by Stacy Ervin

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, August 5, 2011 – Lee Grosz of Harwood, North Dakota, won the first qualifying main event for the 21st Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals and it was also his first career win at the Knoxville Raceway. In victory lane, he noted his goal for the weekend was just to put himself into the A-Main finale on Saturday night for the first time.

The opening night was originally scheduled for Thursday, however a steady rain that evening postponed the show. That meant all the cars entered in the Lucas Oil ASCS-sanctioned event ran on Friday, August 5, split into a “Thursday” group and a “Friday” group. Rain also threatened on Friday but moved out of the area before washing out the show.

Grosz started on the pole of the 20-lap main and led all the laps, holding off outside front-row starter Davey Heskin the entire distance. There was a red flag on the original start as Dave Hall got upside down in turns one and two. On the next complete restart, Chad Humston was a victim of bad luck when Jeff Swindell’s car stumbled and Humston jumped his wheel. The race stayed green but Humston fell all the way to the back.

The red flag came out on lap six, when Matt Covington got upside down in turn two. At this stoppage, Humston and Terry McCarl also pulled to the work area. After that, Grosz continued to hold off Heskin and third-place runner Jason Johnson. He hit lapped traffic at lap 15 and that allowed those behind him to close.

The yellow flag came out again on lap 18 when Zach Chappell got turned around in turn two. When the race went green again, the red flag returned for a vicious crash in turns one and two which involved Jon Agan, RJ Johnson and Kolt Walker.

From there, Grosz kept the lead while Heskin came home a close second.  Jason Johnson was third and Jeff Swindell fourth. Billy Alley came from 23rd starting spot to finish fifth.

Zach Chappell set the Thursday group’s quickest time trial at 15.944. Heat races for the Thursday group were won by Zach Chappell, Calvin Landis, Jon Agan, Tasker Phillips and Kolt Walker. Brant O’Banion won the C-Main and Sam Hafertepe Jr. won the B-Main.

Thursday Qualifiers Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 1 lap: 1. 0, Zach Chappell, Talala, OK (15) 15.944; 2. 71, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (19) 15.965; 3. 22, Billy Alley, Bennett, NE (21) 15.976; 4. 1m, Chad Humston, Giltner, NE (12) 16.042; 5. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (18) 16.045; 6. 94, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (14) 16.057; 7. 4BX, Jordan Boston, Crete, NE (49) 16.103; 8. 28, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (36) 16.125; 9. 55, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (24) 16.132; 10. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (22) 16.145; 11. 5M, Justyn Cox, Clarksburg, CA (2) 16.170; 12. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (1) 16.192; 13. 29, Bud Kaeding, Campbell, CA (33) 16.205; 14. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (32) 16.209; 15. 4B, Eric Baldaccini, Keller, TX (38) 16.213; 16. 7x, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (42) 16.221; 17. 47, Brant O’Banion, Norfolk, NE (26) 16.275; 18. 2MX, Dustin Daggett, Portland, MI (5) 16.296; 19. 29T, Travis Rilat, Forney, TX (13) 16.296; 20. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA (47) 16.308; 21. 25, Dylan Peterson, Sioux Falls, SD (17) 16.312; 22. 79, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (23) 16.324; 23. 2m, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (43) 16.335; 24. 11c, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (3) 16.344; 25. 45K, Kolt Walker, Graham, TX (20) 16.373; 26. 51, David Hall, Des Moines, IA (11) 16.388; 27. 11, Roger Crockett, Medford, OR (34) 16.405; 28. 4, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (29) 16.411; 29. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (44) 16.419; 30. 8, Jon Carney II, El Paso, TX (28) 16.446; 31. 54, Casey Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA (39) 16.451; 32. 28c, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (9) 16.456; 33. 10, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (25) 16.456; 34. 98, JD Johnson, Wichita, KS (16) 16.492; 35. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (35) 16.526; 36. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (31) 16.532; 37. 14, Randy Martin, California, MO (41) 16.536; 38. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (6) 16.546; 39. 5JR, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (4) 16.586; 40. 00, Brad Foster, Melbourne, VIC, Aust. (10) 16.589; 41. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Liberal, KS (45) 16.665; 42. 9m, Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, CO (37) 16.765; 43. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (48) 16.776; 44. 04, Chad Heimbaugh, Pleasant Hill, IA (7) 16.863; 45. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (8) 16.931; 46. 92c, Cody Ambers, Knoxville, IA (30) 16.985; 47. 33A, Austin Alumbaugh, Higginsville, MO (40) 17.023; 48. 11cx, Dakota Carroll, LaMonte, MO (27) 17.128; 49. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (46) 17.206.

