Lonnie Wheatley, KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 6, 2011) – Shane Stewart made it back-to-back ASCS Knoxville Nationals championships by taking the $10,000 winner’s share in Saturday night’s 25-lap Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters feature event atop the ½-mile Knoxville Raceway clay oval.
Stewart held off a mid-race bid from Sammy Swindell and then slipped away in the final circuits aboard Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rockstar Energy Drink No. 57 A.R.T. for his third career ASCS Knoxville Nationals championship and 24th career ASCS National triumph.
“I could hear him back there, you can’t mess around when he’s behind you,” the current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader explained after his second series win of the year.
Stewart ultimately took the checkered flag ahead of Tim Shaffer, who took second away from Swindell in the closing laps. Swindell settled for the show position, with Billy Alley and Davey Heskin rounding out the top five.
After accumulating the most points in Friday’s preliminary action to earn the pole position, Stewart led the feature field to the green flag with Randy Hannagan alongside only to have the initial start waved off when 20th-starter Dustin Selvage went for a wild ride in the opening pair of corners.
On the restart, Stewart beat Hannagan into turn one and held a slight advantage on the low side of the track before the red flag flew again on the fourth circuit for Derek Hagar’s turn two flip.
Stewart led Hannagan and third-starter Sammy Swindell when action resumed and began to slip away from his chasers by the sixth round, with Swindell moving past Hannagan for second on the seventh circuit.
With Stewart working the low side and Swindell on the cushion in the Big Game Tree Stands No. 1, the battle for the point was heating up just as the final caution of the race flew after 11 laps for Clint Garner, who came to a stop in turn one.
Stewart took off on the restart, sticking primarily to the low side over the remaining laps. Swindell tried to move in to challenge, but Stewart worked through traffic with ease in the final handful of circuits to secure the win.
“That seemed like the slowest 25 laps I’ve ever run here,” Stewart explained. “We watched Kevin (Swindell) win the 410 feature and figured the bottom was the place to be. You just have to be so patient on the bottom and being out front you don’t know exactly how hard you need to run.”
Stewart ran hard enough to take the checkered flag with a comfortable 1.451-second edge over ninth-starter Tim Shaffer, who took second away from Swindell on the 22nd circuit. Up to sixth by the lap 11 caution, Shaffer came on strong by taking positions away from Davey Heskin, Billy Alley and Hannagan on successive laps 12-14 before finally reeling in Swindell for the runner-up position. Stewart had slipped out too far for Shaffer to mount a challenge for the top position by that time though.
Swindell settled for the show position, with Nebraska’s Alley making his way past Hannagan for fourth on the 17th round. Alley held fourth to the line, with Heskin making a late move to round out the top five.
Hannagan slipped to sixth at the stripe, while Brooke Tatnell charged from 24th to claim seventh. Wayne Johnson was eighth, with 22nd-starter Daryn Pittman and Jeff Swindell completing the top ten.
Before rallying to ninth in the “A” Main, Pittman made a last-lap move around Clint Garner in the 15-lap “B” Main only to have Garner counter off turn four to take the win by 0.032-seconds. Garner had taken the lead from Terry McCarl on the sixth lap after Jordan Boston paced the initial pair of circuits. McCarl and Tatnell earned transfer positions in addition to Garner and Pittman.
Henry Van Dam battled past Kolt Walker en route to winning the 12-lap “C” Main, with Dennis Moore, Jr., relegating Walker to third in the final corner.
Joe Beaver picked up the win in the 10-lap “D” Main, while Ned Powers kicked off the championship feature slate of activity with a triumph in the 8-lap “E” Main.
