In the Groove
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
In The Groove
By Stacy Ervin
Though temperatures hovered in the 30s, making for a chilly night, the
racing action certainly heated up those brave souls who ventured to the
Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, April 23, for the season opener.
It was great to be back at the track again, hearing the roar of motors,
seeing the new paint jobs and smelling the methanol fumes. And it was
wonderful to again see all those who work so diligently to make a trip to
the Knoxville Raceway a stellar experience.
Over the winter, many people have been working hard to upgrade the official
Knoxville Raceway Website so that those who only dream of making a trip to
the Sprint Car Capitol of the World can keep up to date on the happenings.
The opening night provided the opportunity to try out the new technology and
though it made the pressbox a tad chaotic, everything seemed to run
smoothly. I know the fans are loving the instant access to results from the
track.
Next week the World of Outlaws will come to town to make the racing action
that much more chaotic. The Outlaws of course represent the best the sport
of sprint-car racing has to offer in terms of competition. However, I know I
am a tad biased, but I believe our boys here at Knoxville will be able to
show the travelers a thing or two and give them a run for their money.
Opening night surely produced some of the finest racing action we have seen
in recent years. With 34 410 sprinters and a whopping 52 360s in the
infield, the competition was fierce.
The night started off with the anticipation that a new one-lap track record
might come in time trials for the 410s. Don Droud Jr., who set the mark a
few years ago at 14.934, was the first car out and ran a 15.245. With the
crowd still buzzing, Calvin Landis came out next and cruised a 15.081. That
would be the mark that stuck for the night, with surprise visitor Randy
Hannagan slipping by Droud with a 15.232.
Heat-race action in both classes was fast and furious. In 360 action, DJ
Heskin and Dave Hall waged a torrid battle, with Hall getting the lead on
the last lap. In another 360 heat, former track champ Mike Chadd was chased
by former track champ Dave Hesmer the entire distance. On the last corner of
the last lap, Hesmer nearly got by and the two nearly touched wheels, but
Chadd held on for the win.
Chadd would go on to be chased in the A feature by another former track
champ, John Kearney. Kearney passed Chadd in the early going of the race and
held on for the 15 laps, but Chadd stayed with him, making for a good race.
For Kearney, it was his 18th career win at the track, which tied him for
second-place on the all-time winners¹ list with another Chadd, Dean.
The top two runners in the 360 B-Main made fairly impressive runs after
transferring to the feature. Larry Ball Jr., who won the B, finished eighth
in the A and John Schulz, who was second in the B, came home 10th in the A.
Hesmer suffered misfortune in the feature when polesitter Pete Crall spun
out, leaving Hesmer nowhere to go but into the side of Crall¹s machine.
Crall, who quickly began having trouble and falling back after the green
flag flew, flipped over.
A few laps later in that feature, Joe Beaver pinched Jake Peters into the
fence in turn four and Peters, last year¹s track champ, flipped hard. Crall
and Peters were the only drivers to get upside down on the night.
Aside from a backing into the fence by Rusty Egan in hot laps, the first
yellow flag of the night didn¹t fly until the second 410 heat race, when
Chad Meyer¹s hood came apart leaving debris on the track. A new rule
instituted this year says there are no penalties for debris lost off a
sprinter.
Meyer would also bounce back nicely from that misfortune, taking the last
transfer spot out of the B-Main and charging through the feature field for a
fifth-place finish. Matt Moro, who was lightning fast in winning the B, also
was impressive with a 10th-place finish in the A. Also, Jesse Giannetto, who
elected to start on the tail of the A because he was having motor problems,
came up through the field to finish ninth.
In the first 410 heat race, Seth Brahmer captured the somewhat surprising
win, holding off the likes of Moro, fast-qualifier Landis and soon-to-be
feature winner Wayne Johnson.
In the fourth heat race, former 360 track champ Brian Brown looked like he
was on a rail, flying into the lead from his third-row starting spot before
the first lap was through. He would go on to get third in the feature, just
behind Johnson and Skip Jackson.
Those three drivers put on the show at the front of the pack during the
feature. Jackson took off with the lead first before Brown put on a slide
job and the two raced side-by-side. Johnson entered the picture late in the
race and threaded a breathtaking needle on the backstretch between Jackson
and a lapped car to gain the lead. It was Johnson¹s third career win at the
track and he seems an odds-on favorite to gain a few more, and possibly a
championship, this year. Helping in that effort is his new crew chief, Jeff
Woodruff, an amazing wrench who was left jobless after Travis Cram¹s early
retirement at the end of last season. Johnson will certainly be aided as
well by the departure of five-time track champion Terry McCarl, who will
return home this weekend with the World of Outlaws.
With the traveling troupe in town for two nights, the racing is sure to be
hot. The only question now is what will the weather do. It is Iowa, after
all.
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