Dobmeier and Kearney close out Knoxville sprint season with wins
Saturday, August 30, 2008
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 30) Mark Dobmeier and John Kearney captured feature event wins at Knoxville Raceway as this storied track closed its 55th season of weekly racing. Crowned track champions were Danny Lasoski, 410s (his 9th) and Matt Moro (his first) in the 360 division.
Pole sitter Dobmeier led the 25-lap feature event from flag to flag with several slowdowns and stoppages added for interest. He was chased for most of the race by Billy Alley who started in the row behind him.
By lap five Dobmeier had cruised to a 25 car-length advantage over Alley and at his rate of progression was just about to hit lap traffic. The top three, Dobmeier, Alley and Davey Heskin were all in the hunt for the win as Dusty Zomer and Danny Lasoski had drifted backward.
As Dobmeier worked his way through the backmarkers, Alley began to make some progress in reeling the North Dakota pilot back in to his sights. In fact, lap 15 saw Alley chase Dobmeier by two car lengths at the flag stand. One lap later everything came to a halt as the red flag was thrown for third running Heskin who had struck the fence between turns one and two. He would be scored 22nd at the finish.
When the race resumed, Dobmeier again pulled away from Alley as he placed his sprinter on the high cushion and roared around the big half-mile oval. While he, Alley, Zomer, Lasoski and Don Droud, Jr were all running the topside, a spirited battle ensued between Bronson Maeschen and Dion Hindi for the sixth spot.
While it looked as though it would finish in that order, the final slow-down of the race occurred on lap twenty-two when second running Alley exploded a left-rear tire sending him into the turn one fence. Trying to avoid the slowing and stopped traffic, Justin Henderson performed a slow rollover on the turn one berm. Neither he nor Alley nor Ricky Logan who pulled his sprint to his pits, restarted.
On the restart, Dobmeier again put distance between himself and Lasoski, who had taken the runner-up spot in turns one and two when the race resumed. At the checkered flags, Dobmeier had gained his third win of the Knoxville season and was $4,000 richer for his efforts. Lasoski claimed $3,000 and second as Zomer, Droud and Hindi formed the top five finishers. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Maeschen, Brown, Brooke Tatnell, Justin Zimmerman (from 18th) and Kaley Gharst (from 17th).
The 360 feature was a wild affair in which a lot of machinery rode the wrecker's hook back to the pit area. Only eleven cars were running at the end.
Dennis Moore, Jr. led the two initial laps before Clint Garner passed him as they came out of turn four on the third circuit. Lap six saw the first of the stoppages as fourth running Gregg Bakker smacked the turn one fence. Bakker had been in the running for the track title in the 360 division but this incident dropped him to a probable fourth place finish as he was scored 19th in the final tally. Josh Higday grabbed the top spot on the restart from Garner
Only one more lap was completed when a 3-car melee erupted just prior to the flag stand, ripping apart the cars of Larry Pinegar II, Tasker Phillips and David Hall. The Pinegar car looked the "worst for the wear" as Pinegar slowly climbed out of the shattered sprinter. All three drivers walked away from the incident.
With one more lap in the books, Jon Agan flipped in turn two after getting sideways. Also involved was Russ Hall.
At the ten-lap mark, Higday could claim a 10 car-length advantage over Garner. Higday found the bottom to his liking as Garner claimed the cushion. By lap 16 something looked amiss with the Higday sprinter as Garner suddenly caught the defending track champion. One lap later Garner had taken the lead only to go up in smoke on the next go around.
On the final restart, John Kearney made a quick pass of Higday as did runner-up Jesse Giannetto. And that is how it would end with Kearney taking his 23rd Knoxville feature event and a $1,500 paycheck. Giannetto was second, Higday held for third, Moore took fourth and Joe Beaver, who started 19th was fifth. Completing the top ten were Brett Mather, Jeff Mitrisin, Matt Moro (started 20th), Russ Hall and Natalie Sather who started dead last after a stoppage when the race went green at the start.
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