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More than anything else, that race was big in changing the format of the Nationals. Used to be, you started the qualifying feature based on your time, and where you finished didn't matter in the heat, other than points. There was no B main, and despite his good run, Manzardo never got to run the feature that night because of his qualifying time:
8/9/84
Doty Wins Thursday Preliminary Feature at Knoxville Amid Controversy
by Bob Wilson
Knoxville, IA – It is never officially a Knoxville Nationals without a little controversy, some unique entertainment, and an underdog winner. Thursday night at the 24th running of the event, the near capacity crowd at the Knoxville Raceway witnessed each ingredient.
The controversy arose when the official winner of the qualifying feature event was protested. The entertainment was a trackside wedding directly before the ill-fated feature and the underdog winner proved to be a super-modified driver from Illinois.
In the feature event, Oklahoma's Shane Carson looked to be on his way to garner the 200 points and the $1,500 the race offered, as he led the distance through the first eighteen laps. Coming out of turn four on the next circuit, the Carson sprinter bumped the tail of a lapped car and went into a lazy spin.
Second place Steve Kinser, who had been closely following the Carson mount, narrowly avoided disaster as he nearly looped his car in close quarters to the outside of Carson. The yellow flag was thrown to insure the rest of the field of cars was aware of what appeared to be a potentially dangerous situation. However, both Carson and Kinser managed to keep their sprinters going, but not until several other front runners got by them.
When the race was restarted, officials aligned the cars by the way they were running on the previous lap. That finish found Carson, Kinser, Brad Doty, Doug Wolfgang and Jeff Swindell coming across the line in that order.
After the race, Doty lodged a formal protest as to the results. Director of Racing, Ralph Capitani and World of Outlaws officials, Ted Johnson and Beryl Christian, held informal trackside discussions to determine the outcome.
Nearly two hours later, after reviewing video tape of the race and calling in the drivers involved for private discussion, the official finish was finally reached. That finish gave Doty the victory, followed by Kinser, Wolfgang and Swindell. Carson was placed fifth.
On the lighter, yet just as serious side, Greg Easley and Katie Thomas, both longtime race fans from Missouri, were joined together in matrimony. 9000 race fans witnessed their exchange of vows on the victory stand in front of the grandstand. Sammy Swindell and his sister were best man and maid of honor respectively.
Carmen Manzardo, of McHenry, Illinois, stole the hearts of nearly everyone in attendance as he drove his outdated and highly undermatched super-modified to a second place finish in the fourth heat event. Manzardo held off the hard charges of Steve Kinser for four laps as the entire audience stood cheering in disbelief.
Results
Time Trials: 1. 29, Doug Wolfgang, Sioux Falls, SD, 17.737; 2. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN, 17.973; 3. 80, Jeff Swindell, Memphis, TN, 18.068; 4. 51s, Shane Carson, Oklahoma City, OK, 18.076; 5. 23s, Tod Bishop, Harrisburg, IL, 18.219; 6. 5m, Danny Smith, Danville, IN, 18.277; 7. 1a, Bobby Allen, Hanover, PA, 18.293; 8. 75, Brad Doty, Kittanning, PA, 18.294; 9. 78, Tim Green, Sacramento, CA, 18.299; 10. 83, Jac Haudenschild, Millersburg, OH, 18.395; 11. 10c, Dave Blaney, Hartford, OH, 18.465; 12. 12V, Randy Sears, Raytown, MO, 18.566; 13. 