Kyle Larson won Friday at Knoxville (Rob Kocak Photo)
Bryan Hulbert / Bill Wright - KNOXVILLE, Ia. (August 9, 2013) Drama abounded at the Knoxville Raceway Friday night as Kyle Larson raced to victory on National Speed Sport News qualifying night aboard the Abreu Vineyards No. 1KL, earning the seventeenth starting spot in Saturday’s $150,000 to win FVP Knoxville Nationals championship feature.
The 25 lap A-Feature began with a bang of sorts, as James McFadden spun across the track after tagging the back of Logan Schuchart entering turn one, collecting Austin McCarl, Robby Wolfgang, Tim Shaffer, and Rager Phillips. All drivers emerged unscathed.
Crossing 5.054 seconds ahead of Cap Henry, a caution with eight laps remaining allowed Larson to build his advantage as leaders were graced with a clear racetrack.
“I struggle in lapped traffic,” admitted Larson after his second career Knoxville victory. “I was really good in clean air, but once I got into dirty air I was pretty tight, and worried. I didn’t know how close second place was. Thankfully that yellow came out because I didn’t think I was ever going to get by that No. 49 car. From there I had clean air, and that was the key to winning.”
Cap Henry crossed second to earn his first career FVP Knoxville Nationals start as slower traffic racing with the leaders played to the advantage of the Champion Brands No. 54 on Lap 14, allowing Henry to work past Chad Kemenah.
“Me and A.J. are pretty good at making our cars really tight, and going where other people won’t and it showed tonight,” commented Henry on his finish. “I’m pretty excited. My goal was to run in the “B” so I guess we just skipped that and made the “A” Main.”
Kemenah ended up third with Jac Haudenschild taking the final spot into Saturday’s Feature event. Each of the top four finishers earned a $4,000 check for their finish.
Brandon Wimmer completed the top five with Jason Johnson sixth. Wayne Johnson, who transferred out of the first “B” Feature, clawed from twenty-first to seventh. Randy Hannagan, Jeff Swindell, and Davey Heskin completed the top ten.
Going back to the first B-Feature, Sammy Swindell crossed under the checkered flag with the car running out of fuel. Barely holding the transfer spot, the scales would deliver the final blow to Swindell’s night as the Platinum Edition No. 1 crossed light; putting Danny Dietrich in the show and placing Swindell in the “E” Feature on Saturday.
The second consolation feature saw R.J. Johnson lead until the final lap, only to cross fourth after contact with the wall cost the Tampa, Florida native dearly. Tim Shaffer, Austin McCarl, and Don Droud, Jr. moved on.
The National Speed Sport News World Challenge went to Australia’s Brooke Tatnell. Chasing down Jason Johnson from the start, slower traffic brought the opportunity Tatnell needed; getting the slide job on Johnson on the sixteenth circuit to earn the $10,000 bounty.
“I was asked at the Queen’s Pageant the other night what we thought our chances were and I said, we had a better chance of winning the Queen’s Pageant than winning the Nationals. Somehow we just got prettier overnight,” quipped the jubilant Brooke Tatnell.
Asked if he would take the “golden ticket” into Saturday’s feature event, Tatnell replied, “Can I have no seconds to think about it? I’m taking it baby. I’m taking it to the big dance.”
Tim Kaeding worked to second on Lap 21 followed quickly by Daryn Pittman. Jason Johnson settled for fourth with Donny Schatz rebounding to fifth after falling as far back as eighth.
The 53rd running of the FVP Knoxville Nationals concludes Saturday, August 10 with Hot Laps starting at 7:15 P.M. (CDT). The night will begin with the “E” Feature. Each consolation feature will take the top four drivers further up the ladder.
With Brooke Tatnell taking the #55 into Saturday’s 50 lap feature event, 25 drivers will now start the biggest Sprint Car race in the world for the first time ever.
