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5/22/10

Knoxville Raceway

24 410s

29 360s

410s

Sammy Swindell (6th car out to time) set quick time by more than .3 of a second (15.162) over Austin McCarl (7th car out). Robby Wolfgang (3rd) was third quick, followed by Brian Brown (1st), Bronson Maeschen (15th), Ian Madsen (4th), Lynton Jeffrey (12th), Josh Schneiderman (8th), Don Droud Jr. (14th) and Mike Moore (23rd). Shane Stewart failed to get a time in after mechanical difficulties.

Heat one (started): 1. Swindell 24 (6) 2. Mark Dobmeier 13 (2) 3. Brown 21 (5) 4. Jeffrey 12 (4) 5. Moore 69 (3) 6. Seth Brahmer 13v (7) 7. Kaley Gharst 14P (1) 8. Lou Kennedy Jr. 21K (8)

Dobmeier led early in the 8-lapper, but Swindell made steady progress in a race that featured a ton of good side by side racing. Swindell would make his winning pass with two to go. Brown won a lengthy battle with Jeffrey for third.

Heat two (started): 1. Rager Phillips 10 (1) 2. Schneiderman 49 (4) 3. Davey Heskin 56 (3) 4. McCarl 17A (6) 5. Skip Jackson 2 (2) 6. Maeschen 1 (5) 7. Mike Deavers 72 (7) 8. Sid Blandford Jr. 7 (8)

Philips led the distance, but had to hold off a surging Schneiderman. Jackson rode third until Heskin passed him with two to go, and McCarl got him on the last lap.

Heat three (started): 1. Droud Jr. 47 (4) 2. Ryan Bunton 6R (2) 3. Madsen 55 (5) 4. Wolfgang 7K (6) 5. Bob Weuve 19 (1) 6. Todd Hepfner 1HRP (7) 7. Dusty Zomer 91 (3) DNS - Shane Stewart 57

When Wolfgang's left rear came down on Zomer's right front heading into turn one after green, the latter went into a series of end over end flips into turn one. He was uninjured, but done for the night. Hepfner was also caught up in the mess and needed to change a nose wing. Droud circled the front row once things went green and ran away and hid with the heat. Bunton looked impressive in second in a race that featured three rookies running second through fourth.

A main (started): 1. Swindell (6) 2. Brown (3) 3. Jeffrey (1) 4. Jackson (12) 5. Droud Jr. (8) 6. Schneiderman (7) 7. Wolfgang (4) 8. McCarl (5) 9. Phillips (14) 10. Moore (9) 11. Madsen (2) 12. Maeschen (16) 13. Dobmeier (11) 14. Gharst (17) 15. Weuve (15) 16. Bunton (13) 17. Deavers (19) 18. Kennedy (21) 19. Hepfner (20) 20. Heskin (10) 21. Brahmer (18) 22. Blandford Jr. (22) DNS - Zomer, Stewart

A melee ensued on the frontstretch to start the A. Wolfgang made contact with both Swindell and McCarl. Cars headed in every direction. Those who were also part of the incident included Heskin, Deavers, Kennedy and others. After a trip to the work area, Swindell restarted 18th, and McCarl 20th. Jeffrey took the lead when the green fell, but a caution for debris would slow things down with just one lap in the books. Jeffrey led Brown, Madsen, Scheiderman and Droud Jr. back to green flag racing. Swindell had already advanced to 12th, and continued his march to the front. Brown and Jeffrey raced for the lead, with Brown capturing it on lap eight. Swindell continued his assault by quickly getting in the top five, and then disposing of Madsen, Schneiderman and Jeffrey. The winning pass came on lap 12. One more chance for Brown developed when Hepfner spun on lap 16. The spin almost collected top five runners Jeffrey and Droud, who made contact with one another. Madsen had to replace a flat during the caution. The restart saw Swindell ahead of Brown, Jeffrey, Droud Jr. and Dobmeier. Brown cleared Swindell with a slider in turn two on the restart, but Swindell ducked back under him and cruised to his 43rd career victory, tying him with Earl Wagner for fifth on the all-time wins list at Knoxville. Swindell's tire exploded after the checkers. Dobmeier was running fourth coming to the checkers when he blew a tire. Because he caused a caution, he was scored as the last car on the lead lap (13th). Jackson was the official hard-charger.

360s

Matt Moro led the charge in group qualifying with a lap of 16.286 seconds. Ryan Roberts was second quick, followed by Randy Martin, Chad Humston, Dustin Selvage, Johnny Anderson, Tasker Phillips, Dennis Moore Jr., Ricky Logan and Jonathan Cornell.

