by Bryan Hulbert/Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, August 3, 2014 – The third annual Capitani Classic found its third winner, and first from Australia as Ian Madsen led start-to-finish for his sixth win of the season, and fifth overall at the Knoxville Raceway.

Rolling from the pole, Madsen had to reclaim an early Justin Henderson lead and outrun his brother, Kerry Madsen. Asked about starting on the pole, Madsen replied, “I never imagined it in this world. I was so angry after qualifying; I thought we had messed up a good chance at having a really good night. I couldn’t believe it when I found out I was on the front row.”

Henderson grabbed the early lead for a moment entering the third turn. Giving just enough room to maneuver, Ian Madsen stuck the cushion to squeeze between Henderson and the wall exiting turn four.

Finding slower traffic by the tenth round, Madsen held a constant half straight-a-way lead as the race from second through fifth was anyone’s game.

Battling with Justin Henderson and Kerry Madsen for several laps, Davey Heskin’s car seemed to get better with time as the No. 56 found second on Lap 12. Still battling around with Kevin Swindell and Brian Brown joining the mix, the group began running down Ian Madsen who worked into heavier slower traffic before the caution flew with five laps to run as Kevin Swindell slapped the wall in turn two; ending the defending champions bid for three consecutive podium finishes.

Working into third before the caution, Brian Brown shot to the runner spot on the restart. Taking off after Madsen, the opportunity would never present itself as Ian Madsen ran to his first Capitani Classic victory.

Brian Brown from eighth was second with Kerry Madsen coming back to third after falling as far back as sixth. Davey Heskin ended up fourth with Justin Henderson making up the top five. Brad Sweet, Danny Lasoski, Daryn Pittman, hard-charger Shane Stewart and Jason Johnson rounded out the top ten.  Bronson Maeschen, who won the inaugural Capitani Classic placed eleventh.

Randy Hannagan set quick time over the 71-car field, and grabbed the first of two B mains.  Heskin, Paul McMahan, Henderson, Lynton Jeffrey, Tony Bruce Jr. and Jason Johnson won the heats.  Craig Dollansky won the second B main.

Ian Madsen’s second win in a row in Knoxville Championship Cup Series action has him 88 points ahead of Henderson, 104 points in front of Terry McCarl and 114 points ahead of Brian Brown heading into the August 23 Season Championship Night here.

The Knoxville Raceway lights up next for the 54th running of the FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. Donny Schatz is the defending champion of the event, and carries a dozen wins on the season into the $150,000 to win event. Qualifying kicks off Wednesday, August 6 with the championship event on Saturday, August 9. For updates, and information, log onto http://www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com.

410 Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (2), 15.866; 2. 71M, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (32), 15.915; 3. 45, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (9), 15.918; 4. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (29), 16.086; 5. 14K, Dale Blaney, Hartford, OH (17), 16.088; 6. 5J, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (5), 16.097; 7. 1S, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (20), 16.172; 8. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (35), 16.197; 9. 17W, Cole Wood, Auburn, CA (16), 16.257; 10. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (43), 16.261; 11. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (26), 16.268; 12. 4C, Cody Darrah, Red Lion, PA (19), 16.271; 13. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (12), 16.286; 14. 1M, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (13), 16.286; 15. 9, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (54), 16.286; 16. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (31), 16.292; 17. 49K, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (14), 16.293; 18. 83, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (34), 16.299; 19. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (22), 16.306; 20. 55X, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (3), 16.308; 21. 1, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (15), 16.309; 22. 29, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust (50), 16.321; 23. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust (23), 16.326; 24. 71, Kevin Swindell, Bartlett, TN (18), 16.379; 25. 10H, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (58), 16.379; 26. 51, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (60), 16.380; 27. 82, Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN (53), 16.395; 28. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (55), 16.400; 29. 18T, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (6), 16.431; 30. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (1), 16.482; 31. 96, Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (46), 16.483; 32. 2, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (67), 16.488; 33. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (63), 16.497; 34. 47, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (38), 16.521; 35. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (28), 16.522; 36. 83X, Jason Meyers, Clovis, CA (52), 16.531; 37. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (59), 16.560; 38. 39C, Travis Rilat, Forney, TX (4), 16.571; 39. 27, Greg Hodnett, Spring Grove, PA (49), 16.626; 40. 05, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO (11), 16.662; 41. 1K, Chris Shirek, Thompson, ND (25), 16.669; 42. 5V, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (47), 16.674; 43. 29W, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (37), 16.714; 44. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (10), 16.715; 45. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (69), 16.719; 46. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (24), 16.731; 47. 1SX, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (42), 16.755; 48. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (27), 16.768; 49. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (45), 16.783; 50. 23, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (51), 16.786; 51. 24H, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (7), 16.833; 52. 91, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (56), 16.839; 53. 4, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (68), 16.876; 54. 69, Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA (21), 16.877; 55. 7K, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (40), 16.901; 56. 9W, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (48), 16.937; 57. 53, Andy Gregg, Placerville, CA (62), 16.950; 58. 74X, Josh Hodges, Tijeras, NM (44), 17.004; 59. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (70), 17.028; 60. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (36), 17.107; 61. 1B, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (64), 17.255; 62. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (57), 17.588; 63. 45C, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (33), 17.619; 64. 19, Bob Weuve, Newton, IA (71), 17.846; 65. 28, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (66), 17.871; 66. 12P, TJ Peterson, Des Moines, IA (65), 19.641; 67. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (8), 25.168; 68. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (30), NT; 69. 10, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (39), NT; 70. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (61), NT; DQ (Tire) – 31B, Christopher Bell, Norman, OK (41), 16.752.

