From Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 11, 2020) – Knoxville Raceway fans rode out a lengthy rain delay and though the feature ended after 3 a.m., they were treated to another great night of racing. Brady Bacon took home $20,000 in his second consecutive Corn Belt Nationals championship aboard the Hoffman Racing #69. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native led wire to wire.
Bacon’s road to victory began from the pole. He bested fellow front row starter Justin Grant on lap one. By the second circuit, Chris Windom trailed the pair in third. While Bacon took off a bit, the battles behind him were constant. Carson Short and Friday’s winner, Tyler Courtney, traded fifth, and Leary pressured Windom for the third spot.
Bacon entered lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit. That allowed Grant to close the gap, but Bacon was savvy in traffic and found his way to clean air each time. Grant came closest with about 12 laps to go, but his chase ended short.
Bacon’s win came ahead of Grant, Leary, who grabbed third with four to go, Windom and Courtney. Ryan Bernal, Short, hard-charger Robert Ballou, Chris Windom and Jake Swanson rounded out the top ten. With hot laps commencing around 11 p.m., qualifying was scrapped and Qualifiers were won by Dustin Clark, Matt Westfall, Ballou and Kevin Thomas Jr. Braydon Cromwell won the C, and Ballou took the B main. Ballou set two records on the night. His ten-lap record bested Richard Griffin’s mark from 1991, and his 16-lap win in the B broke Eddie Leavitt’s mark from 1978. Brian VanMeveren and Mitch Wissmiller were flip victims, but both walked away.
“My guys worked hard, and we got to start on the pole, thanks to our work the night before,” said Bacon in Victory Lane. “I really appreciate coming out here and racing for big money with non-wing sprint cars. Thanks to the fans and the track for sticking it out. The Knoxville crew worked really hard. I took it a little easy the first few laps, but I saw (Grant’s) nose on the screen. I said I better pick it up a bit and get a gap heading into lapped traffic. I knew that was going to be tricky. Thankfully, we were able to make some moves in lapped traffic and keep the gap safe.”
“I think we had a couple shots there,” said Grant. “I just couldn’t get it pulled off. I had one real good run at him, and I got into the backstretch wall. It was really tricky off of two. It was 30 qualifying laps out there. You were on the wood as hard as you could. I was driving as hard as I could trying to get to him. Brady was able to get through traffic there a little better than I was later on. That was all it took. They did a great job.”
“The racetrack was really fast,” said Leary. “It was on the hammer. The top three or four guys were about the same speed. I reeled in Chris (Windom) there and had a run on him. I kind of ran through the middle, and actually felt pretty good. Hats off to Brady and Justin. It was a good weekend. It was a good night to be a sprint car driver.”
Brian Brown took off early in the 20-lap 410 main event ahead of pole-sitter AJ Moeller and Kerry Madsen. He entered traffic on lap seven, before Sawyer Phillips backed his car into the turn one wall.
Brown led Moeller, Madsen, Kasey Kahne and Austin McCarl back to green flag racing. Madsen would quickly garner second, and Kahne would take third from Moeller at the halfway point. Brooke Tatnell came to a stop ten laps in, setting up another restart, but Brown was up to task in holding off Madsen.
McKenna Haase made heavy contact with the turn two wall. She walked away with aid from safety personnel. Brown pulled away the last five laps to win over Madsen, Kahne, Austin McCarl and Moeller. Lynton Jeffrey, Trey Starks, Matt Juhl, Justin Henderson and Josh Schneiderman completed the top ten. Madsen set quick time over the 31-car field, and Starks, Sawyer Phillips and Tasker Phillips were heat winners. Ryan Bunton won the B. Cody Ledger took a ride in his heat race. He was o.k., but done for the night.
“Kerry is one of the best race drivers in the world, so I wouldn’t expect anything less,” said Brown in Victory Lane of his challenges from Madsen. “He was going to be good, Kasey was going to be good, Austin’s been good all year. There’s a group of about ten guys that can win on any given night. My hat’s off to not only the fans that stuck around, but the Dunkin’s and the track for doing what they did. It was a great track.”