Heat one (started): 1. Joe Beaver 53 (1) 2. John Hall 7H (2) 3. Cornell 28 (3) 4. Humston 1m (5) 5. Moro 2m (6) / 6. Brett Mather 17G (7) 7. Phillips 7TAZ (4) 8. Ricky Montgomery 9m (8) 9. Josh Higday 10 (9) 10. Mike Williams 4m (10)

Williams dropped out early. Beaver led the 7-lap distance, while some good battles developed behind him. The best was for the final transfer, where Moro took fifth from Mather at the 1/2 way point.

Heat two (started): 1. Jon Agan 4 (2) 2. Clint Garner 40 (1) 3. Moore Jr. 2 (4) 4. RJ Johnson 71 (3) 5. Selvage 7 (5) / 6. Roberts 18 (6) 7. JD Johnson 98 (9) 8. Jamie Ball 5J (8) 9. Alan Zoutte 33 (10) 10. Bryan Dobesh 54 (7)

A wide track yielded side by side battles in the 360 heats. The best was for the final transfer, where Selvage held it down most of the race. Roberts was the challenger, and took the spot with two to go, using the low side. Selvage came back on the high side of turn two to reclaim it on the last lap. Dobesh exited on lap five.

Heat three (started): 1. Logan 10a (4) 2. Martin 14 (6) 3. Nate Van Haaften 3 (2) 4. Anderson 7a (5) 5. Danny Heskin 6 (3) / 6. Russ Hall 45c (7) 7. Chad Heimbaugh 04 (1) 8. Joe Miller 78 (8) DNS - Jarrod Schneiderman 88

Van Haaften took the early lead. In close racing on lap two between the leader, Logan and Heimbaugh, Logan tapped Heimbaugh from behind. The tap spun Heimbaugh sideways and into a flip. He was unhurt. Van Haaften led Logan, Heskin, Martin and Anderson back to green flag racing. Logan grabbed the point on the restart and won going away. Martin used the low side to grab second from Van Haaften with two to go.

B main (started): 1. Roberts (1) 2. Phillips (2) 3. Dobesh (3) 4. R. Hall (6) / 5. Mather (4) 6. Montgomery (5) 7. JD Johnson (9) 8. Higday (10) 9. Ball (8) 10. Zoutte (11) 11. Williams (12) 12. Miller (7) DNS - Heimbaugh, Schneiderman

Roberts led the 10-lap distance in commanding fashion. Phillips also had some room between himself and third. R. Hall and Mather had a good battle for the transfer spot.

A main (started): 1. Anderson (2) 2. Logan (7) 3. Moro (6) 4. Agan (12) 5. Moore Jr. (1) 6. Garner (15) 7. Martin (5) 8. Roberts (16) 9. Heskin (10) 10. Beaver (14) 11. Phillips (17) 12. RJ Johnson (9) 13. Van Haaften (13) 14. R. Hall (19) 15. Humston (4) 16. Cornell (8) 17. Mather (20) 18. Selvage (3) 19. J. Hall (11) 20. Dobesh (18)

Anderson led early in the 15-lapper after a ragged start. Humston was right behind him on the nerf bar, and on lap four moved by for the lead. He would continue to stretch his margin, using the high side of the 1/2 mile. Selvage exited in a cloud of smoke during a good run. Good racing through the field as the race went non-stop until the white flag lap. Cornell was slowing down the length of the backstretch, when Humston came upon him. The leader made heavy contact and flipped hard into the turn three fence. He was unhurt. Anderson assumed the lead ahead of Logan, Moro, Moore Jr. and Martin. Anderson was able to hold on despite a second caution for a spinning Phillips to record his eighth career win. Agan moved up from seventh to fourth on the restarts, while Garner earned hard-charger honors. Logan held off Moro by inches in a great battle for second.

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Very odd 'no calls' in 360 A. (initial start and Humston deal) Not criticising....just an observation.

Swindell show was worth the price of the ticket alone.

R.A.

S.H.S.

I have to agree with you on the NO CALLS in the 360's.... And I'm sure that Tasker Phillips did not finish 11th after spinning... Are the transponders working??? What was the deal with the original start?? It sure was fun watching Sammy do what he done also...

Totally agree on some of the calls. Humston got a raw deal.

Never seen a "Green Checkered" either.

Sammy was the show!

I don't like to complain but Humston and Mark Burch got the royal shaft last night!!!!! Also I'm not a Sammy fan but that man can flat ass drive a sprint car.

