From Bill W
Brian Brown and Dustin Selvage won the 410 and 360 sprint car features at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. Here’s the scoop from Bill W .
5/8/10
Knoxville Raceway
IRA
39 410s
32 360s
410s
Bronson Maeschen (22nd car out to time) set quick time at 14.655 seconds on a very fast track. Austin McCarl (36th car out) was second quick, followed by Josh Schneiderman (9th), Dusty Zomer (1st), Brian Brown (23rd), Brooke Tatnell (27th), Mark Dobmeier (21st), Don Droud Jr. (13th), Lynton Jeffrey (28th) and Ian Madsen (12th). Wayne Modjeski failed to get a time in. Skip Jackson limped across the finish line with difficulties and timed in at 38th quick.
Heat one (started): 1. Scott Neitzel 2w (1) 2. Jeffrey 12 (4) 3. Maeschen 1 (6) 4. Brown 21 (5) 5. Todd King 97 (2) / 6. Ricky Logan 10a (3) 7. John Haeni 21J (8) 8. Mike Deavers 72 (7) 9. Nick Alden 8A (10) 10. Bill Wirth 53w (9)
Neitzel led the entire 8-lap distance. With a heat inversion of six, the fastest qualifiers (Maeschen and Brown) were able to move up into one of the five transfer spots. Both worked to get by King, who held off Logan at the finish.
Heat two (started): 1. Mike Moore 69 (2) 2. Tatnell 59 (5) 3. Madsen 55 (4) 4. McCarl 17A (6) 5. Skip Jackson 2 (10) / 6. Phillip Mock 1m (1) 7. Bill Balog 17B (3) 8. Scott Uttech 3K (7) 9. Kris Spitz 4K (9) 10. Ty Bartz 46 (8)
Moore slowed Mock’s progress going into one and grabbed the early lead. Madsen moved past Mock, and Tatnell and McCarl would follow suit, as Balog got off to a rough start and was out of a transfer. Balog worked on Mock for fifth with two to go, when he jumped the turn three infield berm and was thrown above the cushion. In correcting away from the fence, he spun sideways and collected Bartz, who took a tumble. He was unhurt, but done for the night. Jackson, who had his problems in time trials, assumed sixth behind Mock and pounced into the final transfer spot on the restart. Tatnell moved by Madsen into second as well.
Heat three (started): 1. Bob Weuve 19 (1) 2. Mike Reinke 02 (2) 3. Dobmeier 13 (5) 4. Schneiderman 49 (6) 5. Rob Kubli 23K (3) / 6. Roby Wolfgang 7K (7) 7. Davey Heskin 56 (4) 8. Dave Uttech 68 (8) 9. Russel Borland 23 (9) DNS – Wayne Modjeski 14AJ
Weuve and Reinke raced side by side for most of the heat, in some great action up front on the fast track. Meanwhile, Dobmeier was riding above the cushion to move into fourth, while Schneiderman used the low side to move into a transfer. Heskin was in third when he started smoking at the halfway point. His mount gave it up on the last lap and he coasted across the finish. Kubli inherited the final transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. Seth Brahmer 13v (4) 2. Droud Jr. 47 (5) 3. Rager Phillips 10 (2) 4. Zomer 91 (6) 5. Ryan Bunton 6R (7) / 6. Andy Hunt 9A (8) 7. Brandon Thone 94 (9) 8. John VanDenBerg K9 (1) 9. Kaley Gharst 14P (3)
The start saw disaster as VanDenBerg slid sideways in turn one. As he moved up the track, Gharst tried to avoid him, but could not. Gharst flipped hard, while VanDenBerg sustained serious damage. Droud caught his top wing in the mess, but replaced it under an open red. Gharst walked away, but was taken in for observation. Brahmer moved up a row, and led from start to finish. Droud used the high side to roar into second.
B main (started): 1. Balog (1) 2. Deavers (3) 3. Haeni (8) 4. Mock (4) / 5. Wirth (12) 6. S. Uttech (6) 7. Borland (14) 8. Spitz (9) 9. Thone (11) 10. Wolfgang (5) 11. D. Uttech (10) 12. Alden (13) 13. Logan (2) 14. Hunt (7) DNS – Heskin, Bartz, Gharst, VanDenBerg, Modjeski
Balog led early under pressure from Logan. Logan circled around him on lap three in the 12-lapper. Three laps later, Spitz came to a stop on the backstretch, bringing caution. Under the yellow, the leader Logan went pitside. Balog assumed the lead on the restart, ahead of Deavers, Wolfgang, Mock and Haeni. Haeni passed Mock for the final transfer once the race went back green, while Wolfgang worked his way into second. With two to go, Wolfgang had to pull in while smoking, and Mock was back in a transfer. Wirth made a late race charge, and came three thousandths of a second from fourth in a side by side finish with Mock.
