Remembering the 2006 Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals!
Monday, September 9, 2019
Shirley’s Spin and Win Provides Knoxville Upset!
by Lee Ackerman
If you are old enough you remember the 1985 Indianapolis 500 where Danny Sullivan spun, kept it going and won the biggest race on the planet. Well at the Third Annual Knoxville Late Models in 2006, Chatham, Illinois’ Brian Shirley did one better.
Just two laps into the $35,000 to win feature on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway, Shirley spun out in turn two and was sent to the back of the 31-car field. From that point on Shirley had his work cut out, but he was up to the task.
But there was another story going on as well and that was the early race domination by pole-sitter Darren Miller of Chadwick, Illinois. Miller got the lead at the start of the race and lap ten with inaugural Knoxville Late Model National winner and local favorite Brian Birkhofer (Birky) running second, Miller had a six-car length advantage. By lap 12 Miller and Birky were in lapped traffic and on lap 15 the two ran side-by-side for the first of several times.
Steve Shaver brought out the yellow on lap 18, but when the green came out again, Miller & Birky resumed their battle with Birky down low in one & two and Miller taking the bottom in turns three & four. Before the caution waved again on lap 28, Birky had managed to lead but a single lap.
When the race restarted the Miller-Birkhofer battle resumed with Miller up high and Birky down low until lap 33 when the yellow came out for Tim McCreadie. That turned into a red when officials decided there had been too many laps under yellow and allowed teams time to refuel.
As action resumed on the track, Miller moved to more of a middle of the track line with Birky hugging the bottom, with Miller leading and Birky challenging. As the race passed the halfway point lapped traffic came into play on lap 58 Miller jumped the cushion and Birky shot by to take over the point. The next lap saw Birky suddenly slow with smoke coming out. Birky went pit side returned to action but was never a factor again.
Four laps later the fourth running Josh Richards slapped the fence in turns one and two and went pit side. At this point in the race the top five were; Miller, Donnie Moran, Darrell Lanigan, Rick Eckert and that fellow that spun back at the start of the race, Brian Shirley.
Miller having led 64 of the races 70 laps led back to the green with Tony Stewart being the man on the move. By lap 80, Miller has put a big distance between himself and the rest of the field. Behind him Moran and Shirley were battling for second with Shirley taking the position on lap 85 with Moran, Eckert and Stewart following as the yellow waved again.
On lap 86, Shirley came flying low out of turn four and took the lead away from Miller. On lap 89, Miller bumped the cushion and seemed to be pulled into the fence, ending his chances to win. As race wound down Shirley stayed outfront to score a surprising win with Stewart passing Moran and taking second. Eckert and Lanigan rounded out the top five. Birkhofer was scored ninth and Miller 16th.
So, in what is perhaps the biggest surprise in Knoxville Late Model Nationals history, Brian Shirley nicknamed “the Squirrel” had answered the headlines of a regional race paper who had written “Who the heck is Brian Shirley.” Brian Shirley was the 2006 Knoxville Late Model Nationals Champion.
In preliminary action, defending Knoxville Late Model Nationals Champion Scott Bloomquist picked up where he left off by taking home the win in the Thursday night preliminaries.
Billy Moyer led the first two circuits but Bloomquist, who started in the second row dove low in turn four and was in front at the completion of the third lap. It was a lead that he never surrendered although he was challenged throughout the feature.
Moyer who set a new track record in qualifying (17.525 seconds) stayed in connect as did Shannon Babb, Billy Drake and Darrell Lanigan. Lanigan started moving up and was by Babb on lap ten with Jimmy Mars going the top five as Drake started to fade. A lap later, Lanigan took second just before the yellow came out for fourth running Babb.
On the restart, Bloomquist began to move around and experimenting with different lines on the track which basically had two grooves. Brian Birkhofer was up to fourth by lap 15 and was soon challenging Mars for third. By lap 18, the pair was joined in the battle by Steve Francis. Birkhofer was able to secure third just before the yellow came out for Tony Stewart who had a flat right rear tire.
On the following restart, Bloomquist once again had his hands full with Lanigan with Birkhofer joining the battle as well. The battle for second was anyone’s race as Lanigan and Birkhofer came across the line in a blanket finish. Birkhofer put a slide job on Lanigan in turns one and two and came away with the runner-up spot. Lanigan finished third, Mars fourth and Francis with Moyer fading to sixth.
Scott James, Brady Smith, Jimmy Mars, Josh Richards and Steve Francis took home heat wins with Kerry Hansen taking the C feature over Jackie Boggs and Brian Birkhofer besting Darren Miller to take the B feature allowing the Muscatine driver to start towards the tail end of the A and march to his second place finish.
Friday night’s preliminary feature turned out to be a see-saw battle between Darren “the Thriller” Miller and Steve Shaver. Polesitter Shaver took the lead at the drop of the green with Miller glued to his rear bumper and Rick Eckert not far behind. On lap five the first yellow waved for Justin Fegers.
On the restart, Shaver continued his advantage, meanwhile moving up from his fifth row starting position was Brian Birkhofer who cracked the top five by lap five and then moved into fourth on lap six and by lap ten was in third but battling hard to keep Rick Eckert at bay.
Up front Shaver was holding off Miller but never by more than three car lengths. Then on lap 14 the caution waved for Billy Moyer. On the restart Shaver held off Miller, but on the next lap it was Miller upfront as Shaver, Miller and Birkhofer waged a war. Then it was Shaver back to the point and each lap Miller at some point lead by Shaver’s high side momentum gave him the lead at the line.
By lap 19 Miller was outfront with Shaver and Birkhofer breathing down his neck. Then it was Shaver taking the lead at the line again, but then on lap 21 it was Miller to the lead again. It stayed that way to the end with Birkhofer grabbing second and making a run at Miller on the final lap but to no avail.
Miller took the win and the $6,000 first place money with Birkhofer grabbing his second runner-up finish in two nights. Shaver who set fast time with a new track record of 17.433 seconds finished third, Eckert held on for fourth with Thursday night winner Scott Bloomquist taking the fifth spot. Completing the top ten were Brady Smith, Darrell Lanigan, Donnie Moran, Steve Francis and Billy Drake.
Heat race wins went to Justin Fegers, Darren Miller, Chub Frank, Rick Eckert and Billy Drake. Tim McCreadie took the C feature with Scott James finishing second while Jeep Van Wormer held off Bart Hartman for the win in the B feature. 59 cars participated in the night two event.
|