Brian Brown won for the second time in two weeks at Knoxville Saturday (Knoxville Raceway Photo)
McKenna Haase First Female to Win 360 Feature; Eric Bridger Goes Back to Back in 305’s
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 12, 2018) – Brian Brown led from start to finish to claim his 39th career feature and second in a row here at the Knoxville Raceway on Vermeer Night Saturday. The win was worth $4,000 to the Grain Valley, Missouri driver. McKenna Haase shattered the 18-lap record in the 360 feature and became the first female to win a 360 sprint car feature at Knoxville. Eric Bridger used lapped traffic to take a late lead and win his second 305 main event in a row.
The 20-lap feature got off to a rough start. A chain reaction sent Bill Balog, Terry McCarl and Tasker Phillips into a wicked series of flips. Lynton Jeffrey was also involved, but made repairs during the open red period. McCarl walked away slowly and was taken to the hospital for observation.
Once the green flew, Brian Brown, shot out from the pole, ahead of AJ Moeller, Brooke Tatnell, Austin McCarl and Justin Henderson. Henderson was able to grab fourht on the second lap, while up front, some smoke emanated from Brown’s machine, casting doubt on the leader.
Brown’s mount proved to be fine, however, and he entered lapped traffic at the halfway point. With 14 laps complete, Moeller’s great second place run came to a close in turn three with rear-end issues.
Brown would lead the final six laps for his second straight win here ahead of Tatnell, Henderson, Austin McCarl and Josh Schneiderman. Matt Juhl, RJ Johnson, hard-charger Tony Stewart, Carson McCarl and Rager Phillips rounded out the top ten. Stewart had rebounded from a broken steering arm in his heat race. Brown set quick time, laying down a lap of 14.595 seconds. The lap was the ninth fastest recorded in history here, and the fastest since 2015. Dakota Hendrickson, RJ Johnson and Schneiderman were heat race winners.
“I want to make sure Terry is alright,” began Brown in Victory Lane. “He’s a long-time competitor here, and we go ‘tooth and nail’. Hopefully, he is o.k. first and foremost. I’d also like to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow. Everybody on the Casey’s General Stores/FVP team does and incredible job. Hat’s off to the Dunkin family for their track preparation and to Knoxville for having this race. They could have thrown in the towel pretty easily. The track’s been good all year long.”
McKenna Haase rocketed out from here pole position start to lead the 18-lap 360 feature early over Calvin Landis and Clint Garner. The fast track would see her hit lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit. She hesitated a bit, but got around the lappers of Cody Wehrle and Mitchell Alexander.
Once by them, she cruised to a win in an 18-lap record of 5:01.3 (breaking the five-year-old 5:09.0 mark of Joe Beaver). Haase, the first female to win a sprint car feature here in the 305’s (three times), has now added a popular 360 win to her resume. Landis was second, ahead of Garner, Ryan Giles and Christian Bowman. Hard-charger Matt Moro, Nate Van Haaften, Nathan Mills, Jon Agan and Sawyer Phillips completed the top ten. Bowman set quick time, while Van Haaften and Agan won the heats.
“I figured I had someone behind me,” said Haase of her bobble in traffic. “Sometimes those guys don’t know it’s the leader coming through and they start protecting a little bit. When you start on the pole, you obviously want to end up here. It’s still hard to believe! I’m still kind of in shock I guess. My goal is to win in all three classes!”
The 15-lap 305 main event was also a non-stop track record affair. It turned into a two-car battle. Kevin Hetrick led early from the pole, but Eric Bridger was there side by side for several laps. Bridger took the lead on lap three, before Hetrick slid under him in turn four and took the high line back.
Hetrick was cruising until he started hitting lapped traffic with four to go. On the fourteenth circuit, he slowed slightly behind a lapped marker and Bridger was able to pounce again for the lead. Ryan Leavitt followed him into second for good. Hetrick finished third, ahead of Matthew Stelzer and Devin Kline. Evan Epperson, Rob Kubli, Mike Mayberry, Jayce Jenkins and Chase Young rounded out the top ten. Bridger’s time of 4:25.0 was a new track record, eclipsing Corey Kautz’s two-year-old mark of 4:27.2. Leavitt set quick time, while Stelzer and Bridger were heat winners.
“I got in the lead there briefly, but Kevin cut me off on the racetrack,” said Bridger in Victory Lane. “That was his job. Lapped traffic happened, and we were able to time it perfectly. I saw the white and I knew it was my chance. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.”
