Sammy Swindell Wins #50 at 60 in Knoxville!
Christian Bowman and Sammy Swindell. Photo by Danny Howk
Rico Abreu — Photo by Danny Howk
Christian Bowman Makes Late Race Pass for 305 Win
by Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, July 1, 2016 – Sammy Swindell added six days to his own record as the oldest 410 feature winner Friday night at Knoxville Raceway. Sammy is 60 years, 8 months and nine days old, and the Germantown, Tennessee driver won his second straight National Sprint League main event in a row at Knoxville aboard the Big Game Motorsports #1. Christian Bowman won a non-stop main event in the 305 class, by making a late race pass of Chris Walraven.
Swindell would start on the pole of the scheduled 20-lap feature and grab the early lead ahead of Dusty Zomer and Rico Abreu. Sammy used the low groove to build his lead until the caution flew six laps in for a stopped Scott Bogucki. One more lap was in the books when Bronson Maeschen and Dominic Scelzi took scary rides upside down in turns one and two. Fortunately, both drivers were uninjured.
When the green finally flew again, Swindell led Zomer, Abreu, Kerry Madsen and Lynton Jeffrey. Madsen quickly moved into third, while Jeffrey took fourth on lap nine. Swindell’s lead stretched to a second and a half over Zomer when Andy Caruana went up in smoke in turn three on the white flag lap. Chris Martin blew a right rear tire at the same time, but made repairs in the work area.
The final green, white, checker finish was halted again on lap 20 when Tasker Phillips flipped down the frontstretch. Bogucki was also involved. The final green white, checker finish had plenty of action awaiting and extended the race to 22 laps. While Sammy maintained his lead ahead of Zomer, Danny Lasoski surged by Kerry Madsen into third on the last lap. Jeffrey followed him into fourth, while Madsen settled for fifth. Abreu, Craig Dollansky, Davey Heskin, Ian Madsen and Josh Schneiderman rounded out the top ten. Heskin set quick time, while Swindell, Phillips and Scelzi won the heat races.
“I’m just so blessed to get to do this with the things that have come my way the last few weeks,” said Swindell in Victory Lane. “It’s all good, and hopefully, we’ll continue here. We had a different motor in tonight, so we had a few things we needed to be different on. The car was pretty awesome in the main. We’ve been able to run pretty much the same setup in the slick, and tonight, when it was heavier. I broke the record again. I’m the oldest guy by a week now!”
Before the 305 feature could get a lap in, Corey Kautz flipped hard in turn one. Tyler Dollison shot into the wall trying to avoid the airborne sprinter as well. No one was hurt. When the 18-lapper resumed, it went the distance.
Ricky Logan returned to Knoxville in a White Lightning Motorsports machine and led Chris Walraven and teammate Devin Kline from the pole. Christian Bowman moved into third on lap four, and reeled in the lead pair of Logan and Walraven.
With Logan stuck behind a pair of lapped cars on the seventh go-around, Walraven rode the cushion in turn two to the point. Bowman followed him into second. Bowman would reel in the leader, and when Walraven bobbled a bit in turn two on lap 13, he would gain on the leader. In turn four, he would take the lead for good, and pull away to his third win of the season. Walraven, Logan, Kline and Christopher Scank followed. Hard-charger Ben Woods, Kade Higday, Mike Mayberry, Joe Simbro and Brad Comegys rounded out the top ten. Bowman set quick time, while Mitchell Alexander and Kautz won the heats.
“It felt awesome,” said Bowman afterwards. “I worked through traffic pretty good. It worked to my advantage. I was able to take the lead, and we never looked back. I had a perfect car. My team works really hard. Everything has really clicked this year. We worked hard in the offseason, and once again, I have to thank my crew.”