A main (started): 1. Brown (8) 2. Dobmeier (6) 3. Jeffrey (4) 4. Droud Jr. (5) 5. Tatnell (7) 6. Zomer (9) 7. McCarl (11) 8. Schneiderman (10) 9. Madsen (3) 10. Maeschen (12) 11. Reinke (15) 12. Moore (14) 13. Jackson (20) 14. Weuve (18) 15. Balog (21) 16. Neitzel (17) 17. King (13) 18. Deavers (22) 19. Haeni (23) 20. Mock (24) 21. Kubli (1) 22. Phillips (16) 23. Bunton (19) 24. Brahmer (2)
Brahmer elected to start at the tail and dropped out early. Jeffrey took the early lead after inheriting a front row starting spot. The race was on as Dobmeier and then Brown were quickly in the top three. On lap seven, Brown worked by Jeffrey briefly on the backstretch, to no avail. On lap nine, he did make the pass for good. Phillips came to a stop on lap ten, bringing a caution. Brown led Jeffrey, Dobmeier, Droud and Tatnell back to green flag racing. Dobmeier worked by Jeffrey, as Droud challenged as well. Dobmeier stayed with Brown in traffic, but no mistakes were made by the leader. Kubli had a fine top ten run going when he stopped with a puff of smoke with three laps to go. The final restart saw Brown ahead of Dobmeier, Jeffrey, Droud and Tatnell. That would be how they would finish, though a late run by Zomer, who restarted seventh, fell just short of nipping Tatnell at the line. Jackson was the hard-charger. The win was Brown’s 16th 410 win at Knoxville, and it was worth $3,000.
360s
Gregg Bakker set a one-lap track record for the 360s by setting quick time at 15.941 seconds. He was followed by Jonathan Cornell, Clint Garner, Dennis Moore Jr., Johnny Anderson, RJ Johnson, Matt Moro, Jon Agan, Lee Grosz and Chad Humston. John Hall did not register a time, and Rod Richards pulled off while smoking. Bakker’s mark broke the record Cale Conley set at the 360 Nationals last August.
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Brett Mather 17G (1*) 2. Lee Grosz 4J (4*) 3. Bryan Dobesh 54 (2*) 4. Bakker 11x (6*) 5. Anderson 7a (5) 6. Ryan Bickett 17B (3) 7. TJ Luedke 21t (7) 8. Jamie Ball 5J (8)
Mather led flag to flag. The track was a fast one, with little room to pass. Grosz moved up into second early. Bakker knocked on Dobesh’s door a couple of times in the 7-lapper.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Ricky Montgomery 9m (1*) 2. Chad Humston 1m (4*) 3. Nate Van Haaften 3 (2*) 4. Josh Higday 10 (3*) 5. Cornell 28 (6) 6. RJ Johnson 71 (5) 7. Tasker Phillips 7TAZ (7) 8. Mike Williams 4m (8)
A pair of 17 year olds tangled before they reached the chalkline when Williams and Phillips both got upside down. They were uninjured but done for the night. Montgomery led the duration, while Humston rode four wheels above the cushion to circle Higday and Van Haaften into second.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Don Young 7c (2*) 2. Garner 40 (6*) 3. Dustin Selvage 7 (4*) 4. Matt Moro 2m (5*) 5. Ryan Roberts 18 (3) 6. Alan Zoutte 33 (7) 7. Tyler Trainor 4L (8) 8. Joe Beaver 53 (1)
Young led the distance. Beaver exited while running third on lap five. Garner and Selvage had a nice battle for second.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Tom Lenz 8L (1*) 2. Moore Jr. 2 (6*) 3. Dave Hall 51 (3*) 4. Danny Heskin 6 (4*) 5. Chad Heimbaugh 04 (2) 6. John Hall 7H (8) 7. Jon Agan (5) 8. Rod Richards 12 (7)
Lenz led flag to flag. Moore Jr. made a high move through one and two after the green fell, to move into second. Richards and Agan dropped out on lap two.
B main (started): 1. Cornell (1) 2. Roberts (3) 3. Anderson (2) 4. Agan (12) / 5. Bickett (7) 6. RJ Johnson (8) 7. Heimbaugh (4) 8. Zoutte (6) 9. Luedke (10) 10. Ball (11) 11. Richards (14) 12. Trainor (9) 13. Beaver (13) 14. J. Hall (5) DNS – Phillips, Williams
Cornell led the 10-lap distance in a blistering pace that bested the old track record for the distance by three seconds (2:43.5). Roberts battled by Anderson for second, while Heimbaugh and RJ Johnson battled most of the way for the final transfer. Agan came late from his 12th starting spot to claim fourth in the end. Bickett claimed fifth on the last lap.
A main (started): 1. Selvage (4) 2. Bakker (2) 3. Grosz (8) 4. Garner (12) 5. Moore Jr. (11) 6. Moro (14) 7. Humston (6) 8. Lenz (5) 9. Mather (9) 10. Higday (15) 11. Young (10) 12. Heskin (16) 13. Montgomery (7) 14. Cornell (17) 15. Roberts (18) 16. Anderson (19) 17. Dobesh (3) 18. Van Haaften (1) 19. D. Hall (13) 20. Agan (20)
Bakker took the early lead with Van Haaften in tow in the 15-lapper. Selvage was third, with Dobesh fourth, and Grosz moving into the top five by lap six, when Agan came to a stop and retired. Four laps later, Van Haaften would be off the pace, surrendering second, and heading pitside. Selvage gained on Bakker using a lapped car, and made his winning pass by ducking under the leader just before coming for the white flag. The win was Selvage’s fourth career Knoxville triumph. Dobesh had a top five blow up with his left rear tire just 150 yards from the finish. Garner was the hard-charger, and took over the points lead.