Dusty Zomer Holds Off Brian Brown to Win Knoxville Thriller!
Dusty Zomer
Aaron Reutzel Tops 360’s; Mike Mayberry Triumphant In the Pros
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (May 11, 2024) – Dusty Zomer won his first 410 feature event at Knoxville since 2015 in an exciting battle with Brian Brown Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota driver’s eleventh career win here came aboard the Jeremiah Jordahl #3J and paid him $6,000. Aaron Reutzel recovered from a tip-over in the season opener to win the 360 feature, while Mike Mayberry won his eighth career main event in the Pro Sprints class.
Dustin Selvage led the 20-lap 410 feature early over Zomer, Garet Williamson, Brian Brown and Aaron Reutzel. Zomer used the second lap to take the point. Austin McCarl entered the top five on lap three. Brown disposed of Selvage for third on lap four before Christopher Thram flipped on the backstretch five laps in, negating a McCarl pass of Selvage for fourth.
On the restart, Brown surged into second, followed by McCarl. Jake Bubak got out of shape on the backstretch a lap later. Chris Martin and Kelby Watt took evasive measures, collecting JJ Hickle who was upside down with nowhere to go. He was uninjured.
Once the green flew again, Brown was all over Zomer. At the halfway point he edged Zomer at the line by a nose to lead lap ten. Zomer got up on the wheel hitting the bottom of turn one and two to regain the lead. Chase Randall had climbed from 21st to seventh before bringing out a caution with eight to go. Jason Martin slowed a lap later to bring out the final yellow flag and set up a seven lap dash to the checkers.
Brown was all over Zomer again and led lap 14, again by a nose. Zomer again hit the bottom of one and two and chose to slide across three and four. The maneuver worked in holding off the rim riding Brown. Reutzel was third, ahead of Austin McCarl and Garet Williamson. Carson McCarl, Selvage, Lynton Jeffrey, hard-charger Matt Juhl and Zach Hampton rounded out the top ten. Brown set quick time over the 36-car field, and Selvage, Bubak, Emerson Axsom and Josh Schneiderman won heat races. Randall claimed the B.
“I took a lot of notes from (Danny) Lasoski running like that,” said Zomer, crediting his mentor. “Every restart, I hugged the bottom as best I could trying to keep the car underneath me. I knew (Brown) was fast, and I was going to obviously try to make him pass me on the outside. I was getting to stagnant on the bottom of three and four, and once I changed my line there it was for the better. Anytime you see that 21 pull up beside you, it makes you sit up in the wheel a little bit more. I’m super happy for this team. We started this deal a year ago, and we just pieced everything together. This year we’re getting everything in place. I’m super happy.”
For the second week in a row, Joe Beaver set the pace early on in the 18-lap 360 main. Aaron Reutzel was fourth early, and then moved by Jamie Ball for third on the fifth lap. On lap six, Reutzel pulled off the move of the race, splitting leader Beaver and the second place car of Kade Higday in one swoop, taking the point for good. Ball gained second from Higday before Alex Vande Voort flipped in turn four with six to go.
Reutzel led Ball, Higday, Terry McCarl and Jack Anderson back to green. With three to go, Tony Rost came to a stop in turn two, setting up a three lap Dash. Hard-charger Tasker Phillips was active late, shooting by Kelby Watt and McCarl on the restart to briefly move into third. McCarl would gain the spot back on the final lap.
Reutzel’s tenth career 360 win here came ahead of Ball, McCarl, Phillips and Kelby Watt. Kaleb Johnson, Higday, Beaver, Clint Garner and Anderson completed the top ten. Ball set quick time over the 33-car field and won his heat. Phillips, Clint Garner and Cole Garner also won heats, while Nate Mills won the B.
“The track started to get a bunch of mud thrown out in the middle, and it was honestly perfect timing where I just got by Jamie and kind of found it,” he said of his winning move. “(Beaver) just didn’t get a good run, and I had a good run coming through. It all played out good. The car got decent late, but I was struggling early. I couldn’t hit the bottom and fell back to fifth at one time. The car was good and the motor was great. It was a good bounce-back from last weekend.”
Casey Friedrichsen led early in the 15-lap Pro Sprints feature ahead of AJ Johnson, Ryan Navritil and Brandon Worthington. A lap was in the books when Worthington got into the turn one wall. He was unhurt.
On the restart, Mike Mayberry shot from fourth to third, and on lap three, he took second. One lap later, he took the lead from Friedrichsen high in turn four. Navratil brought out the caution with eight laps to go, setting up a run to the checkers. Mayberry led Friedrichsen, Johnson, J Kinder and Matt Allen back to green.
Kinder slowed and pulled off on the restart, while Mayberry took off and won by nearly half a lap. Johnson secured second ahead of Friedrichsen, Allen and Chase Young. Hard-charger Toby Mosher, Jeff Wilke, Koddy Hildreth, Kinder and Navratil rounded out the top ten. Young set quick time, and Mayberry and Worthington won the heats.