For further information about the Knoxville Raceway, including news, points, and driver profiles log onto http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 1 lap: 1. 63, Chad Kemenah, Elvada, OH (29), 15.762; 2. 59, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (17), 15.763; 3. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (15), 15.895; 4. 1KL, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (69), 15.901; 5. 71J, R.J. Johnson, Tampa, FL (9), 15.958; 6. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (41), 16.007; 7. 40, Caleb Helms, Findlay, OH (49), 16.042; 8. 54, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (11), 16.052; 9. 7K, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (40), 16.053; 10. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (34), 16.055; 11. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (57), 16.063; 12. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (37), 16.073; 13. 2L, Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo, PA (7), 16.085; 14. 9w, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (14), 16.087; 15. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (61), 16.115; 16. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (42), 16.120; 17. 1s, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (38), 16.122; 18. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (54), 16.132; 19. 55xm, James McFadden, Brisbane, QLD, Aust. (13), 16.153; 20. 45, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (44), 16.153; 21. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (27), 16.159; 22. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (30), 16.177; 23. 1B, Robby Wolfgang, Sioux Falls, SD (5), 16.189; 24. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (28), 16.19; 25. 27, Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA (51), 16.204; 26. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (70), 16.211; 27. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aus (36), 16.220; 28. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (1), 16.221; 29. 0, Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA (46), 16.225; 30. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (62), 16.228; 31. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (4), 16.236; 32. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (23), 16.241; 33. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (25), 16.245; 34. 83, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (45), 16.271; 35. 17w, Cole Wood, Auburn, CA (24), 16.302; 36. 19M, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (56), 16.308; 37. o5L, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO (18), 16.353; 38. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (31), 16.353; 39. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (22), 16.381; 40. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (59), 16.385; 41. 9P, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (47), 16.387; 42. 1x, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (26), 16.403; 43. 17, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (53), 16.437; 44. 14AJ, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (65), 16.449; 45. 6BR, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (55), 16.511; 46. 93H, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (10), 16.537; 47. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (63), 16.575; 48. 4s, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (12), 16.584; 49. 2B, Dale Blaney, Fowler, OH (71), 16.606; 50. 20K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (39), 16.614; 51. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (58), 16.622; 52. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (3), 16.635; 53. 1K, Chris Shirek, Thompson, ND (2), 16.637; 54. 44w, Austen Wheatley, Lake Stevens, WA (50), 16.715; 55. 21x, Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN (48), 16.742; 56. 23, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (43), 16.784; 57. 93, Dustin Morgan, Tulsa, OK (66), 16.819; 58. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (33), 16.865; 59. 74x, Josh Hodges, Tijeras, NM (68), 16.875; 60. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (60), 16.898; 61. 1a, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (32), 16.914; 62. 80, Trey Gustin, West Union, OH (6), 16.922; 63. 2s, Lee Sowell, Lake Cormorant, MS (67), 17.011; 64. 