Brown Tops Knoxville with Hockett’s Wings
Saturday, May 29, 2010
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 29) Brian Brown won his second feature of the year on a wing and a prayer at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. The wing was the #77 of Jesse Hockett , a close friend and driver from Missouri who died accidentally just days ago. The prayer was the final ride that Brown figuratively gave to his friend around this historical old half mile in the 20-lap feature. It was an emotional win for Brown and for many in the stands too.
Australian Ian Madsen took control of the race in the early going from his pole position and Brown was quick to sneak in right behind him from his second row start. Brown tried numerous times to find the quick way around this track by clinging to the bottom, but on this night the top was the fastest groove left. Josh Schneiderman was in the mix too.
At the half-way point Brown trailed Madsen by a mere five car lengths with Schneiderman, Don Droud Jr. and Lynton Jeffrey following right behind. With the cushion just feet away from Knoxville’s high fences, all of these drivers circled what would be a 5/8th mile track. Each driver awaited the man in front of him to make a mistake or to come upon lap traffic.
With no yellow flags to signal a slow down, it was inevitable that one would finally fly for a spun car at the end of 16 circuits. What had been an exciting race to watch suddenly went to a yellow flag condition and gave everyone in the stands a chance to catch his/her breaths.
Madsen led Brown, Jeffrey, Schneiderman and Droud back to the green and when they headed into turn one, Brown finally made his move with a clean slider in turn two. Madsen fought back but in doing so it enabled Jeffrey to get around him. One lap later Droud passed Jeffrey as the final yellow flag of the race was issued.
Brown held his position in this 21 lap event to take the $3,000 checkered flag. Droud, Jeffrey, Madsen and fifteenth starter Davey Heskin were the top five finishers. It should be noted that Heskin’s powerplant was a 360 engine.
The 360 feature was led by Brown driving in a “missing man” formation in honor of Jesse Hockett during slow laps. Brown pulled in and when the race went green, Johnny Anderson had the lead, a position he would hold to the end. Behind him the battle for second was a great one.
As Anderson began pulling away from the field, the first yellow flew for a stopped car. By this time of night most of the fast cars were on the cushion as the bottom had no moisture to provide a bite. Behind the leader were Clint Garner, Dustin Selvage, Ryan Roberts and Chad Humston. Any miscue would see any of these men advance as the gap between them was small.
Anderson had built a huge lead by the time the last yellow flew on lap 14. With the field going to single file, there was sure to be a shake up somewhere in the line-up when the green flew once again. Sure enough, Josh Higday, who had been in seventh, set his sprinter on the high cushion as drivers in front of him seemed to protect their positions on the bottom. This maneuver enabled him to register a top five finish in the end. For Anderson, it was his 9th career win at this track. Behind him were Garner (who held second the entire distance, Selvage, Higday and Ryan Roberts.
In the 305 Sprints, Matt Stephenson found his way to the podium in a 12-lap race that went without caution. Rookie Jamie Ball completed a career best to take the runner-up spot. Completing the top five finishers were Tasker Phillips, Steve Breazeale and Randy Smith.
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