“I’ve been getting my butt kicked on Wednesday’s in non-wing,” said Mayberry in Victory Lane. “It’s taught me a little throttle control. Without my team, I couldn’t do this.”
Join us Saturday, May 18 for more Knoxville Championship Series excitement! All three sprint car classes will again be in action. For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (1), 16.182 ($100 from OpenWheel101.com); 2. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (3), 16.235; 3. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (11), 16.302; 4. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (8), 16.494; 5. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (9), 16.553; 6. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (28), 16.557; 7. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (2), 16.612; 8. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (14), 16.663; 9. 12X, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (10), 16.759; 10. 3J, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (13), 16.762; 11. 23, Garet Williamson, Columbia, MO (17), 16.796; 12. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (19), 16.834; 13. 6W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (12), 16.840; 14. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (23), 16.887; 15. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (24), 16.893; 16. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (26), 16.909; 17. 6, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (4), 16.962; 18. 7, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (22), 16.962; 19. 27W, Emerson Axsom, Franklin, IN (29), 16.966; 20. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (15), 16.992; 21. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (31), 17.058; 22. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (36), 17.152; 23. 36, Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (18), 17.154; 24. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (32), 17.171; 25. 1, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (21), 17.199; 26. 74, Xavier Doney, Odessa, MO (6), 17.243; 27. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (33), 17.265; 28. 25, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (25), 17.322; 29. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (16), 17.329; 30. 37, Bryce Norris, Terre Haute, IN (20), 17.347; 31. 36A, Brock Hallett, Portland, VIC, Aust. (5), 17.371; 32. 45X, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS (35), 17.503; 33. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher-Dallas, IA (30), 17.985; 34. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (7), 18.001; 35. 95, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (34), 18.26; 36. 15, Jack Potter, Raymore, MO (27), 18.313.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Dustin Selvage (3); 2. Kelby Watt (1); 3. Brandon Wimmer (2); 4. Brian Brown (6); 5. Tasker Phillips (7); 6. Roger Crockett (4); 7. AJ Moeller (5); 8. Scotty Johnson (9); 9. Gage Pulkrabek (8)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Jake Bubak (1); 2. JJ Hickle (2); 3. Dusty Zomer (4); 4. Aaron Reutzel (5); 5. Chase Randall (3); 6. Carson McCarl (6); 7. Bryce Norris (8); 8. Xavier Doney (7); 9. Landon Hansen (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:21.1: 1. Emerson Axsom (2); 2. Garet Williamson (4); 3. Austin McCarl (6); 4. Jamie Ball (3); 5. Jason Martin (1); 6. Riley Goodno (7); 7. Zach Hampton (5); 8. Tyler Drueke (9); 9. Brock Hallett (8)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:21.2: 1. Josh Schneiderman (2); 2. Chris Martin (1); 3. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 4. Christopher Thram (3); 5. Sawyer Phillips (4); 6. Matt Juhl (7); 7. Jace Park (6); 8. Jack Potter (8) DNS – Kerry Madsen
B main, 12 Laps, 3:41.3: 1. Chase Randall (1); 2. Jason Martin (2); 3. Chris Martin (3); 4. Matt Juhl (7) / 5. Riley Goodno (6); 6. Tasker Phillips (4); 7. Bryce Norris (9); 8. Brock Hallett (10); 9. Tyler Drueke (14); 10. Xavier Doney (5); 11. Jace Park (11); 12. Gage Pulkrabek (8); 13. Landon Hansen (13); 14. Scotty Johnson (12); 15. Jack Potter (15)
A main, 20 Laps, NT: 1. Dusty Zomer (2); 2. Brian Brown (8); 3. Aaron Reutzel (5); 4. Austin McCarl (7); 5. Garet Williamson (3); 6. Carson McCarl (6); 7. Dustin Selvage (1); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 9. Matt Juhl (24); 10. Zach Hampton (10); 11. Josh Schneiderman (13); 12. Sawyer Phillips (16); 13. Brandon Wimmer (17); 14. Emerson Axsom (11); 15. Roger Crockett (12); 16. Jamie Ball (18); 17. Chris Martin (23); 18. AJ Moeller (9); 19. Kelby Watt (19); 20. Chase Randall (21); 21. Jason Martin (22); 22. Jake Bubak (15); 23. JJ Hickle (14); 24. Christopher Thram (20). Lap Leaders: Selvage 1, Zomer 2-9, Brown 10, Zomer 11-13, Brown 14, Zomer 15-20. Hard-charger: Juhl.