10V, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (35), 17.263; 65. 01, Paul Morris, Gold Coast, QLD, Aus (16), 17.302; 66. 12P, TJ Peterson, Des Moines, IA (20), 17.394; 67. 20PK, Ron Krysl, Atkinson, NE (21), 17.640; 68. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (19), 17.907; 69. 7G, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (8), NT; 70. 71, Robert Bell, Colfax, IA (52), NT; 71. 28, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (64), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 laps, 2:10.6: 1. James McFadden (1); 2. Ed Lynch Jr. (2); 3. Chad Kemenah (4) / 4. Brad Loyet (7); 5. Bronson Maeschen (6); 6. Caleb Helms (3); 7. Lance Dewease (5); 8. Dale Blaney (9); 9. Jack Dover (8); 10. Jacob Allen (11); 11. Bryan Clauson (10); 12. Ron Krysl (12)
Heat two (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Jac Haudenschild (4); 2. Brandon Wimmer (2); 3. Cap Henry (3) / 4. Don Droud Jr. (6); 5. Thomas Kennedy (7); 6. Wayne Johnson (8); 7. Trey Gustin (9); 8. Jimmy Light (10); 9. Kevin Ingle (11); 10. Ryan Bunton (5); 11. Danny Holtgraver (1) DNS – Rico Abreu
Heat three (started), 8 laps, 2:09.1: 1. Davey Heskin (2); 2. Josh Schneiderman (1); 3. Dustin Selvage (3) / 4. Sammy Swindell (4); 5. Kraig Kinser (6); 6. Brooke Tatnell (5); 7. Bill Rose (8); 8. Kaley Gharst (10); 9. Skylar Prochaska (9); 10. Lee Sowell (11); 11. Rob Kubli (7) DNS - Dustin Morgan
Heat four (started), 8 laps, 2:09.3: 1. Randy Hannagan (3); 2. Kyle Larson (4); 3. Tasker Phillips (1) / 4. Austin McCarl (2); 5. Brady Bacon (7); 6. Tim Shaffer (6); 7. Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 8. AJ Moeller (5); 9. Mike Moore (9); 10. Bob Weuve (10); 11. Glen Saville (11); 12. Brian Paulus (12)
Heat five (started), 8 laps, 2:12.1: 1. Robby Wolfgang (1); 2. Logan Schuchart (2); 3. Rager Phillips (7) / 4. Jonathan Allard (5); 5. Johnny Herrera (8); 6. R.J. Johnson (4); 7. Josh Hodges (10); 8. Cole Wood (6); 9. Chris Shirek (9); 10. Paul Morris (11); 11. Greg Wilson (3) DNS - Robert Bell
Heat six (started), 8 laps, 2:17.5: 1. Jeff Swindell (2); 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 3. Jason Johnson (3) / 4. Bill Balog (5); 5. Tony Bruce Jr. (7); 6. Danny Dietrich (4); 7. Brent Marks (6); 8. Austen Wheatley (9); 9. Danny Smith (8); 10. Jarrod Schneiderman (10); 11. TJ Peterson (11)
C main (started), 10 laps, 2:57.7: 1. Rico Abreu (11) 2. Trey Gustin (2); 3. Kaley Gharst (9); 4. Jacob Allen (1) / 5. Kevin Ingle (8); 6. Paul Morris (5); 7. TJ Peterson (6); 8. Lee Sowell (3); 9. Glen Saville (4); 10. Brian Paulus (10); 11. Ron Krysl (7) DNS – Robert Bell
B main #1 (started), 12 laps, NT: 1. Bronson Maeschen (5) 2. Wayne Johnson (11) 3. Danny Dietrich (2) / 4. Cole Wood (7) 5. Brad Loyet (8) 6. Danny Smith (13) 7. Kraig Kinser (6) 8. Jimmy Light (17) 9. Kaley Gharst (18) 10. Sheldon Haudenschild (12) 11. Rob Kubli (9) 12. Mike Moore (15) 13. Tony Bruce Jr. (10) 14. Rico Abreu (19) 15. Brooke Tatnell (3) 16. Josh Hodges (16) 17. Austen Wheatley (14) 18. Jonathan Allard (4) DQ (Light at the Scales, crossed 3rd) Sammy Swindell (1) DNS - Greg Wilson, Danny Holtgraver, Thomas Kennedy
B main #2 (started), 12 laps, 3:36.2: 1. Tim Shaffer (8); 2. Austin McCarl (3); 3. Don Droud Jr. (7) / 4. R.J. Johnson (1); 5. Lance Dewease (4); 6. Johnny Herrera (14); 7. Skylar Prochaska (16); 8. Brent Marks (9); 9. Jack Dover (12); 10. Dale Blaney (15); 11. Caleb Helms (2); 12. Bill Rose (13); 13. Chris Shirek (17); 14. Jarrod Schneiderman (20); 15. Jacob Allen (22); 16. Bob Weuve (19); 17. Trey Gustin (21); 18. Brady Bacon (11); 19. Bryan Clauson (18); 20. AJ Moeller (5); 21. Ryan Bunton (10); 22. Bill Balog (6)
A main (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. Kyle Larson (3); 2. Cap Henry (4); 3. Chad Kemenah (1); 4. Jac Haudenschild (2); 5. Brandon Wimmer (9); 6. Jason Johnson (7) 7. Wayne Johnson (19) 8. Randy Hannagan (6); 9. Jeff Swindell (12); 10. Davey Heskin (10); 11. Don Droud Jr. (23) 12. James McFadden (13); 13. Bronson Maeschen (17) 14. Logan Schuchart (11); 15. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (15); 16. Josh Schneiderman (14); 17. Dustin Selvage (5); 18. Danny Dietrich (21) 19. Ed Lynch Jr. (8); 20. Robby Wolfgang (16); 21. Rager Phillips (18) 22. Tim Shaffer (18) 23. Austin McCarl (22) DNS - Tasker Phillips. Lap Leaders: Kemenah 1, Larson 2-25. Hard-charger: W. Johnson.
