Bronson Maeschen is all smiles in Victory Lane with Cappy at the Capitani Classic (Conrad Nelson Photo)
Bryan Hulbert/Bill Wright - Knoxville, Iowa (August 5, 2012) Taking off from the pole, Bronson Maeschen wired the field en-route to victory in the 1st annual Ralph Capitani Classic over the hard charging Tim Shaffer.
Asked about what it meant to capture the Capitani classic, the Pleasantville, Iowa racer was elated, "This is pretty awesome. It took us years to get the first now to get a couple in the same month. We didn't do any winning when Capi was around so I'm glad he's back and I got to win with him up here."
Taking off to a nearly three second advantage by lap two, the caution lights would blink on around the Knoxville Raceway on lap three for the spun No. 1k of Kyle Larson.
Single file past the cone, Maeschen would utilize the inside line to again pull to a commanding lead as the battle on the racetrack was for third with Joey Saldana in pursuit of team mate Cody Darrah. Keeping pace on the top groove, the KKR No. 9 of Saldana would settle into fourth as Darrah held the show position.
Moving back in the field the next battle on the surface stretched from sixth to tenth as Brian Brown looked to hold off Danny Lasoski, Tim Kaeding, Daryn Pittman, and the hard charging Shane Stewart.
Getting the pass into eighth, the Kick it for Children's Cancer No. 57 would begin battling with Brown. Holding sixth, the FVP No. 21 would ultimately succumb to pressure from Tim Kaeding as the Roth Motorsports No. 83 drove back into contention.
Back at the front of the field, Maeschen was out to another three second advantage with only ten laps in the books and the back of the field in sight. With his advantage now in jeopardy, the Keenist Implement Detailing No. 96 would see his preferred low line blocked as the C.H. Motorsports No. 83 ran full tilt on clear racetrack.
Bumper to Bumper with ten laps to go both drivers dove to the inside of turns one and two. Looking for the pass in turn three, Shaffer would have to hit the brakes as a slower car dropped into the fast lane; giving Maeschen an eight car length advantage.
Into more slower traffic with laps clicking off the scoreboard, the final five laps would see Maeschen and Shaffer having to hit their marks perfectly as the pair mingled amongst the back markers. Working into the final two laps, the run for the lead was on as Tim Shaffer lined up only to be held up again by traffic while Bronson Maeschen raced to his second career victory at the Knoxville Raceway.
Tim Shaffer would settle for the runner up spot with Joey Saldana getting the late race pass into third. Cody Darrah was fourth with Tim Kaeding clawing from thirteenth to fifth.
Brad Sweet crossed the line sixth with Brian Brown seventh. Jason Johnson, who was an alternate in the nights feature before Donny Schatz scratched from the line-up drove from twenty-third to eighth with Danny Lasoski and fifteenth starting Shane Stewart making up the top ten.
The 52nd Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals kick into gear this Wednesday night, August 8! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order, 2 laps) 1. 98, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aus (1), 15.520; 2. 1z, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (26), 15.525; 3. 19, Stevie Smith, Broken Arrow, OK (3), 15.629; 4. 9, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (8), 15.647; 5. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (10), 15.656; 6. 77x, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (11), 15.667; 7. 51, Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, PA (5), 15.706; 8. 9K, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (19), 15.715; 9. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (38), 15.722; 10. 49K, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (6), 15.741; 11. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 15.747; 12. 28, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (20), 15.756; 13. 4D, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (64), 15.779; 14. 83, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (21), 15.792; 15. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (36), 15.811; 16. 27, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (4), 15.818; 17. 29, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aus (25), 15.857; 18. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (62), 15.884; 19. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (17), 15.886; 20. D4, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (13), 15.910; 21. 83JR, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (46), 15.926; 22. 2L, Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo, PA (41), 15.930; 23. 57, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (9), 15.969; 24. 55xm, James McFadden, Brisbane, QLD, Aust. (12), 16.012; 25. 1K, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (15), 16.039; 26. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (23), 16.097; 27. 7K, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (30), 16.125; 28. 35AU, Jamie Veal, Warrnambool, VIC, Au (51), 16.181; 29. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (50), 16.183; 30. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (33), 16.197; 31. 82, Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD (63), 16.200; 32. 1x, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (40), 16.226; 33. 2, Dale Blaney, Fowler, OH (60), 16.271; 34. 91, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (54), 16.285; 35. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (43), 16.287; 36. 4, Danny Smith, Danville, IN (7), 16.289; 37. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (24), 16.311; 38. 55, Ian Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust (48), 16.315; 39. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (22), 16.328; 40. 6x, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (56), 16.338; 41. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (31), 16.342; 42. 35, Skyler Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (27), 16.359; 43. 89G, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (28), 16.370; 44. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (52), 16.378; 45. 55x, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (55), 16.427; 46. 66, Geoff Dodge, Speedway, IN (67), 16.447; 47. 21m, Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA (57), 16.457; 48. 1s, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (59), 16.504; 49. 71, Kevin Swindell, Charlotte, NC (39), 16.506; 50. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (47), 16.528; 51. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (35), 16.554; 52. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (29), 16.558; 53. 4K, Paul Jeffrey, Kellyville, NSW, Aus (18), 16.638; 54. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (37), 16.737; 55. 0s, Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, ONT, Can. (44), 16.826; 56. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (32), 16.847; 57. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (45), 16.886; 58. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (16), 16.906; 59. 0, Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA (53), 16.941; 60. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (65), 16.991; 61. 81, Austin Johnson, Shakopee, MN (49), 17.737; 62. 47AU, Trevor Reynolds, Perth, WA, Aust. (61), 17.823; 63. 11, Roger Crockett, Medford, OR (34), 18.079; 64. 12P, TJ Peterson, Des Moines, IA (42), 18.266; 65. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (14), NT; 66. 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA (58), NT; 67. DQ (Weight) 10, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (66).
