Rico Abreu Parks it for B.C. on Friday Night at Knoxville!
Kraig Kinser Earns Saturday A main Starting Spot with World Challenge Win
by Bryan Hulbert and Bill Wright
Kraig Kinser won the Speed Sport World Challenge Friday (Dave Biro – DB3 Images)
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 12, 2016) – Make it 196 different winners at the Knoxville Raceway as California’s Rico Abreu parked the Abreu Vineyards No. 24 in Victory Lane for the first time on FVP/Speed Sport Qualifying Night at the famed half-mile to earn the 17th starting spot in Saturday’s 56th annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.
“We just parked it for B.C.!” screamed Rico across the Public Addresses System to the thunderous approval of a nearly packed front stretch grandstand.
“I was trying to pick and choose,” commented Rico when asked about having to work slower traffic. Revealing how fortunate he was to win, Rico spent most of the race battling a car that changed handling characteristics with each stab of the throttle, “My Wing Valve actually broke so it would roll back on the straightaways, and then I’d get in the corner, and it’d roll back forward, but Paul Silva builds a great car along with EMI and Speedway Engines. It takes track position, and good decisions to get it all put together to win these races.”
With a start that couldn’t have gone any better for Rico, the bottom line was wide open for the No. 24 to shoot into the race lead through the first two turns with Danny Lasoski also taking advantage to move from sixth to second on the opening lap. Advancing back to the top-four after falling back on the start, Brian Brown raced into the third spot on Lap 2 to begin closing in on Lasoski.
Having fallen back on the initial start, Greg Hodnett had the pedals turning hard in the Hoffman No. 27, taking over third on the eighth round from Brown with Lasoski falling to third on the 10th lap. Closing fast on Abreu as the leader worked into traffic, the chance to pounce didn’t present itself as Rico continued to pull away.
Remaining under green as the leaders picked their way around the back markers, Lap 14 saw a family battle setting up as Brian Brown closed again on Danny Lasoski. Still not able to get the run, “The Shark” was closing fast as Logan Schuchart let traffic play to his advantage.
With Rico still untouched at the front of the field, business continued to pick up to be in the top-four as Schuchart was all over Brian Brown in the closing laps. Swapping back and forth, the slide jobs came to a stop as Brown’s night came to a drastic and sudden stop. Trying to avoid the spun No. 23s of Trey Starks, Brown tried the top, hoping to squeeze between the wall and Starks, but it was all over as Brown slammed into the No. 23s, ending his run into the A-Feature.
The race’s lone caution on Lap 21, Rico had to outrun Greg Hodnett on the restart. Able to keep the No. 27 at bay, Abreu went on to win by 1.536 seconds.
Greg Hodnett was runner-up and will start 18th in Saturday’s A-Feature. Asked about the caution, Hodnett replied, “After the yellow, I thought I lost air in the Bleeders and was really just flopping around too much. I thought if we would have kept running there I may have had a shot, but I don’t know. We were just screwing around on the bottom trying to protect ourselves and get a run off each corner and work towards Saturday night.”
Taking third, and earning the 19th starting spot on Saturday was Danny Lasoski. While “The Dude” is never happy finishing anything less than first, the winningest driver at Knoxville was more than pleased to have made the show. “However you have to get in this race, is how we have to get in this race. I’ve seen the No. 15 win from the back and win, and I’ve come from the back and run fourth so anything is possible.”
Having to make up ground after falling back to sixth from the pole on the start, Lucas Wolfe rebounded to the final transfer and spot No. 20 in Saturday’s A-Main. “I got fortunate on the restart obviously with Brown getting caught up and luckily I was good enough to get a decent run to get by Logan [Schuchart] there but it’s just a big relief to make it in.”
Rolling from 16th, Tim Shaffer came on very strong in the final six laps, coming from 10th to fifth and will now start 11th in Saturday’s B-Main. Logan Schuchart ended up sixth with Joey Saldana seventh. Stevie Smith was eighth with Sheldon Haudenschild and Brady Bacon completing the top-ten.
