Kaeding is Crowned Knoxville Midget Nationals Champion
By Bob Wilson

KNOXVILLE, Ia   (May 4, 2006) - Although it was nearly twenty-four hours late, Bud Kaeding of Campbell, California captured the Fifth annual United States Auto Club (USAC) Knoxville Midget Nationals. He was paid $3,350 for his win.

Kaeding's victory came about on a rare Sunday evening show at the Marion County fairgrounds because of a drenching rainstorm 24 hours previously. That forced track and USAC officials to postpone the final events till Sunday.

The near-daylight show saw track conditions deteriorate quickly as the usually wet Knoxville surface did not hold up. However, drivers managed to find various grooves around the big half-mile with the low line being most popular.

The beginning of the 25-lap championship event saw Brad Kuhn drive to the front from his front row starting position. He found a line on the bottom of turns one and two while three and four saw him take to the cushion. Following him was Bryan Clauson who made a race of it by running the bottom all the way around. By lap five Kuhn could count a 10-car length lead on the giant Knoxville half mile.

Into the fray came 16-year-old Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. By lap ten he had taken over the runner-up position and was catching Kuhn. One lap later Bacon was within one car length at the start-finish line. Bacon continued to hold Kuhn to the fire until a yellow was displayed on lap fourteen bringing the field to a slowdown.

When the race went green again, Kuhn continued to lead but would hold the point for only one more lap. Coming down the front chute on the fifteenth go around, Bacon made the pass at the flag stand. Kuhn kept close but now he had another problem as Kaeding was on his rear bumper.

Kaeding made the pass of Kuhn on lap eighteen and as one more lap was completed the red flag was thrown as Andy Martin took a tumble at the turn two fence.

Lap twenty was Bacon's last lap to lead as Kaeding made a pass for the lead as they exited out of turn four, Kaeding high and Bacon low. By this time the stream of cars was like a freight train in turn one as rubber had been laid down on the track and that was the line to follow. Most drivers had found the bottom to be fastest line as the high cushion had slowed considerably and was dangerously close to the high Knoxville fences.

With the laps winding down, two yellows slowed the race. On each restart Kaeding and Bacon followed the bottom but in turns three and four they would separate with Kaeding going high and Bacon hugging the bottom. It kept the fight for the lead close but nothing ever developed from it. In the end, Kaeding took the checkered flag and the win while USAC celebrated a return to the Knoxville oval after an absence of 37 years.

Bacon kept second and Kuhn was third. Fourth went to seventh row starter Russ Harper. Don Droud, Jr finished fifth. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Kyle Nicholas (a B Main transfer who started near the tail), Jay Drake, Ryan Pace (started 16th), Brad Mosen and Levi Jones (started 18th).
Midgets RESULTS

Heat 1, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE; 2. Teddy Beach, Donnelsville OH; 3. Ryan Pace, Arroyo Grande CA; 4. Mike Riley, Bloomsdale MO; 5. Chad McDaniel, Concordia KS; 6. Donnie Lehmann, Springfield IL; 7. Doug DeWitt, Sunnyvale CA;
 

Heat 2, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Johnny Rodriguez, Elk Grove CA; 2. Brad Mosen, Auckland NZ; 3. Tracy Hines, New Castle IN; 4. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 5. Jimmy Light, West Springfield PA; 6. Daniel Adler, East Carondelet IL; 7. Joe Boyles, Greenwood MO;
 

Heat 3, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Josh Wise, Riverside CA; 2. Cole Carter, Brownsburg IN; 3. Davey Ray, Davenport IA; 4. Tom Hessert III, Cherry Hill NJ; 5. Ryan Kaplan, Chico CA; 6. Leroy Holler, Independence MO; 7. Bill Allen, Independence MO;
 

Heat 4, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Bud Kaeding, Campbell CA; 2. Russ Harper, Watkins CO; 3. Levi Jones, Olney IL; 4. Kyle Nicholas, Naples FL; 5. Andy Martin, Gordonville PA; 6. Mallory Armfield, St. Joseph MO; 7. Harley Slotten, Kimberly WI;
 

Heat 5, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Jay Drake, Val Verde CA; 2. Ryan Durst, Lincoln NE; 3. Garett Hood, Concordia KS; 4. Mike DiBart, Springfield IL; 5. Joe Ligouri, Tampa FL; 6. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 7. Michael Lewis, Noblesville IN;
(The following races were run on Sunday June 4)
 

B Feature 1, 10 laps, No Time: 1. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 2. Davey Ray, Davenport IA; 3. Tom Hessert III, Cherry Hill NJ; 4. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 5. Joe Boyles, Greenwood MO; 6. Kyle Nicholas, Naples FL; 7. Daniel Adler, East Carondelet IL; 8. Donnie Lehmann, Springfield IL; 9. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA; 10. Andy Martin, Gordonville PA; 11. Doug DeWitt, Sunnyvale CA; 12. Ryan Kaplan, Chico CA; 13. Garett Hood, Concordia KS; 14. Mike DiBart, Springfield IL;
 

A Feature, 25 laps, No Time: 1. Bud Kaeding, Campbell CA; 2. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 3. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 4. Russ Harper, Watkins CO; 5. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE; 6. Kyle Nicholas, Naples FL; 7. Jay Drake, Val Verde CA; 8. Ryan Pace, Arroyo Grande CA; 9. Brad Mosen, Auckland NZ; 10. Levi Jones, Olney IL; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson AZ; 12. Tracy Hines, New Castle IN; 13. Teddy Beach, Donnelsville OH; 14. Joe Boyles, Greenwood MO; 15. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 16. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 17. Bryan Clauson, Noblesville IN; 18. Davey Ray, Davenport IA; 19. Josh Wise, Riverside CA; 20. Donnie Lehmann, Springfield IL; 21. Dave Darland, Lincoln IN; 22. Cole Carter, Brownsburg IN; 23. Andy Martin, Gordonville PA; 24. Garett Hood, Concordia KS; 25. Tom Hessert III, Cherry Hill NJ; 26. Ryan Durst, Lincoln NE; 27. Johnny Rodriguez, Elk Grove CA. Lap Leaders: Kuhn 1-14; Bacon 15-20; Kaeding 21-25

 

Defending Knoxville Raceway track champion Kerry Madsen took the feature event win at Marion County fairgrounds Sunday night. Madsen became the sixth different winner in the 410 division this year.

