Knoxville 360 Nationals Friday results

The Racin' Cajun Claims Knoxville Prelim; Rain Postpones Second Main

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 11, 2004) - The "Racin' Cajun", Jason Johnson, was the benefactor of Garry Lee Maier's misfortune in Friday night's opening Advance Auto Parts Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Fleet Buying Group and Black Cat Fireworks 20-lap preliminary feature, assuming command on the 14th round en route to a straightaway victory after gridding the main event in twelfth.

The evening's second preliminary feature had just taken to the half-mile oval when heavy rains hit the track, forcing the second main to be postponed to Saturday night, immediately following the 410-ci time trials with the full program of Knoxville 360 Nationals championship features to follow.

Two-time Knoxville 360 Nationals kingpin Maier appeared to have the field covered when the right front torsion arm fell off his mount on the 15th round, necessitating a caution. With Maier relegated to the tail, Johnson assumed command in the Wesmar-powered Full Throttle Motorspots/Cox Design & Metal Fabrication No. 50d Maxim and raced to his eighth career O'Reilly American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores and United Trailers feature victory.

With the top eight in passing points inverted, Maier led the 24-car feature field to the green flag with A.G. Rains alongside. Maier jumped into the early lead, with Brent Antill and Johnny Anderson taking over second and third on the opening round.

With Maier setting the pace, the evening's top two point earners were on the move from the fourth row, with Zach Chappell and Shane Stewart cracking the top five by the fourth round, with Johnson hot on their heels in sixth.

As Maier encountered lapped traffic on the eighth round, Antill led a host of pursuers including Stewart, Johnson, Chappell and 13th-starter Terry McCarl. Antill and Stewart were closing on the leader as the pacesetters dashed through lapped traffic.

The red flag would fly on the eleventh round when Maier's closest challengers would tangle in turn four. As Stewart raced to Antill's outside exiting turn four in an attempt to take over second, Antill slid up and closed the door, sending Stewart for a wild ride down the front straightaway. Stewart would emerge from the wreckage uninjured, while Antill would continue with wing damage.

Maier set sail on the restart, with Johnson, McCarl and Chappell in tow as Antill lost ground. Maier's victory hopes were dashed three rounds later when the caution flew for his misfortune. Maier's crew made quick repairs, allowing him to rejoin the chase at the tail.

After a caution two rounds later for Jesse Giannetto's cut left rear tire, Johnson took off and scored nearly a straightaway victory. McCarl and Chappell diced for the runner-up slot, swapping the position several times before McCarl secured the position in the final rounds. Chappell settled for the show position, with Oregon's Roger Crockett and 20th-starter Gary Wright rounding out the top five.

Matt Moro crossed the strip in sixth, with 22nd-starter David Hesmer, 24th-starter Tim St. Arnold, Johnny Anderson and Sean McClelland completing the top ten.

Billy Alley and John Kearney were pacing the second 24-car preliminary feature when rain and heavy wind brought an early end to the night.

Eighty-nine cars checked into the pit area for the 14th running of the Knoxville 360 Nationals, with the field split into an "odd program" and an "even program" based upon pill draw.

Tony Bruce, Jr., Anderson, Rob Edwards, Maier and McClelland topped heat race action in the "odd program". Jaymie Moyle won the C Feature, with Brett Mather topping the B Feature.

Heat race winners in the "even program" were Jeff Mitrisin, Randi Miller, Stacey Alexander, Joe Beaver and John Kearney. After a faulty spark plug wire sidelined Travis Rilat from his heat race, he charged to victory in the C Feature then fell one position short of a main event transfer by finishing fifth in the B Feature. Brian Brown piloted the mount normally driven by Bobby Mincer to victory in the B Main.

The most serious incident of the night occurred when Mike Waddell took a wild flip down the frontstretch in the evening's third heat race. Responsive to emergency crews, Waddell was transported to a local hospital with possible head injuries. No further updates were available at press time.

Other flip victims on the evening included a double-tumble by Glenn Styres and Alan Gilbertson in the second "even" heat race, Larry Neighbors in the third "even" heat race and Rager Phillips' turn two tumble on the opening round of the "even" B Feature. There were no injuries in these incidents.

Knoxville 360 Nationals Results:

Odd Program:

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. #18 Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. #2m Matt Moro, 3. #50z Zach Chappell, 4. #56 D.J. Heskin, 5. #6 Mitchell Alexander, 6. #19 Tracy Nichols, 7. #7 Dave Becker, 8. #77x William Eggimann, 9. #51J Ryan Jamison. DNS: #v10 John VanDenBerg.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. #7a Johnny Anderson, 2. #2h Ryan Voss, 3. #10x Brent Antill, 4. #20 Stevie Walsh, 5. #54 Brett Mather, 6. #94s Natalie Sather, 7. #96 Bronson Maeschen, 8. #99x Doran Doty, 9. #21 Keith Fridlington.

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. #R22 Rob Edwards, 2. #3 A.G. Rains, 3. #X Chuck Swenson, 4. #57 Roger Crockett, 5. #1w Chad Meyer, 6. #5g Brett Golik, 7. #2s John Schulz, 8. #15x Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 9. #2 Mike Waddell.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #11x Garry Lee Maier, 2. #50d Jason Johnson, 3. #d1 Jesse Giannetto, 4. #9x Gary Wright, 5. #8s Tim St. Arnold, 6. #26k Marshall Skinner, 7. #53h Matt Harms, 8. #12 Brock Dump, 9. #5 Rod Richards.

Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #1x Sean McClelland, 2. #4m Shane Stewart, 3. #1m Terry McCarl, 4. #11f Foster Landon, 5. #1 David Hesmer, 6. #51 David Hall, 7. #24 Eric VanderPloeg, 8. #69 Rodney Turner, 9. #F4 Jaymie Moyle.

