6/12/04
Knoxville Raceway
360 Nationals and 410's
by Eric Arnold
A mid afternoon shower delayed the start of the program, but with more storms looming to the west, the evening was sure to be cut short. The first race of the evening was the make-up feature from Friday’s preliminary program.
Preliminary A-Main #2 - 20 Laps (started): 1. 22 Billy Alley (1), 2. 83 John Kearney (2), 3. 14aj Wayne Johnson (10), 4. 97 Aaron Berryhill (14), 5. 6r Roger Rager (4), 6. 53 Joe Beaver (3), 7. 92 Travis Cram (5), 8. 57x Jake Peters (14), 9. 23 Eric Jobe (15), 10. 14 Randy Martin (24), 11. 55 Kerry Madsen (19), 12. 7x Larry Ball, Jr. (23), 13. 77 Terry Alexander (9), 14. 5r Ryan York (11), 15. 15 Brian Brown (21), 16. 11m Troy Meyer (18), 17. 14c Mike Trent (22), 18. 86 Doug Wilson (17), 19. 1b Brett Geldner (13), 20. 10J Jeff Mitrisin (6), 21. 126 Stacey Alexander (7), 22. 04 Frankie Heimbaugh (16), 23. 91x Darren Stewart (20), 24. 2d Randi Miller (8)
Alley and Kearney raced side by side in the opening laps with Alley eventually clearing Kearney on lap 3 and set sail from there. Darren Stewart pulled in on lap 3. Roger Rager moved into second as the field moved into traffic. The red came out on lap 16 as Stacey Alexander got above the cushion rolled in turn 2. Miller was disqualified for passing the accident scene. On the restart Madsen and Mitrisin made contact leaving Mitrisin in the turn 2 wall. With four to go the running order was Alley, Rager, Kearney, Beaver, Cram, and Wayne Johnson. Rager and Beaver faded as W. Johnson diced through the field to finish third. Aaron Berryhill was also strong at the end.
410 Time Trials were next. 38 cars timed. With the wide track most competitors used the high groove, but as in many times in the past McCarl found the fast way around the bottom to set quick time. McCarl was the 21st car to time at 16.209. The official results of times trials were not given.
E Feature (3 Laps – Top 3 Advance to D Feature): 1. 51J Ryan Jamison, 2. 15x Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 97x Alan Gilbertson.
With only 3 cars making the call and all three cars transferring it left many people puzzled as to why this race was even necessary.
D Feature (10 Laps – Top 2 Advance to C Feature): 1. 2s John Schulz, 2. 12 Brock Dump, 3. 51J Ryan Jamison, 4. 48 Dennis Moore, Jr., 5. 37 Sye Anderson, 6. B29 Eric Mason (5) , 7. 96 Bronson Maeschen, 8. 91 Curtis Thorson, 9. 15x Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 10. 53h Matt Harms, 11. 7 Dave Becker, 12. 94s Natalie Sather, 13. 9 Rager Phillips, 14. 11 Pete Crall, 15. 69 Rodney Turner, 16. 0 Glenn Styres, 17. 22n Nate Mosher, 18. 23x Jimmy Taylor, 19. 97x Alan Gilbertson.
The starting lineup was jumbled as cars did not show, or elected to start at the tail. Schulz and Moore made up the front row. With sprinkles falling, an opening lap accident in turns 1 and 2 involved five cars. Gilbertson, Taylor, Mosher, Thorson, and Jamison. Thorson and Jamison were able to restart. The restart saw Styres spin on the backstretch collecting Turner. Schulz pulled away early. Lap 7 Natalie Sather spins in turn 4. On the cool down lap Sather ran over Schulz’s left rear causing damage to both cars.
Just as the first 410 heat race was being pushed off the rains came washing out the rest of evenings racing. No rain date is scheduled. The rain was the winner of the 2004 360 Nationals.