Heat one (started), 8 laps, 2:09.8: 1. Josh Schneiderman (1) 2. Cody Darrah (2) 3. Brooke Tatnell (4) / 4. Justin Henderson (6) 5. Fred Rahmer (3) 6. David Gravel (8) 7. Jason Johnson (7) 8. Kyle Larson (5) 9. Kevin Swindell (9) 10. Glenn Styres (10) DNS – Austin Johnson, Rob Kubli
Heat two (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Tim Shaffer (2) 2. Danny Lasoski (4) 3. Joey Saldana (3) / 4. Davey Heskin (8) 5. Randy Hannagan (6) 6. Don Droud Jr. (10) 7. Ian Madsen (7) 8. Mike Moore (9) 9. Trevor Reynolds (11) 10. Danny Holtgraver (1) 11. Ryan Bunton (5)
Heat three (started), 8 laps, 2:12.0: 1. Bronson Maeschen (2) 2. Tim Kaeding (1) 3. Brian Brown (3) / 4. Stevie Smith (4) 5. Dale Blaney (6) 6. Jeff Swindell (5) 7. Trey Starks (8) 8. Johnny Herrera (9) 9. Glen Saville (7) 10. Greg Wilson (10) 11. Roger Crockett (11)
Heat four (started), 8 laps, 2:12.3: 1. Ed Lynch Jr. (1) 2. Brad Sweet (3) 3. Daryn Pittman (2) / 4. Jamie Veal (5) 5. Rager Phillips (4) 6. Dusty Zomer (6) 7. Kaley Gharst (7) 8. Geoff Dodge (8) 9. Tony Bruce Jr. (9) 10. Kevin Ingle (10) DNS – TJ Peterson
Heat five (started), 8 laps, 2:11.8: 1. Shane Stewart (1) 2. Kerry Madsen (2) 3. Tasker Phillips (3) / 4. Mark Dobmeier (5) 5. Jonathan Allard (10) 6. Jason Meyers (8) 7. Austin McCarl (7) 8. Sheldon Haudenschild (11) 9. Brady Bacon (4) 10. Paul Jeffrey (9) 11. AJ Moeller (6)
Heat six (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (2) 2. Wayne Johnson (4) 3. Terry McCarl (5) / 4. James McFadden (1) 5. Logan Schuchart (8) 6. Lynton Jeffrey (9) 7. Brian Paulus (3) 8. Danny Smith (6) 9. Jarrod Schneiderman (10) 10. Skyler Prochaska (7)
Dash of States (started), NT: 1. Stevie Smith (4) 2. Dale Blaney (9) 3. Justin Henderson (2) 4. Jeff Swindell (5) 5. Joey Saldana (11) 6. Brad Sweet (6) 7. Brady Bacon (10) 8. Brooke Tatnell (7) 9. Ryan Bunton (8) 10. Danny Lasoski (1) 11. Rager Phillips (3) DNS – Donny Schatz
B Feature #1 (started), 12 laps, NT: 1. Justin Henderson (5) 2. James McFadden (3) / 3. Jason Johnson (7) 4. Kevin Swindell (11) 5. Fred Rahmer (2) 6. David Gravel (9) 7. Kaley Gharst (8) 8. Jeff Swindell (4) 9. Glenn Styres (13) 10. Tony Bruce Jr. (12) 11. Geoff Dodge (10) 12. Seth Bergman (16) 13. Dusty Zomer (6) 14. Kevin Ingle (14)
B Feature #2 (started), 12 laps, 3:37.5: 1. Rager Phillips (1) 2. Kyle Larson (3) / 3. Brian Paulus (2) 4. Jason Meyers (10) 5. Jonathan Allard (14) 6. Davey Heskin (9) 7. Jamie Veal (4) 8. Ian Madsen (7) 9. Don Droud Jr. (13) 10. Randy Hannagan (5) 11. Roger Crockett (15) 12. Mike Moore (11) 14. Paul Jeffrey (12)
B Feature #3 (started), 12 laps, NT: 1. Brady Bacon (1) 2. Dale Blaney (5) / 3. Danny Holtgraver (2) 4. Mark Dobmeier (4) 5. Danny Smith (6) 6. Ryan Bunton (3) 7. Glen Saville (7) 8. Greg Wilson (13) 9. Trey Starks (9) 10. Lynton Jeffrey (12) 11. Johnny Herrera (11) 12. Skyler Prochaska (8) 13. Logan Schuchart (10) 14. Jarrod Schneiderman (14)
A main (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. Bronson Maeschen (1) 2. Tim Shaffer (2) 3. Joey Saldana (7) 4. Cody Darrah (3) 5. Tim Kaeding (13) 6. Brad Sweet (5) 7. Brian Brown (6) 8. Jason Johnson (23) 9. Danny Lasoski (9) 10. Shane Stewart (15) 11. Daryn Pittman (11) 12. Terry McCarl (18) 13. Kyle Larson (21) 14. Kerry Madsen (12) 15. Ed Lynch Jr. (16) 16. Tasker Phillips (4) 17. James McFadden (22) 18. Rager Phillips (20) 19. Josh Schneiderman (14) 20. Brooke Tatnell (10) 21. Justin Henderson (17) 22. Wayne Johnson (8) 23. Brady Bacon (19) 24. Dale Blaney (24). Lap Leader: Maeschen 1-25. Hard-charger: J. Johnson.