They have radios around the track and in the corners, no excuse. Also they have an eye in the press box. Last week a car set in 3 for half a lap. Burch did get a raw deal.

sorry paint, that excuse doesn't hold water. there was no excuse for not throwing the yellow

I'm thinking the deal with the yellow was it was getting close to the end of the race and the officials didn't want to disrupt the racing action with a yellow, and was hoping Cornell was going to be able to pull off. The gamble for the officials didn't pay off obviously. I'm with the majority on here in agreeing the yellow should have been waved several seconds before.

I watched Justin after the car blew the motor. He watched the car from turn 2 to turn 3. His head followed the cars movement and he didn't look anywhere else, so I would say he saw it.

Was he told to hold off? I don't know. He could have been. Still, he is the flagman and if he thinks the yellow should be thrown, he should throw it. That is his job.

its time for all of the old folks to head for the retierment home....by by cappy, robuck, take the rest of them with ya!!

its time for all of the old folks to head for the retierment home....by by cappy, robuck, take the rest of them with ya!!

I am not sure why that statement has anything to do with the calls or lack of calls. The flagman is not a robot ....he has his own agency to act or not to act, the track spotters are EXTRA eyes not the final word.

Robuck and Cappy and many ..many others (Arleta, Dunkins and that list could grow to several dozen) have given their souls to that place .... I only hope I am as RESPECTED by people that KNOW (unlike you ....that by that statement alone proves your ignorance) my vocation when I am that age and nearing sundown.

R.A.

S.H.S.

First off, I think they should've thrown the yellow when Cornell was slowing in turn two with the leaders completing the white flag lap. It really sucks for Humston & Burch that they didn't, because they hit the perfect setup and had the field covered. Hopefully they can duplicate the effort and get a win soon.

With that being said, I'm sure it was a split-second decision that a number of people had a hand in making. The flagmen have the ultimate call, but have people yelling in their ear helping them make that ultimate call. Since I didn't have an official's headset on, I can only guess - but I'm guessing that the backstretch officials maybe said to throw the yellow, the 3rd turn officials maybe said to hold off (thought that everybody would miss Cornell if he stayed high and they could finish the race), and race control in the front stretch suites maybe said a combination of the two - which confused everybody. Again, that's just a guess.

The officials will hopefully talk about this next week before the races, and come to some sort of consensus on what should happen if this happens again. Who knows, maybe they did after the races Saturday night.

I don't think anybody has mentioned it yet, but a big thumbs up to the Dunkins for giving us a track with two pretty good grooves on an afternoon where it was sunny and really windy (20 mph +). Keep up the good work guys!

Go to the pits next week and go to the drivers meeting and I am sure you will hear them repeat like they have always said, they will NOT throw the yellow as long as your car is still moving.

"Moving" towards a track exit and out of harm's way is a little different than "moving" somewhere on the track with no means of safely getting off the track. I think we've all seen them throw the yellow when a car shelled an engine, rear end, etc and was still moving (slowly), but not able to get off the track. They just didn't in this case. But I'm sure they'll take a look at it and get it right the next time.

I know I made it sound a little harsh but there has to be a time when you got to step down and let the next generation take over... before they run it in the ground... You should get a scanner and take it to the races the... officals dont seem to have any respect for the racers or crew's.... You will have a whole new prespective of Cappy and Robuck...

BestFriend is right, they don't throw the yellow until a car stops. Cornell did what he was supposed to, maintained his line. Besides, a sprint car is pretty tough to turn without the power steering and normally you don't move across the track until an official tells you to. You can't see behind you, and barely to the side, if he'd tried to move down he could have caught a couple of cars, you can't know what's coming when you're slowing. Humston could have moved to the middle or bottom to get around Cornell. But he chose to stay where he was. I can only assume he thought he could make it around the top. Or, maybe he came off two and checked his gauges, or thought about winning, and lost focus for a second, who knows. Yes too bad for him, car was great, he was driving the wheels off it, and they had the race won, but the officials and Cornell did nothing wrong. Things happen fast out there and accidents are freak things.

Cornell did do what he was supposed to, and there hasn't been a comment made that suggests otherwise. However, to say Humston could have moved, or may not have been paying attention is borderline asinine. Have you ever been driving down the interstate at 75 and came upon a car going 60? That car is there before you know it. Now imagine coming off of a corner at 90+ with lapped traffic in front of you... you get my point. It doesn't matter if Cornell's car was stopped or not. By the time Humston realized Cornell was slowing (or stopped, depending on who you talked to) he didn't have time to get underneath him. Cornell did nothing wrong, Humston did nothing wrong (and in fact by choosing the high side instead of trying to get underneath may have prevented a much more serious incident), the officials... well they apparently followed track policy, which in my opinion, is wrong. I would not be the least surprised to see "the track policy" changing in the near future.