Swindell Wows ‘Em At Knoxville
Saturday, May 22, 2010
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (May 22) Sammy Swindell, driving the Big Game Maxim in substitution for an injured Terry McCarl, came from a near-last place starting position to win the 20-lap feature event Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway. For Swindell, it was his 43rd win at this historic fairgrounds which ties him with the legendary Earl Wagner for 5th on the all-time list.
For Swindell, it was nearly a disaster at the start of the race as several cars got out of shape with Swindell doing a complete 360 in front of an onrushing 22-car field on the front chute. Several cars reported to the tail of the restart, including Swindell who had to come in to the pits for a tire change.
A yellow was thrown immediately after one lap was completed for debris on the track as Swindell had already moved into the top ten. The restart saw him play catch up as Lynton Jeffrey led Brian Brown around the big half-mile oval. By lap four Sammy had made it to the sixth position while he was putting on a driving exhibition for the fans.
Brown grabbed the top spot on the eighth circuit after putting a slider on Jeffrey in turns three and four. Just two more laps found Swindell following Brown at the half-way point. Brown did not give up the spot easily as he made Swindell work for the position. Swindell took that spot on the 12th circuit going into the third turn. After that the leaders entered lap traffic, Swindell showed why he is a professional sprint car pilot as he sailed through the back markers with ease.
A yellow was displayed on lap 16 for a spun car and on the ensuing restart, Brown pulled a huge slider but came up short when Swindell overtook him as the raced out of turn two. Brown attempted the same on the following lap but Swindell had too much momentum on the cushion and sailed away from him again.
Just as Swindell took the checkered flag and sailed into turn one, his right rear tire exploded. Just then too, a yellow/checkered was displayed for Mark Dobmeier whose right rear also blew to bits.
Following Swindell were Brown, Jeffrey, Skip Jackson, Don Droud Jr. and Josh Schneiderman. Rounding out the top ten were Robby Wolfgang, Austin McCarl, Rager Phillips and Mike Moore.
In the 360 sprint feature, the race belonged to Chad Humston as he grabbed the top spot from leader Johnny Anderson on the fourth go around. After that point Anderson stayed close to the Humston’s self-owned Eagle but in the end Humston began to pull away.
After taking the white flag in this 15-lap event, Humston was clearly headed for the win. As he motored down the back chute he had no idea that Jonathan Cornell had lost his rear end and was slowly coming to a stop at the approach of turn three. Humston tried valiantly to miss the Cornell car as he rode out his chances up against the fence. There was not enough room and Humston launched his sprinter after going up and over the right-rear tire of the Cornell machine and went into a series of quick flips. He was okay but his sprinter was heavily damaged. Also striking Cornell on the opposite side was Brett Mather, who then reported to the pits.
Inheriting the lead was Anderson who went on to claim his 8th career win here in his self-owned Eagle. Trailing at the line was Ricky Logan, Matt Moro, Jon Agan and Dennis Moore Jr. Completing the top ten were Clint Garner (from 15th), Randy Martin, Ryan Roberts (from 16th), Danny Heskin and Joe Beaver.
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