by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, June 11, 2011 – Sammy Swindell can’t take back his misfortune in the 50^{th Anniversary Knoxville Nationals in 2010. He did the next best thing, however, by taking the lead from Jason Sides at the halfway point of Saturday night’s 25-lap World of Outlaws Mediacom Shootout at Knoxville Raceway and leading the rest of the way to record his 46th career feature victory here. The win came aboard the Big Game Treestands #1 Parker powered Maxim. Dennis Moore Jr. won for the first time in several seasons in the companion 360 class.}

The feature got off to a rough start with a pair of separate incidents. At the first drop of the green, Kevin Swindell, Cody Darrah and Kerry Madsen hit the berm in turn one and turned over. No one was injured, but all were done. The same happened on the next try, when Craig Dollansky and Steve Kinser found themselves upside down in the same corner.

The third try at green was a charm, as it went non-stop for 25 laps. Pole-sitter, Sides, grabbed the early advantage and pulled away with Jason Meyers and Brooke Tatnell chasing him. Lap eleven was huge for Sammy, who swept by Tatnell and Meyers in turns three and four to grab the runner-up spot.

Three laps later, he worked by Sides in traffic, and the race for second was on behind him. Sides and Meyers traded second on the nineteenth lap in some great race action, but none came close to threatening Sammy, who led the majority of last year’s Knoxville Nationals before losing a left rear tire.

"You get to stand up here when you lead the last lap," said Sammy. "Last year, we didn’t get to do that because we lost a tire. It’s great for Big Game Treestands, and everyone who is with us. We are learning a lot right now. This team is rock solid."

"When you are out front, you aren’t sure where to run," said Sides, who held on for second. "I was trying to save the tires a bit. Unfortunately, that didn’t work and we got beat by one of the best in the business."

Meyers completed the podium. "We had trouble chasing Jason early, and as the fuel load burned off, we had to get the wing back and the car got down on the left rear. We’ve been really close lately. We’re getting there, and my guys are working their tails off."

Donny Schatz passed Tatnell with two to go to snare fourth. Following Tatnell, fast qualifier, Brad Sweet, Terry McCarl, Chad Kemenah, Kraig Kinser and Joey Saldana rounded out the top ten. Tatnell, Sides, McCarl and Paul McMahan won the heats. Josh Schneiderman took the B main, while Sides claimed the dash.

A scary crash marred the third heat race when Darrah clipped Josh Higday, taking him out and sending him into a wicked series of flips. No one was injured in the night’s accidents.

Excitement also ruled the 360 feature on Saturday. Matt Moro led over Russ Hall in the early going. Dennis Moore Jr. was on the move from row three, and took third from Jamie Ball on lap four. Behind him, two-time and defending track champ, Clint Garner, moved into fourth two laps later.

At the halfway point, Moore Jr. put Doc Sloan’s Moyler powered #D12 into the second with a pass of Hall, and Garner followed him into third. The race appeared to be going green to checker, when Alan Zoutte got upside down in turn two to set a green, white, checker finish. Moro lead Moore Jr., Garner, Humston and Hall back to green flag racing, but another flip, this one from Tasker Phillips, would set up a white-checker finish.

Moro got a good restart, but Moore Jr. sized him up down the backstretch and used the bottom of turns three and four to grab his third career 360 win, and his sixth overall at Knoxville. "I messed up a bit on the first (green, white, checker) restart," said Moore Jr. "I was able to hit the bottom there in three and four, and I knew I had miles per hour on him. It’s been a long time. I think I have one win since my injury and that was in California. This is a good thing for the family and for my team. We’ve got a good car."

Moro was second, ahead of Garner, Humston and Hall. Jon Agan, Nate Van Haaften, Jamie Ball, hard-charger, Justyn Cox and David Hall rounded out the top ten. Humston posted quick time, while Moore Jr., Van Haaften and Russ Hall took heat wins. Casey Friedrichsen won the B.

