by Eric Arnold
Knoxville Raceway 360 Nationals
After an 8-week wait the Knoxville 360 Nationals was concluded tonight. Of the original 20 cars scheduled for the A-Main only Travis Cram who was scheduled to start 12th did not make the show. 6 B-main cars did not make the return trip allowing 8 cars from the C Main to transfer.
C-Main (10 Laps) Top 8 transfer to B Main.
1. #04 Frankie Heimbaugh (4), 2. #86 Doug Wilson (1), 3. #10 Brent Antill (3), 4. #24 Eric Vanderploeg (9), 5. #51 David Hall, 6. #20 Stevie Walsh (5), 7. #1z Dusty Zomer (11), 8. #29 Travis Rilat (13), 9. #2s John Shulz (15), 10. #F4 Jaymie Moyle (14), 11. #94 Cody Branchcomb (7), 12. #61A Toby Brown (12), 13. #51J Ryan Jamison (16), 14. #96 Bronson Maeschon (17), 15. #9 Rager Phillips (19), 16. #91 Curtis Thorson (18), 17. 7H John Hall (8), 18. #91X Darren Stewart (6), 19. #4M Shane Stewart (1).
The first start saw Darren Stewart slow in turn 2 and come to a stop in turn 3; meanwhile John Hall came to a stop in turn 2 bringing out the first caution. Complete restart. Shane Stewart pulled away from the field on the narrow and fast track, and won by more than a straightaway. However the 4m was 7 pounds light as it crossed the scales ending their night and allowing Travis Rilat to stay alive and gain the last transfer position.
B-Main (15 Laps) Top 5 Transfer to A-Main.
1. #21 Brian Brown (15), 2. #8S Tim St. Arnold (1), 3. #55 Kerry Madsen (2), 4. #5J Larry Ball Jr. (10), 5. #29 Rilat (24), 6. #D1 Jesse Gianetto (7), 7. #24 Vanderploeg (20), 8. #04 Heimbaugh (18), 9. #11M Troy Meyer (8), 10. #126 Stacy Alexander (16), 11. #86 Wilson (19), 12. #1B Brett Geldner (14), 13. #51 D. Hall (21), 14. #20 Walsh (22), 15. #1z Zomer (23), 16. #R22 Rob Edwards (12), 17. #10 Jeff Mitrisin (13), 18. #77 Terry Alexander (3), 19. #6 Mitchell Alexander (11), 20. #3 A.G. Rains (9), 21. #54 Brett Mather (5), 22. #5R Ryan York (4), 23. #10 Brent Antill (19), 24. #2H Ryan Voss (6)
St. Arnold got the jump on the start as Madsen challenged St. Arnold the entire 15 laps in a great show that turned out to be for second place. Brian Brown made some daring passes, splitting cars on several occasions and was clearly the fastest car on the track. Caution on lap 7 for Antill and York coming to a stop on the speedway with apparent mechanical failures. On lap 11 M. Alexander took a hard ride in turns 3 & 4 bringing out the red flag, but was OK. Brown was in fifth on the restart and within 2 laps was the leader. Rilat stayed alive taking the last transfer position again.
A-Main (25 laps)
1. #22 Billy Alley (3), 2. #14AJ Wayne Johnson (6), 3. #1M Terry McCarl (4), 4. #50D Jason Johnson (2), 5. #57X Jake Peters (17), 6. #9X Gary Wright (14), 7. #50Z Zach Chappell (5), 8. #21 Brian Brown (20), 9. #11X Garry Lee Maier (15), 10. #Rilat (24), 11. #97 Aaron Berryhill (11), 12. #53 Joe Beaver (7), 13. #7A Johnny Anderson (16), 14. #5J Ball (23), 15. #8S St. Arnold (21), 16. #6R Roger Rager (9), 17. #83 John Kearney (1), 18. #57 Roger Crockett (10), 19. #2M Matt Moro (8), 20. #18 Tony Bruce Jr. (18), 21. #23 Eric Jobe (19), 22. #1X Sean McClelland (12), 23. #55 Kerry Madsen (22), 24. #1 David Hesmer (17).
On the initial start John Kearney spun in turns 3 and 4 in front of most of the field and everyone avoided him without incident. On the restart Alley was able to move up to the pole position and take the point from flag to flag. On lap 2 Hesmer and Madsen made contact. Hesmer lost the steering as the front end was damaged and slowed to a stop in turn 1. On lap 7 Madsen slowed to a stop on the front stretch as all of his hydraulic fluids ended up in his lap according to pit reporter Mike Roberts. From there it was a great race for second. McCarl, Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson, and Chappell all had a great battle through most of the race. McCarl and W. Johnson providing most of the entertainment as they traded second several times in traffic with Wayne beating McCarl to the finish line. Alley was never seriously challenged as he threaded his way through traffic like a veteran on his way to the biggest win of his career netting $10,000 for the win. Jake Peters, Brian Brown, and Travis Rilat found their charges to the front stall with the longer distance race and tougher competition. Thanks to Knoxville Raceway for concluding the 360 Nationals! It was a helluva show and worth the wait.
Twin 305 events
Heat #1 (winged)
1. #71 Louis Lynch, 2. #12 Lyle Sylvester, 3. #55 Matt Stevenson, 4. #55KC Bob Hildreth, 5. #11 Larry Webb, 6. #1 Kevin Tanner
Heat #2 (winged)
1.#96 Bronson Maeschen, 2. #12X Jerry Crabb, 3. #66 Rob Richards, 4. #99A Chris Martinez, 5. #12D Drew Lewis, 6. #G2 Chuck Graves
Feature (winged)
1. #96 Maeschen, 2. #12x Crabb, 3. #71 Lynch, 4. #55KC Hildreth, 5. #55 Stevenson, 6. #99A Martinez, 7. #12 Sylvester, 8. #12D Lewis, 9. #11 Webb
Heat #1 (non-wing)
1. #2T Bob Thompson. 2. #55KC Hildreth, 3. #55 Stevenson, 4. #9x Bart Andrews, 5. #23K Rob Cutley, 6. #3S Dave Ferran, 7. #6D Don Dawson II, 8. #11 Webb
Heat #2 (non-wing)
1. #12X Crabb, 2. #6 John Helm, 3. #63 Nate Van Haften, 4. #8L Tom Lenz, 5. #47 Rob Lamb, 6. #126 Sean DeMann, 7. #12D Lewis
Feature (non-wing)
1. #9x Bart Andrews, 2. #2T Thompson, 3. #47 Lamb, 4. #12X Crabb, 5. #55 Stevenson
This was the debut of 305 Sprint Cars at Knoxville Raceway. Several drivers performed double duty in both classes. Winged cars were timed around 18.5 seconds and non-wing cars around 21.7 seconds by my stop watch. Bob Hildreth #55KC took a wicked flip down the front straightaway on the initial start of the non-wing feature, but walked away somehow. Not much passing in either class other than Bob Thompson and Bart Andrews who made the tow from Missouri to put on a last corner pass of Thompson to take the win of the non wing feature. Bronson Maeschen who is a rookie in the Knoxville 360 class ran away with the winged feature.