Upper Midwest Ramblings from the Knoxville Opener
Monday, April 23, 2007
By Justin Zoch - And, we’re off… The 2007 Knoxville Raceway season opened with Chamber of Commerce weather, as long as potential visitors like a little breeze with their unseasonably warm afternoons, an impressive field of race cars (although the 410 count fell just a tick below most predictions at 29) and a 410 feature that will be tough for the traveling troupe of Outlaws to top this Saturday night. Brian Brown used a nifty three wide move in turn one to steal the lead from Ricky Logan (who had just go it) and Skip Jackson (who had it from the start) to take his seventh career win at the Marion County oval (which knots him with the likes of Jeff Mitrisin and Jay Woodside). Although this may be skewed slightly by an opening lap accident which shuffled the order (when Lynton Jeffrey shucked the gears of his racer) and a late incident when Bronson Maeschen never fired on the frontstretch, bending wings on Seth Brahmer, Clint Garner and Greg Jones, check out where the top six finishers started. 1. Brian Brown, 17th; 2. Ricky Logan, 10th; 3. Scott Winters, 19th; 4. Kaley Gharst, 16th; 5. Dennis Moore Jr. 15th and 6. Dustin Lindquist, 13th. This bodes well for the new season.
The 360 feature was decidedly less enthralling as Josh Higday drove Dwight Snodgrass’ new team to a nearly half-lap victory over fellow front row starter Jeff Mitrisin, who admitted he had nothing for Higday even if it was not a green-white-checkered affair. The win was Higday’s 13th career 360 win, just 52 shy of Dave Hesmer’s untouchable total…. As predicted, John Kearney couldn’t stay retired and goes into the ledgers as the first winner at Knoxville in 2007 by taking 360 heat one. He was fifth in the feature. Kearney promises he’s not chasing points but we’ll see if he maintains that stance if things continue going well… Congrats to Bryan Dobesh who finished fourth for the second consecutive event, dating back to last September’s 360 finale. Dobesh seems to have a natural knack for Knoxville and was quick right out of the box there… Jake Peters could not have even been 50 percent of his normal self when he gingerly strapped into his 57X, eyes still bloody and bulging from his spill at I-80 last Sunday. But, he still raced from 17th to seventh after a B-main tally. Most impressive was his eighth to first charge in the heat race, despite the fact he jumped, and was caught, to do it… Mitch Runge debuted his brand new Wolfweld and finished 19th at Knoxville, where he’ll race for the first month of the season. After that, Runge will be spending most of his Saturdays in Jackson, Minnesota, in the famous Woodke 1W Sprinter… Jackson will also add Chad Meyer to their Saturday night roster as he has paired with Spencer, Iowa’s Mike Sandvig for this season. Meyer related the team will run Jackson and most of the ASCS Northern Plains tour… Meyer’s former ride, the Lunstra Motorsports team plans to run for three track titles this year with Mark Dobmeier (Grand Forks, Knoxville and Huset’s). They were ninth this Saturday at Knoxville and they’ll run Wesmars and J&Js this year.
Mike Houseman Jr. was the lucky benefactor of the Lions Club generosity and received over 300 from the charitable club after his name was pulled in a drawing. No word on who received the 410 money. It was Lions Club night at the Raceway. Houseman is now in Mike Waddell’s Y2 that his father drove last year and his younger brother CJ is in the Houseman Y5. Saturday was CJ’s first race in a race car of any kind… Toni Lutar is going to run for the Knoxville 410 title this year and commute each week from his home in White Rock, British Columbia. Lutar has hooked up with veteran wrench Billy Kain, who will house and help with the race cars. Lutar was 11th on Saturday… Jack Dover had a lot to think about coming into Saturday night. It was his first night at Knoxville and his first night in a 410. His hopes were simply to make the A-main. He did that after getting extra seat time in the B-main and was 13th at the finish. Dover’s sister Trish will race next Friday at Knoxville when the 305 Sprints are the undercard for the WDRL Late Models. Trish, along with Nebraska’s Matthew Stelzer and Kansas’ Zach Clark, hot lapped on practice night on Friday… Jesse Gianetto was on hand on Friday night en route to Lake of the Ozarks Speedway to run the Smith 86 machine, although he was last in the heat and the feature, presumably due to mechanical failure. He’ll next race the Sprint Invaders show on Wednesday night at 34 Raceway’s makeup date for the Boles 4B team… Jonathan Cornell has hooked up with Chase Shaw this year and showed proof of his potential with a smooth start in his first ever 360 event after two years of 305 domination. Cornell missed the A-main, however. Ryan Roberts was similarly impressive and got the final transfer spot to the A-main in his debut… Even before he was caught up in the late smashup, Clint Garner had a disappointing evening. Still awaiting delivery of his best 410 engine, Garner contemplated running in the 360 but decided to run the 410s for point considerations.
Most Impressive: Josh Higday’s crushing of the 360 field. Higday has always been fast but this could be the year that everything comes together for him. Could Peters’ run of titles be in jeopardy.
Most Disappointing: Billy Alley and the 55 team who were beset by constant mechanical gremlins from the beginning of Friday night’s practice through the end of Saturday night, which ended while leading the B-main. Not a good start to the youngster title’s defense.
Best Moment: Watching Robert Bell run the cushion cleanly and earn the final transfer spot in the A-main. Bell got a nice ovation from the crowd, started the A-main, pulled in early and happily collected a very nice payday.
Worst Moment: Matt Moro’s grinding crash in the 360 B-main after Larry Pinegar checked up to miss a slowing Pete Crall and right rear met left front. Moro flipped from before the flagstand through turn one but climbed out uninjured. NASCAR’s Boris Said was in the stands after a day at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, and was front row behind the flagstand for the carnage. Shortly after, Said’s entourage moved up about 10 rows!
Most Important Thing: Scott Winters’ run from 19th to 3rd in his first A-main in a 410 Sprint Car at Knoxville. The 410 ranks at Knoxville need a fresh-faced, exciting young star and Winters could be it. Most importantly, however, City Wide Insulation head honcho Lon Carnahan was on hand watching his ‘B-team’ car rip through the field. That could be good news for a team with only one 410 engine.
Next week will find me returning to Knoxville for two days, including the WDRL Late Models and 305s on Friday and the World of Outlaws and the 360s on Saturday. In the meantime, keep me in the know at jzoch@threewidemedia.com.
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