by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 25, 2024) – Chase Randall passed Aaron Reutzel early in the 20-lap 988 Lifeline 410 feature on Dennison Racing Tees and Jersey Freeze Night to earn his first ever main event win in the class Saturday at Knoxville Raceway. The Waco, Texas native earned $6,000 for his win aboard the TKS Motorsports #2KS. Reutzel won a battle with young Jack Anderson to claim his eleventh career win in the 360 class, and J Kinder won for the seventh time in his career and for the second week in a row in the Pro Sprints class.
The 410 feature got off to a rocky start when Scott Bogucki tried to sneak between Randall and the turn two wall on the first lap. Bogucki spun hard and got upside down in an incident that saw Dusty Zomer and Zach Hampton also flip. AJ Moeller was also involved as were Gage Pulkrabek, Josh Schneiderman and Sawyer Phillips. The latter three restarted.
The second try at green would take and the race would go the distance. Reutzel grabbed the early advantage after inheriting a starting spot outside row one, ahead of Randall, Austin McCarl, Kerry Madsen and Lynton Jeffrey.
On lap three, Randall threw a slider across turn two, wrestling the lead from Reutzel, and five laps later was already moving through lapped traffic. Randall, Reutzel, McCarl and Madsen distanced themselves from the rest of the pack in the middle stages.
Traffic got intense, and Reutzel pulled close on a couple of occasions. McCarl snuck by for second in turn two on lap 13, but Reutzel came back with a slider of his own in turn two to reclaim the position a lap later.
The battle between the two allowed Randall to pull away for his inaugural 410 win here ahead of Reutzel, McCarl, Madsen and Garet Williamson. Hard-charger Tasker Phillips, Jeffrey, Kelby Watt, Chris Martin and Matt Juhl rounded out the top ten. Reutzel set quick time over the 32-car field, while Watt, Zomer, Phillips and Hampton won heat races. Darin Naida won the B.
“It was huge,” said Randall of his first win. “It was very tricky judging my pace off of the lapped cars. I was driving as hard as I could, but when I got close to lapped traffic I feel like I slowed down. I was itching to go, but I was trying to be patient at the same time. I just had to take a few deep breaths. I know I felt great from the first lap. Troy (Renfro) and I have been working extremely hard to make this car the best it can be.”
Jack Anderson shot out from the pole position to begin the 18-lap 360 A main ahead of Kade Higday, Reutzel, Tyler Groenendyk and Terry McCarl. Reutzel was a rocket on the bottom of the track, and claimed second from Higday on lap two, while McCarl moved into fourth. McCarl also worked by Higday into the top three on lap four. Anderson entered lapped traffic on lap six and kept a good pace. Reutzel kept within striking distance through the middle stages. Randall also entered the top four at that point.
On lap 12, Anderson slid in the middle of turns one and two and Reutzel entered high and left turn two low to make his winning pass. He pulled away from there to the victory. Randall passed McCarl with there to go and Anderson with two to go to claim second ahead of Anderson, McCarl and Groenendyk. Jamie Ball, Higday, hard-charger Tasker Phillips, Kaleb Johnson and Ryan Giles completed the top ten. Randall set quick time over the 32-car field and won his heat. Timothy Smith, Tony Rost and Groenendyk also won heats. Phillips claimed the B.
“The car was really good,” said Reutzel in Victory Lane. “Wow! It gets sketchy out there sometimes when the leaders are going so much faster than those lapped cars. There were a couple scary moments there. I was glad we were able to hang on. (Anderson) was doing a hell of a job moving around. I actually think he might have had a better car than me. He could get out in the middle and still keep his momentum up. I just had to keep ducking when he dodged and dodging when he ducked. Wherever he went, I had to hurry up and pick another line. I just had to go up the hill and come back down; he just had one lapped car screw him up.”
J Kinder led the 15-lap Pro Sprints feature from the start, ahead of Rob Kubli, Matt Allen, Ryan Navratil and Jeff Wilke. Chase Young soon found himself in the top five as well. The only caution of the event came for a stalled Toby Mosher on lap eight. Navratil climbed from fifth to third on the restart, but Allen recaptured the spot (he would later be penalized two spots for jumping the same restart).
Kinder was never seriously challenged in his run to his second win in a row. Kubli held onto second, with Young, AJ Johnson and Allen scored in the top five. Navritil, Mike Mayberry, Josh Jones, Brandon Worthington and Wilke rounded out the top ten.
“This is the first time I’ve ever won back to back,” said the 2014 305 track champion in Victory Lane. “The car is rolling good. It’s going to be a good year, we’ll see how it plays out. I struggled a little bit with (the lapped car of Bob Hildreth) in turn one, and I looked at the board and saw there was a car right behind me. I thought I couldn’t do that. Being in clean air was definitely the place to be.”
