360 Knoxville Nationals Report

The 360 Knoxville Nationals was another good show this year. Thursday was a fast narrow track, Friday was a better track and a better race, and Brian Brown drove away from everyone on Saturday night. There were some scary crashes and some disappointing showings by a few drivers that surprised me. 103 cars total entered this year.

Thursday
Joe Beaver set quick time 15.906. 47 cars entered.
Heat Winners: Kevin Swindell, Randi Miller, Jason Johnson, Cole Wood, Ryan Roberts.

Heskin led every lap, but had some close calls in lapped traffic with Jason Johnson right on his bumper on the last lap.  With some rain showers delaying the show on a couple of occasions it made for a fast tacky track all night.  It was a big night for Joe Beaver who would be the top point man and start on the front row for Saturday night.


Justin Henderson timed third and then lost an engine on the white flag lap of his heat while running second. They changed engines, but couldn’t get it fired and their 360 Nationals came to an end.  

Johnny Herrera timed 41st and finished sixth in the B-Main, tough weekend for the former two-time Knoxville Raceway track champion.

Lasoski was running fourth in the A-Main and pulled in with two laps to go.

Sawyer Phillips timed second in time trials, but something went a miss, he rolled to a stop in his heat race and he was done.

Kevin Swindell timed 21st and finished eighth in the A-Main, but only had enough points to get to the 17th starting position for Saturday.

Tony Bruce Jr. and Jason Johnson were solid all night and looked as good as I've ever seen them at Knoxville.

Thursday A-Main Finish: 1. Davey Heskin (2); 2. Jason Johnson (3); 3. Tony Bruce Jr. (6); 4. Joe Beaver (8); 5. Lee Grosz (4); 6. Casey Friedrichsen (1); 7. Jamie Ball (10); 8. Kevin Swindell (12); 9. Brady Bacon (9); 10. Dustin Selvage (19); 11. Jonathan Cornell (5); 12. Danny Jennings (11); 13. Ryan Roberts (15); 14. Andy Gregg (14); 15. Cole Wood (17); 16. Matt Covington (24); 17. Calvin Landis (22); 18. Randi Miller (16); 19. Derek Hagar (20); 20. Randy Hannagan (23); 21. Nate Van Haaften (21); 22. Danny Lasoski (7); 23. Cody Ledger (18); 24. Russ Hall (13). Lap Leader: Heskin 1-20.

Friday
Brian Brown set quick time 16.488.  56 cars entered.
Heat Winners: Brian Brown, Bill Balog, Robbie Stillwaggon, Terry McCarl, Wayne Johnson

Dobmeier led early but couldn’t hold off Sammy. Brown made his way from eighth to third to lock into the pole position. There were some hard chargers coming through the field on this night, T-Mac, Wayne, and Zomer.
Jon Agan timed 13th, was sixth in his heat, drove from seventh to second in the B-Main to transfer to the A-Main where he got into the wall hard early and nearly tipped the car over, with the result being a trip back to the pits on the Hewitt’s wrecker. Tough week for Agan.

Bronson Maeschen was behind the wheel of the 82 BWW car and solidly put the car in the show on Saturday night.

Alan Ambers took a HARD hit after spinning and then being hit in the left rear by Jack Dover who had no where to go. Ambers had a good night going until then, had enough points to qualify for the Saturday B-Main, but they did not compete.

Friday A-Main Finish: 1. Sammy Swindell (4); 2. Mark Dobmeier (1); 3. Brian Brown (8); 4. Ian Madsen (9); 5. Bronson Maeschen (2); 6. Terry McCarl (14); 7. Wayne Johnson (15); 8. Dusty Zomer (20); 9. Tasker Phillips (13); 10. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7); 11. Tim Shaffer (23); 12. Dylan Peterson (10); 13. Jeff Swindell (24); 14. Scott Winters (19); 15. Sean McClelland (17); 16. Seth Brahmer (21); 17. Trey Starks (16); 18. Josh Higday (3); 19. Robbie Stillwaggon (18); 20. Danny Wood (11); 21. Bill Balog (12); 22. Jack Dover (5); 23. Alan Ambers (6); 24. Jon Agan (22). Lap Leaders: Dobmeier 1-8, S. Swindell 9-20.

Saturday
Brian Brown made it look easy on this night leading all 25 laps and was never challenged. He called it his biggest win of his career.  Hafertepe, Swindell, and Dobmeier put on a great show racing behind Brown.  Tim Shaffer figured out the bottom groove late and came from 14th to fifth. Joe Beaver was running a solid second early, but the brakes went out of his car and he managed to hang on to finish seventh. McCarl charged from 20th to sixth.

No big runs through the alphabet on this night. Jac Haudenschild advanced from the E to the D, and into the C but stalled out 15th there. Fairly quiet 360 Nationals this year. pick to win earlier in the week was Kevin Swindell but his steering broke and he ended up in the fence to end his night.

360 Nationals A-Main Finish: 1. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (1); 2. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (4); 3. 1s, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (3); 4. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (10); 5. 45, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (14); 6. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (6); 7. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (2); 8. 6, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (20); 9. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (13); 10. Danny Lasoski (21); 11. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (5); 12. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (19); 13. 18M, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (9); 14. 82, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (12); 15. Randy Hannagan (22); 16. 13v, Seth Brahmer, Norfolk, NE (16); 17. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (8); 18. Josh Higday (24); 19. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (15); 20. 20, Casey Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA (11); 21. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (7); 22. 10V, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (18); 23. Wayne Johnson (23); 24. 71, Kevin Swindell, Germantown, TN (17).