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6/21/08

Knoxville Raceway

Knoxville Midget Nationals & 410s

43 Midgets

29 410s

Midgets

Another night, another rain delay...Six drivers were locked into Saturday's 25-lap Midget Nationals event based on their Friday finishes: Brad Sweet, Cole Whitt, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jerry Coons Jr., Bobby East, Michael Pickens

Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Darren Hagen 67 (2*) 2. Chris Windom 17 (3*) 3. Tracy Hines 21 (4*) 4. Brent Beauchamp 112 (1) 5. Levi Jones 20 (8) 6. Brad Kuhn o7 (7) 7. Bubba Altig 67x (5) 8. Don Droud Jr. 1H (6) 9. Matt Smith 14A (9) 10. Scott Hatton 15 (10)

Jones surged from 8th to 4th before a lap could be completed, but biked it in three and came to a stop. He came from the back to surge to fifth at the end. Hagen led flag to flag in the 8-lapper.

Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Danny Stratton F5 (4*) 2. Brad Loyet o5 (8*) 3. Russ Harper 09 (2*) 4. Mike Hess 4x (6*) 5. AJ Fike 69 (7) 6. Kody Swanson 19 (3) 7. Brad Galedrige 29 (5) 8. David Gough 14 (1) 9. Ryan Criswell 11c (9)

Harper snagged the early lead. Stratton was on a rail and took the point with two to go. Loyet completed a good run following Startton into second.

Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Gary Taylor 5* (2*) 2. Dave Darland 9 (9*) 3. Dustin Morgan 93 (6*) 4. Tim Noble 71N (3) 5. Kevin Swindell 75 (4) 6. Austin Brown 7B (7) 7. Chad McDaniel 1c (8) 8. Daniel Robinson 24D (5) 9. Don O'Keefe Jr. 0K (1)

O'Keefe elected to start at the rear and retired on lap five. Taylor took the early lead. Swindell was in pursuit, and took the lead briefly on the last lap before teh two made contact in turn two, sending Swindell into a spin and to the rear for the restart. Darland's move from 9th to 2nd earned him high point man honors for the heat, and his late bid for the lead fell just short.

Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Chad Boat 30 (3*) 2. Brady Bacon 99 (8*) 3. Donnie Ray Crawford 55 (2) 4. Brett Anderson 11A (5) 5. Alfred Galedrige Jr. 26 (9) 6. Aaron Fiscus 7x (1) 7. Jason Holt 8J (7) 8. Will Pierce 10 (6) 9. Robby Ross 4R (4)

Crawford led early before Boat took control on lap four. Bacon used the low groove to nab second late and complete a nice run through the pack.

B main one (started): 1. Kuhn (5) 2. Jones (2) 3. Beauchamp (3) / 4. B. Galedrige (8) 5. Droud Jr. (7) 6. Crawford (1) 7. Hatton (11) 8. O'Keefe (10) 9. Noble (4) 10. Swindell (6) 11. M. Smith (9) DNS - McDaniel, Robinson

M. Smith turned over on the first try at green, and on the next, something broke with Swindell's steering and the car shot directly into the turn one wall. He was able to brake, but the car was substantially damaged ending a tough weekend. Crawford was sent back a row for jumping that start. Kuhn shot into the lead from row three, after a brief battle with new pole-sitter Beauchamp. The 10-lapper went non-stop until Hatton brought a caution on lap eight. The top three at the time (Kuhn, Jones, Beauchamp) stayed the same the final two laps.

B main two (started): 1. Altig (7) 2. Anderson (2) 3. Fike (3) / 4. Swanson (5) 5. Fiscus (4) 6. Criswell (11) 7. Gough (9) 8. Holt (6) 9. Ross (10) 10. Pierce (8) 11. A. Galedrige (1) DNS - Brown

Anderson and A. Galedrige swapped the lead twice on the first three laps before Anderson took control. A. Galedrige bowed out with a flat on lap four. Altig entered the fray and passed for the lead on lap seven, pulling away to win. Fike came late to grab the final transfer after a battle with Swanson.

A main (started): 1. Brad Sweet 49 (1) 2. Jerry Coons Jr. 11 (5) 3. Bacon (9) 4. Michael Pickens 2 (2) 5. Hagen (10) 6. Cole Whitt 71 (3) 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 32 (6) 8. Hines (14) 9. Darland (7) 10. Hess (16) 11. Loyet (8) 12. Bobby East 4 (4) 13. Windom (12) 14. Fike (22) 15. Jones (21) 16. Hatton (24, pr.) 17. Fiscus (26, pr.) 18. Swanson (25, pr.) 19. Altig (18) 20. Anderson (20) 21. Harper (17) 22. Beauchamp (23) 23. Taylor (13) 24. Boat (11) 25. Kuhn (19) 26. Morgan (15) DNS - Stratton

