By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 11, 2018) – Logan Schuchart bounced back from a costly mistake on Wednesday to win Friday night’s FVP “Hard Knox” qualifying night on Friday during the 58th annual 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. After being disqualified for not going to the scales on his preliminary night Schuchart traded the lead with Brian Brown on multiple occasions before pulling away late for the victory.
The win was especially sweet with Schuchart’s Grandfather, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee and former Nationals winner Bobby Allen, admitted to the hospital on Friday. For Allen it was emotional due to this being one of the first times Allen was not present at one of Schuchart’s races.
Schuchart led Brown over the first five laps with Brian Brown, Paul McMahan, and Matt Juhl behind him. Brown got a run on Schuchart on lap five and took the lead from Schuchart during the first of many lead changes during the 25-lap event.
Behind the leaders Sheldon Haudenschild closed in on Juhl for the fourth and final spot to lock into Saturday night’s A-Main. Haudenschild used a run off turn two to setup a slide job to pass Juhl for the position on lap seven only to have Juhl cross over and take the spot back.
During the exchange Juhl gained momentum and moved past McMahan for the third spot on lap eight. One lap later Haudenschild dropped McMahan to fifth with a run off turn four.
Just as Schuchart entered slower traffic the caution flag appeared for Spencer Bayston slowing with a damaged right front wheel and flat tire. Bayston was able to make repairs and join the tail of the field for the restart.
Schuchart continued to lead with Brown in second while Paul McMahan rolled through the middle to pass Juhl and Sheldon Haudenschild to move into third. Brown stayed on Schuchart’s back bumper and took the lead on lap 14 only to have Schuchart take it back one lap later.
At the same time Brown and Schuchart diced for the lead the race for the fourth and final spot that would lock a driver into Saturday’s A-Main became a three-car race between Juhl, Haudenschild, and Jamie Veal. Lap 17 saw Juhl drive back to fourth and Veal pass Haudenschild for the fifth spot.
Veal later dropped back as the fourth position came down to Juhl and Haudenchild racing for the position. Haudenschild got crossed up out of shape catching the berm while running the bottom and lost momentum, allowing Juhl to open space between himself and Haudenschild.
After a torrid race for the lead Schuchart and Brown were nose-to-tail through traffic over the final three laps with Schuchart opening up a small gap he would hold until the finish. Brown retained the runner up spot with McMahan and Juhl taking the final two spots to earn positions in Saturday night’s finale.
58th Annual 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, IA
Saturday August 11, 2018
Qualifying Group #1: 1. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 15.607; 2. O9 – Matt Juhl, 15.738; 3. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr. , 15.744; 4. 26 – Joey Saldana, 15.750; 5. 91T – Cale Thomas, 15.754; 6. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 15.763; 7. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.775; 8. W20 – Greg Wilson, 15.781; 9. 7S – Jason Sides, 15.790; 10. 40 – Clint Garner, 15.792; 11. 1X – Don Droud Jr. , 15.794; 12. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 15.810; 13. 19P – Paige Polyak, 15.813; 14. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 15.845; 15. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 15.860; 16. 3P – Sawyer Phillips, 15.885; 17. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 15.900; 18. 28 – Scott Bogucki, 15.939; 19. 21AU – Jordyn Brazier, 15.943; 20. G1 – Gary Taylor, 15.947; 21. 7 – Carson McCarl, 15.968; 22. 11 – Roger Crockett, 16.006; 23. 95 – Matt Covington, 16.023; 24. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 16.028; 25. 28AU – Allan Woods, 16.049; 26. 99 – Brady Bracon, 16.070; 27. 9R – Rager Phillips, 16.116; 28. 70 – Dave Blaney, 16.161; 29. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 16.183; 30. 5J – Jamie Ball, 16.252; 31. 9X – Jake Bubak, 16.345; 32. 15M – Bobby Mincer, 16.501; 33. 85 – Chase Wanner, NT.
Qualifying Group #2: 1. 21 – Brian Brown, 15.794; 2. 13X – Paul McMahan, 15.816; 3. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.825; 4. 0 – Lynton Jeffrey, 15.829; 5. 3H – James McFadden, 15.848; 6. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 15.869; 7. 35P – Skylar Prochaska, 15.887; 8. 19 – Brent Marks, 15.896; 9. 44 – Trey Starks, 15.903; 10. 44M – Chris Martin, 15.903; 11. 56N – Davey Heskin, 15.918; 12. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 15.918; 13. 35 – Jamie Veal, 15.955; 14. 29P – Brian Paulus, 15.965; 15. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 16.006; 16. 17X – Josh Baughman, 16.006; 17. 29 – Willie Croft, 16.025; 18. 7C – John Carney, 16.028; 19. 10 – Clyde Knipp, 16.062; 20. 17B – Bill Balog, 16.099; 21. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 16.115; 22. 68 – Chase Johnson, 16.122; 23. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 16.123; 24. 17W – Harli White, 16.173; 25. 71X – Kevin Thomas Jr. , 16.180; 26. 99G – Skylar Gee, 16.214; 27. 12N – Cole Duncan, 16.238; 28. 2C – Wayne Johnson, 16.271; 29. 25 – Bobby McMahan, 16.443; 30. 84 – Tom Harris, 16.443; 31. 2K – Kevin Ingle, 16.710; 32. 18J – Jenna Fraizer, 17.178.
