Tim Shaffer won night #1 of the 360 Nationals (Paul Arch Photo)
Jamie Ball Leading the Points
by Bill Wright and Bryan Hulbert
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 3, 2017) – Tim Shaffer led wire to wire to capture night #1 of the 27th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank Thursday night at Knoxville Raceway. The Aliquippa, Pennsylvania driver was paid $3,000 for his win aboard the Demyan/Rudzik Racing #49x. Jamie Ball emerged with the most points at 473, followed by Aaron Reutzel (471), Shaffer (470), Josh Baughman (467), Thomas Kennedy (467) and Seth Bergman (467).
A surreal and ferocious accident started the 20-lap feature event. Jon Agan was tagged from behind, setting off a chain of events that sent Sammy Swindell careening into the frontstretch fence. That collected Alex Hill, Rager Phillips, Harli White and Jordyn Brazier. White and Brazier were able to make repairs under the open red, while Joe Beaver and Aaron Reutzel had to replace top wings as well. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
When the green flew again, Shaffer led Josh Baughman, Thomas Kennedy, Agan and Jamie Ball. A battle ensued for the second spot between Kennedy and Baughman. While Baughman remained true to the low side, Kennedy shot around the cushion. With six laps in the books, Jonathan Cornell’s rear axle broke sending him sideways, collecting Beaver. Both would flip, but were uninjured.
While Shaffer pulled away again on the restart, the battle continued for second. Baughman finally prevailed on lap 12. Agan was reeling in Kennedy as well, as those two exchanged third three times, with Agan grabbing the spot on the white flag lap. Ian Madsen went up in smoke while running tenth with two to go.
Shaffer would enter traffic late, but prevailed at the line. It was the 50th Annual Knoxville Nationals champion’s first career 360 win here. Baughman followed, ahead of Agan, Kennedy and Ball. Aaron Reutzel, Danny Lasoski, Seth Brahmer, hard-charger Seth Bergman and Matt Moro completed the top ten.
Rager Phillips set quick time at 15.826 seconds, a 360 Nationals record. Shaffer, Brazier, Skylar Prochaska, Carson McCarl and Lasoski were heat winners. Bergman claimed the B main.
“It’s awesome,” said Shaffer in Victory Lane. “It’s about learning each other, learning the track, and doing the right things. We’re here to get seat time. I’ve been here a lot, but you’re always learning. (Crew Chief) Cody Jacobs gave me one heck of a race car tonight. At the end of the day, you have to put yourself in position for Saturday. We’re here to have a good time and race.”
“My guys gave me a great car and it took me a few laps to get comfortable with it,” said Bergman. “We were racing with Kennedy there for eight or ten laps. I couldn’t get him cleared, but once I did, we were running Shaff down. We were gaining a little bit. Maybe if we could have got to lapped traffic sooner, or had some more laps, we could have gotten to him. Congrats to him and his team.”
“We were good, but yet again we weren’t,” said Agan. “We tried to make the best of it and do everything we could. We had a new race car here last week. We really didn’t know what we had going in. I didn’t rotate the center real well and Kennedy got past me. He came to the bottom, but we didn’t touch. He opened up his entry a little bit and we were able to take it.”
The 27th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank continues Thursday night, August 4! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 22, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4), 15.826 (New Event Record); 2. 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA (8), 15.955; 3. 18M, Ian Madsen, St. Mary's, NSW, Aust. (11), 15.976; 4. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (14), 15.976; 5. 18, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (10), 16.008; 6. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (7), 16.013; 7. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (20), 16.087; 8. 14, Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN (2), 16.094; 9. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (29), 16.121; 10. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (9), 16.122; 11. 23W, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (1), 16.166; 12. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (18), 16.171; 13. 1, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (17), 16.182; 14. 13V, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (36), 16.207; 15. 17B, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (22), 16.241; 16. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (13), 16.279; 17. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (27), 16.284; 18. 75AU, Matt Egel, Adelaide, SA, Aust. (12), 16.286; 19. 6, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (26), 16.291; 20. 1M, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (28), 16.303; 21. 