2x, Rick Ungar, Memphis, TN, 18.571; 14. 5J, Jack Hewitt, Troy, OH, 18.580; 15. 88x, Tim Gee, Jamestown, IN, 18.623; 16. 77N, Cliff Woodward, Kearney, MO, 18.639; 17. 112, Jerry Potter, Kansas City, MO, 18.655; 18. 23, Greg Wooley, Oklahoma City, OK, 18.723; 19. 22, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO, 18.746; 20. 08, Jon Johnson, Utica, KS, 18.767; 21. 51, Mark Kinser, Oolitic, IN, 18.810; 22. 91sm, Richard Griffin, Tempe, AZ, 18.817; 23. 1c, John Pearson, Stockton, CA, 19.031; 24. 65, Mike Peters, Wichita, KS, 19.074; 25. 88, Bob Hop, Mendota, MN, 19.117; 26. 1TX, Bobby Marshall, Allen, TX, 19.200; 27. 1, Rick Weld, Kansas City, MO, 19.275; 28. 38J, Rick Montgomery, Lakewood, CO, 19.417; 29. 18L, Gabby Lusk, Jackson, MN, 19.479; 30. 9, John McCoy, Knoxville, IA, 19.552; 31. 16A, Leonard Lee, El Cajon, CA, 19.602; 32. 21c, Carmen Manzardo, McHenry, IL, 19.641; 33. 50, Curt Grogan, Kansas City, MO, 19.646; 34. 11m, Ken McCarty, Green River, WY, 19.697; 35. 33, Bill Smith, Worthington, MN, 19.741; 36. 4c, Dick Coburn, Muskego, WI, 19.807; 37. 20x, Hawkeye Strobel, Sigourney, IA, 19.818; 38. 10A, Charlie Brown, Glendale, AZ, 19.830; 39. 8, Jim Grafton, Des Moines, IA, 19.839; 40. 29Z, Jon Barger, Madison, SD, 20.056; 41. 8x, Kenny McCarl, Des Moines, IA, 20.357; 42. 120, Bruce Drottz, Mitchellville, IA, 20.472; 43. 1D, Jerry Johnston, Rapid City, SD, 20.491; 44. 00, Bobby Ensminger, West Burlington, IA, 20.638; 45. U2, Mike Johnson, Concord, CA, 21.057; 46. 25, Rick McClure, Cincinnati, IA, 21.644; 47. 3G, Scott Fegter, Grand Island, NE, 22.171; 48. 0, Rick Ferkel, Findlay, OH, NT; 49. 2, Galen Martin, Fairfield, IA, NT; 50. 3, Terry Alexander, Knoxville, IA, NT; 51. 4, Todd Mack, East Grand Forks, ND, NT; 52. 21J, Sonny Smyser, Lancaster, MO, NT; 53. 30c, Richard Crook, Oskaloosa, IA, NT; 54. 80N, Marlon Jones, Sioux Falls, SD, NT.
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps, NT: 1. Jac Haudenschild (7*) 2. Jon Johnson (5*) 3. Bob Hop (4) 4. Tim Gee (6*) 5. Tod Bishop (8*) 6. Jon Barger (1) 7. Bill Smith (2) 8. John McCoy (3) 9. Mike Johnson (9)
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps, 3:14.2: 1. Jack Hewitt (6*) 2. Shane Carson (8*) 3. Tim Green (7*) 4. Danny Lasoski (5*) 5. Mike Peters (4) 6. Ken McCarty (2) 7. Jim Grafton (1) 8. Gabby Lusk (3) DNS – Bobby Ensminger
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps, NT: 1. Brad Doty (7*) 2. Jeff Swindell (8*) 3. Greg Wooley (5*) 4. Rick Ungar (6*) 5. Curt Grogan (2) 6. Charlie Brown (1) 7. John Pearson (4) 8. Rick Montgomery (3) 9. Jerry Johnston (9)
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps, NT: 1. Steve Kinser (8*) 2. Carmen Manzardo (2) 3. Jerry Potter (5*) 4. Bobby Allen (7*) 5. Rick Weld (3) 6. Richard Griffin (4) 7. Hawkeye Strobel (1) 8. Bruce Drottz (10) 9. Scott Fegter (9) 10. Randy Sears (6)
Heat five (started, *qualified for feature), 10 laps, NT: 1. Doug Wolfgang (8*) 2. Danny Smith (7*) 3. Mark Kinser (4*) 4. Dave Blaney (6*) 5. Cliff Woodward (5*) 6. Bobby Marshall (3) 7. Leonard Lee (2) 8. Dick Coburn (1) 9. Kenny McCarl (10) 10. Rick McClure (9)
A main (started), 20 laps, NT: 1. Brad Doty (6) 2. Steve Kinser (2) 3. Doug Wolfgang (1) 4. Jeff Swindell (3) 5. Shane Carson (4) 6. Tim Green (10) 7. Rick Ungar (13) 8. Jac Haudenschild (7) 9. Danny Smith (5) 10. Jack Hewitt (11) 11. Greg Wooley (16) 12. Tod Bishop (8) 13. Danny Lasoski (19) 14. Bobby Allen (9) 15. Jerry Potter (15) 16. Jon Johnson (17) 17. Mark Kinser (20) 18. Tim Gee (14) 19. Cliff Woodward (18) 20. Dave Blaney (12). Lap Leaders: Carson 1-20.
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