Swindell
Captures
Sammy Swindell started on the pole for the 45th Annual Knoxville Nationals
non-qualifiers A-main and dominated the 20-lap event Sunday afternoon at
Knoxville Raceway.
The race was originally scheduled for Friday but persistent rain that cancelled
two nights of racing since the event began on Wednesday forced the Friday and
Saturday programs to run on Sunday.
With the track dry and fast, Swindell charged out on the bottom as Paul McMahan
cut from fourth to second. Jesse Hockett joined the mix as those three pulled
away from the field. With scrambles and heats already completed, the track was
dry and fast. The leaders struggled just to work through traffic.
With 10 to go, McMahan went high in Turn 1 to take a shot at Swindell, but
Hockett stayed on the bottom and shot right past him to grab second. McMahan
went back around Hockett before they completed the lap as those three again
took off nose-to-tail.
With three to go, the right rear on Hockett’s machine exploded in Turn 4,
sending him to the work area and turning it into a two-car race. Swindell
charged back to the front on the restart as McMahan settled back into second.
Jaymie Moyle wound up third, followed by Blake Feese and Calvin Landis.
Kraig Kinser earned the pole position for the A-main when he finished fourth in
the A-scramble, an event also delayed from Friday. That was enough to put his
Steve Kinser Racing machine on the pole for the A-main in the 45th running of
the Knoxville Nationals.
Starting next to Kinser will be
Swindell’s victory means he will start 11th in the C-main later Sunday night.
Only two cars will transfer from the C-main to the rear of the B-main, where
four cars will transfer to the rear of the main event.
“We had a great car, just had a couple of unusual circumstances on Friday,”
said Swindell, the 1983 Knoxville Nationals champion from Bartlett, Tenn. “I
think we had a shot at getting right up there at the front on Thursday but the
rain hurt that. Then we had a couple of little problems on our qualifying night
so here we are today. The car is still fast. The last lap or so I picked the
pace up just to see what it would do. We have a hard road the rest of the day
so we’ll just see what happens.
“It’s probably the second year we don’t get to run the A-main so it’s going to
be kind of tough. If the track doesn’t change quite a bit, it’s probably going
to be very difficult to move around. If the guys don’t make a mistake, I can’t
even pass the cars I’m lapping. It’s tough but you have to deal with whatever
you got and we’ll make the best of what we have.”
McMahan figured he had one shot at passing Swindell, but when Hockett snuck to
his inside McMahan realized he had to get back in the bottom groove.
“We got to lapped traffic but there was no place to go,” said McMahan, a Mean
15 racer from
Earlier on Sunday, Ed Lynch Jr., the
After completing the Nationals, the series begins a swing to the West Coast
Aug. 16 with a one-night show at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D.,
before invading Billings Speedway on Aug.19-20 in Billings, Mont.; Grays Harbor
Speedway Aug. 26-27 in Elma, Wash.; and Cottage Grove Speedway Aug. 30 in
Cottage Grove, Ore.
The
Heat 1, 8 laps,
1. Sammy Swindell,
2. Jesse Hockett,
3. Luke Cranston,
4. Jon Agan,
5. Mike Kertscher,
6. Seth Brahmer,
7. Tyler Houseman,
8. Sean Walden,
9. Randy Anderson,
Heat 2, 8 laps, No Time
1. Jaymie Moyle,
2. Dusty Zomer, Brandon SD
3. Danny Jennings, Norman OK
4. Jonathan Allard,
5. John Lambertz,
6. Kevin Huntley,
7. Jamie Zaputil, Mystic IA
8. Matt Wasmund,
9. Robert Bell,
10.
Heat 3, 8 laps, 2:07.2:
1. Blake Feese,
2. Mike Erdley, Elizabethville PA
3. Roger Crockett,
4. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA
5. Danny Smith,
6. Mike Deavers,
7. Ian Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust.
8. Matt Moro,
9. Greg Jones,
Heat 4, 8 laps, 2:09.4:
1. Paul McMahan,
2. Calvin Landis,
3. Josh Higday,
4.
5. Mark Dobmeier,
6. Dave Enders,
7. Rager Phillips,
8. Ty Bartz, Howards Grove WI
9. Kim Mock, Pleasant Prairie WI;
Heat 5, 8 laps, No Time:
1. Mike Moore,
2. TJ
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch MS
4. Jeff Mitrisin,
5. Brent Antill,
6. Bob Bennett, Lewisberry PA
7. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust.
8. Jamie McDonald, Birkenhead Point, NI, NZ
9. Robert Huisken, Marne MI;
B Feature, 10 laps, No Time:
1. Mike Kertscher,
2. Danny Smith,
3. Seth Brahmer,
4. John Lambertz,
5. Kevin Huntley,
6. Bob Bennett, Lewisberry PA
7. Brent Antill,
8. Matt Moro,
9. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust.
10. Dave Enders,
11. Greg Jones,
12. Tyler Houseman,
13. Robert Huisken,
14. Jamie McDonald, Birkenhead Point, NI, NZ
15. Mark Dobmeier,
16. Ian Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust.
17. Matt Wasmund,
18. Robert Bell,
19. Mike Deavers,
20. Jamie Zaputil, Mystic IA
21. Sean Walden,
22. Ty Bartz, Howards Grove WI
23.
A Feature, 20 laps, No Time:
1. Sammy Swindell,
2. Paul McMahan,
3. Jaymie Moyle,
4. Blake Feese,
5. Calvin Landis,
6. Jeff Mitrisin,
7. Mike Moore,
8. Danny Jennings, Norman OK
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch MS
10. Jonathan Allard,
11. Danny Smith,
12.
13. Mike Kertscher,
14. Luke Cranston,
15. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA
16. Josh Higday,
17. Seth Brahmer,
18. Dusty Zomer, Brandon SD
19. Jon Agan,
20. TJ
21. Jesse Hockett,
22. John Lambertz,
23. Mike Erdley, Elizabethville PA
24. Roger Crockett,
Lap Leaders: Swindell 1-20
C Scramble, 12 laps, No Time:
1. Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo PA
2. Cody Geldart, Mossley, ONT,
3. Bob Weuve,
4. Jesse Giannetto,
5. Kevin Swindell,
6. Clint Garner,
7. Johnny Herrera,
8. Brandon Wimmer,
9. Geoff Dodge, Colorado Springs CO
10. Ryan Coniam,
B Scramble, 12 laps, No Time
1. Jason Sides,
2. Erin Crocker, Wilbraham MA
3. Daryn Pittman, Owasso OK
4. Stephen Allard,
5. Jason Solwold,
6. Justin Henderson,
7. Tim Shaffer,
8.
9. Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge OH
10. Travis Rilat,
A Scramble, 12 laps, No Time
1.
2. Donny Schatz,
3. Shane Stewart, Bixby OK
4. Kraig Kinser,
5.
6. Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro IN
7. Brooke Tatnell, San Souci, NSW, Aust.
8. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA
9. Danny Lasoski,
10. Billy Alley,