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5/30/08
Knoxville Raceway
Masters Classic + 305 Knoxville Shootout
24 Masters
18 305s
Masters
Randy Smith (2nd car out to time) set quick time at 16.002 seconds, and was .018 off the 360 one-lap track record set by JD Johnson at last year's 360 Nationals. It was the first spin for Randy at Knoxville since 1997, making the feat all the more impressive. He was followed by the second quick car of the night, Mike Peters (12th car out), new Hall of Famer Kramer Williamson (8th), Judi Bates (7th), Tony Moro (14th), AJ Weaver (20th), Joe McCarthy (18th), TJ Giddings (23rd), Ricky Weld (3rd) and Butch Hanssen (1st). David Brown shelled a driveline in hotlaps and went to his son Frank's car before the night started, while Bates had some smoke emanating from the car, but got back out to time.
Heat one (started): 1. Earnest Jennings 61 (2) 2. Lonnie Jensen 71 (4) 3. Greg Rilat 35 (3) 4. R. Smith 24x (8) 5. Bates 121 (7) 6. McCarthy 19 (6) 7. Hanssen 8K (5) 8. Don Stoutner 57 (1)
Heats were totally inverted with the top six earning starting spots in the first nine rows of the feature, which had an invert of six. Jennings led the 7-lap distance, holding off Jensen late. R. Smith got bottled up on the rim of turn two at the start, but stormed back for fourth. Hanssen was running sixth when he stopped in turn four, leaving a puddle on the final lap. He would not return.
Heat two (started): 1. David Brown 48 (2) 2. Peters 51 (7) 3. Shane Carson 48x (4) 4. Terry Alexander 77 (3) 5. Moro 2m (6) 6. Bill Smith 33 (1) 7. Randy Droescher 24 (8) 8. Giddings 81 (5)
Brown led flag to flag. Peters was the mover picking his way forward on the low side to move up to second.
Heat three (started): 1. Ron Rosenboom 30 (2) 2. Weaver 55 (6) 3. Bobby Becker Jr. 8B (4) 4. Williamson 73 (7) 5. Dan Oswalt 1 (3) 6. Weld Y5 (5) 7. Midge Miller 8 (1) 8. Mark Amenda 4L (8)
Rosenboom looked good, leading the distance. Weaver used a couple of slidejobs and looked good on the cushion to move up to second.
A main (started): 1. R. Smith (6) 2. Bates (3) 3. Peters (5) 4. Williamson (4) 5. Becker Jr. (10) 6. Rosenboom (16) 7. Moro (2) 8. McCarthy (7) 9. Rilat (14) 10. Carson (9) 11. Alexander (12) 12. Giddings (19) 13. Jensen (11) 14. Weld (8) 15. Droescher (21) 16. Brown (15) 17. B. Smith (18) 18. Jennings (17) 19. Amenda (22) 20. Oswalt (13) 21. Miller (20) 22. Weaver (1) 23. Stoutner (23) DNS - Hanssen
The defending race winner, Weaver, took off early in the 22-lapper and led after two laps were in the books, when Stoutner spun in turn two. The restart saw Weaver leading Bates, Williamson, Moro and Peters. Two laps later, disaster struck for Weaver when he got upside down hard in turn three, ending his fine run. He was unhurt. Bates assumed the lead ahead of Williamson, Moro, Peters and R. Smith. R. Smith, known as the "rim rider" when he was winning six track titles, used the low side to blow by Peters, Moro and Williamson. By lap 12, he had caught Bates, who had slowed a bit in lapped traffic. He drove on the high side of turn four to take the lead for good. A final slowdown for debris in turn four, bunched the field and cleared the track in front of R. Smith, who added his first 360 win to 35 he already has in the 410 class. He was paid $3,000 for his efforts on a track that was prepped to perfection. Rosenboom was the hard-charger moving up 10 spots. Giddings passed seven cars in a car that was painted identical to his Shady Oaks Steakhouse #81 in the late '70s/early '80s. The design of the car was a surprise to "The Jedi", who was making his first Knoxville start in 19 years.
305s
Heat one (started): 1. Tom Lenz 8L (1) 2. Mike Mayberry 0 (2) 3. Matt Stephenson 55 (5) 4. Marty Stephenson 36 (4) 5. Casey Friedrichsen 20 (6) 6. Mark Widmar 7w (3)
Lenz dominated the six-lapper. Widmar was running second on lap three when the motor went up in smoke and ended his night. Matt won the battle of the Stephensons' with a last lap pass of his brother.
Heat two (started): 1. Johnny Anderson 66 (2) 2. Justin Giannetto D1 (4) 3. Chad Huston 7H (3) 4. Josh Padellford 34 (1) 5. Bob Hildreth 55KC (5) 6. Keith Carlberg 21 (6)
Anderson made it a triumphant return to Knoxville in his first 2008 action.
Heat three (started): 1. Bob Lamb 47 (2) 2. Mitchell Alexander 6 (3) 3. Wayne Redmond 610c (1) 4. Patrick Long 53 (5) 5. Earl Tice (4) DNS - Matthew Stelzer 99
Lamb left the rest behind. Alexander and Redmond, making his first Knoxville start in years, had a good race for second.
A main (started): 1. Giannetto (5) 2. Lenz (1) 3. Anderson (2) 4. Huston (8) 5. Matt Stephenson (7) 6. Alexander (6) 7. Lamb (3) 8. Padellford (10) 9. Redmond (15) 10. Stelzer (17) 11. Hildreth (13) 12. Long (11) 13. Mayberry (4) 14. Marty Stephenson (9) 15. Carlberg (14) 16. Friedrichsen (12) 17. Tice (16) DNS - Widmar
The race took four tries to get started. Tice tumbled on the backstretch on the first try, and Friedrichsen crashed hard in turn four on the second. Both were uninjured. Once things got going, Lenz wrestled the lead from Anderson at the end of lap one in the 12-lapper. On lap three, two cars stopped in turn four, Carlberg and Marty Stephenson. Both retired. Lenz led the field on the restart, ahead of Anderson, Giannetto, Huston and Matt Stephenson. Giannetto caught fire on the high side in his first ever race at Knoxville, and the brother of the "Bulldogg" blew by Anderson and Lenz to take a lap five lead and pull away the rest of the way for $750. Stelzer passed seven cars for hard-charger honors.
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