Fans at the Knoxville Raceway last night saw quite possibly the best racing seen at the Knoxville Nationals is many years. It all started in the heat races when Four Time Champion Donny Schatz, who timed second overall and had to start eighth in his heat roared all the way to the win. Schatz would eventually finish 24th in the A-Main after blowing his motor. The intensity of the night did not stop there as 360 Nationals Winner Shane Stewart made a bold move to pick up a B-Main transfer spot and then come from 24th to finish fourth in the A. After the checkered flag was dropped, however, it was 1983 Nationals Winner Sammy Swindell who had to battle Knoxville Regular Davey Heskin until the late stages of the feature race to preserve the win. Heskin led early and dominated, but a late race yellow was all Swindell needed to get the win. Swindell said he was trying to see if Heskin was going to make a mistake, but when he didn’t, he had to make his own move. Heskin settled for second while quick timer Brad Sweet finished third Shane Stewart was fourth and 12 Time Nationals Winner Steve Kinser finished fifth. After night one Swindell leads the overall points with 490 total points, Sweet is second, Kinser lies third, Fred Rahmer is fourth and Heskin stands fifth. The second half of the entrants will qualify tonight and after tonight’s action the field will be set for Saturday’s championship races.
Top ten in points after night 1 of the 51st Annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals:
1. Sammy Swindell 490
2. Brad Sweet 487
3. Steve Kinser 470
4. Fred Rahmer 465
5. Davey Heskin 464
6. Sam Hefertepe Jr. 460
7. Austin McCarl 457
8. Donny Schatz 452
9. Shane Stewart 447
10. Tim Shaffer 440
A main (started), 25 laps, NT: 1. Sammy Swindell (6) 2. Davey Heskin (2) 3. Brad Sweet (8) 4. Shane Stewart (24) 5. Steve Kinser (5) 6. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (21) 7. Austin McCarl (3) 8. Fred Rahmer (22) 9. Rager Phillips (11) 10. Lynton Jeffrey (13) 11. Danny Smith (15) 12. Dustin Selvage (10) 13. Johnny Herrera (12) 14. Brian Ellenberger (20) 15. Ryan Anderson (18) 16. Joey Moughan (1) 17. Tony Bruce Jr. (14) 18. Ryan Bunton (16) 19. Mike Houseman Jr. (19) 20. Tim Shaffer (23) 21. Bryan Dobesh (17) 22. David Gravel (9) 23. Brady Bacon (4) 24. Donny Schatz (7). Lap Leaders: Heskin 1-20, S. Swindell 21-25.
B main (started), 12 laps, 3:21.0: 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2) 2. Fred Rahmer (1) 3. Tim Shaffer (3) 4. Shane Stewart (9) / 5. Bronson Maeschen (4) 6. Bud Kaeding (6) 7. Don Droud Jr. (5) 8. Jonathan Allard (11) 9. Chad Meyer (7) 10. Tyler Walker (14) 11. Jason Sides (12) 12. Mike Moore (10) 13. Mike Reinke (15) 14. Toni Lutar (13) 15. Kevin Ingle (18) 16. Todd King (8) 17. Wade Nygaard (16) 18. Bill Rose (17) 19. Ron Krysl (19) 20. Bruce White (20) DNS – Chad Kemenah, Austen Wheatley, Lucas Wolfe, Josh Higday, AJ Moeller
Heat one (started), 10 laps, NT: 1. Ryan Anderson (1) 2. Tony Bruce Jr. (2) 3. Dustin Selvage (3) 4. Brad Sweet (8) / 5. Tim Shaffer (7) 6. Toni Lutar (4) 7. Bronson Maeschen (6) 8. Kevin Ingle (9) 9. Lucas Wolfe (5)
Heat two (started), 10 laps, 2:43.4: 1. Donny Schatz (8) 2. Joey Moughan (4) 3. Danny Smith (2) 4. Austin McCarl (6) / 5. Tyler Walker (3) 6. Shane Stewart (5) 7. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7) 8. Wade Nygaard (1) 9. Bruce White (9)
Heat three (started), 10 laps, 2:42.6: 1. Ryan Bunton (2) 2. Rager Phillips (3) 3. Sammy Swindell (8) 4. Mike Houseman Jr. (1) / 5. Don Droud Jr. (7) 6. Jason Sides (4) 7. Chad Meyer (6) 8. Todd King (5) 9. Ron Krysl (9)
Heat four (started), 10 laps, 2:41.9: 1. Bryan Dobesh (2) 2. Johnny Herrera (3) 3. Steve Kinser (7) 4. Brian Ellenberger (1) / 5. Mike Reinke (4) 6. Fred Rahmer (8) 7. Jonathan Allard (5) 8. Bud Kaeding (6) DNS – Josh Higday
Heat five (started), 10 laps, NT: 1. Lynton Jeffrey (3) 2. David Gravel (4) 3. Davey Heskin (6) 4. Brady Bacon (7) / 5. Bill Rose (1) 6. Mike Moore (5) 7. Chad Kemenah (8) 8. Austen Wheatley (2) DNS – AJ Moeller
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 9, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (4) 14.842; 2. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (3) 14.868; 3. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (10) 14.941; 4. 51, Fred Rahmer, Salfordville, PA (7) 15.001; 5. 63, Chad Kemenah, Findlay, OH (5) 15.022; 6. 83x, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (13) 15.077; 7. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (32) 15.141; 8. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (1) 15.174; 9. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN (31) 15.181; 10. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (14) 15.214; 11. 1J, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (28) 15.229; 12. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (38) 15.348; 13. 1w, Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls, SD (16) 15.380; 14. 29, Bud Kaeding, Campbell, CA (15) 15.383; 15. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (34) 15.390; 16. 5w, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (23) 15.400; 17. 57, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (36) 15.424; 18. 19K, Todd King, Sheboygan Falls, WI (6) 15.493; 19. 0, Jonathan Allard, Chico, CA (35) 15.497; 20. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (8) 15.499; 21. 4x, Toni Lutar, White Rock, BC, Can. (9) 15.513; 22. 14x, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (2) 15.517; 23. 7s, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (20) 15.517; 24. 02, Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI (12) 15.537; 25. 89G, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (27) 15.559; 26. 7x, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (33) 15.559; 27. 17, Tyler Walker, Los Angeles, CA (43) 15.561; 28. 10, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (17) 15.613; 29. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (42) 15.642; 30. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (25) 15.688; 31. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS (44) 15.778; 32. 4, Danny Smith, Danville, IN (22) 15.797; 33. 6RX, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (29) 15.806; 34. 2D, Bryan Dobesh, Sioux Falls, SD (37) 15.860; 35. 44w, Austen Wheatley, Lake Stevens, WA (18) 15.880; 36. 71R, Ryan Anderson, Deloit, IA (41) 15.882; 37. 9N, Wade Nygaard, Grand Forks, ND (30) 15.947; 38. 68, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (24) 15.991; 39. 20E, Brian Ellenberger, Butler, PA (45) 16.082; 40. 6R, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (40) 16.100; 41. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (39) 16.297; 42. 96AU, Bruce White, Merrylands West, NSW, Aust. (19) 16.514; 43. 20PK, Ron Krysl, Atkinson, NE (26) 17.542; 44. 2x, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (11) NT; 45. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (21) NT.