Jason Meyers wins KXV Nats Thursday Prelim

Jason Meyers may have disappeared into semi retirement from sprint car racing in March of this year, but the two time World of Outlaws champion showed no signs of losing his mojo after winning the Thursday preliminary feature. Meyers started the night by timing thirteenth, finishing third in his heat race. In the feature he chased down leader MarkDobmeir and took the lead on lap eight and then held off a late charge from Tim Shaffer to get the win. Meyers accumulated enough points to start seventh in the championship Saturday night.

Setting quick time on the evening was Australian native and Knoxville regular Ian Madsen with a lap of 15.491. Ian then finished third in his heat race but in the feature spun in turn two and had to restart at the tail, but still managed a sixteenth finish to earn enough points to be locked into the top 16 starting positions for Saturday night.

During the Madsen spin, four time champion Danny Lasoski tried to avoid Madsen by taking the inside lane, but ran out of room and tagged Madsen’s car sending Lasoski upside down and done for the night. Lasoski will have to race on Friday night to try to earn one of the four remaining spots in the Saturday championship.

Sammy Swindell wowed the crowd in the heat races recovering from contact with Wayne Johnson while racing for second and nearly stuffing the car into the fence. Swindell was able to regroup and beat Johnson for second on the last lap. Swindell however had mechanical issues with his drive line in the feature and had to pull in after five laps which will force him to start sixth in the Saturday B-main.

It was a good night for the Knoxville regular competitors with Madsen, Mark Dobmeier finishing sixth, Brian Brown ninth, Josh Schneiderman 17th, Dusty Zomer 21st. Zomer had to race in the B-main and was able to advance from fourth to second in the closing laps, but he had a left rear tire go down in the A-main ending his night.

California driver Tim Kaeding won the B-main and worked his way up to eighth in the A, which gave him enough to earn the eighth starting position on Saturday. Winning heat races were Tony Brice Jr., Tyler Walker, Josh Schneiderman, Johnny Herrera, and Joey Moughan.

Friday night is shaping up to be an exciting one with former National champions Steve Kinser and Danny Lasoski in the lineup. The top four in the Friday race will earn starting positions 17-20 in the championship race on Saturday, while fifth place starts eleventh in the B-main. Other notable names racing Friday are Tyler Walker, Johnny Herrera, Kerry Madsen, Justin Henderson, Wayne Johnson, Dusty Zomer, Fred Rahmer, Chad Kemenah, Terry McCarl, Cody Darrah, Brad Sweet, Brady Bacon, Kevin Swindell, and Jac Haudenschild.

Knoxville Nationals Thursday preliminary feature finish: 1. Jason Meyers, 2. 83 Tim Shaffer, 3. Kraig Kinser, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Lance DeWease, 6. Mark Dobmeier, 7. Jason Johnson, 8. Tim Kaeding, 9. Brian Brown, 10. Johnny Herrera, 11. Greg Hodnett, 12. Daryn Pittman, 13. Tim McFadden, 14. Tyler Walker, 15. Jamie Veal, 16. Ian Madsen, 17. Josh Schneiderman, 18. Tony Bruce Jr. 19. Wayne Johnson, 20. Joey Moughan, 21. Dusty Zomer, 22. Danny Lasoski, 23. Sammy Swindell, 24. Josh Hodges.

Top 16 in overall points: 1. Stevie Smith, 2. Craig Dollanksy, 3. Jonathan Allard, 4. Brian Brown, 5. Donny Schatz, 6. Joey Saldana, 7. Jason Meyers, 8. Tim Kaeding, 9. Kraig Kinser, 10. Lucas Wolfe, 11. Ian Madsen, 12. Kyle Larson, 13. Shane Stewart, 14. Daryn Pittman, 15. Lance DeWease, 16. Paul McMahan.