8/2/07
Knoxville Raceway
360 Nationals Night One
51 cars
Jon Corbin (7th car out to time) set quick time on the heavy surface. Gary Wright (46th car out) registered second quick late followed by John Kearney (6th), Dale Blaney (48th), Bryan Howland (29th), Travis Rilat (15th), Brian Brown (35th), Billy Alley (47th), Kaley Gharst (8th) and Chuck Swenson (42nd). Brian Thomas was DQed for an illegal tire, and Dave Becker and Korey Weyant failed to get times in.
Heat one (started): 1. Natalie Sather 94s (2) 2. Rilat 29T (5) 3. Don Young 75 (4) 4. George White 1s (1) / 5. Larry Pinegar II 44 (3) 6. Alan Zoutte 33 (8) 7. AJ Selenke 43 (7) 8. Derek Hagar 9JR (9) / 9. Kathryne Minter 13m (10) 10. Corbin 4c (6) DNS - Korey Weyant 99
The heats had an invert of six, and transferred the top four to the A, next four to the B and the rest to the C. Sather shot on the cushion to take the lead early and led the eight lapper flag to flag. Corbin hammered the front stretch wall hard with his right rear on lap two, ending his night after registering quick time. Sather led Young, White, Pinegar and Rilat back to green flag racing after the early caution. Rilat asserted himself on teh low side, surging to second. White lost the final transfer to the A from Pinegar, but regained it with two to go.
Heat two (started): 1. Matt Moro 2m (4) 2. Brown 21 (5) 3. Russ Hall 29 (1) 4. Jarod Smith 24 (2) / 5. Wright 9 (6) 6. Nate Van Haaften 3 (7) 7. Foster Landon 11F (9) 8. Robby Vaughn 4R (8) / 9. Chris Schmelzle 57c (3) 10. Travis Porter 31P (10)
R. Hall took the point early, but Moro surged ahead on the second go-around. Brown did well moving up to second, while Wright chased J. Smith the last half of the race for the final transfer in vain.
Heat three (started): 1. Larry Neighbors 29N (2) 2. Joe Ramaker 98R (9) 3. Pete Crall 1 (7) 4. Seth Bergman 23A (1) / 5. Alley 55 (5) 6. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (3) 7. Kearney 86 (6) 8. Fred Cade 12c (4) / 9. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (8) DNS - Jared Horstman 17
Horstman had an ill motor in time trials and scratched for the night. The first try at a start saw a disaster for five cars. Cade and Mitrisin appeared to tangle in turn two, collecting Alley, Kearney and Heimbaugh. Mitrisin actually tipped over, but he, Alley and Kearney returned to the fray, while Cade and Heimbaugh were done. Kearney would only make two laps before stopping and retiring from the event. Neighbors led the distance, using the low grooove. Ramaker made several charges on the high side after his fortunate restart in row two. Alley and Mitrisin never seemed the same after making their repairs, though Alley made a late bid for the final transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. Scott Winters R19 (2) 2. Gharst 3 (5) 3. Lee Grosz 4J (1) 4. Randy Martin 14 (3) / 5. Lee Sowell 51s (4) 6. Blaney 6B (6) 7. Derek Ingalls 91x (7) 8. Danny Jennings 61J (9) / 9. Brian Thomas 67 (10) 10. Casey Heser 75c (8)
Grosz grabbed the early lead, but Winters proved himself better by taking the point on lap three. Gharst slid in front of Martin and Grosz to nail down second, while a late Sowell bid for fourth failed.
Heat five (started): 1. Luke Hall 34 (2) 2. Johnny Anderson 7A (4) 3. Jack Potter 15 (1) 4. Howland 51H (6) / 5. Don Droud Jr. 27 (3) 6. Swenson X (5) 7. Tyler Thompson 48 (9) 8. Matt Harms 53H (7) / 9. Doc Sloan D12 (8) DNS - Dave Becker 7c
L. Hall led flag to flag. Howland held on to the final transfer after holding off pressure from Droud and Swenson.
C main (started): 1. Heimbaugh (1) 2. Thomas (5) / 3. Porter (3) 4. Schmelzle (2) 5. Heser (4) 6. Minter (6) DNS - Corbin, Sloan, Hortsman, Becker, Weyant
Heimbaugh dominated the eight lapper, as Thomas won an early exchange with Porter for the final B main ticket.