3S, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (33), 16.331; 22. 5H, Cory Eliason, Selma, CA (25), 16.346; 23. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (15), 16.350; 24. 23D, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (21), 16.432; 25. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (35), 16.455; 26. 99, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (6), 16.466; 27. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier, Maroochydore, QLD, A (41), 16.499; 28. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. (19), 16.510; 29. 12, James Mosher, Albuquerque, NM (3), 16.525; 30. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (16), 16.571; 31. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (42), 16.640; 32. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (34), 16.664; 33. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (40), 16.687; 34. 1J, Danny Jennings, Norman, OK (31), 16.706; 35. 45, Chuck Hebing, Ontario, NY (32), 16.718; 36. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (38), 16.724; 37. 9L, Hunter Lane, Milo, IA (24), 16.798; 38. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (30), 16.803; 39. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (39), 16.922; 40. 27B, Patrick Bourke, Gypsum, CO (37), 16.998; 41. 93, Dustin Morgan, Tulsa, OK (23), 17.167; 42. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (43), 17.456; 43. 98, Chris Masters, Napa, CA (5), 18.348
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.7: 1. Tim Shaffer (3); 2. Joe Beaver (7); 3. Sammy Swindell (2); 4. Aaron Reutzel (5); 5. Rager Phillips (6); 6. Scott Winters (4); 7. Blake Hahn (8); 8. Skylar Gee (1); DNS 9. Dustin Morgan (9);
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:14.1: 1. Jordyn Brazier (1); 2. Matt Moro (3); 3. Cory Eliason (2); 4. Jon Agan (4); 5. Calvin Landis (5); 6. Seth Bergman (6); 7. Matt Covington (7); 8. Alan Zoutte (9); 9. Hunter Lane (8);
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:14.8: 1. Skylar Prochaska (2); 2. Thomas Kennedy (4); 3. Alex Hill (1); 4. Ian Madsen (6); 5. Tony Stewart (5); 6. Matt Egel (3); 7. Lee Grosz (7); 8. Kade Morton (8); 9. Chris Masters (9);
Heat four, 8 Laps, 2:15.0: 1. Carson McCarl (1); 2. Jamie Ball (3); 3. Devon Dobie (2); 4. Seth Brahmer (4); 5. Danny Jennings (5); 6. Jonathan Cornell (6); 7. Cody Ledger (7); DNS 8. James Mosher (8);
Heat six, 8 Laps, 2:14.8: 1. Danny Lasoski (3); 2. Josh Baughman (4); 3. Harli White (1); 4. Davey Heskin (2); 5. Ryan Roberts (6); 6. Tyler Groenendyk (5); 7. Patrick Bourke (8); 8. Chuck Hebing (7);
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:29.9: 1. Seth Bergman (2); 2. Rager Phillips (1); 3. Calvin Landis (5); 4. Jonathan Cornell (3); 5. Tyler Groenendyk (7); 6. Ryan Roberts (4); 7. Tony Stewart (6); 8. Matt Egel (9); 9. Lee Grosz (13); 10. Scott Winters (8); 11. Matt Covington (12); 12. Chuck Hebing (15); 13. Cody Ledger (17); 14. Skylar Gee (10); 15. Blake Hahn (16); 16. Danny Jennings (14); 17. Dustin Morgan (19); 18. James Mosher (11); 19. Kade Morton (18); 20. Patrick Bourke (20); 21. Alan Zoutte (22); 22. Chris Masters (21); DNS 23. Hunter Lane (23);
A main, 20 Laps, NT: 1. Tim Shaffer (1); 2. Josh Baughman (2); 3. Jon Agan (5); 4. Thomas Kennedy (4); 5. Jamie Ball (6); 6. Aaron Reutzel (7); 7. Danny Lasoski (11); 8. Seth Brahmer (3); 9. Seth Bergman (21); 10. Matt Moro (9); 11. Davey Heskin (16); 12. Carson McCarl (10); 13. Cory Eliason (13); 14. Skylar Prochaska (14); 15. Calvin Landis (23); 16. Harli White (19); 17. Devon Dobie (15); 18. Jordyn Brazier (17); 19. Ian Madsen (8); 20. Jonathan Cornell (24); 21. Joe Beaver (20); 22. Sammy Swindell (12); 23. Alex Hill (18); 24. Rager Phillips (22). Lap Leader: Shaffer 1-20. Hard Charger: Bergman
27th Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank Event Points (as of Thursday, August 3, 2017)
1. 5J Jamie Ball-473
2. 87 Aaron Reutzel-471
3. 49X Tim Shaffer-470
4. 17B Josh Baughman-467
5. 1 Thomas Kennedy-467
6. 23 Seth Bergman-467
7. 4 Jon Agan-465
8. 13V Seth Brahmer-451
9. 18M Ian Madsen-451
10. 1M Danny Lasoski-450
11. 70 Calvin Landis-448
12. 2M Matt Moro-447
13. 6 Carson McCarl-442
14. 22 Rager Phillips-442
15. 28 Jonathan Cornell-441
16. 35 Skylar Prochaska-430
17. 5H Cory Eliason-428
18. 56N Davey Heskin-423
19. 18 Ryan Roberts-420
20. 23D Devon Dobie-416
21. 21AU Jordyn Brazier-414
22. 3S Sammy Swindell-412
23. 14-Tony Stewart-412
24. 17 Tyler Groenendyk-409
25. 17W Harli White-406
26. 53 Joe Beaver-397
27. 23W Scott Winters-397
28. 77X Alex Hill-396
29. 75AU Matt Egel-387
30. 99 Skylar Gee-353
31. 4J Lee Grosz-352
32. 95 Matt Covington-350
33. 1J Danny Jennings-342
34. 45 Chuck Hebing-339
35. 12 James Mosher-339
36. 52 Blake Hahn-334
37. 35L Cody Ledger-332
38. 8M Kade Morton-319
39. 27B Patrick Bourke-316
40. 93 Dustin Morgan-314
41. 9L Hunter Lane-310
42. 33 Alan Zoutte-307
43. 98 Chris Masters-300