Time Trials (Qualifying Order, 2 laps): 1. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (6) 15.239; 2. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (8) 15.357; 3. 14, Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA (12) 15.396; 4. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (10) 15.402; 5. 6, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (2) 15.468; 6. 9, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (4) 15.487; 7. 5w, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (13) 15.561; 8. 63, Chad Kemenah, Findlay, OH (27) 15.571; 9. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (1) 15.683; 10. 71R, Ryan Anderson, Deloit, IA (7) 15.691; 11. 7x, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (5) 15.713; 12. 92, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (19) 15.833; 13. 59, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (31) 15.839; 14. 7s, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (9) 15.871; 15. 55, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (22) 15.934; 16. 83, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (26) 15.948; 17. 1s, Kevin Swindell, Charlotte, NC (25) 15.967; 18. 33, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (35) 16.028; 19. 91, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (37) 16.043; 20. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (15) 16.075; 21. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (21) 16.092; 22. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (34) 16.116; 23. 91x, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (28) 16.163; 24. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (24) 16.165; 25. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN (30) 16.229; 26. 10, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (14) 16.314; 27. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (11) 16.439; 28. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (17) 16.550; 29. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (20) 16.611; 30. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (23) 16.699; 31. 2, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (32) 16.878; 32. 68, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (16) 16.902; 33. 56JC, Johnn Cressman, Sioux Falls, SD (18) 16.909; 34. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (29) 17.014; 35. 6R, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (33) 36. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (36) 17.457; 37. 1J, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (3) NT.

Heat one (started), 8 laps, 2:14.9: 1. Brooke Tatnell (1) 2. Lynton Jeffrey (2) 3. Brad Sweet (4) 4. Kevin Swindell (5) 5. Kraig Kinser (3) / 6. Steve Kinser (7) 7. Mark Dobmeier (8) 8. Josh Schneiderman (6) DNS – Johnn Cressman, Bronson Maeschen

Heat two (started), 8 laps, 2:13.9: 1. Jason Sides (1) 2. Sammy Swindell (4) 3. Joey Saldana (3) 4. Danny Lasoski (5) 5. Ryan Anderson (2) / 6. Davey Heskin (6) 7. Brian Brown (8) 8. Rager Phillips (7) DNS – Mike Moore

Heat three (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Terry McCarl (1) 2. Jason Meyers (4) 3. Dusty Zomer (6) 4. Cody Darrah (5) 5. Dustin Selvage (2) / 6. Lucas Wolfe (3) 7. Don Droud Jr. (7) 8. Bill Rose (9) 9. Josh Higday (8)

Heat four (started), 8 laps, 2:16.7: 1. Paul McMahan (1) 2. Chad Kemenah (3) 3. Kerry Madsen (2) 4. Donny Schatz (4) 5. Craig Dollansky (5) / 6. Austin McCarl (7) 7. Mike Houseman Jr. (6) 8. AJ Moeller (8) DNS – Bob Weuve

Dash (started), 6 laps, NT: 1. Jason Sides (1) 2. Brooke Tatnell (2) 3. Jason Meyers (6) 4. Sammy Swindell (7) 5. Donny Schatz (5) 6. Brad Sweet (8) 7. Chad Kemenah (4) 8. Terry McCarl (9) 9. Paul McMahan (10) 10. Lynton Jeffrey (3)

B main (started), 12 laps, NT: 1. Josh Schneiderman (2) 2. Steve Kinser (5) 3. Davey Heskin (3) 4. Brian Brown (10) / 5. Mark Dobmeier (9) 6. Don Droud Jr. (7) 7. Bill Rose (13) 8. Austin McCarl (8) 9. Mike Houseman Jr. (12) 10. Rager Phillips (6) 11. Mike Moore (11) 12. Lucas Wolfe (1) 13. Bob Weuve (4) DNS – Josh Higday, AJ Moeller