With split qualifying among 77 drivers, Pennsylvania drivers proved to be the quickest. The fastest time in the first group was run by Lucas Wolfe with a time of 15.096 seconds. The second group was topped by Jacob Allen with a time of 15.294 seconds. Group A Heat Races were won by Sheldon Haudenschild, Bill Balog, and Brady Bacon. Group B Heat Races were headed by Dakota Hendrickson, Willie Croft, and Brian Brown. The C-Feature was taken by Parker Price-Miller. Twin B-Mains were won by Dustin Selvage and Jacob Allen.
Kraig Kinser Cashes in $10,000 and Golden Ticket with World Challenge Victory!
Kraig Kinser will be the 25th starter in the championship event Saturday night after winning the $10,000 Speed Sport World Challenge. It was the fifth win of the Bloomington, Indiana driver’s career at Knoxville, and improved his Saturday night standing from his original starting spot in the C main. A “missing man formation” preceded the World Challenge, honoring the late Shane Krikke, Bob Trostle and Bryan Clauson.
Jason Sides shot out from his starting spot outside the front row at the beginning of the 20-lap event ahead of Kinser and Paul McMahan. Kinser shot around Sides on the second circuit and began pulling away. With three lap sin, Brad Sweet spun, collecting Lynton Jeffrey. Only Sweet would return.
Kinser led Sides, McMahan, Danny Dietrich and James McFadden back to green. McFadden and Dietrich battled hard for the third spot exchanging it twice. By lap eleven, Ian Madsen got into the fray and shot by McFadden for fourth. A wild battle saw four-wide chaos for second, third, fourth and fifth between Madsen, McFadden, Dietrich and Sides.
While Kinser rolled up front, Madsen grabbed second with two to go, and was followed by McFadden, Dietrich and a late charging Jamie Veal at the checkers. Sides, Brooke Tatnell, Terry McCarl, Kerry Madsen and McMahan rounded out the top ten.
“I felt like there was somebody right on me there,” said Kinser in Victory Lane. “I was taking it cautious around the bottom, trying not to screw up and get off that line. I just felt like I kept slowing down more and more. I knew I had to pick it up, and was just waiting for Doug Clark to wave that white flag. We didn’t have the best of weekends starting out, but this is a great ending to our night!”
The 56th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores concludes Saturday night! Who will take the $150,000 check home? To order tickets, or find more information about the Knoxville Nationals, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Results from Night #3 of the 56th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores – FVP/Speed Sport Night
Group A Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 1Z, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (38), 15.096; 2. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (25), 15.198; 3. 7D, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (8), 15.229; 4. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (24), 15.237; 5. 51S, Stevie Smith, Broken Arrow, OK (4), 15.260; 6. 83, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (13), 15.275; 7. 71M, Dave Blaney, Concord, NC (5), 15.288; 8. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (18), 15.334; 9. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (12), 15.435; 10. 93, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (23), 15.438; 11. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (3), 15.465; 12. 7W, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 15.470; 13. 55L, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (16), 15.505; 14. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (15), 15.523; 15. 23S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (22), 15.526; 16. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (20), 15.561; 17. 55W, Logan Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (1), 15.684; 18. 18W, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (32), 15.711; 19. 7M, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (29), 15.730; 20. 3G, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (21), 15.752; 21. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (28), 15.763; 22. 