Sweet jumped out to an early lead on the high side in the 25-lapper. Whitt was in tow, until Coons Jr. started making a move and passed him on lap 12. Two laps later, Harper tagged the wall and came to a stop bringing a caution. Sweet, led Coons Jr., Whitt, Bacon who had a pass for third negated by the yellow, and Darland back to green flag racing. Boat had been in the top ten when he slowed to a stop on lap 18. Now Sweet led Coons Jr., a resurging Pickens, Darland and Whitt. Coons Jr. slid up in front of the leader to take the point. His use of the low side was working until a caution for debris on lap 20. Coons Jr. led Sweet, Pickens, a surging Bacon and Whitt back to the green. Sweet followed the leader through one and two and performed a slidejob for the winning pass in turn four. Sweet joined Coons Jr. as the only two drivers to sweep the King Doodlebug and Midget Nationals races. Fiscus was the hard-charger, moving up nine spots.

410s

Danny Lasoski (11th car out to time) set quick time at 15.244 seconds. Justin Henderson (16th car out) was second quick, followed by Mark Dobmeier (8th), Dusty Zomer (27th), Calvin Landis (5th), Dion Hindi (6th), Lynton Jeffrey (29th), Billy Alley (12th), Bronson Maeschen (23rd) and Travis Cram (24th). Davey Heskin failed to get a time in.

Heat one (started): 1. Brandon Wimmer 7TW (2) 2. Rager Phillips 9 (1) 3. Jeffrey 12 (4) 4. Lasoski 5 (6) 5. Cram 17G (3) 6. Zomer 5z (5) / 7. Jake Peters 57x (7) 8. Tony Shilling 47T (8) DNS - Kaley Gharst 7K, Kaylene Verville 01

Wimmer shot out in the 8-lapper on the cushion and led until a caution at the halfway point for a bar on the track. Zomer had been passed by Peters for the final transfer, but battled back on the bottom to grab it on the final go-around.

Heat two (started): 1. Skip Jackson 2 (2) 2. Ryan Anderson 71R (1) 3. Alley 22 (4) 4. Landis 70 (5) 5. Henderson D1 (6) 6. Derek Ingalls 91 (3) / 7. Davey Heskin 56 (10) 8. Mike Moore 69 (9) 9. Josh Schneiderman 49 (7) 10. Natalie Sather 94s (8)

Sather stopped before a lap could be completed. Jackson was the class of the field. The battle for the final transfer was heated, with Heskin grabbing it momentarily with two to go. Ingalls came back to grab it at the end.

Heat three (started): 1. Hindi 11D (5) 2. Ricky Logan 10 (1) 3. Wayne Johnson 14AJ (3) 4. Brian Brown 21 (7) 5. Dobmeier 13 (6) 6. Seth Brahmer 13v (2) / 7. Jeff Mitrisin 47 (8) 8. Dustin Morgan 93 (9) 9. Maeschen 96 (4)

Maeschen spun his tires at the start. Dobmeier clipped his left front trying to get by and sent the 96 upside down. Dobmeier would need work area repairs to continue, and Mitrisin would need to change a left front tire as well. Once underway, Hindi exploded from row three to wrestle the lead from Logan and pull away. Mitrisin threatened for the final transfer to no avail. W. Johnson grabbed third on the last lap from Brown.

B main (started): 1. Sather (3) 2. Peters (2) 3. Schneiderman (1) 4. Heskin (5) 5. Russ Hall 69 (9) 6. Mitrisin (6) / 7. Shilling (4) 8. Mike Moore 7K (8) 9. Verville (7) DNS - Maeschen, Morgan

Russ Hall jumped in the Moore 69, while Moore hopped into the 7K. Schneiderman led early. Meanwhile, Sather passed Peters using the low groove in one and two and set her sights on the leader. She made her winning pass on lap six. Things slowed when Verville spun on lap seven. R. Hall looked good surging into a transfer spot on the low side. R. Hall and Moore received no points after switching cars.

A main (started): 1. Lasoski (10) 2. Hindi (5) 3. Alley (3) 4. Dobmeier (8) 5. Jackson (13) 6. Henderson (9) 7. Wimmer (12) 8. Brown (18) 9. Jeffrey (4) 10. Logan (17) 11. W. Johnson (11) 12. Zomer (7) 13. Heskin (22) 14. Landis (6) 15. Ry. Anderson (16) 16. Peters (20) 17. Schneiderman (21) 18. Mitrisin (24) 19. Brahmer (14) 20. Sather (19) 21. Ingalls (1) 22. R. Hall (23) 23. Cram (2) 24. Phillips (15)

Cram shot off like a cannon at the outset of the 20-lapper. He had opened up a straightaway lead on Jeffrey on lap eight and appeared headed to victory. On lap eight, Phillips spun in turn one. Cram hit him solidly ending the night for both. Neither was injured. Jeffrey inherited the lead on the restart ahead of Alley, Hindi, Dobmeier, Henderson and Lasoski. Alley stuck to the bottom of turns one and two and used his momentum to take the lead in three and four. On lap 11, Ry. Anderson slowed to a stop bringing the final slowdown of the night. Alley led Hindi, Jeffrey, Dobmeier and Lasoski back to green flag racing for the final nine laps. Alley led Hindi through the final laps, while Lasoski moved into third. Coming towards the white flag, Alley was held up by the lapped car of Brahmer. Lasoski pounced on the opportunity to pass Hindi and Alley for his 90th career win. Brown was the hard-charger, moving up ten spots.

