Donny Schatz celebrates his wild win at Knoxville (Studio 92 Photography)
Clint Garner Wins 25th in 360’s
by Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, June 11, 2016 – Donny Schatz put the Tony Stewart Racing #15 in Victory Lane for the 24th time Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway with the World of Outlaws in the Xtream Shootout powered by Mediacom. It was a wild feature event with several drivers eliminated on a lap five restart. The Fargo, North Dakota driver took the lead from Jamie Veal on the 22nd of 25 laps, and earned $10,000 for his win. Meanwhile, Clint Garner took a late lead as well in the 360 main event and motored to his fourth win of the year here. His 25th career win came in front of a large grandstand crowd.
Jamie Veal shot out to an early lead in the main event ahead of Ian Madsen and Brian Brown. The race was slowed five laps in, when Tasker Phillips lost the left side panel of his top wing.
Veal chose the inside line for the restart. Madsen would come from the high side of the track and cut in front of the field, clipping the right front tire of Shane Stewart. That resulted in a chain reaction that sent Brown sliding sideways in front of the field. In the end, eleven cars were involved and bunched together in turn one in a ball of metal. Brown, Craig Dollansky, Scott Bogucki, Joey Saldana and Greg Wilson got the worst of it, and were eliminated from the race. Stewart, Dusty Zomer, Daryn Pittman, Sammy Swindell, Davey Heskin and Jason Sides were able to make repairs and restart at the tail.
Veal again chose the inside line after the red flag period, ahead of Madsen, Donny Schatz, Brad Sweet, Danny Lasoski and David Gravel. Lasoski moved into fourth on the restart, but the race was slowed again, when Pittman slowed with a throttle linkage issue. He would restart at the tail after repairs.
The last nineteen laps went non-stop. Veal continued to lead the field ahead of Madsen and Schatz. Gravel moved to fourth and then shot by Schatz for third on lap eight. Schatz surged back by in a good battle the next go-around, and ran down Madsen for second on lap 16.
Veal and Schatz battled hard in traffic for four laps, before Schatz took command on lap 22 when the leader spun his tires through the middle of turns three and four. Meanwhile, Lasoski was charging into fourth, and on the 24th lap, surged all the way to second with the top five within a second of each other. A third running Madsen went up in smoke on the white flag lap, eliminating his run. He had already changed a motor after his heat.
Schatz held on for the win ahead of Lasoski, Gravel, Veal and Sweet. Kerry Madsen, Stewart, Logan Schuchart, Jason Johnson and Brooke Tatnell rounded out the top ten. Sweet set quick time and won his heat race. Lasoski, Stewart and Schatz were the other heat winners. Jacob Allen won the B and Veal was triumphant in the Dash.
“This place has been very, very good to me,” said Schatz in Victory Lane. “I’ve been very blessed to get hurt here and have the success. This race team is incredible in what they do. The racecar just got better and better as the race went on. I needed to keep my cool and wait for the end. I think everyone here is as hungry as I am to win. The pace changed a lot at the end of the race. The track started to move around. The top of three and four was really good, but you could even get through the middle at times.”
“I want to thank (crew chief) Guy Forbrook,” said Lasoski. “We’ve been struggling the last month and a half, but we keep working at this thing. He’s definitely got it better and better. I hated to see what happened in that crash. It took a couple of good competitors out. The latter part of the race, we got better and better.”
“We didn’t qualify like we wanted to,” said Gravel. “We got through the heat race. We were really lucky to get through that crash. Obviously, a lot of guys wrecked. We were sixth after the crash and we had a good restart. We were up to third, and kind of fell back a little bit. We had a good car. I’m really happy we made improvements from last night. We’re looking forward to coming back in August.”
Matt Moro shot out to an early lead in the 18-lap 360 feature ahead of Clint Garner and Ryan Giles. Garner and Giles battled for several laps, with Giles taking the runner-up spot briefly on lap four. The lone caution of the event came with eleven laps in the books. Mike Van Haaften contacted the turn one wall and came to a stop.