C Feature (10 Laps - Top 2 Advance to B Feature): 1. #F4 Jaymie Moyle, 2. #77x William Eggimann, 3. #69 Rodney Turner, 4. #51J Ryan Jamison, 5. #v10 John VanDenBerg, 6. #99x Doran Doty, 7. #15x Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. #5 Rod Richards, 9. #21 Keith Fridlington. DNS: #2 Mike Waddell.

B Feature (12 Laps - Top 4 Advance to A Feature): 1. #54 Brett Mather, 2. #1 David Hesmer, 3. #11f Foster Landon, 4. #8s Tim St. Arnold, 5. #1w Chad Meyer, 6. #24 Eric VanderPloeg, 7. #F4 Jaymie Moyle, 8. #51 Dave Hall, 9. #19 Tracy Nichols, 10. #2s John Schulz, 11. #5g Brett Golik, 12. #12 Brock Dump, 13. #7 Dave Becker, 14. #53h Matt Harms, 15. #77x William Eggimann, 16. #94s Natalie Sather, 17. #26k Marshall Skinner. DNS: #96 Bronson Maeschen.

A Feature (20 Laps - Starting Position in Parentheses): 1. #50d Jason Johnson (12), 2. #1m Terry McCarl (13), 3. #50z Zach Chappell (7), 4. #57 Roger Crockett (11), 5. #9x Gary Wright (20), 6. #2m Matt Moro (14), 7. #1 David Hesmer (22), 8. #8s Tim St. Arnold (24), 9. #7a Johnny Anderson (4), 10. #1x Sean McClelland (9), 11. #54 Brett Mather (21), 12. #18 Tony Bruce, Jr. (5), 13. #6 Mitchell Alexander (17), 14. #d1 Jesse Giannetto (16), 15. #11x Garry Lee Maier (1), 16. #2h Ryan Voss (10), 17. #X Chuck Swenson (15), 18. #3 A.G. Rains (2), 19. #11f Foster Landon (23), 20. #10x Brent Antill (3), 21. #R22 Rob Edwards (6), 22. #20 Stevie Walsh (19), 23. #4m Shane Stewart (8), 24. #56 D.J. Heskin (18).

Even Program:

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. #10 Jeff Mitrisin, 2. #77 Terry Alexander, 3. #14aj Wayne Johnson, 4. #57x Jake Peters, 5. #15 Brian Brown, 6. #7x Larry Ball, Jr., 7. #9 Rager Phillips, 8. #7c Chris Morgan. DNS: #91 Curtis Thorson.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. #2d Randi Miller, 2. #5r Ryan York, 3. #6r Roger Rager, 4. #97 Aaron Berryhill, 5. #14 Randy Martin, 6. #B29 Eric Mason, 7. #1z Dusty Zomer, 8. #0 Glenn Styres, 9. #97x Alan Gilbertson.

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. #126 Stacey Alexander, 2. #1b Brett Geldner, 3. #04 Frankie Heimbaugh, 4. #23 Eric Jobe, 5. #86 Doug Wilson, 6. #61a Toby Brown, 7. #Y5 Mike Houseman, Jr., 8. #29n Larry Neighbors, 9. #29 Travis Rilat.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #53 Joe Beaver, 2. #92 Travis Cram, 3. #11m Troy Meyer, 4. #14c Mike Trent, 5. #7h John Hall, 6. #94 Cody Branchcomb, 7. #22n Nate Mosher, 8. #37 Sye Anderson.

Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. #83 John Kearney, 2. #22 Billy Alley, 3. #55 Kerry Madsen, 4. #91x Darren Stewart, 5. #33 Alan Zoutte, 6. #48 Dennis Moore, Jr., 7. #11 Pete Crall. DNS: #23x Jimmy Taylor.

C Feature (6 Laps - Top 2 Advance to B Feature): 1. #29 Travis Rilat, 2. #23x Jimmy Taylor, 3. #91 Curtis Thorson, 4. #37 Sye Anderson. DNS: #0 Glenn Styres, #29n Larry Neighbors, #97x Alan Gilbertson.

B Feature (12 Laps - Top 4 Advance to A Feature): 1. #15 Brian Brown, 2. #14c Mike Trent, 3. #7x Larry Ball, Jr., 4. #14 Randy Martin, 5. #29 Travis Rilat, 6. #94 Cody Branchcomb, 7. #1z Dusty Zomer, 8. #7h John Hall, 9. #61a Toby Brown, 10. #33 Alan Zoutte, 11. #22n Nate Mosher, 12. #23x Jimmy Taylor, 13. #48 Dennis Moore, Jr., 14. #B29 Eric Mason, 15. #Y5 Mike Houseman, Jr., 16. #9 Rager Phillips, 17. #7c Chris Morgan. DNS: #11 Pete Crall.

A Feature (20 Laps): Postponed by rain to Saturday night.

<pre> Second A Feature Lineup:

#22 Billy Alley         #83 John Kearney
#53 Joe Beaver          #6r Roger Rager
#92 Travis Cram         #10 Jeff Mitrisin
#126 Stacey Alexander   #2d Randi Miller
#77 Terry Alexander     #14aj Wayne Johnson
#5r Ryan York           #97 Aaron Berryhill
#1b Brett Geldner       #57x Jake Peters
#23 Eric Jobe           #04 Frankie Heimbaugh
#86 Doug Wilson         #11m Troy Meyer
#55 Kerry Madsen        #91x Darren Stewart
#15 Brian Brown         #14c Mike Trent
#7x Larry Ball, Jr.     #14 Randy Martin

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