Join us Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 for the Avanti Windows & Doors Cornbelt Clash featuring two nights of action with the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series! The 360 class will join USAC on Friday and the 988 Lifeline 410’s will also be on the card Saturday. For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
988 Lifeline 410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps:,\ 1. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (5), 15.506; 2. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (16), 15.527; 3. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (21), 15.625; 4. 10L, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (18), 15.671; 5. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (13), 15.687; 6. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (11), 15.710; 7. 23, Garet Williamson, Columbia, MO (7), 15.718; 8. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (1), 15.738; 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 15.782; 10. 3J, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (17), 15.799; 11. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (19), 15.834; 12. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (27), 16.013; 13. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (12), 16.030; 14. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (15), 16.034; 15. 1, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (22), 16.137; 16. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (4), 16.152; 17. 6W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (6), 16.163; 18. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (10), 16.212; 19. 15, Jack Potter, Raymore, MO (9), 16.293; 20. 25, Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (26), 16.314; 21. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (3), 16.399; 22. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (32), 16.425; 23. 95, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (14), 16.450; 24. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (29), 16.453; 25. 45X, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS (24), 16.527; 26. 6, Darin Naida, Adrian, MI (20), 16.572; 27. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (25), 16.574; 28. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher-Dallas, IA (31), 16.887; 29. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (23), 17.032; 30. 8, Jack Croaker, East Grand Forks, MN (30), 17.110; 31. 9, Dominic Dobesh, Brookings, SD (28), 17.506; 32. 78, Bill Wagner, Reeder, ND (8), 17.790.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.6: 1. Kelby Watt (3); 2. Dustin Selvage (2); 3. Sawyer Phillips (4); 4. Carson McCarl (5); 5. Aaron Reutzel (6); 6. Jace Park (7); 7. Gage Pulkrabek (1); 8. Landon Hansen (8)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:14.1: 1. Dusty Zomer (4); 2. Chase Randall (3); 3. AJ Moeller (1); 4. Austin McCarl (6); 5. Josh Schneiderman (2); 6. Darin Naida (5); 7. Jack Croaker (7) DNS – Jamie Ball
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.4: 1. Tasker Phillips (3); 2. Kerry Madsen (4); 3. Garet Williamson (5); 4. Tyler Drueke (1); 5. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 6. Riley Goodno (7); 7. Jack Potter (2); 8. Dominic Dobesh (8)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.2: 1. Zach Hampton (1); 2. Chris Martin (4); 3. Scott Bogucki (6); 4. Daison Pursley (2); 5. Matt Juhl (5); 6. Scotty Johnson (7); 7. Cole Mincer (3); 8. Bill Wagner (8)
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:51.9: 1. Darin Naida (5); 2. Riley Goodno (4); 3. Scotty Johnson (6); 4. Gage Pulkrabek (3) / 5. Cole Mincer (1); 6. Jack Potter (2); 7. Jack Croaker (7); 8. Landon Hansen (8); 9. Dominic Dobesh (9); 10. Bill Wagner (10) DNS – Jace Park, Jamie Ball
A main (started), 20 Laps, 6:11.9: 1. Chase Randall (1); 2. Aaron Reutzel (3); 3. Austin McCarl (4); 4. Kerry Madsen (8); 5. Garet Williamson (7); 6. Tasker Phillips (12); 7. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 8. Kelby Watt (11); 9. Chris Martin (10); 10. Matt Juhl (13); 11. Daison Pursley (16); 12. Dustin Selvage (14); 13. Sawyer Phillips (9); 14. Riley Goodno (20); 15. Tyler Drueke (18); 16. Josh Schneiderman (19); 17. Darin Naida (21); 18. Scotty Johnson (23); 19. Gage Pulkrabek (22); 20. Scott Bogucki (2); 21. Dusty Zomer (6); 22. AJ Moeller (15); 23. Zach Hampton (17) DNS – Carson McCarl. Lap Leaders: Reutzel 1-2, Randall 3-20. Hard-charger: T. Phillips.
