Knoxville/IRA Shootout

51 410s
42 360s

410s

Wayne Johnson (24th car out to time) led a triumverate of cars back into the 14 second bracket with a 14.878 second lap to set the time trial standard on another outstanding track for racing. Danny Lasoski (35th car out) was second quick, followed by Calvin Landis (38th), Billy Alley (8th), Brian Brown (23rd), Lynton Jeffrey (46th), Skip Jackson (7th), Clint Garner (17th), Jerrel Slinkard (13th) and Chad Meyer (1st). Both Scott Uttech and Ty Bartz failed to get a time in.

Heat one (started): 1. Mike Moore 69 (2) 2. Ryan Anderson 71R (4) 3. Johnson 10 (6) 4. Jeffrey 12 (4) / 5. Dusty Zomer 1z (3) 6. Steve Meyer 85m (7) 7. Ryan Irwin 49 (8) 8. Dave Saffell 03 (9) 9. Tyler Houseman 50 (10) 10. Scott Young 1H (1) DNS - Ty Bartz 75

Moore led flag to flag. On lap three, in a battle for third, Johnson and Young came together in turn four. The contact sent Young into a hard flip down the frontstretch. He was uninjured, but done for the night. Moore led Ry. Anderson, Johnson, Jeffrey and Zomer back to green flag racing, and that's the way they finished. Johnson worked over Ry. Anderson at the line but didn't have enough to gain the spot. Houseman exited on lap four.

Heat two (started): 1. Kerry Madsen 55 (4) 2. Lasoski 83 (6) 3. Jackson 2 (5) 4. Bronson Maeschen 96 (3) / 5. Donny Goeden 78 (8) 6. Scott Biertzer 4B (6) 7. Tim Sernett 91T (1) 8. Gordy Vogelaar 1A (9) 9. Larry Ball Jr. 5J (2) DNS - Howie Gleason 21G

Madsen jumped around the front row at the outset and set sail. Ball was running in a transfer spot when his motor went up in smoke on lap three. T. Sernett was cruising in a transfer spot when his wing buckled on the white flag lap. Maeschen was able to hold off Goeden for the final transfer.

Heat three (started): 1. Matt Moro (2) 2. Rager Phillips 9 (7) 3. Bill Warren 95 (8) 4. Mike Stefka 35s (1) / 5. Greg Jones 3J (9) 6. Landis 70 (6) 7. Wayne Modjeski 77 (10) 8. Garner 40 (5) 9. John Sernett 91 (3) 10. Chris Walraven 56 (4)

On the pace lap in turn three, Walraven and J. Sernett contacted. Walraven got upside down and Sernett suffered enough damage to be sidelined as well. Jones and Garner were also collected in the mess. Garner tried to continue sans nose wing, but pulled in within a couple laps of green flag racing. Moro led flag to flag, destroying the depleted field by half a lap. Landis was running second on the white flag lap when he exited with mechanical issues. Warren and Stefka had a great battle for what they thought was the final transfer before Landis bowed out. Modjeski pulled out on lap five.

Heat four (started): 1. Randy Anderson 81 (2) 2. Scott Neitzel 2w (1) 3. Jesse Giannetto D1 (4) 4. Mike Reinke 02 (3) / 5. Slinkard 15s (5) 6. Dave Uttech 68 (7) 7. Alex Bliesner 45x (8) 8. Todd King 97 (9) 9. Alley 17G (6) DNS - Tony Shilling 47T

Alley jumped the initial start, was black flagged, and the same happened on the second try, much to Alley's dismay. He was sent pitside. Ra. Anderson led the duration in a mostly single-file affair. King retired without a lap in.

Heat five (started): 1. Tim St. Arnold 7w (2) 2. Kaley Gharst 44G (3) 3. Brown 21 (6) 4. Kim Mock 1m (1) / 5. C. Meyer 1w (5) 6. Trevor Green 11AU (7) 7. Travis Whitney 9T (4) 8. KJ Skelton 80 (8) 9. Scott Uttech 7 (10) 10. Andy Hunt 9A (9)

St. Arnold led flag to flag, holding off a strong charge by Gharst. Brown jumped into a transfer on the first lap, while Meyer tried to run down a steady Mock, but couldn't get it done. Hunt exited on lap five.

C main (started): 1. Shilling (2) 2. Skelton (1) 3. King (3) / 4. Saffell (4) 5. Houseman (5) 6. S. Uttech (9) 7. Hunt (6) 8. Bliesner (7) 9. Modjeski (8) DNS - Goeden, Vogelaar, Jones

Shilling was dominant, winning by over 8 seconds in this 10 lapper. Skelton and King had a nice battle, with both gaining transfer spots to the B.

