by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 15, 2024) – Brian Brown won a wild one Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway on Farm Bureau Financial Services Night. The Grain Valley, Missouri overcame his tough run this season to take a late lead and net $6,000 aboard his #21 machine. Aaron Reutzel also made a late pass to win his thirteenth career 360 feature and fourth of this season, and J Kinder also won his fourth feature of the year in the Pro Sprints class.
Emerson Axsom shot out to an early lead in the 30-lap 410 feature with Kerry Madsen, Chase Randall, Brown and Austin McCarl breathing down his neck. Brown gained third from Randall on lap two, and McCarl followed him into the fourth spot two laps later. Axsom was into lapped traffic on the sixth lap. Behind him, Brown squeaked by Madsen in heavy lapped traffic at that point, and McCarl and Randall followed into third and fourth on lap seven. McCarl gained on Brown and cruised by him on the low side to take second on lap 13. Randall chose the cushion to get by Brown with six to go, and claim the third spot.
McCarl closed on Axsom and pulled beside him low in turn two with four to go. He caught the inside berm a bit and the two cars came together, sending McCarl spinning and collecting Randall, ending both of their top three runs. Axsom led Brown, Tasker Phillips, Dutsy Zomer and Aaron Reutzel with four to go.
As Axsom dove low in turn two, Brown hit the curb on the high side and flew to the lead, never looking back. Axsom held onto second, while Phillips won a late battle with Zomer for third. Reutzel was fifth. Carson McCarl, Madsen, Kaleb Johnson, JJ Hickle and Zach Hampton rounded out the top ten. Austin McCarl set quick time over the 30-car field, and he was joined by Randall and Carson McCarl as heat winners. Jamie Ball and Sawyer Phillips were involved in a rough heat incident. Phillips made enough repairs to start the feature.
“I’ve made some dumb mistakes to start the year here,” said Brown in Victory Lane before naming a few drivers and owners he wanted to apologize to. “I’ve just been overdriving and making some big mistakes. I apologize for that. I don’t know if I was the fastest car in the middle of the race. I felt like I was the fastest car early and I kind of got stalled out and let Austin and (Randall) get by. I got my wing back, and I saw Emerson’s Dad tell to run the bottom on the restart. You don’t tell me twice to go to the top, and it worked out.”
Alex Hill led early in the 18-lap main event for the 360 class ahead of Jamie Ball, Ryan Giles, Kade Higday and Dustin Selvage. Ball reeled in the leader and passed her in turn four on lap four. Meanwhile, Higday moved into third. By lap six, Aaron Reutzel was in the top five. On lap nine, Higday and Reutzel used the low side to move by Hill into second and third.
Ball was in lapped traffic with eight to go. On lap 13, Reutzel shot under Higday for second and passed Ball for the lead before a slowing Tyler Groenendyk brought a caution flag with four to go. Unfortunately, the pass was negated and had to wait for the restart.
Reutzel shot high in turn two to take the lead once the green fell again, and sustained a green, white, checker restart finish after Tasker Phillips tumbled, collecting Cole Garner and Nate Mills. No one was injured.
Reutzel cruised to the finish ahead of Ball, Clint Garner, Sawyer Phillips and Giles. Higday, hard-charger Terry McCarl, Hill, Jake Bubak and Ryan Leavitt completed the top ten. Groenendyk set quick time over the 34-car field, and Jack Anderson, AJ Moeller, Joe Beaver and Sawyer Phillips won heats. Tasker Phillips claimed the B.
“The track was absolutely phenomenal,” said Reutzel. “It was the best track all year, so maybe that will shut all the crybabies up who have been (complaining) about the track all year. The Dunkin’s do a great job, and you can’t tell me otherwise.”
Mike Mayberry led early in the 15-lap Pro Sprints feature, but J Kinder was on a mission. With an invert of eight, he shot to third on the first lap, took second from Ryan Navritil on lap two, and used the low side of the track to get by Mayberry on lap five to take the point.
Navratil worked by Mayberry for second on the high side on lap six. Kinder was working lapped traffic with five to go. AJ Johnson gained top five status on lap eight and took fourth on lap ten.
Kinder had almost a five second lead and saw the checkers in front of him when William Kline flipped, bringing out the red flag and setting up a green, white, checker finish. Kline was uninjured.
Kinder was not deterred and led to the checkers for his ninth career win here, ahead of Navratil, Johnson, who gained third late, Mayberry and Rob Kubli. Josh Jones, Chase Young, Brandon Worthington, Toby Mosher and Jeff Wilke rounded out the top ten. Matt Allen set quick time, and Kinder and Mayberry won the heats.