Join us next week, Saturday, May 19, for Pizza Hut/Knoxville Hospital & Clinics Night featuring the 410, 360 and 305 sprint cars! The Iowa vs. Iowa State Night for charity will be repeated one more week as well! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (5), 14.595; 2. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (12), 14.831; 3. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (8), 14.896; 4. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (18), 14.931; 5. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (14), 14.956; 6. 7W, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (1), 14.965; 7. 83, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (6), 14.981; 8. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (17), 15.004; 9. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (11), 15.013; 10. 14, Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN (13), 15.044; 11. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (7), 15.045; 12. 7, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (9), 15.055; 13. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (19), 15.057; 14. 9, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 15.104; 15. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (3), 15.125; 16. 4, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (4), 15.185; 17. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (10), 15.313; 18. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (16), 15.337; 19. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (20), 15.491; 20. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (15), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:03.1: 1. Dakota Hendrickson (1); 2. Matt Juhl (2); 3. Brooke Tatnell (5); 4. Brian Brown (6); 5. Justin Henderson (4); 6. Glen Saville (7); 7. Tony Stewart (3)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:04.0: 1. RJ Johnson (1); 2. Rager Phillips (2); 3. Austin McCarl (4); 4. AJ Moeller (6); 5. Bill Balog (5); 6. Davey Heskin (3)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:03.5: 1. Josh Schneiderman (2); 2. Terry McCarl (4); 3. Bobby Mincer (1); 4. Carson McCarl (3); 5. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 6. Tasker Phillips (5)
A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Brian Brown (1); 2. Brooke Tatnell (3); 3. Justin Henderson (8); 4. Austin McCarl (7); 5. Josh Schneiderman (10); 6. Matt Juhl (11); 7. RJ Johnson (14); 8. Tony Stewart (18); 9. Carson McCarl (15); 10. Rager Phillips (13); 11. Davey Heskin (16); 12. Bobby Mincer (17); 13. AJ Moeller (2); 14. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 15. Dakota Hendrickson (12); 16. Terry McCarl (5); 17. Bill Balog (6); 18. Tasker Phillips (9) DNS – Glen Saville, Bob Weuve. Lap Leader: Brown 1-20. Hard-charger: Stewart.
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA (3), 15.762; 2. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (2), 15.808; 3. 55, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (12), 15.901; 4. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (13), 15.907; 5. 9, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (15), 15.992; 6. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (5), 16.006; 7. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (4), 16.013; 8. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (17), 16.030; 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (16), 16.049; 10. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (8), 16.050; 11. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (10), 16.097; 12. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (14), 16.133; 13. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (1), 16.136; 14. 40C, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (11), 16.146; 15. 76, Brad Comegys, Bondurant, IA (7), 16.201; 16. 6, Mitchell Alexander, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.289; 17. 22, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (6), 16.435.
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 1:54.7: 1. Nate Van Haaften (1); 2. Sawyer Phillips (2); 3. Ryan Giles (4); 4. Tyler Groenendyk (3); 5. Christian Bowman (6); 6. McKenna Haase (5); 7. Brad Comegys (8); 8. Joe Beaver (7); 9. Kaleb Johnson (9)
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:53.5: 1. Jon Agan (1); 2. Tom Lenz (2); 3. Nathan Mills (4); 4. Clint Garner (5); 5. Matt Moro (3); 6. Calvin Landis (6); 7. Cody Wehrle (7); 8. Mitchell Alexander (8)
A main (started), 18 Laps, 5:01.3 (NTR): 1. McKenna Haase (1); 2. Calvin Landis (2); 3. Clint Garner (4); 4. Ryan Giles (5); 5. Christian Bowman (6); 6. Matt Moro (12); 7. Nate Van Haaften (8); 8. Nathan Mills (3); 9. Jon Agan (11); 10. Sawyer Phillips (7); 11. Tom Lenz (10); 12. Joe Beaver (15); 13. Kaleb Johnson (17); 14. Brad Comegys (14); 15. Mitchell Alexander (16); 16. Cody Wehrle (13); 17. Tyler Groenendyk (9). Lap Leader: Haase 1-18. Hard-charger: Moro.
305 Results
Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (10), 16.819; 2. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA (14), 16.825; 3. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (8), 17.033; 4. 35, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (11), 17.050; 5. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (12), 17.136; 6. 50, Mike Ayers, St. Charles, IA (4), 17.140; 7. 21, Evan Epperson, Muscatine, IA (9), 17.167; 8. 5C, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (13), 17.196; 9. 33, Jayce Jenkins, Colfax, IA (2), 17.213; 10. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (6), 17.217; 11. 99, Matthew Stelzer, Papillion, NE (15), 17.453; 12. 41D, Dan Henning, Columbia, IA (1), 17.642; 13. 67, Jon Hughes, Knoxville, IA (3), 18.239; 14. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (5), 18.945; 15. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (7), NT.
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:44.6: 1. Matthew Stelzer (1); 2. Jayce Jenkins (2); 3. Ryan Leavitt (6); 4. Evan Epperson (3); 5. Chase Young (5); 6. Mike Mayberry (4); 7. Jon Hughes (7); 8. Josh Jones (8)
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:44.3: 1. Eric Bridger (6); 2. Dan Henning (1); 3. Rob Kubli (2); 4. Devin Kline (3); 5. Kevin Hetrick (5); 6. Mike Ayers (4); 7. Joe Simbro (7)
A main (started), 15 Laps, 4:25.0 (NTR): 1. Eric Bridger (4); 2. Ryan Leavitt (3); 3. Kevin Hetrick (1); 4. Matthew Stelzer (6); 5. Devin Kline (9); 6. Evan Epperson (7); 7. Rob Kubli (10); 8. Mike Mayberry (8); 9. Jayce Jenkins (5); 10. Chase Young (2); 11. Mike Ayers (11); 12. Jon Hughes (13); 13. Dan Henning (12); 14. Joe Simbro (14) DNS – Josh Jones. Lap Leaders: Hetrick 1-2, Bridger 3, Hetrick 4-13, Bridger 14-15. Hard-charger: Kline.