Zomer Takes Knoxville/IRA Challenge; Kearney is 360 Victor
Saturday, May 12, 2007
by Bob Wilson - Dusty Zomer captured his first career feature event win at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night during the 8th annual IRA (Interstate Racing Association) Challenge. The Sioux Falls (S. Dak.) driver received $3,000 for his efforts.
Zomer, who started on the pole was never challenged during the 20-lap feature event. At the drop of the green flag he slid to the top of the half-mile oval and rode the cushion to a quick lead. By lap six he had entered lap traffic but had put a full straightaway between himself and second running Scott Young. Though he was at times in heavy traffic he was able to put his self-owned Schnee/Wesmar about anywhere on the track and run hard.
At the half-way point his lead had soared to nearly a half lap over his nearest competitor. Young still trailed but he had his hands full with Lynton Jeffrey who had started tenth. The track was not quite a typical Knoxville surface as it had become dry-slick shortly into the qualifying heat events. What's more, no real bottom existed. For this feature event, the quickest way around was the high cushion which kept creeping ever closer to the high, white fences.
By lap 15, Zomer again faced heavy traffic. At a distance Jeffrey had taken second while Kaley Gharst, who had started sixteenth had come into third. Skip Jackson and Young secured the top five.
When it looked as if Zomer would be able to coast to victory, a yellow flag was displayed for Brian Brown whose sprinter had gone up in smoke and stopped on the front chute. The mammoth lead of Zomer would now fall to a single file restart.
On the restart, Zomer defended his turf while Gharst shot under Jeffrey to gain the runner-up spot. Zomer was not to be denied on this night as he grabbed the checkered flag by five car lengths ahead of Gharst. In victory lane Zomer heaped much praise on his chief mechanic Lenard McCarl.
Jeffrey remained third, Jackson fourth and Dustin Lindquist fifth. Completing the top ten were Calvin Landis, Young, Billy Alley, Ricky Logan and Randy Anderson. Fifty-one cars signed-in for the 410 division.
On the 360 side of the coin, John Kearney claimed career feature event number 21 at this historic central Iowa oval.
Pole sitter Matt Moro took the initial with Natalie Sather trailing. It was Josh Higday who was making the show interesting as he kept challenging Sather for her spot. At the end of four laps the red flag was waved for a two-car wreck in the fourth turn.
On the restart, Higday made a run at Sather and both cars came together in the process. Soon Sather began to go backward with a flat left-rear tire. Meanwhile, that same incident caused Higday to lose eight spots as he wound up jumping the cushion. Sather soon pulled into the pit area but Higday continued the chase.
With eight laps in the books, a yellow was displayed for a stopped car on the track. At this point Higday brought his injured sprint to the pits. It was found that the lower radius rod had jammed into the right front shock. With no time for repairs, the Higday machine pushed back off to rejoin the field. Both he and Sather finished way down the line at final tally.
When the race resumed, second running Kearney dove low and slid Moro in turn two. After that Kearney was able to pull away in his K&R Racing Maxim/Wesmar. Moro continued in second though he finished a near straightaway behind at the end. Ryan Roberts drove a steady race to finish third as did Rick Ideus in fourth. Greg Bakker, who started 12th , came across the stripe for fifth. Jesse Giannetto, Pete Crall, Jake Peters (from 20th), Brett Mather and David Hall completed the top ten finishers. Thirty-six cars competed in the 360 division.
For a complete rundown of results click on to the RESULTS portion of the yellow menu bar.
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