Brown Grabs Knoxville Season Finale; Alley Takes Championship
Sunday, October 8, 2006
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa - (October 7) It took over a month to settle the issue, but Billy Alley of Lincoln, Nebraska was crowned the 2006 points champion at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. The long wait was brought about by a rain postponement on September 2 of the 410 feature event of that night and was then run in conjunction with a World of Outlaws program which was also rained out and rescheduled on this same October night.
Nothing is simple on a night when the full moon is shining upon it. That being said, Alley came into the make-up race with only a 45 points advantage over Brian Brown. With a hefty check at the annual raceway banquet and the prestige of being Knoxville Raceway track champion, both men had a chance of winning it all.
Pole sitter Dusty Zomer took the early advantage and Brown settled in right behind him. With a track which had become hard and dry early, most of the front runners headed to the top for the fastest way around this big half mile oval. At lap five Zomer led Brown by five car lengths as Alley languished in the sixth spot.
One lap later the leaders hit lap traffic and it was really just a matter of when that would impede Zomer enough for Brown to challenge him. Heavy lap traffic on the eighth go around saw Brown with his chance but he did not make good on it till lap ten when he pulled a slider in turns one and two and took the lead as he shot down the backstretch.
Lap eleven saw the red flag fly for a violent crash on the backstretch as Dennis Moore, Jr. and Brent Antill tagged each other. The contact sent Antill flying through a series of wild flips as he finally came to a rest at the entrance of turn three. Both cars retired from the race placing Alley in the fifth spot for the restart.
When the race was flagged green, Alley made a bid on fourth running Lynton Jeffrey but came up empty handed as Jeffrey fended off his moves. Three laps later the red was displayed for second running Zomer who flipped hard at the entrance of turn two. Neither Zomer nor Antill required medical assistance.
The lap 14 restart saw Alley running in fourth, just one spot shy of where he needed to be in order to capture the points title. He jousted with Jeffrey but could make no headway for a pass.
It wasn't until lap 19 that the deciding factor in the race happened. That is when third running Jeffrey popped a right-rear tire and coasted to a halt in turn four. This incident allowed Alley to move to third, a spot which would give him the points he would need in order to capture the track title.
On the restart, Brown began to pull away from second running Calvin Landis. Lap after lap Brown did what he needed to do to insure himself of the best points finish possible. With Alley running third, there was nothing more he could do.
The moonlit night had created some surreal situations in this race and one more was about to happen. Lap 22 saw smoke beginning to flow from the Alley machine. Was this a sign of a terminal problem with the Alley power plant? There were only three laps to go and both Brown and Alley were on missions to the end.
Although the smoke did become greater, Alley managed to keep his sprinter together and to get it across the finish line in third place and a five points advantage in the season's points race. The big check for the night belonged to Brown in the Doogs Racing Maxim, as he became $4,000 richer but certainly found disappointment in the outcome. It had boiled down to the closest points finish in the history of Knoxville Raceway.
Though most eyes were on Brown and Alley, Landis had a great run and finished in the runner-up position. Fourth went to Randy Anderson and Kaley Gharst took fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Matt Moro, Bronson Maeschen, Chris Walraven, Mike More and Clint Garner.
A non-points slate of events was also held for the 360 sprint division. Capturing the feature was Jeff Mitrisin who led flag to flag in doing so. It was the second of the season for Mitrisin in the Steve Wares-owned sprinter. Randy Martin, Jon Corbin, Tony Bruce, Jr. and Rager Phillips completed the top five finishers.
