|
Kevin Swindell takes 8th annual USAC Knoxville Midget
Nationals
By Bob Wilson
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 30) Kevin Swindell came out on top of the 8th annual
USAC (United States Auto Club) Knoxville Midget Nationals at Knoxville
Raceway Saturday Night. It was the youngster’s first win at this storied
half-mile oval and placed his name along side that of his father’s as a
winner here.
The 25-lap event saw row one starter Brad Sweet take the first two opening
laps before Jerry Coons, Jr. dove low in turns three and four to take the
top spot heading into lap three. While Sweet, Darren Hagen and Brad Loyet
battled for the runner-up spot, Coons began to pull away. Finally Sweet
broke from that pack and stayed in contact with the Coons machine.
At this point in the race, the bottom was the preferred line as it was
proving to be the fastest way around the Knoxville oval. However, of the
frontrunners, only Swindell took the precious time to try the top as the
cushion had moved to within 8-12 feet of the tall fences.
By lap 10, Coons had built a 20 car-length lead over Sweet while staying
strictly on the bottom. One lap later Swindell took third as Coons continued
to pull away from the pack. Swindell moved into the runner-up spot two laps
later.
With Coons comfortably in the lead, Swindell’s line was to use the top in
turns 1-2 and shoot to the bottom in turns 3-4. As the laps began to run
down it looked as if he was beginning to make some headway in the leader’s
advantage, but the margin appeared to be insurmountable.
Lap 23 saw Swindell miraculously come to within eight car lengths of the
leader. One lap later in turn three, Coons appeared to falter and Swindell
dove past him to take the lead. Coons tried to make a race of it but
Swindell had become too strong as he drove the Keith Kunz Motorsports Bullet
across the finish line by two car lengths ahead of Coons and into victory
lane. The win paid him $3,550.
Coons came across for a close second, Sweet remained in third, Hagen kept
fourth and Cole Whitt finished fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Chad
Boat, Brad Loyet, Brad Kuhn, Tracy Hines and Matt Smith.
In early afternoon ceremonies, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and
Museum inducted thirteen men into their Hall of Fame. 2009 inductees were
Jackie Holmes, Cavino Michelli “Kelly” Petillo, Lee Elkins, Tommy Nicholson,
Jac Haudenschild (Wooster, Ohio), Lee Osborne (Bluff Point, New York), Roger
Rager(Pequot Lakes, Minnesota), Fred Rahmer (Salfordville, Pennsylvania),
Rip Williams (Yorba Linda, California), Jack Elam (McKenzie, Tennessee),
Louis Senter (Encino, California), Allan Brown (Comstock Park, Michigan) and
Jim Chini( Palm Springs, California).
The 20th annual ceremonies were held at Dyer-Hudson Hall on the Marion
County fairgrounds.
Prior to the racing activities, a moment of silence was observed for Chad
McDaniel (Concordia, Kansas) who died as a result of a racing accident here
on the previous evening. McDaniel was killed when his midget struck the
tumbling car of Davey Ray (Davenport, Iowa) in the B Main.
Johnny Herrera took his second win in a row and his third on the season at
Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. The win paid the Albuquerque, New Mexico
driver $3,000 for his efforts.
Herrera started on the front row along side Skip Jackson and bested him out
of turn two to take the lead which he never relinquished. Sammy Swindell
also made a pass of Jackson on that initial lap and took up the chase of the
leader.
Lap four saw fourth row starter Terry McCarl slide Swindell in turn two to
take that spot away but Swindell stayed close to make it interesting. By lap
five Herrera had extended his lead to nearly a full chute on the big half
mile but one lap later the caution flag flew for a stopped car on the track
erasing Herrera’s sizable lead but saving him from a plethora of lap cars.
The restart saw Herrera keep the top spot with Swindell and McCarl
struggling for the runner-up position. Two laps later the final yellow of
the race was thrown for a spun car in turn four.
Herrera led McCarl, Swindell and Dusty Zomer back to green and to a track
which had started taking rubber. This time Herrera did not pull away from
his pursuers as the three afore mentioned drivers stayed right with him.