Moro led Garner, Giles, Nate Van Haaften and Tony Shilling back to green flag racing. Garner had a good restart and slipped under Moro to take the point on lap 13. He would take the Midwest Excavating #40 to Victory Lane for the fourth time this year. Moro finished second, ahead of Giles, Nate Van Haaften and Shilling. Jamie Ball, Joe Beaver, Jon Agan, Calvin Landis and Sawyer Phillips rounded out the top ten. Nate Van Haaften set quick time, while Ball, Shilling and Alan Zoutte won heat races.
“I was keeping up with (Moro) really good, but I was struggling to figure out a way to get by him,” said Garner in Victory Lane. “He was doing a pretty good job. In lapped traffic, coincidentally, he went down to the bottom in turn one, and I thought I would never get him. I was pretty happy to see the restart to see what he would do. I wanted to stay with him for a corner or two and try to make a move.”
Join us next Saturday night, June 18, for Slideways Karting Center Night! All three sprint car classes will be in action! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (21), 15.218; 2. 2L, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (4), 15.220; 3. 2, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (5), 15.335; 4. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (8), 15.372; 5. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (24), 15.415; 6. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (12), 15.422; 7. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (1), 15.429; 8. 9, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (27), 15.446; 9. 83, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (15), 15.510; 10. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (17), 15.533; 11. 71, Jamie Veal, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (11), 15.540; 12. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (35), 15.584; 13. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (3), 15.594; 14. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (34), 15.631; 15. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (28), 15.638; 16. 5, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (25), 15.650; 17. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (7), 15.656; 18. 2KS, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (10), 15.669; 19. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (23), 15.725; 20. 29, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (33), 15.731; 21. 41x, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (2), 15.738; 22. 82, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (19), 15.742; 23. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (18), 15.751; 24. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (30), 15.777; 25. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (16), 15.795; 26. 7D, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (32) 15.834; 27. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (13), 15.868; 28. 7, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (22), 15.922; 29. 7W, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (31), 16.020; 30. 1B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (6), 16.032; 31. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (9), 16.189; 32. 10, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (26), 16.192; 33. 35, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (29), 16.551; 34. 13, Clyde Knipp, California, MO (20), 16.566; 35. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (14), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.0: 1. Brad Sweet (1); 2. Brian Brown (2); 3. Joey Saldana (3); 4. AJ Moeller (4); 5. Tasker Phillips (8) / 6. Scott Bogucki (5); 7. Dominic Scelzi (6); 8. Greg Wilson (7); 9. Kevin Hetrick (9)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.3: 1. Danny Lasoski (1); 2. Jason Sides (2); 3. Dusty Zomer (6); 4. Logan Schuchart (4); 5. Craig Dollansky (5) / 6. Dustin Selvage (7); 7. Jacob Allen (3); 8. Jake Bubak (8); 9. Clyde Knipp (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:10.2: 1. Shane Stewart (1); 2. Jamie Veal (3); 3. Davey Heskin (2); 4. Jason Johnson (4); 5. Sammy Swindell (5) / 6. Brooke Tatnell (6); 7. Chris Martin (7); 8. Bob Weuve (8) DNS – RJ Johnson