“The car would go anywhere,” said Kinder. “The track was slick. It wasn’t hard, but it was experience. I’ve been doing this for a long time. The car was just great. It went anywhere. The car won this race. I didn’t want to see (the red). That makes it a little bit harder. You only have two laps to mess it up, so you have pretty good odds.”
Join us Saturday, July 6 for Mid-Season Championship Night and the Nolan Wren Memorial Presented by Higher View Enterprises! The 988 Lifeline 410’s, the 360’s the Pro Sprints will all be back in action, and the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame luncheon will be Saturday afternoon! For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (3), 15.718; 2. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (25), 15.846; 3. 3J, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (10), 15.882; 4. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (30), 15.899; 5. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (14), 15.957; 6. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (4), 16.013; 7. 27W, Emerson Axsom, Franklin, IN (15), 16.020; 8. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (23), 16.063; 9. 1, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (13), 16.067; 10. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (1), 16.075; 11. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (5), 16.089; 12. 6W, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (20), 16.117; 13. 22X, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (27), 16.120; 14. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (11), 16.139; 15. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (24), 16.157; 16. J2, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (16), 16.173; 17. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (26), 16.204; 18. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (17), 16.260; 19. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (9), 16.272; 20. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (22), 16.293; 21. 25, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (2), 16.324; 22. 95, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (29), 16.522; 23. 51B, Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (12), 16.568; 24. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (28), 16.650; 25. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (6), 16.740; 26. 15K, Creed Kemenah, Alvada, OH (18), 16.795; 27. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher-Dallas, IA (21), 16.850; 28. 15, Jack Potter, Raymore, MO (7), 16.857; 29. 67, Jon Hughes, Knoxville, IA (8), NT; 30. 10, Brian Paulus, Six Mile, SC (19), NT
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.5: 1. Austin McCarl (6); 2. Emerson Axsom (4); 3. Aaron Reutzel (5); 4. John Carney II (1); 5. JJ Hickle (2); 6. AJ Moeller (3); 7. Tyler Drueke (8); 8. Dustin Selvage (7); 9. Landon Hansen (9) DNS – Jack Potter
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Chase Randall (4); 2. Brian Brown (6); 3. Kerry Madsen (5); 4. Zach Hampton (1); 5. Chris Martin (7); 6. Creed Kemenah (9); 7. Joe B. Miller (8); 8. Jamie Ball (2); 9. Sawyer Phillips (3) DNS – Jon Hughes
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.2: 1. Carson McCarl (1); 2. Kaleb Johnson (3); 3. Tasker Phillips (4); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 5. Matt Juhl (2); 6. Dusty Zomer (6); 7. Justin Henderson (7); 8. Scotty Johnson (9); 9. Cole Mincer (8) DNS – Brian Paulus
A main, 20 Laps, NT: 1. Brian Brown (5); 2. Emerson Axsom (1); 3. Tasker Phillips (9); 4. Dusty Zomer (7); 5. Aaron Reutzel (4); 6. Carson McCarl (11); 7. Kerry Madsen (3); 8. Kaleb Johnson (10); 9. JJ Hickle (13); 10. Zach Hampton (15); 11. Matt Juhl (14); 12. Justin Henderson (16); 13. Lynton Jeffrey (8); 14. Chris Martin (17); 15. Creed Kemenah (20); 16. Dustin Selvage (19); 17. Sawyer Phillips (24); 18. Joe B. Miller (21); 19. Tyler Drueke (18); 20. John Carney II (12); 21. Cole Mincer (23); 22. Austin McCarl (6); 23. Chase Randall (2); 24. Scotty Johnson (22); 25. Landon Hansen (25) DNS – 26. AJ Moeller 27. Jamie Ball. Lap Leaders: Axsom 1-16, Brown 17-20. Hard-charger: S. Phillips.