The 410 sprints had been a companion division with the USAC midgets which were staging their Knoxville Midget Nationals on Saturday night. A sudden rain event postponed the championship as well as the 410 A Feature.

With the feature starting at 7:10 Iowa time, much sunlight and heat of the day still remained for this half-mile oval to endure. Only two key lines remained on the track, the bottom and the cushion near the fences. Calvin Landis utilized his front row starting position to jump to the top at the start of the race. That top groove enabled him to drive to a 20 car-length advantage over Wayne Johnson at the end of five circuits.

By lap seven Landis had come upon lap traffic but the yellow was displayed on the next lap negating the top cars having to sort through the backmarkers. The restart saw Johnson try the bottom but he quickly found out that the top had the faster line. Madsen and Billy Alley settled behind Johnson once he placed his car back upon the cushion. At the fifteen-lap mark one could see that Johnson was making some headway in the Landis lead.

A yellow on lap 16 slowed the field to a single file as Jesse Giannetto lost a right-rear tire to the abrasive track. He was able to restart. Landis led the field back to the green but one lap later his certain victory was thwarted when he too lost a tire coming out of turn four. Landis managed to keep his sprinter steady but would have to rejoin the field at the rear once the tire was changed.

Madsen thus inherited the lead in his Vermeer Motorsports machine and flew around the half-mile oval on the cushion. At the end of twenty laps he could claim a victory of twenty car lengths in his Cool/Wesmar- powered sprinter. Johnson took second, Brian Brown drove a steady race to finish third, Alley was fourth and Skip Jackson claimed fifth. Ricky Logan, Clint Garner (started 16th), Matt Moro (started 15th), Zomer and Bronson Maeschen (started 14th) completed the top ten finishers.

These events were held in conjunction with the annual National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum's induction banquet held Saturday afternoon (June 3) in the Marion County fairground's Dyer-Hudson Hall. This year's class included 13 inductees.

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA
June 3, 2006
410 RESULTS

Time Trial, 1. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. , 15.64; 2. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. , 15.641; 3. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO, 15.724; 4. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA, 15.835; 5. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA, 15.9; 6. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE, 15.903; 7. Rager Phillips, (R) Pleasantville IA, 15.906; 8. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA, 15.938; 9. Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City OK, 16.002; 10. Dusty Zomer, (R) Brandon SD, 16.003; 11. Ricky Logan, Little Rock AR, 16.025; 12. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA, 16.031; 13. Jesse Giannetto, Palo IA, 16.036; 14. Jerrel Slinkard, Melcher-Dallas IA, 16.046; 15. Randy Anderson, Clarion IA, 16.1; 16. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls SD, 16.177; 17. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA, 16.209; 18. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA, 16.211; 19. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD, 16.234; 20. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. , 16.276; 21. Kaley Gharst, Decatur IL, 16.298; 22. Tony Shilling, (R) Knoxville IA, 16.369; 23. Natalie Sather, Fargo ND, 16.369; 24. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA, 16.472; 25. Joe Beaver, Knoxville IA, 16.474; 26. Jerry Richert Jr., Forest Lake MN, 16.634; 27. Greg Jones, Earlham IA, 16.935; 28. Robert Bell, Colfax IA, 17.651; 29. Tyler Houseman, Runnells IA, No Time;
 

Heat 1, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 2. Dusty Zomer, (R) Brandon SD; 3. Jesse Giannetto, Palo IA; 4. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls SD; 5. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD; 6. Rager Phillips, (R) Pleasantville IA; 7. Joe Beaver, Knoxville IA; 8. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA; 9. Tony Shilling, (R) Knoxville IA; 10. Robert Bell, Colfax IA;
 

Heat 2, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 2. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 3. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA; 4. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA; 5. Jerrel Slinkard, Melcher-Dallas IA; 6. Ricky Logan, Little Rock AR; 7. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. ; 8. Jerry Richert Jr., Forest Lake MN; 9. Natalie Sather, Fargo ND; 10. Tyler Houseman, Runnells IA;
 

Heat 3, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City OK; 2. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA; 3. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO; 4. Kaley Gharst, Decatur IL; 5. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 6. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA; 7. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA; 8. Greg Jones, Earlham IA; 9. Randy Anderson, Clarion IA.
 

A Feature, 20 laps, No Time (run on Sunday evening, May 4): 1. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 2. Wayne Johnson, Oklahoma City OK; 3. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO; 4. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 5. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 6. Ricky Logan, Little Rock AR; 7. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD; 8. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA; 9. Dusty Zomer, (R) Brandon SD; 10. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA; 11. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. ; 12. Rager Phillips, (R) Pleasantville IA; 13. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA; 14. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 15. Jerrel Slinkard, Melcher-Dallas IA; 16. Jesse Giannetto, Palo IA; 17. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA; 18. Greg Jones, Earlham IA; 19. Robert Bell, Colfax IA; 20. Tony Shilling, (R) Knoxville IA; 21. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls SD; 22. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA; 23. Kaley Gharst, Decatur IL. Lap leaders: Landis 1-15; Madsen 16-20