Speed Sport World Challenge (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. Brooke Tatnell (1); 2. Tim Kaeding (6); 3. Daryn Pittman (10); 4. Jason Johnson (2); 5. Donny Schatz (7); 6. Rico Abreu (3); 7. Ian Madsen (4); 8. Shane Stewart (14); 9. Wayne Johnson (15); 10. Terry McCarl (5); 11. Kerry Madsen (12); 12. James McFadden (17); 13. Kevin Swindell (11); 14. Jason Sides (8); 15. David Gravel (13); 16. Lynton Jeffrey (9); 17. Danny Dietrich (20); 18. Paul Morris (25); 19. Tim Shaffer (24); 20. Danny Smith (23); 21. Jonathan Allard (21); 22. Bill Rose (18); 23. Glen Saville (22); 24. Jack Dover (16); 25. Thomas Kennedy (19). Lap Leaders: J. Johnson 1-15, Tatnell 16-25. Hard-charger: Pittman.
Lineups for the 53rd Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals
A main
1. 71m, Joey Saldana
2. 21, Brian Brown
3. 57, Shane Stewart
4. 1D, Justin Henderson
5. 49K, Brad Sweet
6. 51, Paul McMahan
7. 6, David Gravel
8. 29, Kerry Madsen
9. 71s, Kevin Swindell
10. 4, Cody Darrah
11. 9, Daryn Pittman
12. 11, Steve Kinser
13. 33, Danny Lasoski
14. 19s, Stevie Smith
15. 11c, Roger Crockett
16. 39, Greg Hodnett
17. 1KL, Kyle Larson
18. 54, Cap Henry
19. 63, Chad Kemenah
20. 59, Jac Haudenschild
25. Brooke Tatnell
B main
1. 12, Lynton Jeffrey
2. 82, Scott Winters
3. 7s, Jason Sides
4. 15, Donny Schatz
5. 83JR, Tim Kaeding
6. 7, Craig Dollansky
7. 24, Terry McCarl
8. 18, Ian Madsen
9. 91, Dusty Zomer
10. 13, Mark Dobmeier
11. 9w, Brandon Wimmer
12. 41, Jason Johnson
13. 14AJ, Wayne Johnson
14. 11N, Randy Hannagan
15. 94, Jeff Swindell
16. 56, Davey Heskin
17. 47, Don Droud Jr.
18. 55xm, James McFadden
19. 96, Bronson Maeschen
20. 1s, Logan Schuchart
C main
1. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
2. 49, Josh Schneiderman
3. 7K, Dustin Selvage
4. 48, Danny Dietrich
5. 2L, Ed Lynch Jr.
6. 1B, Robby Wolfgang
7. 9P, Rager Phillips
8. 83, Tim Shaffer
9. 17A, Austin McCarl
10. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips
11. 17w, Cole Wood
12. 71J, RJ Johnson
13. o5L, Brad Loyet
14. 27, Lance Dewease
15. 4s, Danny Smith
16. 45x, Johnny Herrera
17. 11K, Kraig Kinser
18. 35, Skylar Prochaska
19. 23, Jimmy Light
20. 19M, Brent Marks
D main
1. 7G, Kaley Gharst
2. 17, Jack Dover
3. 93H, Sheldon Haudenschild
4. 2B, Dale Blaney
5. 23K, Rob Kubli
6. 40, Caleb Helms
7. 69, Mike Moore
8. 6BR, Bill Rose
9. 1x, Tony Bruce Jr.
10. 1K, Chris Shirek
11. 24R, Rico Abreu
12. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman
13. 1a, Jacob Allen
14. 74x, Josh Hodges
15. 19, Bob Weuve
16. 0, Jonathan Allard
17. 80, Trey Gustin
18. 44w, Austen Wheatley
19. 99, Brady Bacon
20. W20, Greg Wilson
E main
1. 21x, Bryan Clauson
2. 45, Danny Holtgraver
3. 20, AJ Moeller
4. 20K, Thomas Kennedy
5. 6R, Ryan Bunton
6. 1, Sammy Swindell
7. 17B, Bill Balog
8. 2K, Kevin Ingle
9. 01, Paul Morris
10. 12P, TJ Peterson
11. 2s, Lee Sowell
12. 10V, Glen Saville
13. 20PK, Ron Krysl
14. 28, Brian Paulus
15. 71, Robert Bell