Dollansky wins week #6 at Knoxville Raceway!

Race #6 of the Knoxville Championship Cup Series

Saturday was another great night for racing on this Memorial Day weekend. The weather was perfect and another nice crowd turned out for what I would say was the best 410 feature of the season.  The race track was nice and wide and the Dunkin track crew nailed it on this night with a top, bottom, and a middle groove at times once the loose stuff from the bottom was thrown to the middle.

31 cars entered in the 410 class, one shy to have a fourth heat race, which made the three heat format very intense as only 18 cars made the heat inversion instead of 24 cars with the four heat format.

Roger Crockett from Oregon was in the LaHaise BWW #82 this week, Jason Johnson and Brad Loyet were back again, one more week and I think we can consider them “Knoxville Regulars”.  Unfortunately Rico Abreu had a last minute change of plans as their 410 car isn’t quite ready yet and he opted to race midgets at Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. 

Brian Brown Wins Third Straight!

Race #5 of the Knoxville Championship Cup Series

It was a chilly night on Saturday, the lowest temperature (63 degrees) and humidity (27%) we had seen all season. Thank goodness the wind was light. Two-time World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers made his debut in the Call/Holbrook 83 sprint car on this night. Four time ASCS champion Jason Johnson was also entered. It was great to have Meyers entered, who told me he will be back at Knoxville on June 14 for the WoO show, but may come back one more time if needed to be prepared for the Nationals. Meyers’ night didn’t go as well as he hoped, so that extra night option might be a possibility. Next Saturday night we are expecting another invader, Rico Abreu.

Brian Brown and Wayne Johnson were both entered in the 410 and 360 class. The Nationals is more than two months away but it’s never too soon to prepare for August. Heck Brown has been preparing since August 11 of last year. Brown would own this night wining the 410 and 360 features.

Knoxville Week 4

The Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series is tough, and it will get tougher each week leading up to the Nationals. This past week a season best car count in the 410 class of 36 cars entered and this next week it gets tougher as none other than two-time World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers is making his first appearance back at the big half-mile since the 2012 Knoxville Nationals.  The anticipation of the first MavTV broadcast of Knoxville Raceway’s “Dirt Dreams” is growing and it will air on Thursday night June 5^th. So if you don’t have MavTV call your cable or satellite provider and ask for it now.

410 Report
Top 10 Qualifying:  Terry McCarl set quick time for the second time this season with a lap of 15.404 (116.8 mph), followed by Jeffrey, Henderson, Lasoski, Brown, Zomer, Madsen, RJ Johnson, Craig Dollansky, and Tatnell.

Henderson and McCarl are dominating qualifying. Henderson has an average of 1.8 and accumulated 545 points in that event while McCarl’s average is 2.8 and has earned 525 points.

Heat winners were Jason Johnson, AJ Moeller, Brad Loyet, and Clint Garner. All four heat winners started on the pole of their respective heats. The top point earners in the heats this season so far are Dollansky with 72, Dobmeier 70, and Henderson with 66.

In the feature pole sitter RJ Johnson popped out of gear and rolled to a stop before the field took the green, forcing him to start at the tail. Ian Madsen took off from the front row and led the first 18 laps, but he couldn’t hold off a charging Brian Brown at the end. Maeschen and Heskin made some great moves to get into the top five. McCarl and Henderson were racing for 4^th and made contact on lap nine. That forced Henderson to spin and make contact with the turn two fence and he was done while McCarl restarted at the tail after changing a front tire and he drove up to 12^th. Wayne Johnson took the green and pitted right away with engine problems. Lasoski pulled in early. Dustin Selvage crashed hard on the front stretch but was OK.

410 A-Main Finish (started): 1. Brian Brown (4); 2. Ian Madsen (2); 3. Dusty Zomer (3); 4. Bronson Maeschen (12); 5. Davey Heskin (11); 6. Craig Dollansky (9); 7. Don Droud Jr. (23); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 9. Ryan Bunton (13); 10. Mark Dobmeier (16); 11. Brooke Tatnell (10); 12. Terry McCarl (8); 13. Clint Garner (20); 14. Scott Winters (24); 15. Jason Johnson (17); 16. Brad Loyet (19); 17. Josh Schneiderman (15); 18. Garrett Dollansky (21); 19. AJ Moeller (18); 20. Justin Henderson (6); 21. Danny Lasoski (5); 22. RJ Johnson (1); 23. Dustin Selvage (22); 24. Wayne Johnson (14). Lap Leaders: I. Madsen 1-18, Brown 19-20. Hard-charger: Droud.

 

Sorry for the abbreviated version for this week...

Interview with Joe Beaver

Joe Beaver is off to a good start this season, winning three of the four races so far in the 360 class. Joe is a hometown hero in Knoxville, and a three time winner of the Junior Fan Club most popular driver award. He started racing as a ten year old in go-karts, but now in his 16^th season in a sprint car at Knoxville Raceway, things are coming together for the Beaver Motorsports team. Beaver started the season with 3 career feature wins before this season began, so to double his career wins total within the past month, that is impressive.He finished a close second in 360 points in 2013, and was fifth in 2012. This season his team has their sights set on winning the Lucas oil 360 Knoxville Championship Cup Series title.

EA: Knoxville has been tough over the years for you, but it’s all coming together now.  How have you done it?
Joe: Just a lot of hard work and having the right combination. We’ve been fortunate with qualifying working out like it has and being able to start toward the front in the feature, so it’s all just amazing and I’m thankful.  Wins are so hard to come by here.

Brown back on top at Knoxville!

Brian Brown - Jeff White photo

Week three of the Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series saw cooler temperatures and slower track conditions, making for great racing.  Heavy hitters and Nationals contenders Brian Brown, Terry McCarl, and Craig Dollansky took the podium.  It was 66 degrees at 6:45pm, at 55 at feature time.  It was chilly for the fans but with free kids night, free college night, and adults getting in free if they filled out an application at the job fair before the races, the crowd was good. 

It wasn’t a full moon this past Saturday, but a lot strange things happened.  The PA system went out during the singing of the national anthem.  The track safety lights had issues off and on.  The light pole in turn one with the cell tower connected to it went out.  The drone camera crashed on the track.  And we had 6 red flags for a total of 34 minutes in downtime.  But at least it was a safe night in the end with no drivers getting seriously hurt.  Cole Wood was taken to the hospital for a checkup on his ankle but it doesn’t sound too serious.