410 RESULTS
A Feature, 25 laps, No Time: 1. Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO; 2. Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA; 3. Billy Alley, Lincoln, NE; 4. Randy Anderson, Clarion, IA; 5. Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL; 6. Matt Moro, Des Moines, IA; 7. Bronson Maeschen, Knoxville, IA; 8. Chris Walraven, Knoxville, IA; 9. Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA; 10. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD; 11. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, AUST/Prairie City, IA; 12. Skip Jackson, Knoxville, IA; 13. Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD; 14. Dennis Moore, Jr., Grinnell, IA; 15. Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA; 16. Brent Antill, Ankeny, IA; 17. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines, IA; 18. Jake Peters, Sioux Falls, SD. Lap Leaders: Zomer 1-9; Brown 10-25
360 RESULTS
Heat 1, 7 laps, 1:57.2: 1. Stacey Alexander, Lacona IA; 2. Rager Phillips, Pleasantville IA; 3. Adam Mason, Indianapolis IN; 4. Rick Ideus, (R) Silver City IA; 5. Jay Jordan, Lincoln NE; 6. Danny Heskin, (R) St. Michael MN; 7. Jay Russell, Elwood KS; 8. Russ Hall, Des Moines IA;
Heat 2, 7 laps, No Time: 1. Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal KS; 2. Jeff Mitrisin, Oskaloosa IA; 3. Randy Martin, California MO; 4. Tyler Thompson, (R) Des Moines IA; 5. Nate Van Haaften, Otley IA; 6. Frankie Heimbaugh, Des Moines IA; 7. Mike Trent, Rocheport MO; 8. Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines IA;
Heat 3, 7 laps, 2:00.1: 1. Jon Corbin, (R) Carrollton MO; 2. John Schulz, West Burlington IA; 3. Dustin Selvage, Indianola IA; 4. Joe Riedel, Harrisburg SD; 5. Brett Mather, Ames IA; 6. Mark Pace, Lincoln NE; 7. Mitch Runge, Sioux Falls SD; 8. Tyler Thompson, Cape Girardeau MO;
Heat 4, 7 laps, 1:59.5: 1. Josh Higday, Des Moines IA; 2. Alan Zoutte, Knoxville IA; 3. Josh Schneiderman, (R) West Burlington IA; 4. David Hall, Des Moines IA; 5. Joe Beaver, Knoxville IA; 6. Marty Stephenson, Des Moines IA; 7. Johnny Anderson, Indianola IA;
B Feature , 10 laps, 2:16.2: 1. Joe Beaver, Knoxville IA; 2. Joe Riedel, Harrisburg SD; 3. Mark Pace, Lincoln NE; 4. Mike Trent, Rocheport MO; 5. Frankie Heimbaugh, Des Moines IA; 6. Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines IA; 7. Jay Jordan, Lincoln NE; 8. Mitch Runge, Sioux Falls SD; 9. Jay Russell, Elwood KS; 10. Danny Heskin, (R) St. Michael MN; 11. Tyler Thompson, Cape Girardeau MO; 12. Marty Stephenson, Des Moines IA; 13. Russ Hall, Des Moines IA; 14. Nate Van Haaften, Otley IA; 15. Johnny Anderson, Indianola IA;
A Feature , 15 laps, No Time: 1. Jeff Mitrisin, Oskaloosa IA; 2. Randy Martin, California MO; 3. Jon Corbin, (R) Carrollton MO; 4. Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal KS; 5. Rager Phillips, Pleasantville IA; 6. Josh Higday, Des Moines IA; 7. Stacey Alexander, Lacona IA; 8. John Schulz, West Burlington IA; 9. David Hall, Des Moines IA; 10. Tyler Thompson, (R) Des Moines IA; 11. Brett Mather, Ames IA; 12. Rick Ideus, (R) Silver City IA; 13. Joe Beaver, Knoxville IA; 14. Josh Schneiderman, (R) West Burlington IA; 15. Mark Pace, Lincoln NE; 16. Dustin Selvage, Indianola IA; 17. Joe Riedel, Harrisburg SD; 18. Adam Mason, Indianapolis IN; 19. Alan Zoutte, Knoxville IA; 20. Mike Trent, Rocheport MO. Lap Leaders: Mitrisin 1-15
|