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (3), 15.652; 2. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (12), 15.753; 3. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (32), 15.768; 4. 01, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1), 15.839; 5. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (14), 15.846; 6. 24, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (28), 15.888; 7. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (29), 15.914; 8. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (13), 15.950; 9. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (8), 15.987; 10. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (5), 15.989; 11. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (7), 16.000; 12. 2M, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (15), 16.006; 13. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (25), 16.007; 14. 6N, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (11), 16.022; 15. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (24), 16.050; 16. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 16.066; 17. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (27), 16.107; 18. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Ca (22), 16.165; 19. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (26), 16.195; 20. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.258; 21. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (9), 16.283; 22. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (17), 16.333; 23. 6AJ, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (31), 16.344; 24. 4G, Cole Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (19), 16.345; 25. 83, Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL (23), 16.395; 26. 3R, Russell Potter, Boonville, MO (4), 16.466; 27. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (20), 16.539; 28. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (6), 16.681; 29. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (30), 16.738; 30. 38, Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA (10), 16.840; 31. T4, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (18), 17.353; 32. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (21), 16.692
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.2: 1. Chase Randall (6); 2. Joe Beaver (5); 3. Nathan Mills (2); 4. Riley Goodno (3); 5. Ryan Leavitt (4); 6. Tuesday Calderwood (1); 7. Alex Vande Voort (8); 8. Kurt Mueller (7)
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.6: 1. Timothy Smith (1); 2. Kaleb Johnson (3); 3. Jamie Ball (6); 4. Kade Higday (5); 5. Ben Brown (4); 6. Alex Hill (2); 7. Russell Potter (7); 8. Logan Alexander (8)
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.8: 1. Tony Rost (2); 2. Jack Anderson (4); 3. Clint Garner (3); 4. Aaron Reutzel (6); 5. Cam Martin (5); 6. AJ Moeller (1); 7. Aidan Zoutte (7); 8. Tyler Graves (8)
Heat four (started), 7 Laps, NT: 1. Tyler Groenendyk (5); 2. Cole Garner (1); 3. Ryan Giles (4); 4. Terry McCarl (6); 5. Alan Zoutte (2); 6. Gage Pulkrabek (8); 7. John Anderson (7); 8. Tasker Phillips (3)
B main (started), 10 Laps, 3:00.3: 1. Tasker Phillips (1); 2. Alex Hill (2); 3. AJ Moeller (4); 4. Alex Vande Voort (9) / 5. Gage Pulkrabek (10); 6. Tuesday Calderwood (3); 7. Russell Potter (5); 8. Aidan Zoutte (6); 9. Logan Alexander (11); 10. John Anderson (8); 11. Tyler Graves (12); 12. Kurt Mueller (7)
A main (started), 18 Laps, 5:33.9: 1. Aaron Reutzel (5); 2. Chase Randall (8); 3. Jack Anderson (1); 4. Terry McCarl (3); 5. Tyler Groenendyk (4); 6. Jamie Ball (7); 7. Kade Higday (2); 8. Tasker Phillips (21); 9. Kaleb Johnson (12); 10. Ryan Giles (11); 11. Clint Garner (15); 12. Ryan Leavitt (10); 13. Joe Beaver (6); 14. Riley Goodno (16); 15. Cam Martin (9); 16. Timothy Smith (17); 17. Tony Rost (14); 18. Cole Garner (19); 19. Ben Brown (13); 20. Alex Vande Voort (24); 21. AJ Moeller (23); 22. Alex Hill (22); 23. Alan Zoutte (20); 24. Nathan Mills (18). Lap Leaders: Jack Anderson 1-11, Reutzel 12-18. Hard-charger: T. Phillips
Pro Series Results
Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 17, Matt Allen, Norwalk, IA (6), 16.994; 2. 8J, AJ Johnson, Oskaloosa, IA (8), 17.099; 3. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (1), 17.184; 4. 88, J Kinder, Linn, MO (7), 17.203; 5. 55, Toby Mosher, Osceola, IA (12), 17.299; 6. 12P, Ryan Navratil, Des Moines, IA (11), 17.310; 7. 7, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (5), 17.379; 8. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (10), 17.427; 9. 41, Jeff Wilke, Knoxville, IA (2), 17.511; 10. 55KC, Bob Hildreth, Iowa Falls, IA (4), 17.605; 11. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (9), 17.853; 12. 12K, Koddy Hildreth, Zearing, IA (3), 17.926; 13. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (13), NT
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:53.5: 1. Jeff Wilke (2); 2. Josh Jones (1); 3. Mike Mayberry (5); 4. Rob Kubli (3); 5. Brandon Worthington (7); 6. Matt Allen (6); 7. Toby Mosher (4)
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:50.2: 1. Chase Young (3); 2. Ryan Navratil (4); 3. Koddy Hildreth (1); 4. AJ Johnson (6); 5. J Kinder (5); 6. Bob Hildreth (2);
A main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. J Kinder (2); 2. Rob Kubli (1); 3. Chase Young (5); 4. AJ Johnson (7); 5. Matt Allen (4); 6. Ryan Navratil (6); 7. Mike Mayberry (8); 8. Josh Jones (9); 9. Brandon Worthington (13); 10. Jeff Wilke (3); 11. Koddy Hildreth (11); 12. Bob Hildreth (12); 13. Toby Mosher (10). Lap Leader: Kinder 1-15. Hard-charger: Worthington.