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (5), 16.108; 2. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (8), 16.209; 3. 24, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (4), 16.269; 4. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (1), 16.307; 5. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.515; 6. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. (14), 16.523; 7. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (25), 16.532; 8. 01, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (6), 16.533; 9. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (11), 16.554; 10. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (18), 16.569; 11. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (15), 16.578; 12. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (13), 16.581; 13. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (23), 16.607; 14. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (30), 16.640; 15. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (17), 16.678; 16. 2M, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (27), 16.704; 17. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (22), 16.712; 18. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (20), 16.721; 19. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (31), 16.746; 20. 4G, Cole Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (12), 16.840; 21. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (10), 16.843; 22. 6N, Darin Naida, Adrian, MI (28), 17.032; 23. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (24), 17.042; 24. 20T, Corey Timmerman, Burlington, IA (32), 17.096; 25. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (16), 17.120; 26. 83K, Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL (29), 17.650; 27. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (19), 17.713; 28. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (33), 17.945; 29. 38, Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA (21), 18.820; DQ (Scales) 3R, Russell Potter, Boonville, MO (7), 17.214; DQ (Tire) 91, Reed Allex, St. Cloud, MN (3), 17.379; DQ (Tire) 17N, Nathan Anderson, Newton, IA (26); 33. DQ (Technical Issue) Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (2)
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 2:03.7: 1. Jamie Ball (6); 2. Tyler Lee (1); 3. Joe Beaver (5); 4. Ryan Leavitt (4); 5. Ben Brown (9); 6. Alex Vande Voort (2); 7. Alan Zoutte (7); 8. Nathan Mills (3); 9. Logan Alexander (8)
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 2:03.3: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Kaleb Johnson (4); 3. Aaron Reutzel (6); 4. Tyler Groenendyk (3); 5. Darin Naida (1); 6. Alex Hill (5); 7. Russell Potter (8); 8. Kurt Mueller (7)
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 2:05.3: 1. Clint Garner (2); 2. Calvin Landis (3); 3. Kade Higday (6); 4. Kelby Watt (5); 5. Cam Martin (4); 6. Aidan Zoutte (7); 7. Tuesday Calderwood (1); 8. Reed Allex (8)
Heat four (started), 7 Laps, 2:05.9: 1. Cole Garner (2); 2. Ryan Giles (3); 3. Terry McCarl (5); 4. Corey Timmerman (1); 5. Jack Anderson (6); 6. Tony Rost (4); 7. John Anderson (7); 8. Nathan Anderson (8)
B main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Nathan Mills (2); 2. Darin Naida (3); 3. Corey Timmerman (4); 4. Ben Brown (8) / 5. Tuesday Calderwood (5); 6. Alan Zoutte (7); 7. Kurt Mueller (10); 8. Russell Potter (11); 9. Nathan Anderson (14); 10. Logan Alexander (13); 11. John Anderson (9); 12. Aidan Zoutte (6) DNS – Reed Allex
A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (4); 2. Jamie Ball (5); 3. Terry McCarl (7); 4. Tasker Phillips (13); 5. Kelby Watt (8); 6. Kaleb Johnson (9); 7. Kade Higday (3); 8. Joe Beaver (2); 9. Clint Garner (15); 10. Jack Anderson (6); 11. Ryan Giles (14); 12. Calvin Landis (12); 13. Ryan Leavitt (11); 14. Cam Martin (17); 15. Alex Hill (10); 16. Cole Garner (16); 17. Nathan Mills (22); 18. Tyler Groenendyk (18); 19. Ben Brown (25); 20. Tyler Lee (19); 21. Corey Timmerman (24); 22. Darin Naida (23); 23. Tony Rost (20); 24. Alex Vande Voort (21). Lap Leaders: Beaver 1-5, Reutzel 6-18. Hard-charger: T. Phillips.
Pro Series Results
Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (4), 17.795; 2. 8J, AJ Johnson, Oskaloosa, IA (14), 17.797; 3. 12P, Ryan Navratil, Des Moines, IA (11), 18.029; 4. 17, Matt Allen, Norwalk, IA (7), 18.038; 5. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (9), 18.122; 6. 2, Casey Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA (1), 18.141; 7. 41, Jeff Wilke, Knoxville, IA (10), 18.264; 8. 7, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (6), 18.312; 9. 8, William Kline, Knoxville, IA (3), 18.474; 10. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (5), 18.656; 11. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (13), 18.663; 12. 88, J Kinder, Linn, MO (8), 18.717; 13. 55, Toby Mosher, Osceola, IA (2), 18.770; 14. 12K, Koddy Hildreth, Zearing, IA (12), 18.890
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:54.8: 1. Mike Mayberry (4); 2. Chase Young (6); 3. Jeff Wilke (3); 4. Ryan Navratil (5); 5. William Kline (2); 6. Toby Mosher (7); 7. Josh Jones (1)
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:52.1: 1. Brandon Worthington (2); 2. J Kinder (1); 3. Casey Friedrichsen (4); 4. AJ Johnson (6); 5. Matt Allen (5); 6. Rob Kubli (3); 7. Koddy Hildreth (7)
A main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Mike Mayberry (5); 2. AJ Johnson (4); 3. Casey Friedrichsen (2); 4. Matt Allen (1); 5. Chase Young (6); 6. Toby Mosher (13); 7. Jeff Wilke (7); 8. Koddy Hildreth (12); 9. J Kinder (9); 10. Ryan Navratil (3); 11. Rob Kubli (11); 12. Brandon Worthington (8); 13. William Kline (10) DNS – Josh Jones. Lap Leaders: Friedrichsen 1-3, Mayberry 4-15. Hard-charger: Mosher.
Category: Iowa, Knoxville Raceway