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 40 – Clint Garner, 2. 1S – Logan Schuchart, 3. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 4. 26 – Joey Saldana, 5. 3P– Sawyer Phillips, 6. 19P – Paige Polyak, 7. 28AU – Alan Woods, 8. 21AU – Jordyn Brazier, 9. 9X – Jake Bubak, 10. 70 – Dave Blaney, 11. 11 – Roger Crockett. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 1. 1X – Don Droud Jr, 2. W20 – Greg Wilson, 3. 09 – Matt Juhl, 4. 91T – Cale Thomas, 5. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 6. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 7. 99 – Brady Bacon, 8. 95 – Matt Covington, 9. G1 – Gary Taylor, 10. 71A – R.J.Johnson, 11. 15M – Bobby Mincer. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 1. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 2. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 3. 7S – Jason Sides, 4. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 5. 7 – Carson McCarl, 6. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 7. 9R – Rager Phillilps, 8. 15H – Sam Hafertepe, 9. 5J – Jamie Ball, 10. 28 – Scott Bogucki. DNS: 85 – Chase Wanner. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (8 laps): 1. 21 – Brian Brown, 2. 56 – Davey Heskin, 3. 35P – Skylar Prochaska, 4. 0 – Lynton Jeffrey, 5. 29 – Willie Croft, 6. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 7. 99G – Skylar Gee, 8. 28P – Brian Paulus, 9. 17B – Bill Balog, 10. 25 – Bobby McMahan, 11. 2K – Kevin Ingle. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps): 1. 13 – Paul McMahan, 2. 19 – Brent Marks, 3. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 4. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 5. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 6. 3H – James McFadden, 7. 7C – John Carney II, 8. 12N – Cole Duncan, 9. 17W – Harli White, 10. 84 – Tom Harris, 11. 18J – Jenna Frazier. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #6 (8 Laps): 1. 35 – Jamie Veal, 2. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 3. 44 – Trey Starks, 4. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 5. 71X – Kevin Thomas Jr, 6. 17X – Josh Baughman, 7. 68 – Chase Johnson, 8. 44M – Chris Martin, 9. 2C – Wayne Johnson, 10. 10 – Clyde Knipp. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #1 (12 Laps): 1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 2. 26 – Joey Saldana, 3. 91T – Cale Thomas, 4. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 5. 99 – Brady Bacon, 6. 19P – Paige Polyak, 7. 7W – Tasker Phillips, 8. 70S – Jeff Swindell, 9. 17WX – Shane Golobic, 10. 70 – Dave Blaney, 11. 95 – Matt Covington, 12. 9R – Rager Phillips, 13. 7 – Carson McCarl, 14. 15M – Bobby Mincer, 15. 9X – Jake Bubak, 16. 71A – R.J. Johnson, 17. 28AU – Allan Woods, 18. G1 – Gary Taylor, DNS: 21AU – Jordyn Brazier, 28 – Scott Bogucki, 11 – Roger Crockett, 5J – Jamie Ball, 85 – Chase Wanner. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main #2 (12 Laps): 1. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 2. 3H – James McFadden, 3. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 4. 68 – Chase Johnson, 5. 17X – Josh Baughman, 6. 21K – Thomas Kennedy, 7. 29 – Willie Croft, 8. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 9. 7C – John Carney II, 10. 71X – Kevin Thomas Jr, 11. 12N – Cole Duncan, 12. 99G – Skylar Gee, 13. 17W – Harli White, 14. 44M – Chris Martin, 15. 28P – Brian Paulus, 16. 25 – Bobby McMahan, 17. 2K – Kevin Ingle, 18. 84 – Tom Harris, 19. 0 – Lynton Jeffrey, 20. 17B – Bill Balog, 21. 10 – Clyde Knipps. DNS: 2C – Wayne Johnson, 18J – Jenna Frazier. (First three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 1S – Logan Schuchart. 2. 21 – Brian Brown, 3. 13X – Paul McMahan, 4. 09 – Matt Juhl, 5. 17 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 6. 35 – Jamie Veal, 7. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 8. 56N – Davey Heskin, 9. 97G – Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. 19 – Brent Marks, 11. 7S – Jason Sides, 12. 41S – Dominic Scelzi, 13. 55 – Brooke Tatnell, 14. 26 – Joey Saldana, 15. 49J – Josh Schneiderman, 16. 35P – Skylar Prochaska, 17. 15H – Sam Hafertepe Jr, 18. 44 – Trey Starks, 19. 91T – Cale Thomas, 20. 40 – Clint Garner, 21. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 22. 1X – Don Droud Jr, 23. W20 – Greg Wilson, 24. 3H – James McFadden.