Brown, Garner and Breazeale are all 2010 Knoxville Track Champs
Saturday, September 4, 2010
by Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 4, delayed )Three out-of-state drivers became the 2010 Knoxville Raceway track champions during the 57th annual track championships at this historic fair grounds oval. Brian Brown (Missouri) claimed his second such title in the 410 division while Clint Garner (South Dakota) defended his crown in the 360 class. Steve Breazeale (Missouri) became the first titlist in the new 305 division.
Brown had his hands full in the 25-lap feature event as fellow front row starter Skip Jackson was determined to nail this final race of the season. Jackson shot to the top of the big, half-mile oval to take the lead at the outset. Behind him Brown and Bronson Maeschen settled in on a track that was "track record fast".
Two yellows slowed the event by lap ten as the order of running stayed the same with Johnny Herrera and Don Droud Jr. now in the mix. The ensuing restart saw Herrera overtake Maeschen as those two negotiated turns three-four with Ian Madsen in tow. At this point the top six drivers placed their machines on the high cushion as it was the quickest way around on this night. All but Jackson had expectations of another yellow flag.
That flag came for Josh Schneiderman who had stopped on the track on lap seventeen as the leaders roared past the start-finish line. Another caution flew after that attempted restart for Dusty Zomer who had come to a halt on the bottom in the fourth turn.
On the final restart, Brown was able to get by Jackson with a slider in turns three and four. Droud too, made a pass of Maeschen sending him further back. That's the way it would stay as Brown pulled away from the field to register a career milestone 10th feature event win here and a $3,500 check in his pocket. The above mentioned drivers finished in that order with Lynton Jeffrey also getting by the fading Maeschen machine.
Although Garner won the track title on this night, it was Jon Agan who would take the feature, his second in a row here. Extra laps in this ten-mile sprint saw four yellow flags slow the event .
At the outset, Nate Van Haaften registered a strong showing from his pole position start. The first yellow early in the race saw a matching yellow on the restart as two cars wrecked in separate incidents. Agan then overtook Van Haaften on the restart as the latter quickly began to fade and not become a factor in the finish. Garner also made a pass to give himself the runner-up spot.
With the race nearly half gone, a yellow was displayed for third running Josh Higday who stopped on the track after his engine began smoking fervently. He was done.
The halfway point saw Agan lead Garner, Russ Hall, Rager Phillips and Matt Moro back to the green as very little passing for position would take place to the end. With five to go, Agan began to pull away while Hall and Garner exchanged spots and then exchanged them again. Heavy lap traffic near the end saw Garner finish just five car lengths behind the winner. Hall, Moro and Chad Humston completed the top five finishers. In qualifying time trials, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, Nebraska set a new track record for one lap at 15.726.
The final 305 feature of the year saw young Tasker Phillips lead flag to flag in a race which saw only the checkered flag slow it to a halt. Phillips emerged as the winner after building a huge lead in the 12-lap affair. It was his fifth here.
Only a red flag on lap eleven bunched the cars again but Phillips was able to easily maintain his position and finish a full chute ahead of Jamie Ball at the line. Nick Ross, Steve Breazeale and Mark Widmar finished behind him. Tim St. Arnold, who had finished third, failed to report to the scales after the race was completed and was disqualified.
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