8/12/06
Knoxville Raceway
46th Annual Knoxville Nationals
90 cars
E main (started): 1. John Lambertz 12L (1) 2. Toni Lutar 4x (4) 3. Bob Bennett 3 (2) / 4. Mike Moore 69 (3) 5. Kim Mock 1m (6) 6. Rich Bubak 9x (8) 7. Dan Shetler 98 (11) 8. Dale Howard 47D (7) 9. Brian Carlson 18x (10) 10. Jerry Brey 17J (9) 11. Greg Jones 3J (5) DNS - Jake Peters 57x, Josh Higday 24
Lambertz led the 10 lap distance, hugging the low side of a fairly narrow surface. Lutar battled Bennett until getting by him for second with two to go in the non-stop affair.
D main (started): 1. Brock Mayes 11B (1) 2. Dean Jacobs 6 (2) / 3. Mark Dobmeier 13 (3) 4. Danny Smith 4 (5) 5. Kelly Kinser 4K (7) 6. Robert Ballou 12x (4) 7. Kyle Hirst 99 (8) 8. Ryan Anderson 71R (6) 9. Jan Howard 46 (9) 10. Tim St. Arnold 7w (16) 11. Chad Meyer 1w (12) 12. Lutar (22) 13. Chad Hillier 5c (20) 14. Matt Moro 47 (14) 15. Jerrod Hull 94 (13) 16. James Mosher 12m (11) 17. Becca Anderson 19x (17) 18. Lambertz (19) 19. Bennett (21) 20. Chris Walraven 56 (10) 21. Neil Shepherd 4N (15) 22. Tim Hunter 2H (18) DNS - Randy Anderson 81
Mayes grabbed the early lead ahead of D. Jacobs in the 12 lapper. Hunter pulled his ill-handling machine in on lap four. Two laps later, Shepherd lost his right rear tire and smacked the turn two wall, bringing out a caution. The restart saw Mayes leading D. Jacobs, Ballou, Dobmeier and Ry. Anderson. The two Ohioans battled in close proximity to the finish, with Dobmeier challenging late.
C main (started): 1. Jac Haudenschild 35 (4) 2. Brooke Tatnell 8 (1) / 3. Jaosn Sides 7s (6) 4. Lance Dewease 25 (3) 5. Justin Henderson D1x (16) 6. Trevor Green 11AU (9) 7. Calvin Landis 70 (11) 8. D. Jacobs (22) 9. Jesse Hockett 75x (13) 10. Luke Cranston 44x (10) 11. Dion Hindi 11D (19) 12. Travis Whitney 9T (20) 13. Jon Corbin 33c (8) 14. Clint Garner 40 (18) 15. Mayes (21) 16. Jeremy Campbell 10c (17) 17. Brian Ellenberger 20E (14) 18. Rager Phillips 10 (7) 19. Dennis Moore Jr. 35m (5) 20. Lynton Jeffrey 12 (12) 21. PJ Chesson 55K (2) 22. Jason Martin 36 (15)
Tatnell jumped out to an early lead in the star-studded 15 lap event. A lap two caution for Moore Jr. who did a 360 spin and came to a stop on the frontstretch, slowed things. The restart saw Tatnell leading Haudenschild, Dewease, Chesson and Sides. One more lap was in the books when Chesson got sideways, collecting a surging J. Martin who struck Chesson and got upside down hard. He was uninjured, but done. The incident also collected Garner and Campbell. Chesson went pitside. Jeffrey also retired with a bent drag link. Now Tatnell led Haudenschild, Dewease, Sides and Green on the restart. While the two leaders battled side by side, Dewease and Sides did likewise. 10 laps were in the books when Moore Jr. spun, bringing out another caution. He was sent to the pits after two unassisted yellows. The restart saw Haudenschild get by Tatnell for what would be the winning pass. Sides continued strong and passed Dewease, but ran out of laps before grabbing a transfer to the B. Henderson came late after a nice run, and D. Jacobs got hard-charger honors starting dead last and running eighth.
