From Bill W
Sammy Swindell and Johnny Anderson won the 410 and 360 sprint car features at Knoxville Raceway Saturday. Here’s Bill W’s run down.
5/22/10
Knoxville Raceway
24 410s
29 360s
410s
Sammy Swindell (6th car out to time) set quick time by more than .3 of a second (15.162) over Austin McCarl (7th car out). Robby Wolfgang (3rd) was third quick, followed by Brian Brown (1st), Bronson Maeschen (15th), Ian Madsen (4th), Lynton Jeffrey (12th), Josh Schneiderman (8th), Don Droud Jr. (14th) and Mike Moore (23rd). Shane Stewart failed to get a time in after mechanical difficulties.
Heat one (started): 1. Swindell 24 (6) 2. Mark Dobmeier 13 (2) 3. Brown 21 (5) 4. Jeffrey 12 (4) 5. Moore 69 (3) 6. Seth Brahmer 13v (7) 7. Kaley Gharst 14P (1) 8. Lou Kennedy Jr. 21K (8)
Dobmeier led early in the 8-lapper, but Swindell made steady progress in a race that featured a ton of good side by side racing. Swindell would make his winning pass with two to go. Brown won a lengthy battle with Jeffrey for third.
Heat two (started): 1. Rager Phillips 10 (1) 2. Schneiderman 49 (4) 3. Davey Heskin 56 (3) 4. McCarl 17A (6) 5. Skip Jackson 2 (2) 6. Maeschen 1 (5) 7. Mike Deavers 72 (7) 8. Sid Blandford Jr. 7 (8)
Philips led the distance, but had to hold off a surging Schneiderman. Jackson rode third until Heskin passed him with two to go, and McCarl got him on the last lap.
Heat three (started): 1. Droud Jr. 47 (4) 2. Ryan Bunton 6R (2) 3. Madsen 55 (5) 4. Wolfgang 7K (6) 5. Bob Weuve 19 (1) 6. Todd Hepfner 1HRP (7) 7. Dusty Zomer 91 (3) DNS – Shane Stewart 57
When Wolfgang’s left rear came down on Zomer’s right front heading into turn one after green, the latter went into a series of end over end flips into turn one. He was uninjured, but done for the night. Hepfner was also caught up in the mess and needed to change a nose wing. Droud circled the front row once things went green and ran away and hid with the heat. Bunton looked impressive in second in a race that featured three rookies running second through fourth.
A main (started): 1. Swindell (6) 2. Brown (3) 3. Jeffrey (1) 4. Jackson (12) 5. Droud Jr. (8) 6. Schneiderman (7) 7. Wolfgang (4) 8. McCarl (5) 9. Phillips (14) 10. Moore (9) 11. Madsen (2) 12. Maeschen (16) 13. Dobmeier (11) 14. Gharst (17) 15. Weuve (15) 16. Bunton (13) 17. Deavers (19) 18. Kennedy (21) 19. Hepfner (20) 20. Heskin (10) 21. Brahmer (18) 22. Blandford Jr. (22) DNS – Zomer, Stewart
A melee ensued on the frontstretch to start the A. Wolfgang made contact with both Swindell and McCarl. Cars headed in every direction. Those who were also part of the incident included Heskin, Deavers, Kennedy and others. After a trip to the work area, Swindell restarted 18th, and McCarl 20th. Jeffrey took the lead when the green fell, but a caution for debris would slow things down with just one lap in the books. Jeffrey led Brown, Madsen, Scheiderman and Droud Jr. back to green flag racing. Swindell had already advanced to 12th, and continued his march to the front. Brown and Jeffrey raced for the lead, with Brown capturing it on lap eight. Swindell continued his assault by quickly getting in the top five, and then disposing of Madsen, Schneiderman and Jeffrey. The winning pass came on lap 12. One more chance for Brown developed when Hepfner spun on lap 16. The spin almost collected top five runners Jeffrey and Droud, who made contact with one another. Madsen had to replace a flat during the caution. The restart saw Swindell ahead of Brown, Jeffrey, Droud Jr. and Dobmeier. Brown cleared Swindell with a slider in turn two on the restart, but Swindell ducked back under him and cruised to his 43rd career victory, tying him with Earl Wagner for fifth on the all-time wins list at Knoxville. Swindell’s tire exploded after the checkers. Dobmeier was running fourth coming to the checkers when he blew a tire. Because he caused a caution, he was scored as the last car on the lead lap (13th). Jackson was the official hard-charger.