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (2), 15.748; 2. 2M, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (4), 15.945; 3. 24, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (5), 15.962; 4. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (8), 16.069; 5. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.116; 6. 47, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (10), 16.146; 7. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (14), 16.191; 8. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (6), 16.294; 9. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Ca (12), 16.296; 10. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (30), 16.352; 11. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (1), 16.389; 12. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (21), 16.467; 13. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (32), 16.473; 14. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (26), 16.491; 15. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (31), 16.498; 16. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (13), 16.522; 17. 41, Colton Hardy, Phoenix, AZ (25), 16.526; 18. 20T, Corey Timmerman, Burlington, IA (17), 16.549; 19. 4G, Cole Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (19), 16.561; 20. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (24), 16.563; 21. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (27), 16.588; 22. 6AJ, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (22), 16.608; 23. 01, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (34), 16.645; 24. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.655; 25. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (33), 16.662; 26. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (23), 16.796; 27. 38, Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA (15), 16.885; 28. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (29), 16.895; 29. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (28), 17.243; 30. 8X, Micah Slendy, Sioux Falls, SD (20), 17.273; 31. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (11), 18.010; 32. 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD (3), 22.900; DQ (Tire) 6N, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (18); DQ (Tire) 20B, Brant O’Banion, Sioux Falls, SD (7)
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 2:00.5: 1. Jack Anderson (1); 2. Aaron Reutzel (3); 3. Alex Hill (4); 4. Jamie Ball (5); 5. Timothy Smith (7); 6. Kaleb Johnson (8); 7. Colton Hardy (2); 8. Aidan Zoutte (6) DNS – Tyler Groenendyk
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 2:03.2: 1. AJ Moeller (1); 2. Dustin Selvage (5); 3. Clint Garner (4); 4. Tony Rost (3); 5. Cam Martin (7); 6. Ryan Giles (6); 7. Corey Timmerman (2); 8. Brant O’Banion (9); 9. Micah Slendy (8)
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, NT: 1. Joe Beaver (3); 2. Terry McCarl (1); 3. Cole Garner (2); 4. Kade Higday (6); 5. Ryan Leavitt (5); 6. Ben Brown (4); 7. Logan Alexander (7); 8. John Anderson (8)
Heat four (started), 7 Laps, 2:04.8: 1. Sawyer Phillips (6); 2. Nathan Mills (2); 3. Jake Bubak (4); 4. Alex Vande Voort (1); 5. Tasker Phillips (3); 6. Tuesday Calderwood (5); 7. Alan Zoutte (7) DNS – Jacob Hughes
B main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Tasker Phillips (1); 2. Cam Martin (6); 3. Kaleb Johnson (0); 4. Colton Hardy (2) / 5. Timothy Smith (5); 6. Alex Vande Voort (3); 7. Alan Zoutte (8); 8. Corey Timmerman (4); 9. Micah Slendy (12); 10. John Anderson (11); 11. Logan Alexander (7); 12. Aidan Zoutte (10); 13. Brant O’Banion (13) DNS – Jacob Hughes
A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (11); 2. Jamie Ball (2); 3. Clint Garner (9); 4. Sawyer Phillips (6); 5. Ryan Giles (3); 6. Kade Higday (5); 7. Terry McCarl (20); 8. Alex Hill (1); 9. Jake Bubak (12); 10. Ryan Leavitt (8); 11. Kaleb Johnson (23); 12. Cam Martin (22); 13. Joe Beaver (10); 14. Tony Rost (16); 15. Tuesday Calderwood (13); 16. Colton Hardy (24); 17. Ben Brown (18); 18. Dustin Selvage (4); 19. AJ Moeller (15); 20. Tasker Phillips (21); 21. Cole Garner (19); 22. Nathan Mills (17); 23. Jack Anderson (14); 24. Tyler Groenendyk (7). Lap Leaders: Hill 1-3, Ball 4-14, Reutzel 15-18. Hard-charger: T. McCarl
Pro Series Results
Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 17, Matt Allen, Norwalk, IA (12), 17.537; 2. 7, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (4), 17.689; 3. 88, J Kinder, Linn, MO (3), 17.714; 4. 41, Jeff Wilke, Knoxville, IA (1), 17.756; 5. 8J, AJ Johnson, Oskaloosa, IA (8), 17.789; 6. 55, Toby Mosher, Osceola, IA (10), 17.874; 7. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (5), 17.906; 8. 12P, Ryan Navratil, Des Moines, IA (11), 18.037; 9. 12K, Koddy Hildreth, Zearing, IA (6), 18.08; 10. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (9), 18.099; 11. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (13), 18.186; 12. 8, William Kline, Knoxville, IA (7), 18.236; 13. 55KC, Bob Hildreth, Iowa Falls, IA (2), 18.294; 14. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (14), 18.435
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:53.0: 1. J Kinder (5); 2. AJ Johnson (4); 3. Matt Allen (6); 4. Chase Young (3); 5. Josh Jones (1); 6. Koddy Hildreth (2); 7. Bob Hildreth (7)
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:54.7: 1. Mike Mayberry (2); 2. Toby Mosher (4); 3. Ryan Navratil (3); 4. Rob Kubli (6); 5. Jeff Wilke (5); 6. Brandon Worthington (7); 7. William Kline (1)
A main (started), 16 Laps, NT: 1. J Kinder (8); 2. Ryan Navratil (1); 3. AJ Johnson (5); 4. Mike Mayberry (2); 5. Rob Kubli (6); 6. Josh Jones (11); 7. Chase Young (9); 8. Brandon Worthington (13); 9. Toby Mosher (4); 10. Jeff Wilke (3); 11. Koddy Hildreth (10); 12. Bob Hildreth (14); 13. William Kline (12); 14. Matt Allen (7). Lap Leaders: Mayberry 1-4, Kinder 5-16. Hard-charger: Kinder.