6/2/06
Knoxville Raceway
Masters Classic vs. Young Guns Challenge
Midget King Doodlebug Classic
18 Masters
20 "Young Guns"
44 Midgets
Masters
Jimmy Sills (5th car out to time) joined fellow Hall of Famer and Mechanic Kenny Woodruff to set quick time in the Sather 94s at 17.020 seconds. AJ Weaver (2nd car out) was second quick, followed by Jerry Potter (13th), Shane Carson (15th), Bobby Becker (11th), Terry Alexander (4th), Bob Thompson (9th), Randy Droescher (1st), Chuck McGillivray (3rd) and Jerry Crabb (18th). Bill Smith looked to have lost a powerplant before getting a time in, ending his night. The cars went straight to their feature event.
Masters Classic Feature (started): 1. Carson 00 (3) 2. Sills 94s (6) 3. Weaver 55 (5) 4. T. Alexander 77 (1) 5. Potter 6P (4) 6. Thompson 2T (7) 7. Becker 8B (2) 8. Droescher 24 (8) 9. Crabb 12x (10) 10. Joe Kouba 55K (11) 11. Chris Maurer 7N (13) 12. Earnest Jennings 61 (15) 13. Edd French 7777 (14) 14. Dale McCarty 9m (16) 15. Ken Chapman 1HD (17) 16. Rick Weld 1 (12) 17. McGillivray 101 (9)
Before a lap could be completed, Weld and McGillivray made contact, resulting in a broken front end for McGillivray, who retired. Once the 15 lapper was underway Carson wrestled the early lead on the low side from pole-sitter T. Alexander and set sail with T. Alexander, Weaver and Sills in tow. Carson looked solid, cruising on the bottom side and putting some distance between himself and the field. At the halfway point, Weld spun, bringing out the only caution. He would retire. Carson continued to cruise to the win, while Sills moved by T. Alexander for second on the restart. Chapman exited on lap ten. Weaver followed suit with a nice podium run. Carson earned $1000 for his win. The top ten qualified for the Masters vs. Young Guns feature.
"Young Guns"
Josh Schneiderman (16th car out to time) shocked a few by coming out late in time trials on an extremely dry surface and registering quick time at 17.126 seconds. David Hall (10th car out) was second quick, followed by Johnny Anderson (13th), Josh Higday (5th), John Kearney (17th), Rick Ideus (2nd), Stacey Alexander (9th), Jeff Mitrisin (19th), Dustin Selvage (20th) and Jon Corbin (3rd). It was a rare opportunity for the 360s to time, and gain a little experience for the 360 Nationals, which will see time trials again this year.
Young Guns Feature (started): 1. Anderson 7a (4) 2. S. Alexander 2Tx (7) 3. Kearney 83 (2) 4. Mitrisin 10 (8) 5. Corbin 15 (10) 6. Ideus 5B (1) 7. Schneiderman 49 (6) 8. Joe Beaver 53 (11) 9. Higday 24 (3) 10. Hall 51 (5) 11. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (11) 12. Selvage 7 (9) 13. Eric Mason B29 (18) 14. Brett Mather 54 (17) 15. Pete Crall 11 (14) 16. Nate Mosher 22N (12) 17. Mike Houseman Jr. (19) 18. Alan Zoutte 33 (15) 19. Mitchell Alexander 6 (12) 20. Tim Newman 18 (20)
Kearney grabbed the early lead in the 15 lapper from his front row starting position. Quickly Anderson went to the low side to follow Kearney, while S. Alexander did the same to move into third before a lap eight spin by Newman slowed things. As Kearney shot around the top on the restart, Anderson took to the bottom and shot by to take the point exiting turn two. S. Alexander followed himi on teh bottom to register a runner-up finish. The top ten finishers qualified for the Masters vs. Young Guns challenge. Anderson was paid $1000 for his efforts.
Masters vs. Young Guns Feature (started): 1. Anderson (2) 2. Kearney (10) 3. Higday (8) 4. Carson (1) 5. Hall (4) 6. Corbin (14) 7. Beaver (16) 8. Sills (5) 9. Schneiderman (6) 10. Heimbaugh (18) 11. T. Alexander (9) 12. Selvage (20) 13. Crabb (15) 14. Becker (7) 15. Droescher (13) 16. Kouba (17) 17. Weaver (3) 18. Ideus (12) 19. Maurer (19) 20. Thompson (11) DNS - Mitrisin, S. Alexander
Anderson won a spirited duel with Carson on the opening circuit for the point, and never looked back to capture his second feature win of the night, and fourth at Knoxville, earning $1000. The track's dryness yielded to rubber at the halfway point. The race almost went green to checker, but Weaver, running a strong seventh, spun on lap 13. The green, white, checker finish saw Anderson leading Higday, Hall, Kearney, Corbin and Carson back to green flag racing. Kearney made the big move shooting around Hall and Higday to earn runner-up honors, while Carson shot by Corbin and Hall to nail down fourth. Maurer, Thompson and Ideus retired early.
