David Gravel celebrates his prelim win at the Knoxville Nationals (Rob Kocak Photo)
Bryan Hulbert / Bill Wright - KNOXVILLE, Ia. (August 7, 2013) The 53rd running of the FVP Knoxville Nationals kicked off with David Gravel picking up his first Knoxville Raceway triumph on Racingjunk.com qualifying night, crossing under the double checkered flags by 0.929 seconds as the fuel cell ran dry.
Starting his night timing eleventh quick, the FMR Racing No.6 coasted across the line for third in Heat one with an expired engine.
“I was nervous there. That was our best motor we blew up and this was our little motor,” commented Gravel.
“With the track slicking off like this, you know it was just perfect. It ran awesome but with about four to go, it started stumbling and man, I just got past the finish line. I had no fuel left at all, and I was scared to make weight; but we made weight. It was a stressful night; a very, very, stressful night.”
Working on early leader Greg Hodnett following a caution for Johnny Herrera, the Wright Process Systems No. 6 shot to the cushion to complete the pass on Lap three exiting turn four.
Restarting following a caution on lap seven, Gravel pulled a ten car length advantage on Hodnett with Josh Schneiderman going after the Eagle Steel No. 39, but ultimately surrendered third to Brad Sweet before the caution flew again on Lap nine for the No. 18 of Ian Madsen.
Taking the green with 16 laps to go, Sweet jumped to the runner up spot as Josh Schneiderman’s night came to a close, while running fourth, with a broken rear-end assembly.
Underway for the final time, Gravel went uncontested to the finish. Brad Sweet crossed second, with Tim Kaeding coming from twelfth to complete the podium. Greg Hodnett crossed fourth with Daryn Pittman earning the hard charger of the night, coming from twenty-fourth to complete the top five.
Shane Stewart settled for sixth with Justin Henderson seventh. Paul McMahan crossed eighth followed by B-Feature winner Jason Sides. Defending FVP Knoxville Nationals Champion, Donny Schatz, completed the top ten after finishing third in the B-Feature.
Shane Stewart and Justin Henderson are currently tied in the points after the opening night of the FVP Knoxville Nationals with 481. Brad Sweet (480), Paul McMahan (477), David Gravel (474) complete the top five.
The 53rd FVP Knoxville Nationals continues on Thursday, August 8 with Hot Laps scheduled for 7:15 P.M. (CDT). News and information can be found at http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order): 1. 51, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (27), 15.210; 2. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (7), 15.218; 3. 1D, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (19), 15.227; 4. 57, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (38), 15.253; 5. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (1), 15.274; 6. 7s, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (32), 15.289; 7. 49K, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (26), 15.296; 8. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (14), 15.312; 9. 9, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (15), 15.335; 10. 1KL, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (12), 15.388; 11. 6, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (25), 15.420; 12. 2B, Dale Blaney, Fowler, OH (11), 15.432; 13. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (6), 15.444; 14. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (20), 15.462; 15. 39, Greg Hodnett, Thomasville, PA (8), 15.477; 16. 7K, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (9), 15.477; 17. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (17), 15.528; 18. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (4), 15.529; 19. 63, Chad Kemenah, Elvada, OH (35), 15.530; 20. 54, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (34), 15.533; 21. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (41), 15.538; 22. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (37), 15.539; 23. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (48), 15.547; 24. 83JR, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (42), 15.560; 25. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (22), 15.569; 26. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (18), 15.585; 27. 2L, Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo, PA (28), 15.605; 28. 0, Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA (21), 15.617; 29. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (10), 15.632; 30. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (39), 15.649; 31. 19M, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (13), 15.668; 32. 9w, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (36), 15.724; 33. 1a, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (3), 15.731; 34. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (31), 15.759; 35. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (29), 15.761; 36. 55xm, James McFadden, Brisbane, QLD, Aust. (33), 15.766; 37. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (5), 15.770; 38. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (44), 15.806; 39. 10V, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (24), 15.882; 40. 2s, Lee Sowell, Lake Cormorant, MS (40), 15.931; 41. 93, Dustin Morgan, Tulsa, OK (49), 15.966; 42. 17w, Cole Wood, Auburn, CA (2), 16.031; 43. 2m, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (46), 16.047; 44. 40, Caleb Helms, Findlay, OH (23), 16.106; 45. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (16), 16.187; 46. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (45), 16.218; 47. 20PK, Ron Krysl, Atkinson, NE (47), 17.133; 48. 12P, TJ Peterson, Des Moines, IA (43), 17.147; 49. 45J, Mark Johnson, Des Moines, IA (30), NT.