Heat one (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Zach Chappell (6) 2. David Hall (1) 3. Dustin Selvage (3) 4. Derek Hagar (5) / 5. Joe Beaver (8) 6. Casey Friedrichsen (7) 7. Justyn Cox (4) 8. Tony Bruce Jr. (9) / 9. Dylan Peterson (2) 10. Cody Ambers (10)

Heat two (started), 8 laps, 2:15.3: 1. Calvin Landis (2) 2. Davey Heskin (4) 3. Roger Crockett (1) 4. RJ Johnson (6) / 5. Jonathan Cornell (7) 6. Randy Martin (8) 7. Jordan Boston (5) 8. Ricky Montgomery (9) / 9. Brant O’Banion (3) 10. Austin Alumbaugh (10)

Heat three (started), 8 laps, 2:12.6: 1. Jon Agan (1) 2. Matt Moro (2) 3. Jeff Swindell (5) 4. Dustin Daggett (3) / 5. Bud Kaeding (4) 6. Billy Alley (6) 7. Tyler Groenendyk (7) 8. Dakota Carroll (10) / 9. Alan Zoutte (8) 10. Brian Brown (9)

Heat four (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Tasker Phillips (1) 2. Matt Covington (2) 3. Lee Grosz (4) 4. Chad Humston (6) / 5. Travis Rilat (3) 6. Terry McCarl (5) 7. Chad Heimbaugh (9) 8. JD Johnson (7) / 9. Kevin Ingle (10) 10. Jamie Ball (8)

Heat five (started), 8 laps, 2:15.0: 1. Kolt Walker (2) 2. Eric Baldaccini (4) 3. Jon Carney II (1) 4. Jason Johnson (5) / 5. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6) 6. Russ Hall (3) 7. Brady Bacon (7) 8. Aaron Reutzel (9) / 9. Brad Foster (8)

C main (started), 5 laps, 1:22.2 (NTR):  1. Brant O’Banion (1) 2. Dylan Peterson (2) / 3. Brad Foster (4) 4. Austin Alumbaugh (5) 5. Kevin Ingle (3) DNS – Jamie Ball, Cody Ambers, Alan Zoutte, Brian Brown

B main (started), 12 laps, 3:19.9 (NTR): 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2) 2. Terry McCarl (4) 3. Billy Alley (1) 4. Jordan Boston (3) / 5. Russ Hall (8) 6. Travis Rilat (7) 7. Justyn Cox (5) 8. Bud Kaeding (6) 9. Joe Beaver (14) 10. Brady Bacon (13) 11. Casey Friedrichsen (9) 12. Ricky Montgomery (17) 13. Tyler Groenendyk (11) 14. Dylan Peterson (20) 15. Tony Bruce Jr. (16) 16. JD Johnson (12) 17. Chad Heimbaugh (18) 18. Jonathan Cornell (10) 19. Dakota Carroll (19)  20. Randy Martin (15) DNS – 21. Aaron Reutzel 22. Brant O’Banion

A main (started), 20 laps, NT: 1. Lee Grosz (1) 2. Davey Heskin (2) 3. Jason Johnson (3) 4. Jeff Swindell (4) 5. Billy Alley (23) 6. Derek Hagar (5) 7. Dustin Selvage (10) 8. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (21) 9. Eric Baldaccini (9) 10. Roger Crockett (17) 11. Dustin Daggett (11) 12. Terry McCarl (22) 13. Jordan Boston (24) 14. Tasker Phillips (19) 15. Chad Humston (6) 16. Jon Carney II (20) 17. Calvin Landis (12) 18. RJ Johnson (7) 19. Jon Agan (18) 20. Kolt Walker (15) 21. Matt Moro (13) 22. Zach Chappell (8) 23. Matt Covington (14) 24. David Hall (16). Lap Leader: Grosz 1-20.

