8/10/05
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville Nationals Night #1
55 cars
Time trials (Qualifying Order): 1. Brian Paulus 28 14.978 (1) 2. Donny Schatz 15 15.108 (24) 3. Steve Kinser 11 15.158 (38) 4. Erin Crocker 16 15.173 (8) 5. Travis Rilat 29 15.225 (43) 6. Greg Hodnett 77 15.246 (16) 7. Stevie Smith 19 15.253 (26) 8. Skip Jackson 2AU 15.254 (43) 9. Randy Hannagan 1x 15.256 (36) 10. Jesse Giannetto D1 15.258 (25) 11. Clint Garner 40 15.306 (33) 12. Lance Dewease 25 15.314 (21) 13. Chad Kemenah 15K 15.348 (7) 14. Paul McMahan 11H 15.353 (42) 15. Fred Rahmer 88H 15.375 (55) 16. Kevin Swindell 1 15.376 (3) 17. Tim Shaffer 6 15.376 (11) 18. Calvin Landis 70 15.398 (54) 19. Tim St. Arnold 7w 15.401 (10) 20. Wayne Johnson 14AJ 15.405 (22) 21. Chad Meyer 1w 15.426 (17) 22. Tim Kaeding 83 15.429 (52) 23. Cody Geldart 6G 15.444 (27) 24. Justin Henderson D11 15.445 (32) 25. John Lambertz 12L 15.468 (5) 26. Greg Wilson 22x 15.481 (28) 27. Matt Moro 47 15.483 (23) 28. Colin Northway 60 15.499 (35) 29. Dusty Zomer 1z 15.501 (4) 30. Brent Antill 1B 15.506 (15) 31. Kaley Gharst 44G 15.528 (29) 32. Mark Dobmeier 13D 15.543 (18) 33. Ryan Anderson 71R 15.569 (46) 34. Kevin Huntley 70x 15.572 (53) 35. Bob Bennett 3B 15.587 (37) 36. Mike Reinke 02 15.600 (13) 37. Todd Hepfner 28H 15.609 (45) 38. Toni Lutar 4x 15.628 (48) 39. Jeff Mitrisin 5J 15.635 (41) 40. Brandon Wimmer 7TW 15.641 (47) 41. Geoff Dodge 44x 15.642 (12) 42. Mike Kertscher 80K 15.687 (6) 43. Bob Weuve 19w 15.710 (50) 44. Randy Anderson 81 15.732 (51) 45. Roger Crockett 11c 15.747 (39) 46. Mike Moore 69 15.759 (34) 47. Danny Jennings 61J 15.884 (2) 48. TJ Stutts 2K 15.906 (49) 49. Luke Cranston 20c 15.992 (9) 50. Ian Madsen F5 16.039 (31) 51. Mike Deavers 72 16.047 (19) 52. Lynton Jeffrey 4AU 16.277 (30) 53. Dave Enders 51E 16.429 (14) 54. Bob Hildreth 55KC 17.510 (20) 55. Stevie Walsh 20NZ NT (40)
Walsh flipped in hot laps ending his night. Wimmer slowed on the second qualifying lap with driveline issues. He made repairs for the heat race. 200 pts. were awarded for quick time, 198 for second quick, and so on.
Heat one (started): 1. Wilson (5) 2. Moore (1) 3. Dodge (2) 4. Gharst (4) / 5. Paulus (10) 6. Swindell (7) 7. Meyer (6) 8. Garner (8) / 9. Hodnett (9) 10. Reinke (3)
Moore led early in the 8 lapper. With a tacky and somewhat narrow surface, passing was at a premium. Moore took the early advantage with Dodge in tow. Reinke came to a stop on lap two. The restart saw Moore leading Dodge, Wilson, Gharst and Swindell back to green flag racing. Wilson did well to pick his way forward in his maiden Nationals appearance, taking the lead on lap nine. Paulus won a battle with Swindell, but fell on spot short of an A main transfer. Hodnett couldn't move forward and was sent to the C as a result of his ninth place finish. 100 points were awarded to the heat winner, 97 to 2nd, 94 to 3rd and so on.
Heat two (started): 1. Jennings (1) 2. Shaffer (7) 3. Kaeding (6) 4. Dewease (8) / 5. Hepfner (3) 6. Kertscher (2) 7. Schatz (10) 8. Smith (9) / 9. Dobmeier (4) 10. Moro (5)
Jennings led flag to flag. Shaffer, Kaeding and Dewease moved forward utilizing mostly the low side of the raceway. The cushion had only moved about halfway up the track. Hepfner and Kertscher battled hard to teh line for fifth.
Heat three (started): 1. Stutts (1) 2. Weuve (2) 3. Kemenah (8) 4. Kinser (10) / 5. Ry. Anderson (4) 6. Geldart (6) 7. Jackson (9) 8. Northway (5) / 9. Landis (7) 10. Lutar (3)
Stutts led the distance. Kinser got a great jump moving by four cars in the first turn. Kemenah worked his patented low groove to perfection in moving forward. Lutar went pitside on lap two.
Heat four (started): 1. Henderson (6) 2. Ra. Anderson (2) 3. Hannagan (9) 4. Cranston (1) / 5. Mitrisin (3) 6. Zomer (5) 7. St. Arnold (7) 8. Crocker (10) / 9. Huntley (4) 10. McMahan (8)
Ra. Anderson shot out to an early lead. On lap three, McMahan got into the wall as the result of contact with Mitrisin a lap earlier and a drag link issue. He was running fifth at the time. Ra. Anderson led Cranston, Henderson, Huntley and Mitrisin back to green flag racing. Henderson took command on lap seven, while Hannagan made a steady run into a transfer spot. Hannagan suffered rear end problems at the checkers, but made a replacement before the main event.
