8/14/09
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville Nationals - Friday Night
Non-qualifiers
Semi-Feature one (started): 1. Daryn Pittman 17 (2) 2. Don Droud Jr. 47 (4) 3. Erin Crocker 59 (3) 4. Matthew Reed v92 (1) 5. Josh Schneiderman 49 (9) 6. Kenny Jacobs 25 (13) 7. Rob Chaney 7KX (7) 8. Jesse Hockett 13J (6) / 9. Caleb Griffith 12c (11) 10. Ben Gregg 22B (8) 11. Geoff Dodge 7m (16) 12. Greg Hall 4wa (5) 13. Chris Schmelzle 57c (14) 14. Jordan Goldesberry 65 (10) 15. Patrick Bourke 27 (17) 16. Kevin Ingle 2K (15) 17. Clint Garner 40 (12)
A new Friday format looked like a winner, as three semi-features taking the top eight to the A main were put in place of heats. The semis were 15 laps in distance and inverted the top six in points. Pittman led the distance, with only one stoppage. Garner couldn't get off the track with five laps down when trying to exit. The restart saw Pittman ahead of Droud Jr., Crocker, Reed, a charging Schneiderman and Hockett. K. Jacobs was able to get by several cars early to move into a transfer spot.
Semi-feature two (started): 1. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (1) 2. Randy Hannagan 1x (3) 3. Lynton Jeffrey 12 (6) 4. Toni Lutar 4x (5) 5. Austin McCarl 17A (4) 6. Jason Sides 7s (11) 7. Bill Balog 17B (8) 8. John Lambertz 12L (2) / 9. Davey Heskin 56 (9) 10. Ricky Montgomery 33 (10) 11. Bill Rose 6R (13) 12. Ty Bartz 46 (12) 13. Bob Weuve 19 (7) 14. Pete Crall 1PC (15) 15. Scott Uttech 3K (16) 16. Matt Wasmund 4w (17) 17. Marlon Jones 9m (14)
Bartz spun on the backstretch before a lap could be completed. Bruce Jr. led most of the way before Hannagan stole the lead on lap 11 in traffic. The non-stop event saw Hannagan blow the bottom out of his engine on the white flag lap. He was able to limp home second behind Bruce. Sides was the mover, and advanced several spots late in the going.
Semi-feature three (started): 1. Brad Sweet 91 (4) 2. Cody Darrah 89 (1) 3. Sammy Swindell 10s (7) 4. Josh Higday 81 (2) 5. Lance Dewease 30c (3) 6. Travis Rilat 2m (8) 7. Kaley Gharst 7K (6) 8. Chad Meyer 4H (5) / 9. Scott Winters 23w (11) 10. Dennis Moore Jr. 20 (13) 11. Mike Moore 69 (9) 12. Brian Ellenberger 22N (10) 13. Mike Benson 77 (14) 14. Greg Nikitenko 6N (12) DNS - Joey Moughan 55B, Ryan Bickett 17RB, Robert Bell 71
Darrah shot out to an early lead with Higday settling behind him. Sweet did well to move into second, by lap 13 when Benson came to a stop with a detonated powerplant. Darrah led Sweet, Higday, Swindell and Dewease back to green flag racing. Swindell used a slider to move by Higday for third, while Sweet pegged the low side for a winning pass with two to go.
A main (started): 1. Swindell (9) 2. Sweet (3) 3. Hannagan (5) 4. Pittman (1) 5. Droud Jr. (4) 6. Dewease (15) 7. Darrah (6) 8. Jeffrey (8) 9. Sides (17) 10. Bruce Jr. (2) 11. Gharst (21) 12. Lutar (11) 13. Schneiderman (13) 14. Higday (12) 15. Balog (20) 16. Chaney (19) 17. Lambertz (23) 18. A. McCarl (14) 19. Meyer (24) 20. Hockett (22) 21. K. Jacobs (16) 22. Reed (10) 23. Crocker (7) 24. Rilat (18)
The first try at green saw Crocker spin in turn one, collecting Rilat. Both were done. The 20-lapper saw Pittman lead early before a stoppage for Reed, who went up in smoke in turn two. The restart saw Pittman ahead of Sweet, Droud Jr., Bruce Jr. and Hannagan. Sweet tried to run down Pittman and finally did in traffic on lap twelve. Swindell was now putting on a show, pulling sliders in a drive to the front. Sweet was his victim on lap 15. Hannagan got around Pittman on the last lap for third. Gharst was the hard-charger, while Dewease and Sides were also fun to watch. The win was Sammy's 42nd at Knoxville, was worth $5,000 and was sixth on the all-time list. The top ten finishers will fill in the last five rows of Saturday's C.