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.2: 1. Donny Schatz (1); 2. Ian Madsen (3); 3. David Gravel (4); 4. Kerry Madsen (5); 5. Daryn Pittman (2) / 6. Paul McMahan (7); 7. Josh Schneiderman (6); 8. Dakota Hendrickson (8)
Dash (started), 6 Laps, 1:35.8: 1. Jamie Veal (2); 2. Ian Madsen (1); 3. Brian Brown (4); 4. Shane Stewart (6); 5. Donny Schatz (5); 6. Brad Sweet (8); 7. Jason Sides (3); 8. Danny Lasoski (7);
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:21.5: 1. Jacob Allen (1); 2. Brooke Tatnell (4); 3. Scott Bogucki (2); 4. Greg Wilson (6) / 5. Chris Martin (8); 6. Dustin Selvage (7); 7. Jake Bubak (10); 8. Dominic Scelzi (3); 9. Josh Schneiderman (5); 10. Paul McMahan (9); 11. Dakota Hendrickson (12); 12. Kevin Hetrick (13); 13. Bob Weuve (11); 14. Clyde Knipp (14) DNS – RJ Johnson
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (5); 2. Danny Lasoski (8); 3. David Gravel (12); 4. Jamie Veal (1); 5. Brad Sweet (6); 6. Kerry Madsen (16); 7. Shane Stewart (4); 8. Logan Schuchart (14); 9. Jason Johnson (15); 10. Brooke Tatnell (22); 11. Paul McMahan (25, prov.); 12. Davey Heskin (11); 13. Jacob Allen (21); 14. Daryn Pittman (20); 15. Dusty Zomer (10); 16. Tasker Phillips (17); 17. Ian Madsen (2); 18. Jason Sides (7); 19. Sammy Swindell (19); 20. AJ Moeller (13); 21. Brian Brown (3); 22. Joey Saldana (9); 23. Craig Dollansky (18); 24. Greg Wilson (24); 25. Scott Bogucki (23). Lap Leaders: Veal 1-21, Schatz 22-25. Hard-charger: McMahan.
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (20), 15.937; 2. 9, Ryan Giles, West Des Moines, IA (2), 16.082; 3. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (15), 16.110; 4. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (17), 16.116; 5. 22, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (4), 16.139; 6. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (22), 16.169; 7. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (8), 16.208; 8. 10, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (14), 16.228; 9. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (18), 16.243; 10. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (5), 16.277; 11. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.326; 12. 20K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (3), 16.387; 13. 21K, Lou Kennedy Jr., Winnipeg, MB, Can. (19), 16.450; 14. 33V, Mike Van Haaften, Otley, IA (12), 16.495; 15. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Ca (9), 16.552; 16. 9M, Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, CO (7), 16.586; 17. 81A, Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS (11), 16.588; 18. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (6), 16.605; 19. 75X, JT Imperial, Mesa, AZ (10), 16.730; 20. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (21), 16.859; 21. 19, Rob Weuve, Oakland Acres, IA (13), 17.101; 22. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (1), 17.567.
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.4: 1. Jamie Ball (4); 2. Ricky Montgomery (1); 3. Matt Moro (5); 4. Nate Van Haaften (6); 5. Lou Kennedy Jr. (2); 6. Tyler Groenendyk (3); 7. JT Imperial (7); 8. John Anderson (8)
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:59.1: 1. Tony Shilling (5); 2. Chris Morgan (1); 3. Jon Agan (3); 4. Ryan Giles (6); 5. Mike Van Haaften (2); 6. Calvin Landis (4); 7. Tom Lenz (7)
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 2:03.8: 1. Alan Zoutte (1); 2. Alex Hill (2); 3. Clint Garner (6); 4. Joe Beaver (4); 5. Thomas Kennedy (3); 6. Sawyer Phillips (5); 7. Rob Weuve (7)
A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Clint Garner (2); 2. Matt Moro (1); 3. Ryan Giles (3); 4. Nate Van Haaften (4); 5. Tony Shilling (5); 6. Jamie Ball (7); 7. Joe Beaver (9); 8. Jon Agan (11); 9. Calvin Landis (8); 10. Sawyer Phillips (6); 11. Chris Morgan (15); 12. Thomas Kennedy (12); 13. JT Imperial (17); 14. Tyler Groenendyk (10); 15. Alan Zoutte (18); 16. Ricky Montgomery (16); 17. Alex Hill (13); 18. Tom Lenz (20); 19. Rob Weuve (19); 20. John Anderson (21); 21. Mike Van Haaften (14). Lap Leaders: Moro 1-12, Garner 13-18. Hard-charger: Morgan.