If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com

Nice to see a couple of the Badger bunch with some solid Top-10s for the weekend.

What is the deal with ya Bill W. having yer hometown change from week-to-week between Pequot Lakes, Sepulpa, Floyd's Knob...?

Another barn burner in the 410 "A" The midgets were o.k. but the 410 features week after week just seem to be some of the best racing you can see about anywhere. IMHO the track is to big and to wide to put on a great midget race. Doesn't mean the midgets weren't fun and different, but the 410 "A" racing and excitement made the midget feature seem like a hobby stock show. I have a sore neck from trying to follow all the passing and lapping in the 410 feature. Really tough loss for Cram as it was his style of track and Alley was in the wrong place at the wrong time too. Forbrook and Lasoski were over due to win one and finally the cards fell their way. Can the regular Saturday night shows for the 410's get any better?

R.A.

S.H.S.

No doubt about it...every week there's something wild happening. I think a big part of it is the lack of cautions we've had in the A mains and that has brought lapped traffic into play much more. I think we have a lot of talent in that division, drivers are in tune and double and triple-checking, making sure everything is right on the car, and that's part of it. The tension between the drivers on and off the track is also adding a lot. It's been great to be there every week!

If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com

Overall I thought the racing was good for my first Iowa trip this year. A few observations from a novice race reporter but lifetime fan:

1: Was that stoplight on 14 north of town some kind of sick joke? 8 cars get through at a time with no consideration given to which way the traffic is flowing? Thank god for our TomTom.

2: Sprint car heats were terrible both nights. Is it always like this? The features were very entertaining both evenings.

3. Three "B" mains on Friday? Geez. Let's start calling them "B" heats.

4. USAC has a lot of great young racers. Better watch them in their true element before NASCRAP gets their hands on them.

5. John Andretti is an excellent race car driver! He had that Roth car up to 6th at one point.

6. Errrr, can you turn that down a bit? Holy cow Knoxville, we aren't deaf but we will be if you don't turn that PA system down. I'll never understand why speedways insist on blasting noise in between the noise. Give us a chance to talk!

7. Casey's 47 car. What's going on here? I know past success doensn't mean current success but that car used to be up front. Not bashing, just curious.

8. If any of you couples are looking for a place to stay in the future I would HIGHLY recommend the Country Connection B&B in Prairie City. Jim and Alice treated us like royalty.

9. Attendance looked sparse. I hope there was enough people to warrant doing this again next year as this has quickly become one of our favorite weekends of racing.

It usually doesn't rain at 6 PM on racenight, delaying hotlaps to 8 PM or later. Through no fault of the Dunkins or the Raceway, the track was pretty heavy both nights for the sprint heats. Heavy narrow track + fast winged cars = no passing. Just one week ago the track was much slicker & wider and the heats weren't bad.

If the sprint heats were bad, the IRL race (any of it) was worse. The only time anybody could pass was on a restart, not cool.

to answer some of your questions.

1. Due to the road falling away, the DOT installed the stoplights. A lot of how many cars get through has to do with how fast the one in front drives.

2. Heats are heats, and the track is always tackier and narrower early on in the night. Top 6 advance to the feature, so why risk tearing up your car to finish 4th instead of 5th.

3. Where else in the country are you going to find 59 cars battling for 24 starting spots??

4. agreed

5. didn't get to watch, but John is a good driver, just hasn't had the equipment to show for it

6. What??? Compared to Iowa Speedway, the PA is quiet (any compared to many other dirt tracks it is quiet). It was nice to actually be able to hear the interviews for a change. Maybe you sat too low in the grandstands. In row 30, it was still difficult to hear.

7. The Sonner 47 hasn't been a front-runner for more than 10 years. Nothing against Gil and the guys, or Jeff for that matter.

8. good info for those coming later in the season

9. My guestimate on attendance is 3500 on Friday and 4500 on Saturday. Very good crowd considering the chance for rain both nights (oh wait, it DID rain both nights). Considering ticket prices, gas prices, the floods and tornadoes over the last month or so, and the multitude of entertainment options last weekend: Barnstormers (AF2), I-Cubs, IRL @ Newton, HyVee Triathalon, crowd was very good.

just my $.02