B main (started): 1. Alley (2) 2. Meyer (5) 3. Garner (3) 4. Landis (1) / 5. Zomer (8) 6. Whitney (7) 7. Slinkard (4) 8. S. Meyer (10) 9. Green (15) 10. Walraven (6) 11. T. Sernett (11) 12. J. Sernett (9) 13. D. Uttech (12) 14. Biertzer (13) 15. Skelton (16) 16. Irwin (14) 17. King (18) 18. Shilling (17) DNS - Young

Shilling jumped the turn one cushion on the initial green and cartwheeled end over end in turn one. He was unhurt. Alley grabbed an early lead before Irwin and King contacted on lap two. King got upside down, while Irwin slammed into the infield fence in turn one with a broken front end. Both were unhurt. The rest of the race went non-stop. Alley led throughout, but behind him raged a battle for transfer spots. On the lap two restart, Alley led Garner, Landis, Slinkard, Meyer and Zomer. An outstanding race ensued as Meyer and Zomer both passed two cars at a time, but Landis and Garner would not give up their spots easily. Eventually, it would be Zomer and Slinkard on the outside looking in despite having transfer spots a couple of times during the event. Three-wide racing was common on the heavy surface still yielding laps in the mid-15 second bracket.

A main (started): 1. Gharst (2) 2. Lasoski (11) 3. Brown (10) 4. Giannetto (5) 5. Jeffrey (9) 6. Alley (21) 7. Moro (13) 8. Reinke (3) 9. Ry. Anderson (7) 10. Garner (23) 11. C. Meyer (22) 12. Mock (18) 13. Neitzel (17) 14. Landis (24) 15. Moore (1) 16. Phillips (19) 17. Warren (20) 18. Maeschen (4) 19. St. Arnold (15) 20. Jackson (8) 21. Johnson (12) 22. Madsen (6) 23. Ra. Anderson (14) 24. Stefka (16)

Gharst shot out to an early lead in the 20 lapper before a lap three caution for a stopped Ra. Anderson who would retire. Gharst led Madsen, Reinke, Jackson, Brown and Giannetto back to green flag racing. Jackson got by Reinke and started battling for second with Madsen, getting by him a couple of circuits later. Jackson then set his sights on the leader, using the low side of the raceway, while Gharst cruised the cushion. Jackson slipped by for the lead on lap nine, but Gharst came back in traffic on the next go-around to capture that lap. The two battled until Gharst sliced a pair of lapped cars and started putting distance between himself and Jackson, who was now getting heat from Madsen. Lasoski now entered the fray and had gotten by Madsen briefly, but the Aussie battled back by as the trio put on a driving clinic in traffic and with each other. Madsen pulled in while running third on lap 17. After taking the white flag and still trying to track down Gharst, Jackson got over the turn two infield berm and lost control briefly, getting sideways and upside down, stopping the event. Johnson also exited under the red flag conditions, surrendering 7th. The misfortune put Lasoski on Gharst's nerf bar for the green, white, checker finish. Gharst held off Lasoski for one lap, but again the race was slowed for a St. Arnold stoppage. The new white/checker rule applied now as two cautions occured in the final two laps. Gharst was able to hold off the veteran for the popular win worth $3,000. Alley nailed down an additional $300 for being the hard-charger going from 21st to sixth. Another great track, another great race on a chilly night. Brown, Giannetto and Jeffrey ran steady races and nailed down top fives.

360s

Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Josh Higday 24 (2*) 2. Rick Ideus 5B (6*) 3. John Kearney 83 (8*) 4. Joe Beaver 53 (9*) 5. Mitchell Alexander 6 (1) 6. Dave Hall 51 (4) 7. Mike Houseman Jr. Y5 (5) 8. Nate Van Haaften 3 (3) 9. Tyler Thompson 11T (11) 10. Gregg Bakker 27 (10) 11. Tyler Thompson 2T (7)

Thompson 2T hit the wall hard on the initial try at green. He was unhurt, but done for the night. Higday led throughout and picked up where he left off from the previous week. Ideus, Kearney and Beaver used early moves to earn passing point transfers in the 7 lapper.

Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Tim Newman 18 (2*) 2. Jake Peters 57x (3*) 3. Johnny Anderson 7a (6*) 4. Troy Meyer 11m (4) 5. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (8*) 6. Josh Schneiderman 49 (9) 7. Danny Heskin 65 (1) 8. Eric Schrock 86 (10) 9. David Langford 32L (5) 10. Rod Richards 5 (7) 11. Doc Sloan D12 (11)

Newman led flag to flag, doing a masterful job of making his car "wide" and holding off the defending champ for the win. Anderson 7a moved up nicely along with Heimbaugh.

Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Nate Mosher 22N (2*) 2. Pete Crall 11 (4*) 3. Eric Mason B29 (3*) 4. Tom Lenz 8L (5*) 5. Terry Alexander 77 (1) 6. Alan Zoutte 33 (9) 7. Brett Mather 54 (7) 8. Jerry Crabb 12x (6) 9. Dustin Selvage 7 (8) 10. Dale McCarty 9m (10)

Mosher did a nice job, winning by a straightaway despite a lap five stoppage for a stopped McCarty, a regular from the '60s and '70s tuning up for the Masters Classic. Crall moved up past Mason on the lap five restart for second.

Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Stacey Alexander 2Tx (2*) 2. Jeff Mitrisin 10 (5*) 3. Davey Heskin 56 (3*) 4. John Schulz 2 (6*) 5. Dustin Lindquist 55L (8) 6. Randy Martin 14 (9) 7. Stevie Walsh 00 (7) 8. Alan Gilbertson 97 (4) 9. John Anderson 4G (10) DNS - Jon Corbin 33c (1)

Alexander dusted the field from beginning to end. The best race in this one was for fourth and a transfer to the feature. Lindquist fell just short in his bid to get by Schulz. Corbin was unable to compete due to motor problems.

C main (started): 1. Gilbertson (1) 2. Bakker (5) / 3. Langford (2) 4. Anderson 4G (4) 5. Sloan (6) 6. Selvage (3) DNS - Richards, McCarty, Corbin, Thompson 2T

Selvage grabbed the early advantage from Gilbertson. On lap six, the leader slowed and retired. Gilbertson led the rest of the way and head to the B. Bakker was able to outmaneuver Langford fro teh final transfer, as he subbed in a car usually driven by Jesse Drost in the upper Midwest.

B main (started): 1. Lindquist (1) 2. Meyer (2) 3. Schneiderman (3) 4. Martin (7) / 5. Mather (12) 6. Hall (8) 7. Zoutte (4) 8. Houseman Jr. (9) 9. Walsh (13) 10. T. Alexander (6) 11. Gilbertson (17) 12. M. Alexander (5) 13. Schrock (11) 14. Bakker (18) 15. Crabb (16) 16. Van Haaften (14) 17. Danny Heskin (10) 18. Thompson 11T (15)

Lindquist went off to play by himself. On one lap in the 10 lapper, he lapped five cars in two corners, turning laps in the low 16s. Meyer, Schneiderman and Martin, who moved up nicely, all waged war in the transfer spots, moving by M. Alexander and Zoutte to gain them. Meyer and Schneiderman exchanged positions twice on the final go-around in a great race. Thompson 11T exited on lap two.

A main (started): 1. Kearney (10) 2. Mitrisin (2) 3. Anderson 7a (3) 4. S. Alexander (7) 5. Beaver (5) 6. Higday (11) 7. Lindquist (17) 8. Schulz (14) 9. Mosher (8) 10. Heimbaugh (15) 11. Schneiderman (19) 12. Lenz (16) 13. Crall (6) 14. Mason (1) 15. Ideus (12) 16. Davey Heskin (13) 17. Meyer (18) 18. Peters (4) 19. Newman (9) 20. Martin (20)

Peters drove around Mitrisin to gain an early advantage, pulling away immediately. Things were running smooth for the two-time defending champ, while Mitrisin soon had to deal with a charging Kearney, who was in fourth by the second go-around from his row five starting spot. As those two battled and exchanged spots, Peters had checked out. On lap 12, something snapped in the rear of Peters car, sending him digging into the gumbo and flipping and spinning. He went airborne and was hit hard by Newman. Both drivers were o.k., but the damage was done. Mitrisin surrendered his lead to Kearney on the restart, and the Kansas native led the last two laps for the win after the two battled for most of the event. Mitrisin is now the point leader, six tallies ahead of Kearny. Rookie, Lindquist, grabbed passing honors, moving up to 7th from 17th. Crall was running an impressive third on the white flag lap, until slowing to a coast on the back stretch. He idled home 13th. Meyer went up in smoke and exited on lap 13. Martin exited on lap 11