8/4/02
Knoxville Raceway
360 Tournament of Champions
45 cars
URC heat (started): 1. Trevor Lewis 15 (2) 2. Chris Coyle 56 (4) 3. Dave Ely 5G (6) / 4. Roger Rager 6R (8, Wissota alt.) 5. Kramer Williamson 00 (1) 6. Terry Thorson 9T (9, Knoxville alt.) 7. Bill Brian Jr. 16u (7) 8. Kevin Welsh 18w (3) 9. Greg Coverdale 97 (5)
Lewis led the distance. Coyle and Ely battled with Coyle getting the advantage at the stripe by a car length. Rager was impressive, advancing himself four spots. The first four heats took the top three finishers to the A.
ESS heat (started): 1. Ryan Coniam 6 (2) 2. Erin Crocker 16 (1) 3. Mike Woodring 19 (4) / 4. Randy Combs 1c (9, WOW alt.) 5. Brett Golik 15G (6, Knoxville alt.) 6. Tracy Nichols 19N (7, WOW alt.) 7. Mitchell Moore 2D (8, NSCA alt.) 8. Jim Kouba (5, Wissota alt.) 9. Lance Yonge 5 (3)
Yonge lost a motor while running third on lap nine of the ten lap event. Coniam used the open tire rule to his advantage, setting a new track record for the distance. He left the field behind in a mostly single file event.
Knoxville heat (started): 1. Josh Higday 24 (2) 2. Clint Garner 40 (6) 3. Dave Hesmer 1 (8) / 4. Brian Brown 3 (9) 5. Ryan Menninga 10 (1) 6. Mike Houseman Y5 (4) 7. Joe Beaver 53 (5) 8. Doug Wilson 33w (7) 9. Ryan Anderson 71R (3)
R. Anderson flipped hard in turn three of the first lap. He was done for the night. Higday led the distance. In the most entertaining heat race of the night, Hesmer moved around Menninga with two laps to go in a classic duel. Brown followed suit from the tail, but was one spot out of a transfer.
ASCS heat (started): 1. Travis Rilat 1A (1) 2. Toby Brown 61a (4) 3. Jason Johnson 41 (3) / 4. Zach Chappell 50z (5) 5. Michael Dupuy 4m (6) 6. Curtis Thorson 91 (9, Knoxville alt.) 7. Johnny Anderson 7a (7, Knoxville alt.) 8. Mike Chadd 4c (8, NSCA alt.) 9. Gary Wright 9 (2)
Wright dropped out with mechanical ills on lap four. Rilat left the field behind, while T. Brown and J. Johnson battled. J. Johnson ended up just shy of second place at the finish line.
"Best" Heat (started): 1. Loren Langerud 56L (4, Wissota) 2. Tim Doogs 21D (2, WOW) 3. Rob Caho Jr. B1st (1, Wissota) 4. Jake Peters 57x (6, NSCA) 5. Chuck Swenson X (7, Wissota) 6. Bobby Hawks 5H (5, WOW) 7. Mike Trent 50 (8, WOW) 8. Rick Ideus 5B (3, NSCA) 9. Billy Alley 22 (9, NSCA)
This heat took the top three competitors from the different organizations, so Langerud, Doogs and Peters were the transfers. Langerud led flag to flag, while Peters dropped back early, but came on strong the last two laps and almost passed Caho for third.
URC B main (started): 1. Rager (1) 2. Brian (4) / 3. Coverdale (6) 4. Welsh (5) 5. T. Thorson (3) 6. Williamson (2)
Rager won in impressive fashion, while it was all Brian could do to hold off Coverdale at the checkered flag. The top two cars transferred to the A out of the four B mains.
ESS B main (started): 1. Nichols (3) 2. Combs (1) / 3. M. Moore (4) 4. Golik (2) 5. Kouba (5) DNS - Yonge
Nichols made his winning move under Combs with two circuits remaining.
Knoxville B main (started): 1. Brown (1) 2. Beaver (4) / 3. Houseman (3) 4. Menninga (2) 5. Wilson (5) DNS - R. Anderson
Brown was gone. Good racing between Houseman and Menninga for third. Wilson dropped out on lap three.
ASCS B main (started): 1. Chappell (1) 2. Dupuy (2) / 3. C. Thorson (3) 4. J. Anderson (4) 5. Chadd (5) DNS - Wright
Wright tried but could not make the call. Chappell and Dupuy exchanged the lead twice in the six-lapper, with Chappell prevailing by a fraction of a second. C. Thorson and J. Anderson also exchanged positions a couple of times.
A main (started) 1. Higday (2) 2. Rilat (1) 3. Garner (7) 4. J. Johnson (11) 5. Dupuy (21) 6. Lewis (4) 7. Coyle (9) 8. Rager (19) 9. Brian (24) 10. Trent (25, prov.) 11. Coverdale (29, prov.) 12. Coniam (3) 13. Swenson (20, prov.) 14. Doogs (10) 15. Nichols (18) 16. Yonge (28, prov.) 17. Combs (23) 18. Langerud (5) 19. Hesmer (12) 20. Chappell (16) 21. B. Brown (17) 22. T. Brown (6) 23. Crocker (8) 24. Ely (14) 25. Wilson (27, prov.) 26. C. Thorson (26, prov.) 27. Peters (15) 28. Woodring (13) 29. Beaver (22) 30. Alley (30, prov.)
Rilat darted to a quick lead, but before a lap could be completed, Higday slid him in turn four to take a lead he would never relinquish. Lap two saw Peters jump the cushion, flip, and collect Woodring and Beaver. No one was injured, but they all would watch from the pits. Alley also retired at this point. Hesmer stopped on the front stretch before the restart, sending him to the tail. Chappell, C. Thorson and Combs all made contact on the restart and were lucky to continue. The yellow was brought out for the trio, however, and C. Thorson pulled in. The race went non-stop with Higday getting into traffic before a caution was brought out for a stopped Wilson on lap eleven. The restart order was Higday, Rilat, Garner who had moved up, Langerud who was running strong but beginning to smoke, J. Johnson and B. Brown. B. Brown spun in turn two when the green fell, possibly because of a tire going down. He collected Ely and T. Brown in the mess and all were done. Crocker also retired because of a lifter problem at this point. The race again went non-stop and at the halfway mark of the 30 lapper, the order was Higday, Rilat, Garner, J. Johnson and Langerud with Dupuy on the move behind them. Lap 17 saw Hesmer suffer a flat left rear ending his night. Langerud was still in the top five when his motor gave way on lap 21. Higday was able to hold his advantage with a clear track in front of him and Rilat in tow. Higday lapped all but the top six cars in the event. Coverdale, the winner of the inaugaral Tournament of Champions in Knoxville moved up 18 spots earning hard-charger honors. Dupuy passed sixteen cars, while Trent and Brian got by 15.