9); 10. John Anderson (11); 11. Alan Zoutte (2)
B main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Harli White (3); 2. Jeff Swindell (1); 3. Joe Beaver (6); 4. Jason Shultz (4) 5. Rob Kubli (7) / 6. Nathan Mills (5); 7. JJ Hickle (12); 8. Michael Faccinto (17); 9. Chase Randall (11); 10. Kaleb Johnson (18); 11. Eric Bridger (2); 12. Brandon Wimmer (19); 13. Davie Franek (10); 14. Kyle Offill (16); 15. Colton Heath (15); 16. Matt Moro (8); 17. Ben Woods (14); 18. Alex Hill (13); 19. Sawyer Phillips (9); 20. Tom Lenz (20)
A main (started), 18 Laps, 5:31.1: 1. Lynton Jeffrey (1); 2. Tim Shaffer (2); 3. Matt Juhl (10); 4. Kelby Watt (3); 5. Clint Garner (7); 6. Scott Bogucki (8); 7. Ayrton Gennetten (4); 8. Jamie Ball (14); 9. Josh Higday (5); 10. Carson McCarl (19); 11. Shane Golobic (16); 12. Calvin Landis (15); 13. Dylan Westbrook (12); 14. AJ Moeller (6); 15. Jeff Swindell (21); 16. Blake Hahn (18); 17. Harli White (20); 18. Joe Beaver (22); 19. Christian Bowman (9); 20. Rob Kubli (24, alt.); 21. Jason Shultz (23); 22. Nick Parker (11); 23. Ricky Montgomery (17); 24. Brad Comegys (13) DNS – Danny Sams III. Lap Leader: Jeffrey 1-18. Hard-charger: C. McCarl.