8/6/06
Knoxville Raceway
Brodix 360 Tournament of Champions
65 cars
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Chuck Swenson X (2*, ASCS-NP) 2. Tim Allison 11 (6*, NRA) 3. Mike Brecht m20 (1, NRA) 4. Jason Johnson 41 (8*, ASCoT) 5. Nick Smith 15s (4, ASCoT) 6. Travis Rilat 29R (5, ASCoT) 7. Jan Howard 46 (7, ASCoT) 8. Ryan Jamison 51J (9, SIA) 9. Matt Tiffany 19T (3, USCS)
Swenson led flag to flag in the 8 lapper. The top 18 in passing points in eight heats were locked into the main event. Allison turned a great first lap into a runner-up spot after a battle with Brecht. Ja. Johnson's heroics from row four were enough to grab a transfer on the narrow, heavy surface.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Gary Wright 9x (1*, ASCoT) 2. Tom Lenz 8L (2*, KNOX) 3. Garry Lee Maier 11x (3, NCRA) 4. Curt Michael 99 (6, URC) 5. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (4, KNOX) 6. Danny Martin Jr. 00m (8, USCS) 7. Roger Crockett 11c (5, NST) 8. Randy Martin 14 (7, WOW)
Wright led the duration while Michael did all he could to best Maier on the lightning fast surface, but fell short at the end.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15 (1*, ASCS-S) 2. Abe Sherwood 44J (2*, ASCoT) 3. JD Johnson 98 (3, NCRA) 4. Johnny Anderson 7a (6, KNOX) 5. Chris Schmelzle 57c (4, NST) 6. Sean McClelland 1 (8, ASCS-S) 7. Garry Chippindall s1 (5, PASS) 8. Josh Schneiderman 49 (7, SIA)
Hafertepe led the distance, dialed in by crew chief, Rick Ferkel, in a mostly single-file affair.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Dustin Daggett 85 (4*, ASCoT) 2. Kevin Welsh 2w (1*, URC) 3. Ray Allen Kulhanek 41K (2, ASCS-GS) 4. Jesse Hockett 75 (3, ASCoT) 5. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (6, KNOX) 6. Mike Trent 01 (7, WOW) 7. Louie Carufel 47x (5, ASCS-SOD) 8. Tim Gee 4 (8, AST)
Daggett wrestled the lead from Welsh and set sail to win convincingly. Gee exited on lap five.
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Jake Martens 1x (1*, NCRA) 2. Troy Meyer 11m (6*, KNOX) 3. Lee Grosz 4L (2, ASCS-NP) 4. Joe Beaver 53 (8*, KNOX) 5. Danny Horner 75H (3, NST) 6. Luke Cranston 20 (4, NCRA) 7. Lee Sowell 51 (7, USCS-MS) 8. Cory Seeling 97 (5, NRA)
Martens led flag to flag. Meyer was on fire, shooting to third on the first go-around, and fighting past Grosz for second. Beaver used the high side to move up to fourth from row four and earning a transfer.
Heat six (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Jon Corbin 33 (3*, KNOX) 2. Josh Higday 24 (4*, KNOX) 3. Rick Ideus 5B (2, ASCS-M) 4. Lance Yonge 17J (8, ESS) 5. Jessica Zemken 1z (5, ESS) 6. Dave Hall 51H (6, KNOX) 7. Matthew Fox 23F (7, WOW) DNS - Eric Lutz 5 (1, ASCS-NP)
Corbin led early before Fox stopped on lap two. On the restart, Corbin led Higday, Ideus, Zemken and Hall back to green flag racing. Yonge moved up nicely, enough for a front row starting spot in one of the Bs.
Heat seven (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Nate Mosher 22N (1*, KNOX) 2. Brook Weibley 56 (2*, URC) 3. Dustin Lindquist 55L (3, KNOX) 4. John Kearney 83 (6, KNOX) 5. Stacey Alexander 00 (7, KNOX) 6. Steve King 88 (8, NCRA) 7. Eric Baldaccini B4 (4, ASCS-S) 8. Jimmy Martin III (5, URC)
Mosher led throughout the single-file affair. The track remained heavy and chiefly one lane.
Heat eight (started, *qualified for feature, organization): 1. Brandon Harkness 29 (1*, AST) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (2*, NCRA) 3. Darren Stewart 91 (3, ASCS-MS) 4. Rager Phillips 9 (5, SIA) 5. Gary Fast 26 (4, ASCS-SOD) 6. Bryan Howland 51B (6, ASCS-PSG) 7. Brett Mather 54 (7, KNOX) 8. Dave Anderson 53x (8, SIA)
Harkness led another follow the leader heat flag to flag.