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.2: 1. Davey Heskin (3); 2. Bronson Maeschen (1); 3. Danny Holtgraver (2) / 4. Randy Hannagan (6); 5. Clint Garner (4); 6. Sammy Swindell (5); 7. Brooke Tatnell (7); 8. Johnny Herrera (9); 9. Danny Dietrich (8); 10. Sheldon Haudenschild (11); 11. Dustin Selvage (10) DNS – Josh Schneiderman

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.0: 1. Paul McMahan (2); 2. Shane Stewart (1); 3. Danny Lasoski (4) / 4. Joey Saldana (6); 5. Terry McCarl (5); 6. Travis Rilat (7); 7. Trey Starks (3); 8. Brady Bacon (8); 9. Jac Haudenschild (10); 10. Jimmy Light (9); 11. Chris Martin (11); 12. Christopher Bell (12)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:14.4: 1. Justin Henderson (3); 2. Mark Dobmeier (1); 3. Daryn Pittman (4); 4. Tim Shaffer (6); 5. Bryan Clauson (2); 6. Greg Hodnett (7); 7. Cole Wood (5); 8. Tasker Phillips (8); 9. Brandon Wimmer (9); 10. Dustin Clark (11); 11. Andy Gregg (10) DNNS – Calvin Landis

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.6: 1. Lynton Jeffrey (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (3); 3. Brian Brown (5); 4. Craig Dollansky (6); 5. Don Droud Jr. (1); 6. Glen Saville (8); 7. Rico Abreu (4); 8. Brad Loyet (7); 9. Josh Hodges (10); 10. Dusty Zomer (9); 11. Bob Weuve (11) DNS – Jeff Swindell

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.8: 1. Tony Bruce Jr. (2); 2. Ian Madsen (3); 3. Brad Sweet (4) / 4. Dale Blaney (6); 5. RJ Johnson (5); 6. Logan Schuchart (8); 7. Paige Polyak (1); 8. Greg Wilson (10); 9. Dakota Hendrickson (9); 10. Chris Shirek (7); 11. Brian Paulus (11)

Heat six (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.3: 1. Jason Johnson (2); 2. Jason Meyers (1); 3. Kevin Swindell (3); 4. David Gravel (4); 5. Cody Darrah (5); 6. Wayne Johnson (6); 7. Colby Copeland (7); 8. AJ Moeller (10); 9. Jacob Allen (8); 10. TJ Peterson (11) DNS – Mike Moore, Kevin Ingle

B main one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Randy Hannagan (1); 2. Tim Shaffer (2); 3. Dale Blaney (3) / 4. Rico Abreu (7); 5. Cody Darrah (6); 6. Sammy Swindell (4); 7. Don Droud Jr. (9); 8. Cole Wood (5); 9. Greg Hodnett (11); 10. Brooke Tatnell (10); 11. Johnny Herrera (16); 12. Dustin Selvage (19); 13. Brandon Wimmer (17); 14. Chris Shirek (12); 15. Greg Wilson (21); 16. Trey Starks (8); 17. Brian Paulus (22); 18. Andy Gregg (18); 19. Dustin Clark (23); 20. Sheldon Haudenschild (20); 21. Danny Dietrich (13); 22. Logan Schuchart (15); 23. Tasker Phillips (14); 24. Kevin Ingle (24) DNS – Dakota Hendrickson

B main two (started), 12 Laps, 3:30.5: 1. Craig Dollansky (2); 2. Joey Saldana (1); 3. Terry McCarl (4) / 4. David Gravel (7); 5. Wayne Johnson (3); 6. Clint Garner (6); 7. RJ Johnson (5); 8. Bryan Clauson (8); 9. Travis Rilat (10); 10. Colby Copeland (12); 11. Brad Loyet (11); 12. Brady Bacon (13); 13. Glen Saville (14); 14. Josh Hodges (20); 15. Paige Polyak (9); 16. Jimmy Light (16); 17. Mike Moore (18); 18. Bob Weuve (19); 19. Jac Haudenschild (19); 20. Dusty Zomer (15); 21. Chris Martin (21) DNS – Jacob Allen, AJ Moeller, TJ Peterson, Christopher Bell

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Ian Madsen (1); 2. Brian Brown (8); 3. Kerry Madsen (2); 4. Davey Heskin (4); 5. Justin Henderson (3); 6. Brad Sweet (5); 7. Danny Lasoski (7); 8. Daryn Pittman (6); 9. Shane Stewart (16); 10. Jason Johnson (14); 11. Bronson Maeschen (15); 12. Mark Dobmeier (17); 13. Jason Meyers (18); 14. Tony Bruce Jr. (13); 15. Lynton Jeffrey (12); 16. Dale Blaney (23); 17. Paul McMahan (11); 18. Terry McCarl (24); 19. Danny Holtgraver (10); 20. Tim Shaffer (21); 21. Joey Saldana (22); 22. Randy Hannagan (19); 23. Kevin Swindell (9); 24. Craig Dollansky (20). Lap Leader: I. Madsen 1-25. Hard-charger: Stewart.