18JS, Jason Solwold, Mount Vernon, WA (33), 15.787; 23. 97, Dean Jacobs, Wooster, OH (14), 15.790; 24. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (35), 15.802; 25. 17, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (39), 15.837; 26. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (6), 15.851; 27. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (27), 15.873; 28. 23, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (9), 15.910; 29. 1X, Chad Trout, Dover, PA (26), 15.932; 30. 4S, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (11), 15.991; 31. 77X, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (37), 16.013; 32. 4K, Kody Kinser, Bloomington, IN (17), 16.100; 33. 31B, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (19), 16.193; 34. 13, Clyde Knipp, California, MO (7), 16.280; 35. 28AM, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (36), 16.362; 36. 15B, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (31), 16.540; 37. 83C, Adam Cruea, Troy, OH (30), 17.002; 38. 71B, Robert Bell, Colfax, IA (34), 17.469; 39. 00, Dane Lorenc, Lancaster, NY (10), 16.410
Group B Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (3), 15.294; 2. 27, Greg Hodnett, Spring Grove, PA (5), 15.316; 3. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (38), 15.340; 4. 2, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (12), 15.364; 5. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (29), 15.445; 6. 21H, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (19), 15.455; 7. 10, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (1), 15.466; 8. 5H, Cory Eliason, Selma, CA (2), 15.506; 9. 09, Matt Juhl, Sioux Falls, SD (10), 15.573; 10. 10V, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15), 15.629; 11. 26, Willie Croft, Roseville, CA (14), 15.653; 12. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (6), 15.686; 13. 70, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (34), 15.738; 14. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (7), 15.746; 15. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (20), 15.785; 16. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (27), 15.788; 17. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (17), 15.795; 18. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (18), 15.803; 19. 3, Billy Alley, Bennet, NE (11), 15.820; 20. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (30), 15.831; 21. 88N, DJ Netto, Hanford, CA (9), 15.839; 22. 12H, Daniel Harding, Canning Vale, WA, Aust. (4), 15.859; 23. 7, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (22), 15.873; 24. 23C, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (8), 15.927; 25. 20N, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (26), 15.965; 26. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (21), 15.993; 27. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (16), 16.001; 28. 1XX, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (32), 16.025; 29. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (24), 16.140; 30. 21T, Ray Allen Kulhanek, Magnolia, TX (25), 16.169; 31. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (37), 16.171; 32. 22, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (23), 16.194; 33. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (36), 16.227; 34. 5R, Byron Reed, Monclova, OH (28), 16.229; 35. 7J, Joe Swanson, Etna Green, IN (33), 16.386; 36. 02, Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI (35), 16.422; 37. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (31), 16.467; 38. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (13), NT.
Group A Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:09.0: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild (1); 2. Lucas Wolfe (4); 3. Dave Blaney (2) / 4. Jason Solwold (8); 5. Aaron Reutzel (5); 6. Jason Sides (6); 7. Josh Baughman (9); 8. Parker Price-Miller (11); 9. Paige Polyak (3); 10. Kaley Gharst (7); 11. Jimmy Light (10); 12. Clyde Knipp (12)
Group A Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:09.4: 1. Bill Balog (1); 2. Rico Abreu (4); 3. Stevie Smith (3) / 4. Kraig Kinser (2); 5. Randy Hannagan (5); 6. Brandon Wimmer (7); 7. Dean Jacobs (8); 8. Logan Wagner (6); 9. Glen Saville (9); 10. Kody Kinser (11); 11. Chad Trout (10); 12. Brian Paulus (12)
