Kevin Fee endures annual Fall Enduro to win at Knoxville
Saturday, September 8, 2007
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 8) Kevin Fee of Knoxville won the annual Fall Enduro 200 at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. He was paid $1,000 for his efforts.
For the first time in the history of the Knoxville enduros, the event went the distance of 200 laps and was just shy of the two-hour time limit. A total of 64 cars competed in the race, but attrition was high.
Early leader Tony Shilling (Knoxville) lost that position to Mike Goff (Lacona) when mechanical problems forced him to go to the pit area in rapid succession. Goff, who started 50th, was then in solid command by lap 50 and took command of the track and began to lap most of the field.
Goff’s lead began to unravel just after the 100-laps mark when he struck a slower moving car and his right-front tire went flat. By lap 115 a new leader was being shown by the scorers with Ryan Humphrey of Oskaloosa taking the point. This development saw a very tight race with Humphrey, Goff and Fee all on the same lap.
By lap 145, Goff’s chances for a win began to fade as smoke began pouring from the right-rear fender well. Though he was still at speed he began blowing tires on that side of his enduro car forcing him to the pits on numerous occasions and causing him to fall behind. At this point of the race, attrition had narrowed the field to few more than 15 cars.
By lap 165, the gathered audience knew they had a race on their hands between Humphrey and Fee. Slowly but surely Fee began to reel-in Humphrey on the big half-mile oval until he finally took the top spot on lap 191. Several times the lead was exchanged by those two drivers putting the outcome up in the air. Finally on lap 197 Fee took the lead for good in his 1974 Monte Carlo but Humphrey was still in pursuit. When the checkered flag flew at the 100-mile mark, Fee claimed the win by less than half a car length in a very exciting finish.
Knoxville Fall Enduro 200 Results
1. (52) Kevin Fee, Knoxville, 200 laps; 2. (2) Ryan Humphrey, Oskaloosa, 200 laps; 3. (5m) Mike Goff, Lacona, 176 laps; 4. (1) Blake Miller, Des Moines, 176 laps; 5. (OWI) Mike McGill, Knoxville, 173 laps; 6. (34D) Terry Darnell, Otley, 164 laps; 7. (74) Josh Emerich, Knoxville, 160 laps; 8. (218) Robb Akers, Walnut, 156 laps; 9. (13H) Troy Husted, Knoxville, 150 laps; 10. (109) Tim Wiley, Carlisle, 148 laps; 11. (55) Brian Clarke, Knoxville, 142 laps; 12. (271) Matt Sanderson, Knoxville, 136 laps; 13. (4) Brennan Ford, Milo, 135 laps; 14. (99) Kyle Stull, Altoona, 133 laps; 15. (954) Shane Lohoff, Walnut, 118 laps; 16. (126) Stacey Alexander, Pleasantville, 111 laps; 17. (114) Randy DeGoey, Knoxville, 108 laps; 18. (69) Chad DeJong, Knoxville, 106 laps; 19. (B4) Jacob Sutter, Pleasantville, 98 laps; 20 (10) Mike Graves, Melcher-Dallas, 92 laps.
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