B main (started): 1. Jeff Shepard 4J (5) 2. Shane Stewart 26 (4) 3. Terry McCarl 24x (7) 4. Danny Lasoski 83 (20) / 5. Travis Rilat 29 (3) 6. Brian Brown 21 (1) 7. Tatnell (22) 8. Randy Hannagan 1x (9) 9. Ricky Logan 55 (19) 10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 40R (15) 11. Greg Wilson w20 (16) 12. Jonathan Allard 0 (2) 13. Haudenschild (21) 14. Stevie Smith 19 (11) 15. Chad Layton 12c (13) 16. Todd Shaffer 77 (14) 17. Lucas Wolfe 5w (12) 18. Kerry Madsen 11H (18) 19. Chad Kemenah 15K (6) 20. Skip Jackson 2 (17) 21. Brandon Wimmer 7TW (10) 22. Gary Wright 9w (8)
Lasoski jumped the initial start and was sent to the tail. The 22 lap gauntlet saw Brown lead at the outset. Things were slowed on lap six when Allard spun. Brown led Stewart, Shepard, McCarl and Rilat back to green flag racing. Stewart moved by Brown on the next circuit to lead, and the two battled back and forth in the turns, with Brown grabbing the advantage again on lap nine. Wimmer stopped and exited with rear end problems on lap 10. Brown led Stewart, Shepard, McCarl and Rilat back to green. Stewart grabbed the lead on the restart, and one more lap was in the books when Jackson spun into the turn two wall. Now Stewart led Brown, McCarl, Shepard and Kemenah. Madsen and Lasoski were moving up from the rear in fifth and sixth by the halfway mark. On lap 17, Madsen bobbled a bit and was tapped by Lasoski. Lasoski stayed on the gas, upsetting the 11H and its driver, who was uninjured physically, but vowing to even the score in the future while on live TV. The restart saw Stewart lose his lead to Shepard with McCarl and a battle between Brown and Lasoski for the final transfer, behind him. Lasoski edged ahead of Brown briefly on lap 18. On lap 19, Brown got a run down the backstretch and came down to cut off Lasoski's line on the low side of turn three. The result was contact between Brown's left rear and Lasoski's right front. The impact sent Lasoski into a 360 spin. A rare inadvertent caution was thrown, so Lasoski was given his spot back. Under caution, Lasoski attempted to damage the Brown mount in frustration. Brown refused to back down to his uncle and retaliated in kind, as the crowd grew raucous, wanting a black flag thrown for Lasoski. Lasoski was able to gain the final transfer in the final laps while Brown faded to sixth. The incident overshadowed fine runs by Shepard, Stewart and McCarl.
A main (started): 1. Donny Schatz 15 (1) 2. Joey Saldana 9 (2) 3. Jason Johnson 41 (3) 4. Lasoski (24) 5. Jason Meyers 14 (4) 6. Steve Kinser 11 (19) 7. Craig Dollansky 7 (5) 8. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (6) 9. Don Droud Jr. 44 (7) 10. Daryn Pittman 21x (11) 11. Paul McMahan 20 (17) 12. Fred Rahmer 22 (9) 13. Shepard (21) 14. Tim Kaeding 11K (12) 15. Dusty Zomer 1z (16) 16. Ed Lynch Jr. 2L (15) 17. Stewart (22) 18. Sammy Swindell 1s (20) 19. McCarl (23) 20. Billy Alley 17G (13) 21. Kaley Gharst 44G (10) 22. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (18) 23. Brian Paulus 28 (14) 24. Jason Solwold R19 (8)
The 30 lapper took awhile to get underway. On the initial try, Solwold shelled a driveline and was tagged by Gharst, who started to his rear. Solwold retired, while Gharst made repairs to a nose wing and his brakes. Kaeding spun on the restart, bringing caution again and moving the outside rows up three spots after the trio of cars had problems. Once underway, Saldana took the lead in the 9. Schatz was hooked up and was within striking distance the first third of the event. Schatz would make what would be the winning pass on lap 10 of the event. J. Johnson was never far behind in the Lanny Row machine. McCarl had moved into ninth from the final row in a good run when he spun (with some apparent help) on lap 20. The restart saw Schatz leading Saldana, J. Johnson, Meyers, Dollansky and a surging S. Kinser. One more lap was in the books when Paulus had a top ten run thwarted with a broken rear axle. The incident saw an open red called, presumably chiefly for fuel. After adjustments were made under red, Schatz led Saldana, J. Johnson, Dollansky, Meyers and S.Kinser without any lap cars between (Knoxville rules). S. Kinser made a move for fourth on the restart, but was caught behind a sliding Meyers in turn three fading a bit. Suddenly, Lasoski was in the top five mix, while J. Johnson overtook Saldana for second. Schatz pulled away and won his first Nationals, cashing in on $140,000 and a 6 foot trophy while fighting back tears. Saldana ($70,000) made a $35,000 pass on J. Johnson ($35,000) for second in the final corner. Lasoski completed a fine run, passing 20 cars and earning hard-charger honors. Kemenah's crew was best appearing, while Bruce was the Rookie of the Year.