Saturday, July 18, will be Van Wall Equipment Night. All three sprint car divisions will be in action, with the 360 class hosting the Nebraska 360 Sprints and the Midwest Power Series for a $3,000 to win main event. For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or check out Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
Corn Belt Nationals Night #2 Results
Qualifier one (started), 10 Laps, 3:12.1 (NTR): 1. 75, Dustin Clark, Washington, IN (2); 2. 5s, Chase Stockon, Fort Branch, IN (4); 3. 74x, Shane Cottle, Kansas, IL (1); 4. 19, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (5); 5. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (6); 6. 36D, Dave Darland, Lincoln, IN (8); 7. 12s, Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (3); 8. 0s, Steve Irwin, Fenton, MI (7); 9. 18, Terry Richards, Denton, NE (9); 10. 4T, Josh Castro, Peoria, AZ (11); 11. 27, Steve Thomas, Ludlow, IL (13); 12. 0, Brandon Stevenson, Holstein, IA (10); 13. 71, Robert Bell, Colfax, IA (12)
Qualifier two (started), 10 Laps, 3:12.2: 1. 33M, Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, OH (2); 2. 17GP, Ryan Bernal, Hollister, CA (4); 3. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (6); 4. 71P, Carson Short, Marion, IL (5); 5. 1m, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (1); 6. 91, Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (3); 7. 19L, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (7); 8. 9w, Justin Zimmerman, Athens, TX (10); 9. 16, Anthony Nicholson, Millington, TN (8); 10. ST1, Lane Stone, Concordia, MO (9); 11. 7, Clinton Bruns, Little Rock, IA (12); 12. 2, Jason Billups, Holt, MO (11)
Qualifier three (started), 10 Laps, 3:09.7 (NTR): 1. 12, Robert Ballou, Rocklin, CA (2); 2. 19A, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (3); 3. 4, Justin Grant, Ione, CA (6); 4. 11w, Wyatt Burks, Topeka, KS (4); 5. 17, Nick Bilbee, Indianapolis, IN (5); 6. 28, Brandon Mattox, Terre Haute, IN (8); 7. 77J, Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (1); 8. 87, Paul Dues, Minster, OH (9); 9. 4x, Braydon Cromwell, Lone Jack, MO (11); 10. 2c, Zach Clark, Olathe, KS (10); 11. 29, Mitch Wissmiller, Saybrook, IL (7); DNS – 12. 8D, Justin Standridge, Springfield, IL
Qualifier four (started), 10 Laps, 3:12.1: 1. 9K, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (3); 2. 30, CJ Leary, Greenfield, IN (4); 3. 13, Dennis Gile, Phoenix, AZ (1); 4. 19AZ, Logan Seavey, Sutter, CA (2); 5. 34AZ, Jake Swanson, Anaheim, CA (5); 6. 77, Dustin Smith, Russiaville, IN (7); 7. 90, Clinton Boyles, Greenwood, MO (6); 8. 73, Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (9); 9. 48, Neal Matuska, Waukee, IA (8); 10. 66M, Max Grogan, Basehor, KS (10) DNS – 11. 24, Brian VanMeveren, Woodbury, MN; 12. 5, Chuck Alexander, Chariton, IA
C main (started), 10 Laps, 3:25.2: 1. Braydon Cromwell (4); 2. Brandon Stevenson (1); 3. Josh Castro (3); 4. Clinton Bruns (8); 5. Neal Matuska (2); 6. Zach Clark (7); 7. Steve Thomas (11) / 8. Robert Bell (9); 9. Jason Billups (5); 10. Chuck Alexander (10); 11. Max Grogan (6)
B main (started), 16 Laps, 5:25.1 (NTR): 1. Robert Ballou (1); 2. Dennis Gile (4); 3. Shane Cottle (2); 4. Dave Darland (9); 5. Don Droud Jr. (3); 6. Glen Saville (6) / 7. Steve Irwin (7); 8. Dustin Smith (8); 9. Brandon Mattox (10); 10. Jack Wagner (5); 11. Justin Zimmerman (17); 12. Josh Castro (20); 13. Paul Dues (15); 14. Anthony Nicholson (11); 15. Samuel Wagner (16); 16. Brandon Stevenson (19); 17. Braydon Cromwell (18); 18. Clinton Bruns (21); 19. Zach Clark (23); 20. Steve Thomas (24) 21. Neal Matuska (22); 22. Terry Richards (13); 23. Clinton Boyles (12); 24. Lane Stone (14) DNS – Mitch Wissmiller
Second Annual Corn Belt Nationals (started), 30 Laps, 10:19.6: 1. Brady Bacon (1); 2. Justin Grant (2); 3. CJ Leary (3); 4. Chris Windom (5); 5. Tyler Courtney (4); 6. Ryan Bernal (8); 7. Carson Short (6); 8. Robert Ballou (19); 9. Chase Stockon (7); 10. Jake Swanson (10); 11. Tanner Thorson (14); 12. Riley Kreisel (15); 13. Logan Seavey (13); 14. Nick Bilbee (9); 15. Wyatt Burks (11); 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (12); 17. Don Droud Jr. (23); 18. Shane Cottle (21); 19. Matt Westfall (17); 20. Dennis Gile (20); 21. Dustin Clark (16); 22. Wesley Smith (18); 23. Glen Saville (24); 24. Dave Darland (22). Lap Leader: Bacon 1-30. Hard-charger: Ballou.
