Herrera and Dobesh capture Features at Knoxville
Saturday, May 23, 2009
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 23) – Johnny Herrera made it two 410 sprint wins on the season at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night and Bryan Dobesh captured his end of the companion 360 sprint division. Though rain threatened throughout the day and in fact soaked the track just after the noon hour, not a drop fell during the night.
With the invert on this night’s features at 12, the big guns were sitting in mid-pack to begin the race. Front row starter Josh Schneiderman got the jump when the race went green and in fact began to pull away from the field in this 10-mile race. A yellow slowed the field when Pete Crall spun in turns one and two negating Schneiderman’s expanding lead.
On the restart, Johnny Herrera took control after starting in row two. The Albuquerque driver slid Schneiderman in turns one and two and was never headed after that. Herrera placed his Larry Woodward Maxim on the high cushion and began to roar away from the pack. By the mid-point of the race he had a near-straightaway lead on the big half-mile oval.
Behind Herrera for most of the event was Lynton Jeffrey. Jeffrey carried on a strong battle with Terry McCarl for the runner-up finish but finally yielded that position on lap 15 when McCarl bested him coming low out of turn two. Shortly after that the final yellow of the night flew for fourth place Billy Alley who lost a right-front wheel while flying down the front chute. Alley was able to keep control of his car but he was finished for the night.
With Herrera’s big lead wiped out by the yellow, the restart would show McCarl directly behind the leader. Herrera went low into turn one on the restart and drifted up in front of McCarl in turn two. Both drivers put on a driving clinic on the final three laps as Herrera managed to keep his spot and roar across the finish line with $3,000 added to his pocket and his 12th career win here.
McCarl (started 12th)claimed $2,500 for his efforts while Jeffrey took third and $2,000. Brian Brown was fourth ($1,500) and Kerry Madsen (started 11th)($1,000) took fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Mark Dobmeier, Skip Jackson, Calvin Landis, Dusty Zomer and Don Droud, Jr.
Bryan Dobesh’s win in the 360 sprint division marked his third career win at this central Iowa racing facility. The start of the race saw Dobesh line up beside Ryan Roberts, who had claimed victory in the prior week. Both drivers fought determinedly for the lead on that first lap but it was Dobesh who took it and kept it for the 15-lap distance. Though Roberts stayed close, he was unable to challenge as Dobesh pulled away. Even the yellow at the half-way point was not a factor in helping Roberts make a race of it.
Behind Roberts for most of the go was rookie challenger Jonathan Cornell. Lap 10 saw Cornell lose that spot to Clint Garner (who had started sixteenth). Matt Moro held fifth for much of the distance.
That is the way they would finish with Dobesh, Roberts, Garner, Cornell and Moro in the top five. Completing the top ten were Chad Humston, Brett Mather, Jon Agan, Gregg Bakker and Joe Beaver.
Next week will be USAC-sanctioned midgets on Friday vying for the King Doodlebug title along with the annual Masters Classic. 410 Knoxville sprints will co-star with the Midget Nationals on Saturday. All of this being featured during the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum’s induction weekend.
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