Heat one (started), 10 laps, 2:37.0: 1. Don Droud Jr. (4); 2. James McFadden (1); 3. David Gravel (6); 4. Paul McMahan (8) / 5. Dustin Selvage (5); 6. Brent Marks (2); 7. Jason Sides (7); 8. Tasker Phillips (3) / 9. Dustin Morgan (9); 10. Dustin Clark (10)
Heat two (started), 10 laps, 2:40.0: 1. Brandon Wimmer (2); 2. Jeff Swindell (4); 3. Brad Sweet (7); 4. Bob Weuve (1) / 5. Ed Lynch Jr. (3); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (8); 7. Sammy Swindell (5); 8. Dale Blaney (6) / 9. Cole Wood (9); 10. Ron Krysl (10)
Heat three (started), 10 laps, 2:41.1: 1. Randy Hannagan (4); 2. Justin Henderson (8); 3. Brady Bacon (1); 4. Ian Madsen (6) / 5. Donny Schatz (7); 6. Jacob Allen (2); 7. Jonathan Allard (3); 8. Danny Dietrich (5) / 9. Matt Moro (9); 10. TJ Peterson (10)
Heat four (started), 10 laps, 2:37.3: 1. Tim Kaeding (4); 2. Shane Stewart (8); 3. Skylar Prochaska (2); 4. Josh Schneiderman (6) / 5. Daryn Pittman (7); 6. Austin McCarl (3); 7. Glen Saville (1); 8. Caleb Helms (9) / 9. Chad Kemenah (5) DNS – Mark Johnson
Heat five (started), 10 laps, 2:40.3: 1. Johnny Herrera (2); 2. Kraig Kinser (3); 3. Jason Johnson (4); 4. Greg Hodnett (6) / 5. Kyle Larson (7); 6. Davey Heskin (8); 7. Cap Henry (5); 8. Lee Sowell (1) / 9. Kevin Ingle (9)
C main (started), 8 laps, 2:10.2: 1. Chad Kemenah (1); 2. Matt Moro (4); 3. Cole Wood (3); 4. Ron Krysl (7); 6. Dustin Morgan (2) DNS - Kevin Ingle, Dustin Clark, Mark Johnson
B main (started), 12 laps, NT: 1. Jason Sides (3); 2. Lynton Jeffrey (1); 3. Donny Schatz (5); 4. Daryn Pittman (4) / 5. Davey Heskin (2); 6. Kyle Larson (6); 7. Sammy Swindell (9); 8. Dustin Selvage (8); 9. Jonathan Allard (14); 10. Tasker Phillips (12); 11. Austin McCarl (15); 12. Cap Henry (11); 13. Danny Dietrich (10); 14. Jacob Allen (17); 15. Cole Wood (23); 16. Caleb Helms (20); 17. Glen Saville (18); 18. Brent Marks (16); 19. Matt Moro (22); 20. Ed Lynch Jr. (13); 21. Ron Krysl (24); 22. Dale Blaney (7); 23. Lee Sowell (19); 24. Chad Kemenah (21)
A main (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. David Gravel (4); 2. Brad Sweet (5); 3. Tim Kaeding (12); 4. Greg Hodnett (1); 5. Daryn Pittman (24); 6. Shane Stewart (6); 7. Justin Henderson (7); 8. Paul McMahan (8); 9. Jason Sides (21); 10. Donny Schatz (23); 11. Jason Johnson (13); 12. Brandon Wimmer (15); 13. Brady Bacon (20); 14. Lynton Jeffrey (22); 15. Randy Hannagan (11); 16. Don Droud Jr. (9); 17. James McFadden (18); 18. Ian Madsen (3); 19. Jeff Swindell (10); 20. Skylar Prochaska (16); 21. Bob Weuve (19); 22. Kraig Kinser (14); 23. Josh Schneiderman (2); 24. Johnny Herrera (17). Lap Leaders: Hodnett 1-2, Gravel 3-25. Hard-charger: Pittman.
Point Totals After Night #1
1. 57, Shane Stewart 481
2. 1D, Justin Henderson 481
3. 49K, Brad Sweet 480
4. 51, Paul McMahan 477
5. 6, David Gravel 474
6. 9, Daryn Pittman 464
7. 39, Greg Hodnett 457
8. 12, Lynton Jeffrey 457
9. 7s, Jason Sides 456
10. 15, Donny Schatz 456
11. 83JR, Tim Kaeding 450
12. 18, Ian Madsen 433
13. 47, Don Droud Jr. 430
14. 11N, Randy Hannagan 428
15. 41, Jason Johnson 426
16. 49, Josh Schneiderman 421
17. 94, Jeff Swindell 419
18. 56, Davey Heskin 419
19. 9w, Brandon Wimmer 416
20. 1KL, Kyle Larson 410
21. 11K, Kraig Kinser 397
22. 99, Brady Bacon 396
23. 55XM, James McFadden 395
24. 7K, Dustin Selvage 394
25. 35, Skylar Prochaska 390
26. 1, Sammy Swindell 388
27. 45x, Johnny Herrera 386
28. 19, Bob Weuve 379
29. 54, Cap Henry 372
30. 48, Danny Dietrich 371
31. 2B, Dale Blaney 365
32. 0, Jonathan Allard 362
33. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips 361
34. 17A, Austin McCarl 359
35. 2L, Ed Lynch Jr. 348
36. 1a, Jacob Allen 345
37. 63, Chad Kemenah 344
38. 19M, Brent Marks 341
39. 10V, Glen Saville 324
40. 17w, Cole Wood 316
41. 40, Caleb Helms 313
42. 2s, Lee Sowell 307
43. 2m, Matt Moro 306
44. 20PK, Ron Krysl 291
45. 93, Dustin Morgan 286
46. 2K, Kevin Ingle 276
47. 12P, TJ Peterson 271
48. 16, Dustin Clark 269
49. 45J, Mark Johnson 261