Bryan Hulbert/Bill Wright - Knoxville, Iowa (August 10, 2012) Finding himself mired deep in the B-Feature on Saturday, Justin Henderson took advantage of the new Friday night format at the Knoxville Nationals with drama filled race to the win. Donny Schatz took his third career Speed Sport World Challenge to top off an exciting night at Knoxville.
“It’s been a roller coaster of a week. I’m so excited I can’t even talk right now” commented Henderson. “This new format threw us for a loop tonight. We didn’t know what to think about it. It’s not all bad I guess since we would have been starting eleventh in the B-Main under normal circumstances, so to come out here and win this race is kind of a historic night.”
Firing from the sixth position, the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82 watched as Cody Darrah capitalized on an outside front row starting position to lead the way.
After falling back to the runner up spot on the start David Gravel was quick to get back in contention for the win, battling to the inside line before taking it up to the fence to grab the lead from Darrah on lap four. Battling back on the berm, Darrah would set in as Dale Blaney waited for his chance.
Slowing for a caution on lap nine, Danny Lasoski saw his gamble go south as “The Dude” suffered a flat right rear tire. Able to limp around to the work area, the Zemco No. 1z would restart at the tail of the field as Gravel led the field to the green with Darrah, Blaney, Holtgraver, and Justin Henderson making up the top five.
Planting the right rear on the cushion, Henderson would jump two spots to third with more on the way only to see the caution lights blink on with fourteen laps remaining as Jeff Swindell spun to a stop in turn three. Swindell would continue.
On the move with the green flag waving, Justin Henderson continued to utilize the top side, taking away the runner up spot with eleven laps to run. Fading back to fifth in the midpoint of the race, Dale Blaney would make his way back into the top three on lap sixteen as the battle for the lead shaped up.
Henderson to the top, Gravel to the bottom, and slower cars approaching would see the top two drivers swapping lines as Henderson dropped to the middle of the track; forcing Gravel to take to the cushion as the pair took the battle three wide with the back markers. Tripping the cushion, Gravel would lose some ground but not enough to drop the No. 89g out of the battle as Gravel worked back side by side for the race lead.
With only four spots holding the key to Saturday’s $150,000 to win feature event, the battles for the final transfer spots were a sight to behold as Dale Blaney worked on some insurance with the pass on Cody Darrah for third. Sitting on the bubble, the No. 4 would see his night almost for not as Kerry Madsen fired into fourth with the white flag waving.
Battling into turns one and two for the final spot into Saturday’s big show, the battle for the lead worked off turn four with Justin Henderson taking the win. David Gravel crossed the line second with Dale Blaney rounding out the podium. Seeing his night going away, Cody Darrah put his K.K.R. No. 4 back into the show in the final two turns of the nights feature making Kerry Madsen the first driver outside the transfer in fifth.
Chad Kemanah would climb from sixteenth to sixth with Terry McCarl seventh. Dustin Zomer took eighth after starting fourteenth with Steve Kinser ninth and Danny Holtgraver fading to ultimately round out the top ten.
Donny Schatz served notice for Saturday night with a dominating performance in the Speed Sport World Challenge! The win was the Fargo, North Dakota driver’s third World Challenge triumph, paid him $10,000 and was the fourteenth feature win in his Knoxville career.
Sammy Swindell led the 20-lap feature early in the going. A tangle that eliminated top five runners Kyle Larson and Shane Stewart slowed things with two laps in the books. Swindell led Jason Johnson, Daryn Pittman, Paul McMahan and Jason Meyers back to green flag racing.
Schatz advanced from eighth to third with a blazing restart before Jonathan Allard came to a stop in turn four to bring out the last caution with five laps down. Schatz shot by Johnson and set his sights on Swindell, making the winning pass to complete lap seven. He would cruise the rest of the way and won by 2.8 seconds at the checkers.
“That’s an awesome racecar right there,” said Schatz in Victory Lane. “These guys have worked their tails off to get the thing this good, and it’s the most fun car I’ve ever driven. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow doesn’t really matter. My hat’s off to the guys who prepare this track. That’s not easy to do.”
The 52nd Goodyear Knoxville Nationals concludes Saturday August 11, 2012 with racing scheduled to get underway at 8pm. For more information on the 52nd Goodyear Knoxville Nationals and all events at the Knoxville Raceway log onto www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
- Admin Account on Aug 11, 2012
- Article Date: 8/11/2012 by Bill Wright