6/14/02
Knoxville Raceway
Night Two of the 360 Nationals
42 cars
Wayne Pennington scratched before getting a time in. Chad Meyer blew a motor in qualifications and was done. The events got started an hour or so late, but it was well worth the extra effort as the track was heavy and provided for some great racing (a vast improvement over Thursday's desert-like conditions). Jeff Swindell (19th car out to time) paced the field with a lap of 16.299 seconds. Jason Johnson (34th) was second quick, followed by Brian Brown (5th), Micah Schliemann (25th), Terry McCarl (9th), Don Droud Jr. (31st), Ed Ergenbright (4th), Jaymie Moyle (1st), Rodney Turner (21st) and Kevin Frey (33rd).
Heat one (started): 1. Swindell 6s (6) 2. Dennis Moore Jr. 71 (2) 3. David Pyatt TV29 (1) 4. Jamie Ferrell 54 (4) / 5. Droud 91x (5) 6. Tim St. Arnold 7s (7) 7. Brett Golik 5G (8) 8. Jeff Johnson 11J (3)
Swindell charged to the front and pulled away from Moore in dominating fashion on the lightning fast surface. Pyatt and Ferrell had a good battle going on for the last several laps. St. Arnold spun after a lap was complete. During the caution Jeff Johnson pulled his machine in with possible fuel problems.
Heat two (started): 1. Jason Johnson 41 (6) 2. Curtis Thorson 91 (2) 3. Tom Lenz 8L (1) 4. Joe Beaver 53 (3) / 5. Ergenbright 11 (5) 6. Jon Agan 4 (4) 7. John Hall 7H (7) 8. Virgil Brandt 2VK (8)
C. Thorson marched to the lead while Jason Johnson was eating up the field. A lap three caution for Brandt, who exited, set up the pass for the lead. Johnson went on to win by a healthy margin. Lenz and Beaver staged a tight race fro third.
Heat three (started): 1. Derek Drown 26 (1) 2. Tim Crawley 87 (4) 3. Brown 3 (6) 4. Clint Garner 40x (3) / 5. Moyle 86m (5) 6. Cody Branchcomb 94 (2) 7. Travis Scott 17 (7) 8. Frankie Heimbaugh 6x (8)
Drown led flag to flag in a single file race, for the most part after the first couple of laps. Moyle was driving a John Kearney car. This will be the final weekend for Kearney to be involved in sprint car racing. He is calling it quits after a very successful career, including the 2000 360 sprint championship.
Heat four (started): 1. Wayne Johnson 29 (4) 2. Tony Norem B1st (2) 3. Zach Chappell 50z (3) 4. Turner 69 (5) / 5. Ryan York 5R (1) 6. Schliemann 9m (6) 7. Jerry Kobza 93 (8) 8. Eric Mason B29 (7)
This heat was loaded at the front, making it difficult for any passing to take place. Mason spun on lap three, bringing out the caution. He went pitside. Gumout regular W. Johnson wrestled the lead from Norem, making his first Knoxville appearance of the year.
Heat five (started): 1. Terry Thorson 9 (2) 2. Darren Stewart 9s (3) 3. Dennis Park 10 (4) 4. McCarl 24 (6) / 5. Frey 2K (5) 6. Shane Liebig 10L (7) 7. Rob Edwards 22 (8) 8. Ricky Logan 7 (1)
Logan exited after moving backwards. T. Thorson led the distance. With two to go a good battle between McCarl and Frey ended with the former taking the final transfer.
B feature (started): 1. Droud (2) 2. Frey (5) / 3. Schliemann (1) 4. Moyle (4) 5. St. Arnold (11) 6. Agan (6) 7. Ergenbright (3) 8. Liebig (15) 9. Branchcomb (8) 10. Scott (13) 11. Jeff Johnson (7) 12. Mason (14) 13. York (9) 14. Edwards (19) 15. Heimbaugh (18) 16. Kobza (17) 17. Hall (12) DNS - Logan, Golik, Brandt, Pennington, Meyer
York avoided disaster on lap three after getting up on two wheels and shifting sideways in front of traffic. Luckily, good driving prevailed and everyone got around him. Droud led the distance. Frey raced well to grab the final transfer. Liebig was fun to watch, getting by seven cars to finish eighth. Hall, Kobza and Heimbaugh dropped from competition.
A feature (started): 1. W. Johnson (1) 2. McCarl (5) 3. Crawley (2) 4. Turner (4) 5. Swindell (8) 6. Jason Johnson (7) 7. Brown (6) 8. Moore (14) 9. Stewart (13) 10. Frey (22) 11. Park (9) 12. Ferrell (3) 13. Norem (16) 14. T. Thorson (17) 15. Lenz (19) 16. Drown (20) 17. Pyatt (18) 18. Garner (11) 19. Chappell (12) 20. C. Thorson (15) 21. Droud (21) 22. Beaver (10)
W. Johnson led the distance, but not without company. As Crawley was gaining in lapped traffic on lap ten, Droud cruised to a stop bringing out the caution. Droud became the second car to exit following Beaver. Lap thirteen saw Chappell getting high in the three and four, and flipping. C. Thorson could not avoid the wreckage and slammed into Chappell. Both drivers walked away, but were done. Garner exited on lap fourteen. Frey again made a charge, moving forward twelve spots to finish tenth. W. Johnson will be watching the Weather Channel on Saturday. He will head to Wisconsin for the Gumout/IRA Cheesetown Showdown, unless it rains. He will be surrendering a good starting spot in the main event on Saturday. His 360 machine is for sale at $22,000. McCarl made a late charge, but fell short.