C Scramble (started): 1. Ryan Anderson 71R (1) 2. Garry Brazier 1AU (4) 3. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (6) 4. Kerry Madsen 55 (3) 5. Billy Alley 22 (10) 6. Cale Conley 3c (9) 7. Brandon Wimmer 7TW (5) 8. Rager Phillips 10 (7) 9. Lee Sowell 51s (8) 10. Garry Lee Maier 1xx (2)
Ry. Anderson led the 12-lapper for the duration, earning $3,000. W. Johnson and Madsen traded blows for third, while Alley gained most of his positions on lap one by snaking the low side. 20 points are given to the leader, 18 to second, 16 to third and so on. The drivers also get a point for each driver they pass. Those points are added to their qualifying night points to give them their total for lineups on Saturday.
B Scramble (started): 1. Skip Jackson 2 (1) 2. Chad Kemenah 63 (5) 3. Jac Haudenschild R19 (9) 4. Dean Jacobs 97 (4) 5. Jason Johnson 41 (10) 6. Johnny Herrera 2w (3) 7. Danny Smith 4 (6) 8. Bronson Maeschen 1 (7) 9. Greg Wilson w20 (8) 10. Calvin Landis 70 (2)
Jackson led throughout to earn $5,000. Kemenah was moving well on the bottom to get Herrera and D. Jacobs. Haudenschild put on the best show from 9th to 3rd.
A Scramble (started): 1. Donny Schatz 15 (4) 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (2) 3. Dale Blaney 2B (6) 4. Tim Kaeding 83 (5) 5. Joey Saldana 9 (9) 6. Stevie Smith 1z (10) 7. Tyler Walker 24T (8) 8. Kraig Kinser 20K (7) 9. Jason Solwold 6NX (3) 10. Dusty Zomer 17G (1)
Zomer's scramble was done almost before it began after contact with another competitor bent the Jacob's ladder. Hafertepe led after lap one, but Schatz got him on the restart for Zomer. Saldana and S. Smith traded sliders in their moves up to fifth and sixth.
DDNi World Challenge (started): 1. Jeffrey (3) 2. Shane Stewart 57 (13) 3. Madsen (4) 4. Terry McCarl 24 (12) 5. Brazier (5) 6. Ricky Logan 10a (7) 7. D. Smith (9) 8. W. Johnson (6) 9. Hannagan (17) 10. Paul McMahan 71x (15) 11. J. Johnson (10) 12. Jackson (8) 13. Jonathan Allard 0 (14) 14. Lutar (1) 15. Rose (19) 16. G. Hall (2) 17. Saldana (16) 18. Schmelzle (18) 19. Craig Dollansky 19E (11) 20. Reed 7KX (20)
Reed did a lap after borrowing the Jessup 7KX and pulled off. Jeffrey circled the front row and began to pull away early in the 20-lapper. Madsen was sitting in second, with Brazier there as well. T. McCarl and W. Johnson were moving up too. The race was slowed four laps from the end when a piece of the turn one billboard fell on the track. Jeffrey led Madsen, T. McCarl, Brazier and Stewart to a shootout for $10,000. He was never headed on the dry-slick surface, but the action behind him was too good to describe. Madsen and T. McCarl began to slide each other for second, while Stewart made quick work of Brazier. Heading into turn three on the white flag lap, Stewart was fourth, but he shot to the high side and passed both Madsen and T. McCarl for second. The win was Jeffrey's second career tally at Knoxville. Stewart was also the hard-charger.