In the Groove, Part Two
Monday, August 8, 2005
The race on Saturday, August 6, brought a very large and enthusiastic crowd to the speedway and they saw some great action in both the 360 and 410 divisions.
Action in the 360 division saw Jon Eldreth get sideways and flip in his heat race. In the feature, Josh Higday touched Maeschen on the backstretch on the start, turned sideways and collected Joe Beaver, Rick Ideus, Chris Morgan, Mulheim and Pete Crall.
The race was between Knoxville regular Johnny Anderson and former track champion Randy Martin, who now races with the Winged Outlaw Warriors series. Just as they came to lapped traffic with six laps down, the yellow came out for Dustin Selvage, who looped in turn four. With nine laps down, Martin used the high groove to get the lead from Anderson.
Just as the pair was heading to the checkereds, Selvage spun again right in front of them and just as Anderson was passing Martin back for the top spot. With a green-white-checkered restart setting up, Martin reinherited the lead and kept it to get his first win at Knoxville since the 2001 season.
The 410 division saw several "extra" cars joining the regular group since the World of Outlaws did not have a scheduled show and other "invaders" wanted a tune-up just before Nationals too.
One Outlaw suffered some bad luck in the first heat race. The yellow had come out for debris on the track, but Jason Meyers and John Lambertz got together in turn two, became hooked together and rode the fence. In another heat race, Danny Lasoski was sent to the tail after flagman Doug Clark determined he had jumped the start.
In the C-Main, one of two female competitors on the night, Natalie Sather, got sideways and collected Tyler Houseman, who flipped.
The heat-race infraction did not seem to affect Lasoski, as his combined finish points and passing points set him up on the pole of the main event. When the green dropped, he led the other competitors through traffic until 12 laps went by and Jonathan Allard spun in turn two to bring out a yellow.
On the restart, Lasoski still led, while Sammy and Kevin Swindell battled a couple of spots behind. Son tried to pass Dad but got a wheel instead and fell back a few spots. The kid showed his prowess though by not spinning out and by trying to mount a charge back through the field.
The yellow came out on the white flag lap when Allard spun again in turn two and backed into the wall. That made for yet another green-white-checkered restart, which saw Lasoski continue his dominance and get the win.
Sunday night brought the seventh running of the Brodix Tournament of Champions and saw Garry Lee Maier hold off a strong field of 360 cars and drivers to get the win.
Luck was not on Dustin Daggett’s side in the fifth heat race, as he was leading but got over the tire of a lapped car in turn two and flipped violently near the back gate.
The feature event was slated for 30 laps, but was cut to 20 when track officials became worried about track conditions and tires holding up. There was a crash on the original start when Mitchell Alexander spun and collected several other cars, including Chuck Swenson, Tony Bruce Jr., Jarod Smith, Brett Milburn and Glen Styres.
On the next attempt at a start, Bronson Maeschen flipped in turn four. When the race got going, Maier charged Joe Beaver and wrestled away the lead on lap six. It was almost smooth sailing from there for Maier, who built a healthy lead until the caution came out on the white-flag lap. John Kearney had gotten hard into the wall on the backstretch and that set up another green-white-checkered finish. Despite a brief challenge by Johnny Anderson, Maier held on for the win.
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