Midgets
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jerry Coons Jr. 11 (7*) 2. Davey Ray 91 (2*) 3. Tom Hessert III 5 (1*) 4. Andy Martin 21m (3) 5. Kyle Nicholas 29 (2) 6. Jack Potter 11m (5) 7. Leroy Holler 29L (7) 8. Mike DiBart 23 (6) 9. Doug DeWitt 11D (5)
Ray shot out to an early lead in the 8 lapper from his front row starting spot. Most hugged the bottom on the dry surface, including Ray. Coons found a way to move forward and after battling with Ray, got by in exciting fashion on the last go-around. The top 18 in passing points in the heats moved on to the King Doodlebug main.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Brad Kuhn 74 (3*) 2. Brady Bacon 991 (4*) 3. Levi Jones 21 (6*) 4. Teddy Beach 125 (9*) 5. Brad Mosen 3 (2) 6. Russ Harper 9H (1) 7. Harley Slotten 12 (7) DNS - Todd Street (5), Joe Ligouri (8)
Harper grabbed the point early, but yielded to Kuhn on the second lap. Kuhn showed how hot he has been lately by taking this heat. Bacon, just 16, was very impressive in moving forward. Beach was the mover of this one, advancing five positions.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Ryan Durst 191 (4*) 2. Dave Darland 9 (8*) 3. Michael Lewis 2 (2*) 4. Mike Hess 51 (7*) 5. Johnny Rodriguez 21az (9) 6. Donnie Lehmann 31 (3) 7. Brad Loyet 05 (6) 8. Mallory Armfield 5MA (5) 9. Jimmy Light 49 (1)
Light grabbed and early advantage before Durst took control in the Kasey Kahne machine. Light stopped on lap five with an ailing machine while running second. The next try at green saw Loyet spin, collecting Lehmann. The restart saw Durst hold off Darland who came from row four, Lewis and a surging Hess to take the win.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Bud Kaeding 38 (7*) 2. Tracy Hines 1 (2*) 3. Chad McDaniel 1c (5*) 4. Don Droud Jr. 4 (9*) 5. Garett Hood 11H (3) 6. Rik Forbes 71x (8) 7. Mike Riley 05x (6) DNS - Ryan Kaplan 27 (4), Cody Brewer 96 (1)
Hood jumped out to the early lead with fellow SMRS regular McDaniel in tow. Hines tucked into third, before Kaeding got a run on him and set his sights on the leaders. A lap five Hood bobble was all Bud needed as he used both the high and low grooves to pull away. Droud shot to fourth from row five to earn his transfer.
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Bryan Clauson 67 (3*) 2. Cole Carter 7 (1*) 3. Darren Hagen 71 (2*) 4. Ryan Pace 44 (4) 5. Jay Drake 97 (6) 6. Joe Boyles 7B (5) 7. Josh Wise 20 (8) 8. Daniel Adler 50 (7)
Despite five heats, Keith Kunz found three of his cars (Clauson, Hagen, Drake) in this one heat. Carter had a solid lead until faltering on lap seven, when Clauson took control on the first weekend he has ever laid eyes on Knoxville. Adler brought out the lone caution with a lap two stoppage. Wise slowed and exited on lap three.
B main one (started): 1. Rodriguez (1) 2. Drake (3) 3. Nicholas (2) / 4. Slotten (8) 5. Lehmann (6) 6. Riley (9) 7. Hood (4) 8. Holler (7) 9. Armfield (10) 10. Potter (5) 11. DeWitt (11) 12. Street (12) DNS - Brewer
Hood spun on lap one bringing out a caution. He restarted at the rear. Street stopped and exited on the restart. Rodriguez led the 10 lap mostly single-file around the bottom affair for the distance. The B's transferred 3 to the main event.
B main two (started): 1. Kaplan (7) 2. Mosen (3) 3. Pace (2) / 4. Martin (1) 5. Loyet (4) 6. DiBart (5) 7. 2, Wise (6) DNS - Forbes, Harper, Boyles, Adler, Light, Ligouri
What B main one lacked in excitement, this one more than made up for it. The ten lapper saw Martin show the way, while there was a three-way battle for the lead. Wise was in a back-up car, but it was to no avail as he slowed pitside on lap four. Loyet brought out a caution while leading on lap five. Martin led Pace, Kaplan, Mosen and DiBart back to green flag racing. Loyet restarted at the rear and made the top work for second two laps later. It was all for naught as the top five shuffled spots several times and rolled the dice for their finishing order on a last lap shuffle.
King Doodlebug Main (started): 1. Coons (6) 2. Bacon (7) 3. Darland (3) 4. Clauson (1) 5. Hess (17) 6. Kuhn (2) 7. Lewis (16) 8. Hagen (18) 9. Durst (4) 10. Jones (9) 11. Ray (8) 12. Droud (14) 13. Drake (21) 14. Lehmann (26, pr.) 15. Rodriguez (19) 16. Pace (24) 17. McDaniel (13) 18. Loyet (25, pr.) 19. Nicholas (23) 20. Kaeding (5) 21. Kaplan (20) 22. Beach (12) 23. Hessert (15) 24. Carter (11) 25. Hines (10) 26. Mosen (22) 27. Boyles (27, pr.)
Clauson jumped out to lead lap one, before Darland slid under him to lead lap two. The lap that would never end started with a Hines flip in turn three. Mosen followed with another tumble on the restart. Both were uninjured. Another caution for a stopped Loyet slowed action. That caution negated a pass for the lead by Clauson. Now Darland led Clauson, Kaeding, Bacon and Coons back to green flag racing. Bacon was sizzling and shot around Kaeding and Clauson. On lap five, he passed Darland to take the lead. Two laps later, Hessert was a turn four flip victim, slowing the action again. At the time, Bacon led Darland, Coons, Clauson, Kaeding and Kuhn back to green. Darland took over on the restart, shooting around the youngster on the high side of two and beating him to the low side in turn three. Coons asserted himself at this point, taking the lead at the halfway point of the event, and pulling away for a solid win. Bacon held on for an impressive second in his first appearance on Knoxville soil. Five different engines (Stanton Mopar, Esslinger Ford, Pink Toyota, Fontana, Carey) made up the top five spots. Hess was on a mission from row nine to take fifth. A $5000 bonus will go to the winner Saturday night if they have a Mopar under the hood.