Heat five (started): 1. Rahmer (8) 2. Wimmer (3) 3. Crockett (2) 4. Johnson (7) / 5. Rilat (10) 6. Antill (5) 7. I. Madsen (1) 8. Giannetto (9) / 9. Bennett (4) 10. Lambertz (6)
Wimmer took the early lead, while Rahmer passed four cars on the first lap. On lap three, Lambertz and Giannetto came together, with Lambertz suffering a left rear flat and Giannetto spinning gently into the wall. Both continued at the rear of the field. Wimmer led Madsen, Crockett, Rahmer and Johnson back to green flag racing. Rahmer found his way by Crockett and then Madsen, taking the lead from Wimmer with authority on lap seven. Johnson also cruised forward, while Rilat came just short of a transfer from the rear.
C main (started): 1. Hodnett (1) 2. McMahan (2) / 3. Landis (3) 4. Dobmeier (6) 5. Reinke (9) 6. Jeffrey (12) 7. Moro (5) 8. Huntley (7) 9. Lambertz (4) 10. Lutar (10) 11. Bennett (8) 12. Deavers (11) 13. Enders (13) 14. Hildreth (14) DNS - Walsh
Hodnett and McMahan led the rest behind in the non-stop 10 lapper.
B main (started): 1. Schatz (2) 2. Paulus (1) 3. Smith (5) 4. Jackson (6) / 5. Crocker (3) 6. Rilat (4) 7. Geldart (12) 8. Garner (8) 9. Swindell (9) 10. Hodnett (21) 11. Giannetto (7) 12. McMahan (22) 13. St. Arnold (10) 14. Zomer (14) 15. Mitrisin (18) 16. Antill (15) 17. Northway (13) 18. Ry. Anderson (16) 19. Hepfner (17) 20. Kertscher (19) 21. I. Madsen (20) 22. Meyer (11)
Schatz led flag to flag in the 12 lapper. Smith fell as far back as seventh before making a surge late, going from fifth to third in the final two laps, knocking Crocker out of a transfer. 16 cars finished the event.
A main (started): 1. Rahmer (4) 2. Kemenah (5) 3. Dewease (6) 4. Johnson (2) 5. Hannagan (7) 6. Schatz (21) 7. Paulus (22) 8. Smith (23) 9. Wilson (10) 10. Henderson (9) 11. Jackson (24) 12. Shaffer (3) 13. Gharst (11) 14. Wimmer (12) 15. Dodge (13) 16. Cranston (20) 17. Moore (17) 18. Weuve (14) 19. Kinser (8) 20. Ra. Anderson (15) 21. Stutts (19) 22. Kaeding (1) 23. Jennings (18) 24. Crockett (16)
Kaeding shot out to a good lead from his pole position. Smoke was evident from his engine when Crockett stopped while running ninth on lap seven. Johnson and Shaffer were in a battle for third. The resart saw Kaeding leading Rahmer, Johnson, Shaffer and Kinser. Johnson, Shaffer and Kinser exchanged positions several times in the next few laps before Shaffer assumed third. On lap 14, Kaeding's motor expired and he pulled pitside. Rahmer assumed the lead with Kinser having moved into second. On lap twenty, Rahmer slowed behind the smoking machine of Stutts, allowing Kinser to shoot around him and pull away. Two laps later, Kinser had a right rear go down on the backstretch, sending him over the turn three cushion, into the wall, and upside down. Rahmer assumed the lead ahead of Kemenah, Dewease, Johnson and Schatz. Shaffer pitted with a flat, surrendering his runner-up run. Rahmer surged to the win, collecting 12K and his first career Knoxville triumph. Kemenah made a run on the final lap, but his low line was blocked by the winner. Chad settled for 10K. Schatz, Paulus and Smith used charges from the back of the pack to share hard-charger honors.
Wednesday points: 1. Paulus 476 2. Rahmer 472 3. Schatz 470 4. Hannagan 470 5. Kemenah 468 6. Dewease 465 7. Smith 453 8. Kinser 451 9. Jackson 448 10. Johnson 447 11. Shaffer 443 12. Henderson 436 13. Wilson 434 14. Rilat 420 15. Crocker 415 16. Kaeding 410 17. Gharst 407 18. Hodnett 398 19. Garner 395 20. Wimmer 393 21. Giannetto 391 22. Swindell 389 23. Dodge 386 24. Geldart 379 25. Weuve 379 26. McMahan 375 27. Moore 375 28. Ra. Anderson 373 29. St. Arnold 372 30. Stutts 366 31. Cranston 365 32. Jennings 364 33. Crockett 360 34. Zomer 353 35. Meyer 350 36. Antill 347 37. Northway 343 38. Ry. Anderson 340 39. Landis 338 40. Mitrisin 334 41. Hepfner 330 42. Kertscher 315 43. Lambertz 309 44. Moro 309 45. Dobmeier 308 46. Huntley 296 47. Reinke 295 48. I. Madsen 294 49. Bennett 288 50. Lutar 281 51. Jeffrey 188 52. Deavers 178 53. Enders 172 54. Hildreth 168 55. Walsh 0