Group A Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.6: 1. Brady Bacon (2); 2. Tasker Phillips (1); 3. Joey Saldana (3) / 4. Dustin Selvage (4); 5. Trey Starks (5); 6. Clint Garner (7); 7. Chase Johnson (9); 8. Colby Copeland (6); 9. AJ Moeller (8); 10. Danny Smith (10); 11. Shane Golobic (11); 12. Bobby Mincer (12)
Group B Heat one (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Dakota Hendrickson (2); 2. Danny Lasoski (3); 3. Matt Moro (6) / 4. Rager Phillips (1); 5. Daniel Harding (8); 6. Hunter Schuerenberg (9); 7. Don Droud Jr. (10); 8. Chris Martin (11); 9. Billy Alley (7); 10. Byron Reed (12); 11. Danny Holtgraver (5); 12. Jacob Allen (4)
Group B Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.2: 1. Willie Croft (1); 2. Greg Hodnett (4); 3. Logan Schuchart (3) / 4. Cory Eliason (2); 5. Davey Heskin (5); 6. Paul McMahan (8); 7. Josh Schneiderman (7); 8. Johnny Herrera (10); 9. Jon Agan (9); 10. Jac Haudenschild (11); 11. Joe Swanson (12); 12. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6)
Group B Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Brian Brown (4); 2. Tim Shaffer (1); 3. Matt Juhl (2) / 4. Cap Henry (3); 5. Austin McCarl (5); 6. DJ Netto (7); 7. RJ Johnson (9); 8. Greg Wilson (6); 9. Ray Allen Kulhanek (10); 10. Scott Bogucki (11); 11. Mike Reinke (12); 12. Tyler Courtney (8)
C main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Parker Price-Miller (3); 2. Chris Martin (4); 3. Ray Allen Kulhanek (2); 4. Danny Smith (1) / 5. Byron Reed (10); 6. Brian Paulus (9); 7. Joe Swanson (12); 8. Kody Kinser (5); 9. Clyde Knipp (7); 10. Mike Reinke (14); 11. Bobby Mincer (11); 12. Bob Weuve (16); 13. Jac Haudenschild (6); 14. Robert Bell (15); 15. Scott Bogucki (8); 16. Adam Cruea (13); DNS – Shane Golobic; 18. Jonathan Cornell; 19. Dane Lorenc
Group A B Feature (started), 12 Laps, 3:32.0: 1. Dustin Selvage (1); 2. Kraig Kinser (3); 3. Trey Starks (6) / 4. Randy Hannagan (5); 5. Jason Sides (7); 6. Colby Copeland (9); 7. Aaron Reutzel (4); 8. Brandon Wimmer (11); 9. Clint Garner (12); 10. Paige Polyak (2); 11. Logan Wagner (8); 12. Dean Jacobs (14); 13. Kaley Gharst (10); 14. Jason Solwold (13); 15. Josh Baughman (16); 16. Parker Price-Miller (21); 17. AJ Moeller (15); 18. Chase Johnson (18); 19. Ray Allen Kulhanek (22); 20. Jimmy Light (19); 21. Glen Saville (17); 22. Chad Trout (20);
Group B B Feature (started), 12 Laps, 3:32.9: 1. Jacob Allen (1); 2. Cap Henry (2); 3. Davey Heskin (6) / 4. Cory Eliason (3); 5. Billy Alley (8); 6. Rager Phillips (4); 7. DJ Netto (10); 8. Paul McMahan (12); 9. Danny Holtgraver (5); 10. Austin McCarl (7); 11. Johnny Herrera (18); 12. Greg Wilson (9); 13. Josh Schneiderman (11); 14. Daniel Harding (13); 15. Don Droud Jr. (19); 16. Chris Martin (21); 17. Hunter Schuerenberg (14); 18. RJ Johnson (16); 19. Tyler Courtney (15); 20. Jon Agan (17); 21. Danny Smith (20) DNS – 22. Sam Hafertepe Jr.
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Rico Abreu (3); 2. Greg Hodnett (2); 3. Danny Lasoski (6); 4. Lucas Wolfe (1) / 5. Tim Shaffer (16); 6. Logan Schuchart (8); 7. Joey Saldana (7); 8. Stevie Smith (5); 9. Sheldon Haudenschild (13); 10. Brady Bacon (11); 11. Tasker Phillips (17); 12. Dustin Selvage (19); 13. Bill Balog (15); 14. Cap Henry (22); 15. Davey Heskin (24); 16. Matt Moro (18); 17. Kraig Kinser (21); 18. Matt Juhl (12); 19. Dave Blaney (9); 20. Dakota Hendrickson (10); 21. Jacob Allen (20); 22. Willie Croft (14); 23. Brian Brown (4); 24. Trey Starks (23). Lap Leaders: Abreu 1-25. Hard-charger: Shaffer.
Speed Sport World Challenge (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Kraig Kinser (1); 2. Ian Madsen (9); 3. James McFadden (8); 4. Danny Dietrich (4); 5. Jamie Veal (13); 6. Jason Sides (2); 7. Brooke Tatnell (6); 8. Terry McCarl (11); 9. Kerry Madsen (12); 10. Paul McMahan (3); 11. Daniel Harding (5); 12. Brad Sweet (10); 13. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 14. Scott Bogucki (16); 15. Randy Hannagan (14); 16. Danny Smith (17); 17. Glen Saville (15). Lap Leaders: Sides 1, Kr. Kinser 2-20. Hard-charger: Veal.
Category: Iowa, Knoxville Raceway