Join us tomorrow night for our National Sprint League finale! The 360 class will also be in action! A huge Fireworks show to celebrate our nation’s Independence will cap the festivities! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (4), 14.942; 2. 2, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (3), 15.119; 3. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (5), 15.153; 4. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (6), 15.162; 5. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (2), 15.206; 6. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (8), 15.306; 7. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (22), 15.314; 8. 29, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (20), 15.319; 9. 82, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (1), 15.337; 10. 2KS, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (12), 15.355; 11. 10, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (11), 15.367; 12. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (15), 15.375; 13. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (16), 15.428; 14. 7W, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (9), 15.471; 15. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (7), 15.554; 16. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (14), 15.606; 17. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (10), 15.664; 18. 41, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (25), 15.710; 19. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (24), 15.781; 20. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (23), 15.805; 21. 12H, Daniel Harding, Perth, WA, Aust. (19), 15.933; 22. 35, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (18), 16.269; 23. 96AUS, Andy Caruana, Melbourne, VIC, Aust. (21), 16.333; 24. 1B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (13), NT; 25. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (17), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:06.5: 1. Sammy Swindell (2); 2. Scott Bogucki (1); 3. Craig Dollansky (3); 4. Brian Brown (5); 5. Bronson Maeschen (4); 6. Davey Heskin (6); 7. Josh Schneiderman (7); 8. Kevin Hetrick (8) DNS – Jake Bubak
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.0: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (4); 3. Danny Lasoski (6); 4. Dakota Hendrickson (3); 5. Rico Abreu (5); 6. RJ Johnson (7); 7. Bob Weuve (1); 8. Andy Caruana (8)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Dominic Scelzi (1); 2. Brooke Tatnell (3); 3. Dusty Zomer (4); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 5. Ian Madsen (5); 6. Chris Martin (2); 7. Daniel Harding (7) DNS – AJ Moeller
A main (started), 22 Laps, NT: 1. Sammy Swindell (1); 2. Dusty Zomer (2); 3. Danny Lasoski (8); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 5. Kerry Madsen (5); 6. Rico Abreu (3); 7. Craig Dollansky (11); 8. Davey Heskin (4); 9. Ian Madsen (10); 10. Josh Schneiderman (20); 11. Brooke Tatnell (12); 12. Brian Brown (6); 13. RJ Johnson (18); 14. Chris Martin (17); 15. Daniel Harding (21); 16. Kevin Hetrick (22); 17. Bob Weuve (19); 18. Tasker Phillips (9); 19. Scott Bogucki (15); 20. Andy Caruana (23); 21. Dominic Scelzi (14); 22. Bronson Maeschen (13) DNS – Dakota Hendrickson, Jake Bubak, AJ Moeller. Lap Leader: S. Swindell 1-22. Hard-charger: Schneiderman.
305 Results
Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA (14), 16.943; 2. 85, Chase Wanner, Agency, IA (13), 16.969; 3. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (4), 16.999; 4. 5J, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (18), 17.107; 5. 76, Brad Comegys, Bondurant, IA (21), 17.197; 6. 56w, Chris Walraven, Knoxville, IA (5), 17.199; 7. 5, Ricky Logan, Little Rock, AR (3), 17.222; 8. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (10), 17.297; 9. 6, Mitchell Alexander, Knoxville, IA (2), 17.308; 10. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (6), 17.350; 11. 55, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (1), 17.374; 12. 51, Corey Kautz, Urbandale, IA (11), 17.406; 13. 99, Matthew Stelzer, Omaha, NE (12), 17.477; 14. 11B, Ben Woods, Newton, IA (20), 17.586; 15. 24, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (15), 17.644; 16. 36, Christopher Scank, Cedar Rapids, IA (7), 17.799; 17. 41D, Dan Henning, Columbia, IA (9), 17.804; 18. 33, Trevor Smith, Sanborn, IA (19), 17.831; 19. 38, Mike Dapra, Gillette, WY (17), 17.901; 20. 3D, Tyler Dollison, Milo, IA (16), 18.400; 21. 17, Billy Bell, Colfax, IA (8), NT.
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:47.2: 1. Mitchell Alexander (2); 2. McKenna Haase (1); 3. Christian Bowman (6); 4. Brad Comegys (4); 5. Ricky Logan (3); 6. Mike Mayberry (5); 7. Kade Higday (8); 8. Matthew Stelzer (7); 9. Mike Dapra (10); 10. Dan Henning (9) DNS – Billy Bell
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:48.1: 1. Corey Kautz (1); 2. Devin Kline (5); 3. Josh Jones (2); 4. Chris Walraven (4); 5. Joe Simbro (3); 6. Christopher Scank (8); 7. Trevor Smith (9); 8. Chase Wanner (6); 9. Ben Woods (7); 10. Tyler Dollison (10);
A main (started), 15 Laps, 4:35.9: 1. Christian Bowman (6); 2. Chris Walraven (2); 3. Ricky Logan (1); 4. Devin Kline (4); 5. Christopher Scank (12); 6. Ben Woods (15); 7. Kade Higday (16); 8. Mike Mayberry (5); 9. Joe Simbro (7); 10. Brad Comegys (3); 11. Matthew Stelzer (14); 12. Josh Jones (9); 13. McKenna Haase (10); 14. Trevor Smith (18); 15. Mike Dapra (19); 16. Dan Henning (17); 17. Chase Wanner (13); 18. Corey Kautz (11); 19. Tyler Dollison (20) DNS – Mitchell Alexander, Billy Bell. Lap Leaders: Logan 1-6, Walraven 7-12, Bowman 13-15. Hard-charger: Woods.
Category: Iowa, Knoxville Raceway