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters
21st Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Saturday Feature Results
“E” Main – Top 8 Advance to “D” Main
“E” Feature (8 Laps): 1. 83p-Ned Powers (Belle Foursche, SD), 2. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh (Higginsville, MO), 3. 93a-Alan Ambers (Knoxville, IA), 4. 00-Brad Foster (Drovin West, VIC AUS), 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel (Clute, TX), 6. 87b-Jason Barney (Bremerton, NY), 7. 2k-Kevin Ingle (Huron, SD), 8. 19s-Steven Cross (Clinton, MO), 9. 21a-Dustin Beenken (Sheldon, IA). Scratch: 22k-Koby Barksdale (Norman, OK), 11cx-Dakota Carroll (La Monte, MO), 33-Alan Zoutte (Knoxville, IA), 5jr-Jamie Ball (Knoxville, IA), 8L-Tom Lenz (Marion, IA), 21-Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO), 3*-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 92c-Cody Ambers (Knoxville, IA).
“D” Main – Top 10 Advance to “C” Main
“D” Feature (10 Laps): 1. 53-Joe Beaver (Knoxville, IA), 2. 45x-Johnny Herrera (Albuquerque, NM), 3. 99-Brady Bacon (Broken Arrrow, OK), 4. 28c-Jonathan Cornell (Sedalia, MO), 5. 98-J.D. Johnson (Wichita, KS), 6. 1w-Chad Meyer (Harrisburg, SD), 7. 10-Tyler Groenendyk (Oskaloosa, IA), 8. 47-Brandt O’Banion (Norfolk, NE), 9. 04-Chad Heimbaugh (Des Moines, IA), 10. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh (Higginsville, MO), 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel (Clute, TX), 12. 7m-Kevin Ramey (Ft. Worth, TX), 13. 9mx-Cody Baker (Lone Jack, MO), 14. 51h-Mike Hess (Springfield, IL), 15. 2h-Jason Eckard (Milford, IA), 16. 00-Brad Foster (Drovin West, VIS AUS), 17. 83p-Ned Powers (Belle Foursche, SD), 18. 87b-Jason Barney (Bremerton, NY), 19. 93a-Alan Ambers (Knoxville, IA), 20. 2k-Kevin Ingle (Huron, SD), 21. 41w-Joshua Williams (Glendale, AZ), 22. 19s-Steven Cross (Clinton, MO). Scratch: 09-Matt Juhl (Estherville, IA), 23w-Scott Winters (Butterfield, MN), 1x-Garry Lee Maier (Dodge City, KS), 14-Randy Martin (California, MO), 9m-Ricky Montgomery (Lakewood, CO), 18-Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS).
“C” Main – Top 4 Advance to “B” Main
“C” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 91-Henry Van Dam (Enumclaw, WA), 2. D12-Dennis Moore, Jr. (Grinnell, IA), 3. 45k-Kolt Walker (Graham, TX), 4. 29-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), 5. 99-Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK), 6. 8-John Carney II (El Paso, TX), 7. 45c-Russ Hall (Pleasant Hill, IA), 8. 5m-Justyn Cox (Clarksburg, CA), 9. 45x-Johnny Herrera (Albuquerque, NM), 10. 04-Chad Heimbaugh (Des Moines, IA), 11. 54-Casey Friedrichsen (Arthur, IA), 12. 53-Joe Beaver (Knoxville, IA), 13. 28c-Jonathan Cornell (Sedalia, MO), 14. 10-Tyler Groenendyk (Oskaloosa, IA), 15. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh (Higginsville, MO), 16. 98-J.D. Johnson (Wichita, KS), 17. 25-Dylan Peterson (Sioux Falls, SD), 18. 47-Brandt O’Banion (Norfolk, NE), 19. 1w-Chad Meyer (Harrisburg, SD), 20. 11c-Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK), 21. 35-Ronnie Blair (Troy, OH), 22. 9-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX). Scratch: 2m-Matt Moro (Des Moines, IA), 4-Jon Agan (Knoxville, IA), 51-Dave Hall (Des Moines, IA), 29-Bud Kaeding (Campbell, CA), 04x-Cap Henry (Bellevue, OH), 18r-Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE), 33L-Danny Lasoski (Dover, MO), 7-Gary Taylor (Snohomish, WA).