A main (started), 25 laps, 7:39.9: 1. Sammy Swindell (4) 2. Jason Sides (1) 3. Jason Meyers (3) 4. Donny Schatz (5) 5. Brooke Tatnell (2) 6. Brad Sweet (6) 7. Terry McCarl (8) 8. Chad Kemenah (7) 9. Kraig Kinser (11) 10. Joey Saldana (12) 11. Lynton Jeffrey (10) 12. Paul McMahan (9) 13. Danny Lasoski (17) 14. Mark Dobmeier (26, prov.) 15. Dustin Selvage (14) 16. Dusty Zomer (22) 17. Davey Heskin (23) 18. Brian Brown (24) 19. Josh Schneiderman (20) 20. Ryan Anderson (13) 21. Bill Rose (25, prov.) 22. Kerry Madsen (15) 23. Kevin Swindell (16) 24. Cody Darrah (18) 25. Craig Dollansky (19) 26. Steve Kinser (21) DNS – Lucas Wolfe (prov.). Lap Leaders: Sides 1-13, S. Swindell 14-25. Hard-Charger: Dobmeier.

Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 1m, Chad Humston, Giltner, NE, 15.922; 2. 5J, Larry Ball Jr., Knoxville, IA, 16.054; 3. 51, David Hall, Des Moines, IA, 16.119; 4. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD, 16.258; 5. 54, Casey Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA, 16.343; 6. 10, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA, 16.349; 7. D12, Dennis Moore Jr., Grinnell, IA, 16.354; 8. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA, 16.429; 9. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA, 16.453; 10. 5JR, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA, 16.492; 11. 2m, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA, 16.541; 12. 9m, Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, CO, 16.647; 13. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL, 16.703; 14. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA, 16.765; 15. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA, 16.791; 16. 7K, Matt Stephenson, Altoona, IA, 16.793; 17. 04, Chad Heimbaugh, Pleasant Hill, IA, 16.794; 18. 12, Rod Richards, Runnells, IA, 16.809; 19. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA, 16.860; 20. 88, Jarrod Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA, 16.897; 21. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA, 16.984; 22. 80x, CJ Houseman, Des Moines, IA, 16.996; 23. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA, 17.006; 24. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL, 17.157; DQ (Weight) – 21c, Justyn Cox, Clarksburg, CA.

Heat one (started), 7 laps, 2:02.1: 1. Dennis Moore Jr. (4) 2. Clint Garner (5) 3. Jamie Ball (3) 4. Chad Humston (6) 5. Justyn Cox (9) / 6. Tasker Phillips (7) 7. Jimmy Davies (2) 8. CJ Houseman (8) 9. Matt Stephenson (1)

Heat two (started), 7 laps, 2:00.6: 1. Nate Van Haaften (2) 2. Chad Heimbaugh (1) 3. Jon Agan (4) 4. Matt Moro (3) 5. Larry Ball Jr. (6) / 6. Casey Friedrichsen (5) 7. Jarrod Schneiderman (7) 8. Alan Zoutte (8)

Heat three (started), 7 laps, 2:02.2: 1. Russ Hall (4) 2. Ricky Montgomery (3) 3. Rod Richards (1) 4. David Hall (6) 5. Tyler Groenendyk (5) / 6. Tom Lenz (7) 7. Joe Beaver (2) DNS – Kaley Gharst

B main (started), 10 laps, 3:00.6: 1. Casey Friedrichsen (1) 2. Joe Beaver (3) 3. Tasker Phillips (5) 4. Alan Zoutte (9) 5. Jimmy Davies (2) / 6. Tom Lenz (7) 7. Matt Stephenson (4) 8. CJ Houseman (8) 9. Jarrod Schneiderman (6) DNS – Kaley Gharst

A main (started), 15 laps, NT: 1. Dennis Moore Jr. (5) 2. Matt Moro (1) 3. Clint Garner (7) 4. Chad Humston (10) 5. Russ Hall (3) 6. Jon Agan (4) 7. Nate Van Haaften (12) 8. Jamie Ball (2) 9. Justyn Cox (15) 10. David Hall (8) 11. Larry Ball Jr. (9) 12. Casey Friedrichsen (16) 13. Joe Beaver (17) 14. Tyler Groenendyk (6) 15. Chad Heimbaugh (13) 16. Rod Richards (14) 17. Jimmy Davies (20) 18. Tasker Phillips (18) 19. Ricky Montgomery (11) 20. Alan Zoutte (19). Lap Leaders: Moro 1-14, Moore Jr. 15. Hard-Charger: Cox.