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 2M, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (1), 15.263; 2. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (20), 15.362; 3. 83, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (19), 15.371; 4. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (17), 15.397; 5. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (28), 15.429; 6. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (24), 15.436; 7. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (22), 15.455; 8. 4, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (26), 15.490; 9. 2KS, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (4), 15.501; 10. 9W, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (9), 15.518; 11. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (12), 15.539; 12. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (14), 15.559; 13. 44S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (7), 15.578; 14. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (31), 15.597; 15. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (23), 15.663; 16. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (25), 15.667; 17. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (3), 15.686; 18. 19, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (8), 15.725; 19. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (15), 15.731; 20. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (10), 15.738; 21. 27, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Paola, KS (11), 15.766; 22. 96, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (2), 15.814; 23. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (13), 15.859; 24. 55M, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (18), 15.971; 25. 14K, Tori Knutson, Monticello, MN (27), 16.234; 26. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (21), 16.264; 27. 50, Mike Ayers, Waukee, IA (30), 16.265; 28. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (29), 16.314; 29. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (16), 16.550; 30. 83A, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (6), 16.700; 31. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (5), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:04.8: 1. Trey Starks (2); 2. Davey Heskin (1); 3. Austin McCarl (4); 4. Kerry Madsen (6); 5. AJ Moeller (5); 6. Ryan Giles (3); 7. Ryan Bunton (8); 8. Skylar Prochaska (7); 9. Tori Knutson (9); 10. Cody Ledger (10) DNS – Jordan Goldesberry
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Sawyer Phillips (1); 2. Brian Brown (5); 3. Josh Schneiderman (2); 4. Kasey Kahne (6); 5. Terry McCarl (4); 6. Chris Martin (7); 7. Riley Goodno (9); 8. Joe Simbro (8); 9. Justin Henderson (3) DNS – Jamie Ball
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Paige Polyak (1); 3. Brooke Tatnell (4); 4. Ian Madsen (3); 5. Matt Juhl (5); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (7); 8. McKenna Haase (8); 9. Mike Ayers (9); 10. Austin Miller (10)
B main (started), 10 Laps, 2:19.0: 1. Ryan Bunton (2); 2. Skylar Prochaska (1); 3. McKenna Haase (4); 4. Riley Goodno (6) / 5. Mike Ayers (5); 6. Tori Knutson (3); 7. Austin Miller (7) DNS – Jamie Ball, Cody Ledger, Joe Simbro, Jordan Goldesberry
A main, 20 Laps, NT: 1. Brian Brown (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (4); 3. Kasey Kahne (3); 4. Austin McCarl (5); 5. AJ Moeller (1); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 7. Trey Starks (9); 8. Matt Juhl (7); 9. Justin Henderson (18); 10. Josh Schneiderman (15); 11. Davey Heskin (13); 12. Tasker Phillips (11); 13. Terry McCarl (10); 14. Chris Martin (19); 15. Paige Polyak (16); 16. Skylar Prochaska (22); 17. Ryan Bunton (21); 18. Riley Goodno (24); 19. Ian Madsen (14); 20. Ryan Giles (17); 21. McKenna Haase (23); 22. Tucker Klaasmeyer (20); 23. Brooke Tatnell (8); 24. Sawyer Phillips (12). Lap Leader: Brown 1-20. Hard-charger: Henderson.