B main one (started): 1. Lindquist (4) 2. Michael (2) / 3. Kulhanek (3) 4. Phillips (5) 5. Yonge (1) 6. R. Martin (14) 7. Horner (8) 8. Heimbaugh (6) 9. Seeling (15) 10. Carufel (12) 11. Martin Jr. (7) 12. Baldaccini (13) 13. Fast (9) 14. Howard (11) 15. Cranston (10) DNS - Lutz
Michael shot out to an early lead in the 15 lapper. Howard came to a stop on lap six, necessitating a yellow. Michael led Lindquist, Yonge, Kulhanek and Martin Jr. back to green flag racing. Lindquist dogged Michael and found his way by on lap 12, pulling away at the end. Phillips made a last lap pass of Yonge for fourth, while R. Martin moved forward eight spots on a slowly widening track. It was all for naught as only the top two transferred to the main event. Cranston went pitside on lap three, as did Fast on lap six. Baldaccini set up a green, white, checker finish by halting on lap 14.
B main two (started): 1. Brecht (1) 2. JD Johnson (2) / 3. Kearney (4) 4. Hockett (5) 5. Grosz (3) 6. Sowell (12) 7. Zemken (8) 8. Schmelzle (7) 9. Schneiderman (14) 10. Tiffany (16) 11. Mather (13) 12. Martin III (15) 13. Trent (9) 14. Crockett (11) 15. N. Smith (6) 16. Hall (10)
Brecht led the non-stop event throughout, chased by JD Johnson who held off fellow Kansan, Kearney. At times, it looked like Hockett could close the distance on the leaders, but needed a caution that never came. Hall bowed out on lap four, Smith on lap six, and Crockett on lap seven.
B main three (started): 1. J. Anderson (2) 2. Maier (1) / 3. Stewart (4) 4. Rilat (9) 5. Mitrisin (6) 6. Ideus (3) 7. King (8) 8. McClelland (7) 9. Jamison (13) 10. Howland (10) 11. Chippindall (11) 12. Fox (12) 13. D. Anderson (14) 14. S. Alexander (5) DNS - Gee
Maier grabbed the point early, before a lap three Chippindall spin. The yellow negated a lead change as J. Anderson had gotten around Maier. Stewart, Mitrisin and Ideus lined behind the duo for the restart. Three laps later, J. Anderson made good on his bid for the lead and never looked back, despite one more caution for debris on lap eleven. Stewart looked like he might best Maier on several occasions, but could never mount a successful move for the final transfer. S. Alexander went pitside on lap three, D. Anderson did the same on lap 10 and ditto for Fox on lap 13.
A main (started): 1. Swenson (3) 2. Wright (2) 3. Ja. Johnson (12) 4. Higday (9) 5. Lindquist (19) 6. Hafertepe (1) 7. Horner (28, pr.) 8. Michael (22) 9. Welsh (15) 10. Beaver (16) 11. Bruce (18) 12. Ideus (29, pr.) 13. Harkness (11) 14. Daggett (6) 15. JD Johnson (23) 16. Lenz (13) 17. Zemken (26, pr.) 18. Chippindall (25, pr.) 19. Allison (5) 20. Meyer (4) 21. Martens (7) 22. Corbin (8) 23. Mosher (10) 24. J. Anderson (21) 25. Maier (24) 26. Howland (27, pr.) 27. Sherwood (13) 28. Brecht (20) 29. R. Martin (30, pr.) 30. Weibley (17)
Weibley did not start the 30 lapper. Wright grabbed an early lead before R. Martin flipped after contact with Brecht, badly damaging his 14 machine. Both were done, but uninjured. Wright led Swenson, a game Meyer, Hafertepe and Daggett back to green flag racing. On lap seven, Sherwood flipped hard in turn one after contact with another machine, destroying the 44J. He was not injured. Wright still led Swenson, Meyer, a charging Higday and Hafertepe back to green. Swenson asserted himself, moving under Wright to take a lead he would never relinquish. Once in lapped traffic, Swenson, split cars in amazing fashion to build a large lead in traffic until a lap seventeen caution for the seventh place machine of J. Anderson who stopped in turn four after a nice charge. He retired. Swenson now had no lapped cars between he and Wright, Meyer, Higday and J. Johnson, who had just arrived in the top five. Once back in traffic on lap 26, the lead field was slowed again by the spun car of Corbin. Swenson led Wright, Higday, J. Johnson, a smoking Meyer who would soon be done, and a surging Lindquist. One more lap was banked before Meyer brought out the caution, ending his fine run. Swenson led the remaining laps for the popular win, his second of the season at Knoxville, and second career here. He banked $5000 for the win. Horner earned hard-charger honors, moving up 21 spots after being given a provisional.
Team points went to the Knoxville Drivers for the second year in a row (unofficial):
1. Knoxville - 124
2. ASCoT - 78
3. NCRA - 52
4. URC - 46
5. ASCS-NP - 30
6. ASCS-S - 25
7. NST - 24
8. ASCS-M - 19
9. AST - 18
10. NRA - 15
11. ESS - 14
12. PASS - 13
13. ASCS-PSG - 5
14. WOW - 2