Knoxville Raceway report 2001-07-28

KNOXVILLE, IA - History was made by Don Droud, Jr. Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway in the All Star sprint, NCRA, IRA 1200# Knoxville Nationals 30-lap feature. Kenny Jacobs was the apparent race winner but he ran out of fuel after crossing the finish line with Droud Jr. edging Danny Smith by a bumper at the checkered behind him. However, Jacobs came up 7 pounds underweight at the scales, handing the $12,000 win to Droud, who replaced his front end after a crash on the first lap of the main. Kerry Madsen was the late race leader but ran out of fuel with five laps to go, putting Jacobs on top until after the race.

After top point man Droud drew a four pill to invert the first four rows for the start, Ed Lynch, Jr. started on the ButlerBuilt Hot Seat pole with IRA driver Scott Nietzel alongside. Into turn one after the green fell, Droud got sideways and Terry McCarl jumped his tire and flipped. Manny Rockhold also flipped and Droud went to the pits for front end repairs. All three drivers were able to restart on the tail. On the restart, Randy Anderson hit the turn three wall and then Larry Ball Jr. flipped. Lynch grabbed the lead when the green finally flew, but third starting Kenny Jacobs took over the top spot with a slide job on lap two. Fifth starting Madsen was second on lap five and began challenging Jacobs for the lead a lap later. Madsen tried several moves, both high and low, for the next three laps. Madsen dove low in turns one and two to grab the lead on lap 12 over Jacobs and Skip Jackson. Madsen pulled away on the restart before another caution at the halfway mark for Lynch stopping on the speedway. Lynch went to the pits, and was able to continue.

Madsen led again on the restart and held a 1.1 second lead when he entered lapped traffic on lap 21. But disaster struck Madsen's R&G Motorsports No. 82 when he ran out of fuel on lap 25. Jacobs was on top for the restart over Jackson and Dennis Moore, Jr. Moore passed Jackson and then slid under Jacobs to take the lead on lap 27. Calvin Landis brought out a caution on lap 28 when he slowed, out of fuel. Jackson and Moore also dropped out at this point with dry tanks. Jacobs rode home to the checkered unchallenged the final two laps, with Droud nipping Danny Smith at the finish line by .03 seconds in what proved to be the race winning move when Jacobs came up light at the scales. This made Smith officially second after starting 22nd, followed by Terry McCarl, Chad Kemenah and Dean Jacobs.

Jason Johnson led the B Main from the start in Jack Elden's No. 22. The race was red flagged on lap 11 when Colin Northway collided with Ryan Flynn and flipped. Northway was walking across the track after the accident and stepped in front of a car being pushed to the work area, getting his leg run over. He was transported to Knoxville hospital with a broken ankle. Johnson lost the lead to Danny Smith on the restart, and shredded a left rear tire on lap 16 while running third. Randy Anderson took over after that restart and went on to win over Smith, Calvin Landis and Wayne Johnson.

John Van Den Berg won the Georgia Marketing & Promotions C Main, leading wire to wire over Travis Whitney and Peter Murphy, up from 11th starting spot. In the 12 lap D Main, Brent Antill took a hard flip down the front stretch on the first start, but emerged uninjured. Donnie Goeden took the initial lead after Bill McCroskey was sent to the tail for jumping the next start. Goeden led all six miles as Brooke Tatnell came from 16th starting spot to finish second. In the 10 lap E main, Terry Chesak led the first seven circuits until Tatnell moved by for the win over Gary Wright who started seventh, Antill and Chesak.

In the 15 lap 360 sprint feature, Tony Norem won over Jesse Giannetto, John Kearney, Randy Martin and Matt Moro. A total of 86 410 sprints and 38 360s competed during the evening.

E Main (10 laps): 1. Brooke Tatnell 2. Gary Wright 3. Brent Antill 4. Terry Chesak 5. Steve Meyer 6. Jamie Moyle 7. Scott Beritzer 8. Ryan Irwin 9. Curt Grant 10. Travis Tennyson 11. Ty Bartz 12. Tim St. Arnold (DNS).

D Main (12 laps): 1. Donnie Goeden 2. Brooke Tatnell 3. Clint Gardner 4. Gary Wright 5. Jim Skinner 6. Jamie Moyle 7. Clyde Nagle 8. Howie Gleason 9. Wayne Modjeski 10. Matt Saint 11. Bill McCroskey 12. Jon Agan 13. Dave Enders 14. Kerry Jones 15. Earnest Jennings 16. Fred Ebler 17. Jason Johnson (WI) 18. John Sauermilch 19. Barry Ruble 20. Darrell Dodd 21. Robert Bell 22. Brent Antill.

Georgia Marketing & Promotions C Main (15 laps): 1. John Van Den Berg 2. Travis Whitney 3. Peter Murphy 4. Zach Chappell 5. John Sernett 6. Steve Gennetten 7. Matt Wasmund 8. Larry Pinegar 9. Brooke Tatnell 10. Rich Bubak 11. Tim Monson 12. Greg Wilson 13. Donny Goeden 14. Jim Melis 15. Bill Warren 16. John Haeni 17. Joe Bustillos 18. Dave Uttech 19. Kevin Whitworth 20. Leonard Lee 21. Dave Westercamp 22. Matt Moro (DNS).

B Main (20 laps): 1. Randy Anderson 2. Danny Smith 3. Calvin Landis 4. Wayne Johnson 5. Jerrod Hull 6. Travis Rilat 7. Derek Beckman 8. Rodney Duncan 9. Peter Murphy 10. John Van Den Berg 11. Justin Henderson 12. Kim Mock 13. John Lambertz 14. Todd Hepfner 15. Jason Johnson (LA) 16. Sean Walden 17. Jesse Giannetto 18. Travis Whitney 19. Ryan Flynn 20. Colin Northway 21. Shane Hunter 22. Chad Meyer.

A Main (30 laps): 1. Don Droud Jr. 2. Danny Smith 3. Terry McCarl 4. Chad Kemenah 5. Dean Jacobs 6. Manny Rockhold 7. Darren Stewart 8. Mark Towes 9. Ricky Logan 10. Kasey Kahne 11. Joe Roe 12. Ed Lynch Jr. 13. Larry Ball Jr. 14. Scott Nietzel 15. Skip Jackson 16. Dennis Moore Jr. 17. Brian Ellenberger 18. Calvin Landis 19. Jeff Mitrisin 20. Kerry Madsen 21. Mike Wagner 22. Wayne Johnson 23. Randy Anderson. 24. Kenny Jacobs - DQ - underweight.

All Star Sprint Points: 1. Chad Kemenah 2129; 2. Kenny Jacobs 2030; 3. Danny Smith 2007; 4. Dean Jacobs 2000; 5. Jason Johnson 1969; 6. Greg Wilson 1963; 7. Travis Rilat 1940; 8. Rodney Duncan 1881; 9. Jerrod Hull 1843; 10. Mike Wagner 1670.

-www.allstarsprint.com-