Swindell wins second qualifying main of 21st Annual 360 Knoxville Nationals!

by Stacy Ervin

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, August 5, 2011 – Sammy Swindell of Germantown, Tennessee, won the second qualifying main event for the 21st Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals, stealing what looked like it might be a birthday victory from Wayne Johnson.

The first night of qualifying for the event was postponed by rain, so all cars entered in the Lucas Oil ASCS-sanctioned event ran on Friday, August 5, split into a “Thursday” group and a “Friday” group. Rain also threatened on Friday, but moved out of the area for the show.

Johnson started on the pole and led through the first 11 laps while Swindell, who started fourth, tried to wrestle second from outside front-row starter Ryan Anderson. The yellow flag came out at lap two for Larry Ball Jr., who was stopped in turn four.

After going green again, Johnson led while Anderson and Swindell picked up their torrid battle. Swindell finally got the spot on lap six. The race stayed green from there and Swindell started to close on Johnson in traffic at the halfway mark.

Swindell took the lead in turn four coming to the flagstand for lap 12 and never looked back. Johnson held on to second ahead of a hard-charging Shane Stewart in third. Randy Hannagan was fourth and Anderson slid back to fifth.

Danny Lasoski set the Friday group’s fastest time trial at 16.069. Heat races for the Friday group were won by Daryn Pittman, Brooke Tatnell, Tony Shilling, Jake Peters and Danny Wood. Chad Meyer won the C-Main and Larry Ball Jr. won the B-Main.

Friday Qualifiers Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 1 lap: 1. 33L, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (13) 16.069; 2. 22H, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (24) 16.173; 3. 57, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (12) 16.272; 4. 11x, Gregg Bakker, Sioux Falls, SD (47) 16.283; 5. 83, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (18) 16.287; 6. 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA (40) 16.292; 7. 5J, Larry Ball Jr., Knoxville, IA (27) 16.320; 8. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (48) 16.336; 9. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (25) 16.340; 10. D12, Dennis Moore Jr., Grinnell, IA (14) 16.341; 11. 1s, Sammy  Swindell, Germantown, TN (23) 16.341; 12. 35, Ronnie Blair, Troy, OH (8) 16.376; 13. 87J, Justin Carver, Millington, TN (20) 16.380; 14. 71R, Ryan Anderson, Deloit, IA (38) 16.397; 15. 38, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (28) 16.401; 16. 88, Tim Crawley, Benton, AR (33) 16.444; 17. 2, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (1) 16.469; 18. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (19) 16.470; 19. 89G, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (37) 16.478; 20. 04x, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (17) 16.543; 21. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (44) 16.546; 22. 2D, Bryan Dobesh, Sioux Falls, SD (29) 16.547; 23. 47T, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (30) 16.548; 24. 57x, Jake Peters, Sioux Falls, SD (16) 16.575; 25. 9, Gary Wright, Hooks, TX (9) 16.580; 26. 27, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (46) 16.596; 27. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (3) 16.605; 28. 91, Henry Van Dam, Enumclaw, WA (11) 16.606; 29. 09, Matt Juhl, Estherville, IA (4) 16.609; 30. 81, Danny Wood, Norman, OK (15) 16.611; 31. 7, Gary Taylor, Houma, LA (39) 16.703; 32. 1w, Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls, SD (35) 16.718;  33. 23w, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (21) 16.723; 34. 41w, Joshua Williams, Glendale, AZ (41) 16.739; 35. 1x, Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, KS (45) 16.754; 36. 51H, Mike Hess, Springfield, IL (7) 16.773; 37. 7m, Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX (22) 16.836; 38. 87B, Jason Barney, Bremerton, NY (36) 16.841; 39. 9mx, Cody Baker, Lone Jack, MO (43) 16.892; 40. 19s, Steven Cross, Clinton, MO (6) 16.898; 41. 21A, Dustin Beenken, Sheldon, IA (34) 16.921; 42. 45x, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (10) 16.925; 43. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (32) 16.969; 44. 83P, Ned Powers, Belle Fourche, SD (26) 16.972; 45. 93A, Alan Ambers, Knoxville, IA (31) 17.027; 46. 2H, Jason Eckard, Okoboji, IA (5) 17.035; 47. 3*, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (42) 17.064; 48. 22K, Koby Barksdale, Norman, OK (2) 17.120.