“B” Main – Top 4 Advance to “A” Main
“B” Feature (15 Laps): 1. 40-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD), 2. 27-Daryn Pittman (Owasso, OK), 3 55-Terry McCarl (Altoona, IA), 4. 14T-Brooke Tatnell (Sans Souci, NSW AUS), 5. 89g-David Gravel (Watertown, CT), 6. 53d-Jack Dover (Springfield, NE), 7. 4bx-Jordan Boston (Lincoln, NE), 8. 23-Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA), 9. 3-Nate Van Haaften (Otley, IA), 10. 79-Calvin Landis (Knoxville, IA), 11. 2-Josh Higday (Des Moines, IA), 12. 47T-Tony Shilling (Knoxville, IA), 13. 29T-Travis Rilat (Forney, TX), 14. 2mx-Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI), 15. 57x-Jake Peters (Sioux Falls, SD), 16. 81-Danny Wood (Norman, OK), 17. 88-Tim Crawley (Benton, AR), 18. 91-Henry Van Dam (Enumclaw, WA), 19. D12-Dennis Moore, Jr. (Grinnell, IA), 20. 5j-Larry Ball, Jr. (Knoxville, IA), 21. 45k-Kolt Walker (Graham, TX), 22. 7T-Tasker Phillips (Pleasantville, IA). Scratch: 11-Roger Crockett (Medford, OR), 2d-Bryan Dobesh (Sioux Falls, SD).
21st Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals “A” Main
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK), 2. 83-Tim Shaffer (Aliquippa, PA), 3. 1s-Sammy Swindell (Bartlett, TN), 4. 22-Billy Alley (Lincoln, NE), 5. 56-Davey Heskin (St. Michael, MN), 6. 22h-Randy Hannagan (San Jose, CA), 7. 14T-Brooke Tatnell (Sans Souci, NSW AUS), 8. 38-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK), 9. 27-Daryn Pittman (Owasso, OK), 10. 28-Jeff Swindell (Bartlett, TN), 11. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX), 12. 41-Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA), 13. 4b-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX), 14. 55-Terry McCarl (Altoona, IA), 15. 11x-Gregg Bakker (Sioux Falls, SD), 16. 1m-Chad Humston (Giltner, NE), 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson (Deloit, IA), 18. 87j-Justin Carver (Drummonds, TN), 19. 71-R.J. Johnson (Tampa, FL), 20. 40-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD), 21. 4j-Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND), 22. 0-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 23. 94-Derek Hagar (Marion, AR), 24. 7x-Dustin Selvage (Indianola, IA).
Lap Leaders: Shane Stewart (1-25)
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Shane Stewart 1,916, 2. Johnny Herrera 1,774 3. Jeff Swindell 1,722 4. Brady Bacon 1,678, 5. Gary Wright 1,637, 6. Tim Crawley 1,602, 7. Seth Bergman 1,554, 8. Aaron Reutzel 1,532, 9. Tony Bruce, Jr. 1,450, 10. Jason Johnson 1,374, 11. Zach Chappell 1,337, 12. Wayne Johnson 1,196, 13. Logan Forler 1,091, 14. Dustin Morgan 877, 15. Tim Kaeding 776.
Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters Owner Points (Top 15): 1. Jason Johnson Racing #41 – 1,926, 2. Paul Silva #57 – 1,916, 3. Herrera/Main #45x – 1,774, 4. Swindell Group #28 – 1,722, 5. Bacon/Tel-Star #99 – 1,678, 6. Mike Ward #88 – 1,602, 7. Petersen Motorsports #23 1,554, 8. Kenny Reutzel #87 – 1,532, 9. Bruce Racing #18 – 1,450, 10. Randy Washburn #0 – 1,337, 11. Bryan Sundby #38 – 1,196, 12. Steve Forler #2L – 1,091, 13. Gary Wright #9 – 1,041, 14. M&M Motorsports #2 – 877, 15. Cooper/Sperry #01/51 – 872.