Wayne Johnson Tops ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Prelim
by: Lonnie WheatleyKNOXVILLE, IOWA (August 1,) – A second night of 18th
Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals preliminary action found another Johnson in
victory lane, as past O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National
champion Wayne Johnson raced to victory lane in Friday night's 20-lap
feature atop Knoxville Raceway's ½-mile clay oval.
Johnson emerged from a three-car battle for the lead at the midway point,
taking the lead away from Jesse Giannetto on the 12th round before
scampering away to the checkered flag with a 3.865-second advantage over
Gary Wright, with Giannetto, Brooke Tatnell and Jesse Hockett rounding out
the top five.
While Nebraska's Jack Dover and Oregon's Roger Crockett led the 24-car
feature field to the green flag, it was second row starters Giannetto and
Johnson quickly taking over the top two positions after the initial start
was waved off for Brad Bowden's disable machine.
Giannetto charged past the front row starters exiting turn two on the
opening circuit with Johnson hot on his heels. And with Giannetto and
Johnson pacing the early rounds, Gary Wright was on the move from his eighth
starting position after besting the 61-car field in qualifying with a lap of
16.656 seconds.
Wright picked off three positions on the opening lap to crack the top five,
took fourth from Dover a lap later and then took third away from Crockett on
the seventh circuit.
As the leaders approached the tail of the field, Johnson moved in to
challenge Giannetto for the point entering turn three on the ninth lap.
Giannetto fought off the bid, with Wright moving in to take second from
Johnson a lap later.
Johnson battled right back, reclaiming second from Wright and then sliding
past Giannetto for the lead as the trio battled through heavy traffic to
complete the 12th round.
"I saw ol' GW (Gary Wright) there on the bottom and knew he'd found
something, he's always the first to find the fastest part of the track,"
Johnson explained in victory lane. "He went back to the top after he got
around me, I knew I had to get to the bottom and stay there."
Which is exactly what the 2000 ASCS National champion did after splitting a
pair of lapped cars to establish some breathing room. Johnson raced through
traffic over the final rounds to secure his second O'Reilly ASCoT National
win of the season aboard Mike and Tim Hammers' Fisher-powered H&H
Enterprises No. 94 Maxim.
Wright took over second on the 14th round and kept the Wesmar-powered
Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim in the runner-up slot until the checkered
flag flew, with 2006 ASCS Knoxville Nationals champ Giannetto settling for
show honors.
Making his first start aboard Bobby Sparks' Wells-powered RESM Transport No.
91 Eagle, Australian Brooke Tatnell timed in second-quick on the night and
then earned a fourth-place finish in the feature.
Missouri's Jesse Hockett rounded out the top five after taking over the
position in the final handful of laps, with ASCS Northwest Speedweek
champion Crockett in sixth. Current ASCS Rebel Region points leader Kenny
Adams was seventh, with Gregg Bakker, Brian Brown and Clint Garner
completing the top ten.
After Wright set quick time, heat races were won by Johnson, Tim Crawley,
Jared Ridge, Matt Covington and Brown.
Chad Corken took the lead away from Josh Padellford on the fourth round en
route to winning the 10-lap "C" Main, while Nick Smith picked up the 12-lap
"B" Main victory when Dave Hall popped a left rear tire less than a lap from
the finish.
After Nate Van Haaften flipped on the initial "B" Main start, the second
start featured a wild five-car flip in turn one including Ryan Anderson,
Stephen Lines, Josh Higday, Natalie Sather and Chad Corken. Everyone walked
away from the carnage uninjured, with Sather the only one able to rejoin the
racing action.
A total of 111 different drivers competed over the two preliminary nights of
the 18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals, setting Saturday night's
championship feature lineups.
18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Night Preliminary Results:
Qualifying:
1. 9w-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 16.656, 2. 91s-Brooke Tatnell (Sydney, NSW)
16.722, 3. 11x-Gregg Bakker (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.764, 4. 86-Lee Jacobs
(Dalton, OH) 16.767, 5. 75J-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 16.775, 6. 94-Wayne
Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 16.796, 7. D1-Jesse Giannetto (Cedar Rapids, IA)
16.850, 8. 7n-Roger Crockett (Medford, OR) 16.863, 9. 53d-Jack Dover
(Springfield, NE) 16.870, 10. 18-Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE) 16.884, 11.
15b-Brad Bowden (Hernando, MS) 16.893, 12. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron,
KS) 16.935, 13. 2m-Matt Moro (Des Moines, IA) 16.937, 14. 4a-Kenny Adams
(Malabar, FL) 16.985, 15. 40-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.009, 16.
51-Dave Hall (Des Moines, IA) 17.028, 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson (Charter Oak,
IA) 17.043, 18. 23-Stephen Lines (Melbourne, AUS) 17.078, 19. 03-Joe Wood,
Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK) 17.110, 20. 21-Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO)
17.140, 21. 27-Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 17.143, 22. 88-Tim Crawley
(Benton, AR) 17.147, 23. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 17.156, 24.
43-A.J. Selenke (Wichita, KS) 17.174, 25. 22b-Ben Gregg (Phoenix, AZ)
17.176, 26. 35-Ron Blair (Troy, OH) 17.235, 27. 7m-Chad Meyer (Sioux Falls,
SD) 17.238, 28. 12J-Jared Ridge (Snohomish, WA) 17.244, 29. 95-Matt
Covington (Glenpool, OK) 17.299, 30. 1-Pete Crall (Desoto, KS) 17.332, 31.
98-J.D. Johnson (Goddard, KS) 17.336, 32. 1s-Trey Robb (Newcastle, OK)
17.343, 33. 5-Justin Henderson (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.346, 34. 24-Josh Higday
(Des Moines, IA) 17.357, 35. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe (Rock Rapids, IA) 17.358, 36.
