Droud Jr. Captures Knoxville's 57th Season Opener
Sunday, May 2, 2010
By Bob Wilson
Knoxville, Iowa (May 1) Three veterans captured feature events at Knoxville Raceway’s 57th Season Opener. Don Droud Jr. led flag to flag in capturing his 12th career win at this half-mile oval while Josh Higday and Steve Breazeale were victorious in 360 and 305 sprints respectively.
Droud, who started in the second row, led the ten-mile distance through three yellows and two red flag conditions with the first yellow flying for third running Brian Brown on lap three. Brown was unable to continue as his engine was not running as it should.
By lap five Droud led Austin McCarl, Tony Bruce Jr., Ian Madsen and Josh Schniederman across the line. Rookie contender Robbie Wolfgang dropped at this point and when these same runners completed lap eight a red flag was displayed for a Rager Phillips spin and flip.
Opening night woes continued as second running McCarl exploded a left-rear tire in turn four of the tenth lap. Schniederman then ran over some of the debris and he was sidelined while McCarl was able to restart.
On each restart Droud truly had control of the event. The stoppages allowed drivers who had started further back in the field to make fruitful gains. Lap fourteen saw second place Mark Dobmeier, who had been moving steadily forward, also lose a tire and exit the race.
The final red of the night was thrown for Madsen who flipped violently down the front chute after he and another car made contact on lap eighteen. Droud, in the Gilbert Sonner-owned Maxim, again was fully prepared for the final restart and sailed across the finish line ten car lengths ahead of second place. It was noted that the victory gave “Gilly” Sonner a feature event win in each of the last five decades. The win was worth $3,000 to Droud.
Trialing at the finish were Skip Jackson who started ninth, Davey Heskin who started 11th and Bronson Maeschen, a sixth row starter beside Heskin. Rounding out the top ten were Bruce, Lynton Jeffrey, Mike Moore, Kaley Gharst (from 15th), McCarl and Bob Weuve.
Higday’s 360 sprint feature win was his 16th career victory in that division but he did not lead the distance as Droud had done. The initial laps went to fellow front row starter Dennis Moore Jr. Lap 4 saw a red thrown for a Matt Covington wreck and on the restart Higday took the lead with a slider in turns one and two. Moore tried to repay Higday in the next turns but was not successful.
In the end Higday captured the event by 15 car lengths in the Steves Wares and Vern Harrison Eagle ahead of Moore with tenth position starter Jonathan Cornell in third. Clint Garner and Johnny Anderson completed the top five.
Steve Breazeale led the distance while taking his feature win in the 305 division. He was hard pressed nearly all the way by Austin Johnson who eventually settled for third. Runner-up laurels went to Tim St. Arnold. Chad Huston and Steve Palmer completed the top five finishers.
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