Brown, Selvage and Phillips claim wins during Knoxville’s Hall of Fame Night
Saturday, June 26, 2010
By Bob Wilson
Brown, Selvage and Phillips claim wins during Knoxville’s Hall of Fame Night
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 26) Brian Brown (410), Dustin Selvage (360) and Tasker Phillips (305) each scored feature event wins Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway. The day also marked the 32nd Annual Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame festivities.
Brown, who started in the second row, did not waste time taking the lead as he rode the cushion to pass a low running Davey Heskin on the second lap. He was never headed after that although he had to guard his position through three yellows and one red.
With Brown safely in front, the fight broke out behind him for the place and show positions. First, Heskin held the runner-up spot until lap traffic enabled Skip Jackson to garner that spot just after the half way point. Behind those two Josh Schneiderman, Dusty Zomer and Bronson Maeschen battled it out for fourth.
The second yellow on lap 12 saw Schneiderman spinning to a stop at the back pit entrance just as Brown had developed a huge lead in traffic. The restart say Brown leading Jackson, Maeschen and Heskin back to the line as suddenly seventh row starter Wayne Johnson moved to fifth.
Yet another yellow flew at the end of fourteen laps and on the restart Johnson moved to third. A red stoppage for a three-car incident after sixteen laps gave Johnson one more opportunity and he took advantage of it. With the green out for the final time, Johnson maneuvered his car past Jackson in turn three to take the runner-up spot. It must be said though that Jackson’s sprinter hesitated and slowed for some reason in that third turn enabling several cars to pass him.
At the finish it was Brown, Johnson, Heskin, Maeschen and Jackson. Johnny Herrera, Mark Dobmeier, Ian Madsen, Don Droud Jr. and Dusty Zomer completed the top ten finishers. Brown’s win was his 18th career here in his self-owned Maxim.
The 360 sprint division saw a two-time winner on the season in driver Dustin Selvage. Chad Humston took the first three laps of the 15 lapper but Selvage was too much for the field of twenty cars on this night
Once in the lead after three laps, Selvage never looked back. Humston did apply pressure in traffic but it was always Selvage pulling away once the track was open. The Indianola (Iowa) driver controlled the race with a line that found him on the bottom most laps. He only changed that strategy when he passed lap traffic.
In the end, Selvage came across the line in the Grimes’ Eagle sprinter for his fifth career win here. Humston claimed second, Gregg Bakker took third, Josh Higday was fourth and Johnny Anderson held down fifth. Completing the top ten were Jon Agan, Ryan Roberts, Lee Grosz, Clint Garner (from the tail) and Danny Heskin.
Young Tasker Phillips claimed his second 305 sprint feature of the season. Mathew Stelzer opened the 12-lap race by leading the first three circuits. Mark Widmar took the top spot with a run on the top out of turn two on lap four. A yellow forced the field of 24 sprinters to slow for a single-file restart on lap seven and third running Phillips dashed into the runner-up spot.
Lap nine saw the final yellow and on the restart Phillips grabbed the point position as he ran low out of turn two. There was not catching Phillips on this night as he pulled away for his third 305 feature win here. He was trailed at the stripe by Widmar, Stelzer, Matt Stephenson and Marty Stephenson.
In trackside ceremonies during the night, Don Sonner, John Beaver, George Lasoski and the Jordan Brothers (Rodney, Roger and Gary) were inducted into the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame.
|