Points Chase tightens at Knoxville with Herrera and Selvage Wins
Saturday, July 17, 2010
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 17)Johnny Herrera (410s)led flag to flag and Dustin Selvage (360s)did nearly the same to claim feature event wins at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. At the end of the night Brian Brown led Don Droud Jr. by one point in 410s while Selvage pulled into a tie with Clint Garner in 360s creating the closest points battle in the history of this storied race track.
Herrera, the defending track champion who has not raced here steadily this year, started the race on the pole of the twenty-car field. He immediately assumed control with Australian Max Dumesny following. The Albuquerque (NM) driver began pulling away from the field enabling fans to watch several tight races for position behind him. Though he entered lap traffic on the ninth circuit, he handled it well and was not impeded.
The only yellow of the event occurred just after the leaders had crossed the start finish line at the completion of lap ten. On the restart Herrera got a great start as Dumesny was caught looking. Brown, who was in third at the time, made a pass for second as he and Dumesny exited turn two.
Again Herrera took control of the race but Brown did not allow him to get away from him. Behind those two Dumesney first fell to Josh Schneiderman and then to Droud on lap thirteen. Mark Dobmeier was next to make the pass and one lap later Terry McCarl moved into sixth. That’s pretty much how those cars would finish although it must be said that each driver never had a sure grip on his position.
In the end Herrera placed the Woodward-owned sprinter in victory circle, his 16th such win at this half mile while he claimed $3,000 for his efforts. Brown, Schneiderman, Droud, Dobmeier, McCarl, Dumesny, Bronson Maeschen, Davey Heskin and Jonathan Cornell formed the top ten finishers.
The 360 division feature saw front row starters Danny Heskin and Dustin Selvage spar for the top spot throughout the early portions of the event. Lap seven was the key lap for Selvage as he got a good run exiting turn two to take the lead, a position he never relinquished in his Grimes-owned Eagle.
Following Selvage across the line was Heskin followed by Chad Meyer and Chad Humston, two drivers who battled for third in the latter portion of this 15-lap race. Right behind them came Garner and Joey Moughan for fifth and sixth respectively. Completing the top ten were R.J. Johnson, Johnny Anderson (who started 17th) and Bryan Dobish. It was Knoxville career win number six for Selvage.
In the companion 305 sprints, Steve Breazeale led flag to flag in taking his third such feature in this division. The real show however was that of Rager Phillips who started 18th and worked his way to second by the end of this 12-lap race. Trialing at the finish were Matt Stevenson, Chat Huston and Mike Van Haaften.
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