11-Chad Corken (Highlands Ranch, CO) 17.420, 37. 3-Nate Van Haaften (Otley,
IA) 17.421, 38. 34-Josh Padellford (Pleasantville, IA) 17.440, 39.
2mx-Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) 17.458, 40. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller,
TX) 17.461, 41. 5L-Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.472, 42. 12-Rod Richards
(Des Moines, IA) 17.489, 43. 15-Jack Potter (Kansas City, MO) 17.538, 44.
8k-Butch Hanssen (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.577, 45. 7L-Darren Long (Elida, OH)
17.583, 46. 34h-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH) 17.642, 47. 17-Samantha Taylor
(Bonney Lake, WA) 17.683, 48. 54-Brett Mather (Ames, IA) 17.689, 49. 71-R.J.
Johnson (Tampa, FL) 17.693, 50. 94s-Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 17.698, 51.
20au-Troy Little (Sydney, NSW) 17.703, 52. 48-Tyler Thompson (Des Moines,
IA) 17.745, 53. 4b-Bryn Gohn (Malabar, FL) 17.768, 54. 2-Luke Dollansky (Elk
River, MN) 17.888, 55. 33-Alan Zoutte (Knoxville, IA) 17.915, 56. 1p-Curtis
Evans (Norburne, MO) 17.938, 57. 5x-Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND) 17.994, 58.
13-Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX) 18.214, 59. 2w-Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK)
18.270, 60. 31p-Travis Porter (Rock Island, IL) 18.523, 61. 9*-Brian Parker
(Dallas, TX) 19.137.
Heat Races (Top 4 Advance to "A" Main; Positions 5-8 to "B" Main; Positions
9-10 to "C" Main)
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 35-Ron Blair, 3. 9w-Gary Wright,
4. 27-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 15b-Brad Bowden, 6. 51-Dave Hall, 7. 5L-Eric Lutz,
8. 98-J.D. Johnson, 9. 11-Chad Corken, 10. 34h-Luke Hall.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 91s-Brooke Tatnell, 3. d1-Jesse
Giannetto, 4. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier, 5. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 6. 71r-Ryan
Anderson, 7. 1s-Trey Robb, 8. 7m-Chad Meyer, 9. 17-Samantha Taylor, 10.
12-Rod Richards.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 12J-Jared Ridge, 2. 2m-Matt Moro, 3. 7n-Roger
Crockett, 4. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 5. 15s-Nick Smith, 6. 5-Justin Henderson, 7.
53-Brett Mather, 8. 23-Stephen Lines, 9. 15-Jack Potter, 10. 34-Josh
Padellford.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 4a-Kenny Adams, 3. 53d-Jack
Dover, 4. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 5. 86-Lee Jacobs, 6. 24-Josh Higday, 7. 03-Joe
Wood, Jr., 8. 43-A.J. Selenke, 9. 71-R.J. Johnson, 10. 8k-Butch Hanssen.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 40-Clint Garner, 3. 1-Pete Crall,
4. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 5. 18-Ryan Newman, 6. 22b-Ben Gregg, 7. b4-Eric
Baldaccini, 8. 94s-Natalie Sather, 9. 7L-Darren Long, 10. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe.
"C" Main – Top 2 Advance to "B" Main
"C" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 11-Chad Corken, 2. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe, 3. 71-R.J.
Johnson, 4. 34-Josh Padellford, 5. 34h-Luke Hall, 6. 5x-Dave Glennon, 7.
20au-Troy Little, 8. 8k-Butch Hanssen, 9. 17-Samantha Taylor, 10. 48-Tyler
Thompson, 11. 15-Jack Potter, 12. 1p-Curtis Evans, 13. 33-Alan Zoutte, 14.
12-Rod Richards, 15. 4b-Bryn Gohn, 16. 9*-Brian Parker, 17. 31p-Travis
Porter, 18. 13-Kathryne Minter, 19. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 20. 2-Luke Dollansky,
21. 7L-Darren Long.
"B" Main – Top 4 Advance to “A” Main
"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 5-Justin Henderson, 3. 7m-Chad
Meyer, 4. 15b-Brad Bowden, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 7.
1s-Trey Robb, 8. 54-Brett Mather, 9. 94s-Natalie Sather, 10. 43-A.J. Selenke,
11. 5L-Eric Lutz, 12. 98-J.D. Johnson, 13. 18-Ryan Roberts, 14. 51-Dave
Hall, 15. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe, 16. 86-Lee Jacobs, 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 18.
23-Stephen Lines, 19. 24-Josh Higday, 20. 11-Chad Corken, 21. 3-Nate Van
Haaften. DNS: 22b-Ben Gregg.
18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Preliminary "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (20 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 9w-Gary Wright, 3. d1-Jesse
Giannetto, 4. 91s-Brooke Tatnell, 5. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 6. 7n-Roger
Crockett, 7. 4a-Kenny Adams, 8. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 9. 21-Brian Brown, 10.
40-Clint Garner, 11. 88-Tim Crawley, 12. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier, 13. 27-Don
Droud, Jr., 14. 53d-Jack Dover, 15. 5-Justin Henderson, 16. 2m-Matt Moro,
17. 15s-Nick Smith, 18. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 19. 12J-Jared Ridge, 20. 1-Pete
Crall, 21. 7m-Chad Meyer, 22. 95-Matt Covington, 23. 35-Ron Blair, 24.
15b-Brad Bowden.
Lap Leaders: Jesse Giannetto 1-11, Wayne Johnson 12-20.
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