By the 15th go around, Herrera was once again facing lap traffic and working
by those cars to near perfection. That same lap Swindell once again made a
pass of McCarl which would hold till the end of the race. McCarl contested
it but to no avail. And, on the final laps, Swindell pulled right to the
rear of Herrera in traffic. On the final lap Swindell made one final charge
for the top spot in turn three but Herrera denied him and pinched him off
radically in that turn.
Herrera, Swindell, McCarl, Zomer and Jackson came across the finish line in
that order. Forming the balance of the top ten were Mark Dobmeier, Lynton
Jeffrey, Don Droud, Jr, Wayne Johnson (from 17th) and Billy Alley.
410 RESULTS
Time Trial, 1. Dusty Zomer, Brandon SD, 15.489; 2. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE,
15.575; 3. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO, 15.598; 4. Sammy Swindell,
Germantown TN, 15.603; 5. Bronson Maeschen, Knoxville IA, 15.62; 6. Johnny
Herrera, Albuquerque NM, 15.692; 7. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ,
15.71; 8. Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City IA, 15.735; 9. Bob Weuve, Newton IA,
15.766; 10. Terry McCarl, Altoona IA, 15.84; 11. Wayne Johnson, Knoxville
IA, 15.855; 12. Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND, 15.959; 13. Josh Schneiderman,
West Burlington IA, 15.969; 14. Chris Morgan, (R) Topeka KS, 15.994; 15. Don
Droud Jr., Lincoln NE, 16.063; 16. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA, 16.073; 17.
Davey Heskin, St. Michael MN, 16.211; 18. Joey Moughan, Springfield IL,
16.218; 19. Dennis Moore Jr., Grinnell IA, 16.219; 20. Calvin Landis,
Knoxville IA, 16.417; 21. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA, 16.48; 22. Fred
Rahmer, Salfordville PA, 16.619; 23. Travis Rilat, Forney TX, 16.629; 24. Ed
Neumeister, Upper Sandusky OH, 16.791; 25. Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood CO,
16.902; 26. Pete Crall, (R) DeSoto KS, 17.177; 27. Casie Shilling, (R)
Knoxville IA, 18.046; 28. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. , 19.347; 29.
Rager Phillips, Pleasantville IA, No Time; 30. Austin McCarl, (R) Altoona
IA, No Time;
Heat 1, 8 laps, 2:15.4: 1. Terry McCarl, Altoona IA; 2. Mike Moore, Des
Moines IA; 3. Sammy Swindell, Germantown TN; 4. Dusty Zomer, Brandon SD; 5.
Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 6. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA; 7.
Dennis Moore Jr., Grinnell IA; 8. Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington IA; 9.
Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood CO;
Heat 2, 8 laps, 2:18.6: 1. Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City IA; 2. Davey Heskin,
St. Michael MN; 3. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 4. Bronson Maeschen,
Knoxville IA; 5. Chris Morgan, (R) Topeka KS; 6. Travis Rilat, Forney TX; 7.
Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 8. Pete Crall, (R) DeSoto KS; 9. Wayne Johnson,
Knoxville IA;
Heat 3, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Joey Moughan, Springfield IL; 2. Don Droud Jr.,
Lincoln NE; 3. Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND; 4. Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque
NM; 5. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO; 6. Bob Weuve, Newton IA; 7. Kerry
Madsen, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 8. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA; 9. Ed
Neumeister, Upper Sandusky OH; 10. Casie Shilling, (R) Knoxville IA;
B Feature, 12 laps, 3:33.9: 1. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 2. Wayne Johnson,
Knoxville IA; 3. Travis Rilat, Forney TX; 4. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA;
5. Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington IA; 6. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA;
7. Bob Weuve, Newton IA; 8. Dennis Moore Jr., Grinnell IA; 9. Pete Crall,
(R) DeSoto KS; 10. Casie Shilling, (R) Knoxville IA; 11. Ed Neumeister,
Upper Sandusky OH; 12. Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood CO;
A Feature, 20 laps, No Time: 1. Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque NM; 2. Sammy
Swindell, Germantown TN; 3. Terry McCarl, Altoona IA; 4. Dusty Zomer,
Brandon SD; 5. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 6. Mark Dobmeier, Grand
Forks ND; 7. Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City IA; 8. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE;
9. Wayne Johnson, Knoxville IA; 10. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 11. Travis
Rilat, Forney TX; 12. Brian Brown, Grain Valley MO; 13. Ryan Anderson,
Charter Oak IA; 14. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 15. Mike Moore, Des Moines
IA; 16. Bronson Maeschen, Knoxville IA; 17. Josh Schneiderman, West
Burlington IA; 18. Davey Heskin, St. Michael MN; 19. Chris Morgan, (R)
Topeka KS; 20. Joey Moughan, Springfield IL; Lap Leaders: Herrera 1-20
Midgets RESULTS
Time Trial, 1. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN, 20.046 (New Track Record); 2. Ricky
Ehrgott, Brandon FL, 20.158; 3. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO, 20.162; 4.
Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson AZ, 20.208; 5. Brad Sweet, Grass Valley CA, 20.211;
6. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA, 20.234; 7. Kevin Swindell, Germantown TN,
20.294; 8. Cole Whitt, Alpine CA, 20.348; 9. Bobby East, Brownsburg IN,
20.452; 10. Levi Jones, Avon IN, 20.751; 11. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ, 20.753;
12. Henry Clarke, Villa Park CA, 20.766; 13. Matt Smith, Newcastle, NSW,
Aust. , 20.776; 14. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK, 20.84; 15. AJ Fike,
Galesburg IL, 20.857; 16. Tracy Hines, New Castle IN, 20.877; 17. Don Droud
Jr., Lincoln NE, 21.055; 18. Mark Brown, Sydney, NSW, Aust. , 21.584; 19.
Caleb Armstrong, New Castle IN, 21.929; 20. Zach Daum, Pocahontas IL, No
Time;
Heat 1, 8 laps, 2:49.0: 1. Kevin Swindell, Germantown TN; 2. Brad Sweet,
Grass Valley CA; 3. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 4. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 5.
Bobby East, Brownsburg IN; 6. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ; 7. Matt Smith,
Newcastle, NSW, Aust. ; 8. AJ Fike, Galesburg IL; 9. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln
NE; 10. Josh Wise, Riverside CA;
Heat 2, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 2. Jerry Coons Jr.,
Tucson AZ; 3. Cole Whitt, Alpine CA; 4. Ricky Ehrgott, Brandon FL; 5. Levi
Jones, Avon IN; 6. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 7. Tracy Hines, New Castle
IN; 8. Mark Brown, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 9. Henry Clarke, Villa Park CA; 10.
Zach Daum, Pocahontas IL;
B Feature, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 2. Matt Smith,
Newcastle, NSW, Aust. ; 3. Chad Boat, Phoenix AZ; 4. Tracy Hines, New Castle
IN; 5. Henry Clarke, Villa Park CA; 6. Josh Wise, Riverside CA; 7. Mark
Brown, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 8. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln NE; 9. AJ Fike,
Galesburg IL;
Midget Nationals A Feature, 25 laps, 9:14.1 NEW TRACK RECORD: 1. Kevin
Swindell, Germantown TN; 2. Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson AZ; 3. Brad Sweet, Grass
Valley CA; 4. Darren Hagen, Riverside CA; 5. Cole Whitt, Alpine CA; 6. Chad
Boat, Phoenix AZ; 7. Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills MO; 8. Brad Kuhn, Avon IN; 9.
Tracy Hines, New Castle IN; 10. Matt Smith, Newcastle, NSW, Aust. ; 11. Mark
Brown, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 12. Levi Jones, Avon IN; 13. Bobby East,
Brownsburg IN; 14. Ricky Ehrgott, Brandon FL; 15. Josh Wise, Riverside CA;
16. Henry Clarke, Villa Park CA; 17. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow OK; 18. AJ
Fike, Galesburg IL; Lap Leaders: Sweet 1-2; Coons, Jr. 3-23; Swindell 24-25
 |