B main (started): 1. Wright (1) 2. Blaney (3) 3. Kearney (2) 4. Alley (4) / 5. Swenson (5) 6. Droud (10) 7. Pinegar (8) 8. Sowell (7) 9. Thompson (20) 10. Ingalls (13) 11. Jennings (19) 12. Zoutte (15) 13. Hagar (17) 14. Van Haaften (12) 15. Heimbaugh (21) 16. Harms (14) 17. Landon (18) 18. Vaughn (16) 19. Cade (6) 20. Selenke (11) 21. Mitrisin (9) 22. Thomas (22)
First lap blues saw Thomas get upside down, a victim to a spun Hagar. Hagar was able to restart. Wright jumped out to a nice lead early before Mitrisin stopped bringing out a lap five caution. Wright led Blaney, Kearney, Alley and Swenson back to green flag racing in the 12 lapper. The top five stayed the same, but it wasn't without good racing between Blaney and Kearney, and Alley and Swenson for the final A main transfer.
A main (started): 1. Gharst (5) 2. Wright (21) 3. Moro (3) 4. R. Hall (15) 5. Anderson (2) 6. Blaney (22) 7. Winters (12) 8. Rilat (7) 9. Howland (8) 10. J. Smith (10) 11. Neighbors (11) 12. L. Hall (13) 13. Grosz (17) 14. Young (4) 15. Potter (18) 16. Bergman (16) 17. Sather (9) 18. Crall (19) 19. Martin (1) 20. Brown (6) 21. Ramaker (20) 22. White (14) 23. Alley (24) 24. Kearney (23)
Martin took the early lead and was approaching lapped traffic in the 20-lapper when White stopped in turns three and four on lap five. At the time, Martin led Anderson, Moro, Gharst and Rilat. Gharst and Mroo engaged in a torrid battle for third, exchanging slidejobs and chop jobs. Moro was able to stay ahead by lap nine, when Alley stopped with mechanical problems. Martin led Anderson, Moro, Gharst and a surging Brown back to green flag racing. Brown joined Gharst, Moro and Anderson in a battle for second and third in some of the best racing of the season. Gharst moved into the runner-up spot with Brown behind him. On lap 18, Brown slid in front of Gharst for second, and then shot under Martin in turns three and four for the lead. An ill-fated slidejob ensued, with Brown's right rear launching the Martin machine into the turn four fence and bounding down the track. Brown's sprinter suffered extensive damage as well. Fortunately, no one was injured. Gharst inherited the lead and held off Wright, who had been Hell on wheels the last seven laps or so. Wright's charge was enough to give him the high point total on the night. Gharst won $2,000 for his first career 360 win at Knoxville. R. Hall and Blaney also put on fine charges.
Night one point totals:
1. Wright 484
2. Gharst 481
3. Moro 474
4. Rilat 473
5. Blaney 469
6. Howland 467
7. Anderson 461
8. Young 448
9. Brown 445
10. Winters 442
11. Neighbors 436
12. R. Hall 436
13. Kearney 432
14. J. Smith 431
15. Alley 430
16. L. Hall 430
17. Sather 428
18. Martin 417
19. Grosz 414
20. Swenson 409
21. Potter 408
22. Bergman 407
23. White 399
24. Sowell 398
25. Pinegar 396
26. Crall 396
27. Droud 390
28. Ramaker 377
29. Cade 369
30. Mitrisin 361
31. Ingalls 348
32. Van Haaften 347
33. Zoutte 343
34. Schmelzle 338
35. Selenke 334
36. Harms 331
37. Thompson 328
38. Hagar 325
39. Heimbaugh 324
40. Vaughn 323
41. Jennings 323
42. Landon 318
43. Heser 289
44. Thomas 286
45. Porter 277
46. Minter 276
47. Corbin 273
48. Sloan 198
49. Horstman 106
50. Becker 104
51. Weyant 0