Clasuon Steals the Show at Knoxville Opener!

The Knoxville Raceway 63rd Season Opener was Saturday and we were blessed with great weather! Sunny, 77 degrees, a little breeze, and low humidity at 28%.

31 cars signed in. Time Trials top eight was Kerry Madsen 15.786, Brian Brown, Danny Lasoski, Justin Henderson, Davey Heskin, Bryan Clauson, Wayne Johnson, and Sammy Swindell.  Henderson was fast on lap one, but the engine let go on lap two and they had to scratch the 410 car for the night.

 Drivers going double duty on this night in the 410 and 360 class were Justin Henderson and Bryan Clauson. We also had outlaws Sammy Swindell and Kerry Madsen in attendance. We had several ASCS 360 teams entered with Wayne Johnson and Johnny Herrera dropping in a 410 on this night.

410 Report

Heat Race winners were; Ian Madsen (started on row one), Brian Brown (row three), Tim Kaeding (front row). In Heat one Ian Madsen took the lead but a late charge from his brother Kerry led to a drag race to the finish with Ian winning by 0.001 seconds! In heat two Lynton Jeffrey and Mark Dobmeier traded the lead early until Brian Brown got by them all. Jake Bubak crashed in turn two to end the third heat but was OK.

The A-Main saw Bryan Clauson grab the lead until lap four when Lasoski went by and then cruise to the win.  The Dude is going to be tough to beat again this year. There was some great racing for third on back with Brown, Heskin Kerry Madsen, and Tasker Phillips who came from the B Main was able to drive from 18th to seventh and had to pass Sammy, TK, Tatnell, and Ian along the way to earn hard charger honors.

410 A Main Finish (started): 1. Danny Lasoski (4); 2. Bryan Clauson (2); 3. Brian Brown (5); 4. Davey Heskin (3); 5. Kerry Madsen (6); 6. Wayne Johnson (1); 7. Tasker Phillips (18); 8. Sammy Swindell (7); 9. Tim Kaeding (14); 10. Brooke Tatnell (8); 11. Johnny Herrera (20); 12. Ian Madsen (12); 13. Austin McCarl (19); 14. Dustin Selvage (17); 15. Matt Juhl (10); 16. Mark Dobmeier (16); 17. Josh Schneiderman (21); 18. AJ Moeller (15); 19. Bob Weuve (24); 20. Craig Dollansky (11); 21. Mike Reinke (22); 22. Bronson Maeschen (9); 23. Lynton Jeffrey (13); 24. Dakota Hendrickson (23). Lap Leaders: Clauson 1-4, Lasoski 5-20. Hard-charger: Phillips

360 Report
33 cars entered. Clint Garner set quick time with a lap of 17.714, followed by Henderson, Ball, Giles, Moro, Baughman, Roberts, and Landis in the top eight. Heat race winners were Garner, Randy Martin, Nate Van Haaften, and Chris Martin. The feature was awesome with Matt Moro and Clint Garner exchanging the lead until tenth place started Bryan Clauson clawed his way to the front on lap 12. Seth Bergman managed to drive from 16th to 8th. Justin Henderson’s disappointing night continued as #1 car backed up from fifth to ninth. It was Clauson’s first 360 win at Knoxville. This guy is a wheel man.

360 A Main Finish (started): 1. Bryan Clauson (10); 2. Clint Garner (6); 3. Josh Baughman (1); 4. Matt Moro (2); 5. Jamie Ball (4); 6. Ryan Roberts (7); 7. Matt Covington (12); 8. Seth Bergman (16); 9. Justin Henderson (5); 10. Blake Hahn (11); 11. Ryan Giles (3); 12. Jon Agan (8); 13. Joe Beaver (13); 14. Tony Shilling (21); 15. Nate Van Haaften (15); 16. Tyler Thomas (22); 17. Calvin Landis (9); 18. Chris Martin (20); 19. Chris Morgan (23); 20. Sawyer Phillips (17); 21. Brandon Hanks (14); 22. Randy Martin (18); 23. Josh Riggins (24); 24. Kade Higday (19). Lap Leaders: Garner 1, Moro 2-3, Garner 4-11, Clauson 12-18. Hard-charger: Clauson.

305 Report
23 cars.  Devin Kline set quick time with a lap of 17.579. Heat race winners were Mitchell Alexander, Billy Bell, and Chris Walraven. Defending 305 track champion Stacey Alexander did not start his heat race. The feature was exciting. Walraven, who is the only 305 competitor using the new crate engine package was able to hold off the field after starting up front. Kline and Haase definitely had more speed than Walraven but they raced each other and through traffic couldn’t catch the veteran Walraven in clean air. 

305 A Main Finish (started): 1. Chris Walraven (1); 2. McKenna Haase (3); 3. Devin Kline (6); 4. Christian Bowman (5); 5. Trevor Smith (9); 6. Matthew Stelzer (14); 7. Mitchell Alexander (7); 8. Corey Kautz (8); 9. Mike Houseman Jr. (17); 10. Joe Simbro (12); 11. Cliff Jones (18); 12. Mike Mayberry (10); 13. Tyler Glass (16); 14. Billy Bell (11); 15. Tyler Dollison (19); 16. Brad Comegys (2); 17. Cody Ambers (13); 18. Chase Wanner (4); 19. Dan Henning (15) DNS – Jeff Wilke, Stacey Alexander, Josh Jones, AJ Johnson. Lap Leader: Walraven 1-15. Hard-charger: Stelzer.


History and Notes
Danny Lasoski gets win #107 and becomes the oldest driver to ever win a 410 feature at Knoxville. If Sammy wins a feature this season at Knoxville he would become the oldest. Or Steve Kinser, who hasn’t won a feature here since 2005. Now, how many will the Dude win before he hangs up the helmet?  I see no reason why he can’t get to 111 to 115 wins this year. But this wins record will never be broken.

Disappointing night for the BDS #1 team. Look for them to bounce back this week.

Awesome to have Sammy and Kerry with us. Look for them to show up a few more times this year.

Bryan Clauson is a great story. A two-time USAC sprint car champion in 2012-2013, and a two-time USAC Midget champion in 2010-2011, and two-time starter of the Indy 500. To have him here racing is pretty cool, and the fact he is entered again this year for the Indy 500 is special. This just doesn’t happen to have a guy like him here racing regularly, so soak up BC as much as you can.

I think this crate engine package that Competition Director Mike Proffit has come up with is a great alternative for teams wanting to race in the 305 class competitively for way less money. I’m hearing reports that some 305 teams are spending anywhere from $25,000 to… wait for it… $45,000 for a killer engine. These engines are way too expensive for a class racing for $400 to win and supposed to be a “hobby” or “entry level” division. If a team can spend $15,000 for a sealed crate engine that requires less maintenance, is durable, and still win races, that is a win/win for everyone, well except the teams that spent all that money on high priced engines. Hopefully this is a sign that costs will come down.   

Points

410: Lasoski leads the 410 points over Brown by 9.        
360: Garner leads the 360 points.
305: Devin Kline leads the 305 ponts.