Heat one (started), 8 laps, NT: 1. Daryn Pittman (1) 2. Sammy  Swindell (4) 3. Tim Crawley (3) 4. Nate Van Haaften (2) / 5. Seth Bergman (5) 6. Gary Taylor (7) 7. Mike Hess (8) 8. Jason Eckard (10) / 9. Danny Lasoski (6) 10. Dustin Beenken (9)

Heat two (started), 8 laps, 2:12.3: 1. Brooke Tatnell (1) 2. Bryan Dobesh (2) 3. Randy Hannagan (6) 4. Josh Higday (3) / 5. Ronnie Blair (4) 6. Johnny Herrera (9) 7. Larry Ball Jr. (5) 8. Kevin Ramey (8) / 9. Chad Meyer (7) DNS – Kaley Gharst

Heat three (started), 8 laps, 2:14.4: 1. Tony Shilling (2) 2. Shane Stewart (6) 3. Henry Van Dam (1) 4. Justin Carver (4) / 5. Ryan Roberts (3) 6. Clint Garner (5) 7. Scott Winters (7) 8. Koby Barksdale (10) / 9. Tom Lenz (9) 10. Jason Barney (8)

Heat four (started), 8 laps, 2:14.0: 1. Jake Peters (2) 2. Ryan Anderson (4) 3. Gregg Bakker (6) 4. David Gravel (3) / 5. Jack Dover (5) 6. Matt Juhl (1) 7. Cody Baker (8) 8. Ned Powers (9) / 9. Joshua Williams (7)

Heat five (started), 8 laps, 2:13.3: 1. Danny Wood (1) 2. Wayne Johnson (4) 3. Gary Wright (2) 4. Tim Shaffer (6) / 5. Cap Henry (3) 6. Dennis Moore Jr. (5) 7. Garry Lee Maier (7) 8. Alan Ambers (9) / 9. Steven Cross (8)

C main (started), 7 laps, 1:58.0: 1. Chad Meyer (1) 2. Joshua Williams (2) / 3. Jason Barney (3) 4. Kaley Gharst (7) 5. Dustin Beenken (5) 6. Steven Cross (4) 7. Tom Lenz (6) DNS – Danny Lasoski

B main (started), 12 laps, 3:26.2: 1. Larry Ball Jr. (2) 2. Clint Garner (3) 3. Seth Bergman (1) 4. Jack Dover (4) / 5. Cap Henry (8) 6. Dennis Moore Jr. (5) 7. Johnny Herrera (16) 8. Ronnie Blair (6) 9. Gary Taylor (10) 10. Scott Winters (11) 11. Ryan Roberts (7) 12. Garry Lee Maier (12) 13. Matt Juhl (9) 14. Kevin Ramey (14) 15. Chad Meyer (21) 16. Koby Barksdale (20) 17. Jason Eckard (19) 18. Mike Hess (13) 19. Cody Baker (15) 20. Ned Powers (17) 21. Alan Ambers (18)  22. Joshua Williams (22)

A main (started), 20 laps, NT: 1. Sammy  Swindell (4) 2. Wayne Johnson (1) 3. Shane Stewart (7) 4. Randy Hannagan (8) 5. Ryan Anderson (2) 6. Justin Carver (3) 7. David Gravel (11) 8. Tim Shaffer (5) 9. Daryn Pittman (17) 10. Josh Higday (10) 11. Brooke Tatnell (18) 12. Gregg Bakker (6) 13. Tim Crawley (9) 14. Danny Wood (20) 15. Clint Garner (22) 16. Nate Van Haaften (12) 17. Seth Bergman (23) 18. Tony Shilling (14) 19. Jake Peters (15) 20. Henry Van Dam (19) 21. Bryan Dobesh (13) 22. Gary Wright (16) 23. Larry Ball Jr. (21) DNS – 24. Jack Dover. Lap Leaders: W. Johnson 1-11, S. Swindell 12-20.

Lineups for Saturday…