Kraig Kinser Wins 45th Knoxville Nationals
Monday, August 15, 2005
By Stacy Ervin
Kraig Kinser of Bloomington, Indiana, followed in his father's footsteps by winning his first Knoxville Nationals championship in the 45th annual running of the event. His dad, Steve Kinser, who finished seventh in the 30-lap main event, has won 12 Nationals. The win meant that the Kinsers were the first father-son team to win Nationals championships.
This year's version of the Nationals was plagued by rain, resulting in the Saturday finale being contested on Sunday night, August 14. The Wednesday night qualifying show went off without a hitch, but Thursday's show was washed out near the middle and finally run on Friday night. That pushed Friday's show off to Saturday afternoon. However, a steady rain most of Saturday washed out both the Friday show and the Saturday night finale. From there, the Friday show ran on a beautiful cool and sunny Sunday afternoon, and the Saturday finale was Sunday night.
Earlier in the day on Sunday, Kraig Kinser put himself on the pole of the championship feature by amassing the most points in qualifying events. When the race went green, the 20-year-old pulled out to the lead and held it through all 30 laps to earn the $140,000 payday. Donny Schatz of Fargo, North Dakota, earned $70,000 for his third second-place finish in the last five years. Danny Lasoski of Dover, Missouri, who had won the previous two Nationals, finished third and garnered $35,000 in front of his car owner, Tony Stewart, who flew in after winning the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen, New York, earlier in the day.
The first to fall from the 30-lap main event was Joey Saldana, who dropped out on the third lap with broken rear-end gears. Kraig Kinser came to lapped traffic on the 10th circuit and Schatz began to close in heavy lapped traffic. At one point, as Kinser was negotiating traffic, he and Jac Haudenschild nearly made contact.
The race's first caution flag was shown on the 18th lap when Brooke Tatnell suffered a flat right-rear tire and damage to his Jacobs ladder and top wing after running sixth. On the restart, the lapped car of Haudenschild was between Kinser and Schatz, with another lapped car separating third-place runner Lasoski from Schatz. Kinser took off on the restart, but on the 23rd lap, the second caution came out when Terry McCarl stopped in turn four.
On that restart, there were no lapped cars in between the top three runners. Lasoski gave Schatz a torrid battle for second spot and that allowed Kinser to pull away for his first Nationals win.
He was an excited winner, scaling the inside fence near victory lane and climbing to the top of the frontstretch fence. However, before he could make the climb, he met his dad on the front straightaway and the two shared an emotional hug. As the young Kinser was clearing the scales, Steve Kinser was taking a victory lap around the speedway, pumping his fist into the air in triumph. Also celebrating in victory lane was Bob Kinser, Kraig's grandfather, who was a good racer in his own right.
Mount Vernon, Washington, pilot Jason Solwold started on the pole of the B-Main and led all 22 laps to transfer into the A-Main. The win was particularly good for Solwold, who was celebrating his 30th birthday on this day. The three others making the show were: Daryn Pittman of Owasso, Oklahoma; Tim Shaffer of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania; and Haudenschild of Wooster, Ohio. Haudenschild, who is known as "the Wild Child," came from the 15th starting spot and battled his teammate Tim Kaeding for the final transfer spot during the green-white-checkered finish of the race, much to the delight of the crowd. The first half of the B-Main was plagued by yellow flags. The first came out on the third lap when Ricky Logan jumped the cushion in turn four and smacked the fence. Although he was OK, it took a bit to get him out of his machine after a mud clod pinned his leg in the cockpit. The next yellow came out on the fourth lap when Jason Johnson was slowed by a flat left-rear tire. The next yellow came out on the fifth lap when Greg Hodnett stopped on the backstretch. The next yellow came out on the sixth lap when Clint Garner slowed in turn four. From there, the race stayed green until the last lap when Ed Lynch Jr. grenaded a motor and brought the final caution.
Garner of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, led all 15 laps of the C-Main and transferred on to the B along with second-place finisher Lynch of Apollo, Pennsylvania. Garner, who started outside the front row, set a new track record for 15 laps in that race, circling the speedway in 4:09.7.
Danville, Indiana, veteran driver Danny Smith led all 12 laps of the D-Main, surviving a few caution periods and coming off the pole starting spot. The first yellow flag came out on the sixth lap when Chad Meyer, who was running in the second and final transfer spot at the time, suffered a broken torsion stop. On the eighth lap, the yellow returned when Dusty Zomer blew a right-rear tire in turn two. It was later discovered that he also had problems with a nerf bar being wrapped around the axle. Also at that time, Seth Brahmer stopped his car in turn four after having made contact with TJ Stutts the previous lap and getting out of shape down the backstretch. And Luke Cranston's car was smoking badly as he pulled in at that same time. Just as Smith was coming to the checkered flag, the yellow returned when Greg Jones and Dave Enders got together in turn four and the contact sent Enders turning sideways into the inside fence on the frontstretch. Finishing second to transfer to the C-Main with Smith was Mike Kertscher of Fredonia, Wisconsin.
Jones of Earlham, Iowa, led all 10 laps of the E-Main in a race that went green to checkered. Tyler Houseman of Runnells, Iowa, was second to take the other transfer to the D-Main. The pair started on the front row of the event with Jones on the pole and Houseman outside.
Australia's Tatnell took home a double honor by winning the awards for best appearing car and best appearing crew. Geoff Dodge of Colorado Springs, Colorado, clinched the Fast Track to Indy Rookie of the Nationals Award. Kaley Gharst, 17, of Decatur, Illinois, was the actual Rookie of the Nationals, however because he is not yet 18 years of age, he was not eligible for the Fast Track to Indy Award. Dodge finished 14th in the C-Main, while Gharst was 18th in the B-Main.
410 RESULTS
A Feature , 30 laps, No Time: 1. Kraig Kinser, Bloomington IN; 2. Donny Schatz, Fargo ND; 3. Danny Lasoski, Dover MO; 4. Shane Stewart, Bixby OK; 5. Chad Kemenah, Findlay OH; 6. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 7. Steve Kinser, Bloomington IN; 8. Brian Paulus, Mechanicsburg PA; 9. Daryn Pittman, Owasso OK; 10. Craig Dollansky, Elk River MN; 11. Brooke Tatnell, San Souci, NSW, Aust. ; 12. Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa PA; 13. Lance Dewease, Fayetteville PA; 14. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA; 15. Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon WA; 16. Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro IN; 17. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 18. Terry McCarl, Altoona IA; 19. Jeremy Campbell, Monroe MI; 20. Jac Haudenschild, Wooster OH; 21. Wayne Johnson, Norman OK; 22. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 23. Stevie Smith, Broken Arrow OK; 24. Joey Saldana, Brownsburg IN. Lap Leaders: K.Kinser 1-30
For Complete Results, click on the "Results" tab at the top of the page.
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