360s
Matt Moro led the charge in group qualifying with a lap of 16.286 seconds. Ryan Roberts was second quick, followed by Randy Martin, Chad Humston, Dustin Selvage, Johnny Anderson, Tasker Phillips, Dennis Moore Jr., Ricky Logan and Jonathan Cornell.
Heat one (started): 1. Joe Beaver 53 (1) 2. John Hall 7H (2) 3. Cornell 28 (3) 4. Humston 1m (5) 5. Moro 2m (6) / 6. Brett Mather 17G (7) 7. Phillips 7TAZ (4) 8. Ricky Montgomery 9m (8) 9. Josh Higday 10 (9) 10. Mike Williams 4m (10)
Williams dropped out early. Beaver led the 7-lap distance, while some good battles developed behind him. The best was for the final transfer, where Moro took fifth from Mather at the 1/2 way point.
Heat two (started): 1. Jon Agan 4 (2) 2. Clint Garner 40 (1) 3. Moore Jr. 2 (4) 4. RJ Johnson 71 (3) 5. Selvage 7 (5) / 6. Roberts 18 (6) 7. JD Johnson 98 (9) 8. Jamie Ball 5J (8) 9. Alan Zoutte 33 (10) 10. Bryan Dobesh 54 (7)
A wide track yielded side by side battles in the 360 heats. The best was for the final transfer, where Selvage held it down most of the race. Roberts was the challenger, and took the spot with two to go, using the low side. Selvage came back on the high side of turn two to reclaim it on the last lap. Dobesh exited on lap five.
Heat three (started): 1. Logan 10a (4) 2. Martin 14 (6) 3. Nate Van Haaften 3 (2) 4. Anderson 7a (5) 5. Danny Heskin 6 (3) / 6. Russ Hall 45c (7) 7. Chad Heimbaugh 04 (1) 8. Joe Miller 78 (8) DNS – Jarrod Schneiderman 88
Van Haaften took the early lead. In close racing on lap two between the leader, Logan and Heimbaugh, Logan tapped Heimbaugh from behind. The tap spun Heimbaugh sideways and into a flip. He was unhurt. Van Haaften led Logan, Heskin, Martin and Anderson back to green flag racing. Logan grabbed the point on the restart and won going away. Martin used the low side to grab second from Van Haaften with two to go.
B main (started): 1. Roberts (1) 2. Phillips (2) 3. Dobesh (3) 4. R. Hall (6) / 5. Mather (4) 6. Montgomery (5) 7. JD Johnson (9) 8. Higday (10) 9. Ball (8) 10. Zoutte (11) 11. Williams (12) 12. Miller (7) DNS – Heimbaugh, Schneiderman
Roberts led the 10-lap distance in commanding fashion. Phillips also had some room between himself and third. R. Hall and Mather had a good battle for the transfer spot.
A main (started): 1. Anderson (2) 2. Logan (7) 3. Moro (6) 4. Agan (12) 5. Moore Jr. (1) 6. Garner (15) 7. Martin (5) 8. Roberts (16) 9. Heskin (10) 10. Beaver (14) 11. Phillips (17) 12. RJ Johnson (9) 13. Van Haaften (13) 14. R. Hall (19) 15. Humston (4) 16. Cornell (8) 17. Mather (20) 18. Selvage (3) 19. J. Hall (11) 20. Dobesh (18)
Anderson led early in the 15-lapper after a ragged start. Humston was right behind him on the nerf bar, and on lap four moved by for the lead. He would continue to stretch his margin, using the high side of the 1/2 mile. Selvage exited in a cloud of smoke during a good run. Good racing through the field as the race went non-stop until the white flag lap. Cornell was slowing down the length of the backstretch, when Humston came upon him. The leader made heavy contact and flipped hard into the turn three fence. He was unhurt. Anderson assumed the lead ahead of Logan, Moro, Moore Jr. and Martin. Anderson was able to hold on despite a second caution for a spinning Phillips to record his eighth career win. Agan moved up from seventh to fourth on the restarts, while Garner earned hard-charger honors. Logan held off Moro by inches in a great battle for second.