Knoxville Nationals Friday summary

Wayne Johnson Tops ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Prelim

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 1, 2008) -- A second night of 18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals preliminary action found another Johnson in victory lane, as past O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National champion Wayne Johnson raced to victory lane in Friday night's 20-lap feature atop Knoxville Raceway's 0x00bd-mile clay oval.

Johnson emerged from a three-car battle for the lead at the midway point, taking the lead away from Jesse Giannetto on the 12th round before scampering away to the checkered flag with a 3.865-second advantage over Gary Wright, with Giannetto, Brooke Tatnell and Jesse Hockett rounding out the top five.

While Nebraska's Jack Dover and Oregon's Roger Crockett led the 24-car feature field to the green flag, it was second row starters Giannetto and Johnson quickly taking over the top two positions after the initial start was waved off for Brad Bowden's disable machine.

Giannetto charged past the front row starters exiting turn two on the opening circuit with Johnson hot on his heels. And with Giannetto and Johnson pacing the early rounds, Gary Wright was on the move from his eighth starting position after besting the 61-car field in qualifying with a lap of 16.656 seconds.Wright picked off three positions on the opening lap to crack the top five, took fourth from Dover a lap later and then took third away from Crockett on the seventh circuit.

As the leaders approached the tail of the field, Johnson moved in to challenge Giannetto for the point entering turn three on the ninth lap.JGiannetto fought off the bid, with Wright moving in to take second from Johnson a lap later.

Johnson battled right back, reclaiming second from Wright and then sliding past Giannetto for the lead as the trio battled through heavy traffic to complete the 12th round.

"I saw ol' GW (Gary Wright) there on the bottom and knew he'd found something, he's always the first to find the fastest part of the track," Johnson explained in victory lane. "He went back to the top after he got around me, I knew I had to get to the bottom and stay there."

Which is exactly what the 2000 ASCS National champion did after splitting a pair of lapped cars to establish some breathing room. Johnson raced through traffic over the final rounds to secure his second O'Reilly ASCoT National win of the season aboard Mike and Tim Hammers' Fisher-powered H&H Enterprises No. 94 Maxim.

Wright took over second on the 14th round and kept the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim in the runner-up slot until the checkered flag flew, with 2006 ASCS Knoxville Nationals champ Giannetto settling for show honors.

Making his first start aboard Bobby Sparks' Wells-powered RESM Transport No. 91 Eagle, Australian Brooke Tatnell timed in second-quick on the night and then earned a fourth-place finish in the feature.

Missouri's Jesse Hockett rounded out the top five after taking over the position in the final handful of laps, with ASCS Northwest Speedweek champion Crockett in sixth. Current ASCS Rebel Region points leader Kenny Adams was seventh, with Gregg Bakker, Brian Brown and Clint Garner completing the top ten.

After Wright set quick time, heat races were won by Johnson, Tim Crawley, Jared Ridge, Matt Covington and Brown.

Chad Corken took the lead away from Josh Padellford on the fourth round en route to winning the 10-lap "C" Main, while Nick Smith picked up the 12-lap "B" Main victory when Dave Hall popped a left rear tire less than a lap from the finish.

After Nate Van Haaften flipped on the initial "B" Main start, the second start featured a wild five-car flip in turn one including Ryan Anderson, Stephen Lines, Josh Higday, Natalie Sather and Chad Corken. Everyone walked away from the carnage uninjured, with Sather the only one able to rejoin the racing action.

A total of 111 different drivers competed over the two preliminary nights of the 18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals, setting Saturday night's championship feature lineups.

18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Night Preliminary Results:

Qualifying:

1. 9w-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 16.656, 2. 91s-Brooke Tatnell (Sydney, NSW) 16.722, 3. 11x-Gregg Bakker (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.764, 4. 86-Lee Jacobs (Dalton, OH) 16.767, 5. 75J-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 16.775, 6. 94-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 16.796, 7. D1-Jesse Giannetto (Cedar Rapids, IA) 16.850, 8. 7n-Roger Crockett (Medford, OR) 16.863, 9. 53d-Jack Dover (Springfield, NE) 16.870, 10. 18-Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE) 16.884, 11. 15b-Brad Bowden (Hernando, MS) 16.893, 12. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier (Cimarron, KS) 16.935, 13. 2m-Matt Moro (Des Moines, IA) 16.937, 14. 4a-Kenny Adams (Malabar, FL) 16.985, 15. 40-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.009, 16. 51-Dave Hall (Des Moines, IA) 17.028, 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson (Charter Oak, IA) 17.043, 18. 23-Stephen Lines (Melbourne, AUS) 17.078, 19. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (Oklahoma City, OK) 17.110, 20. 21-Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 17.140, 21. 27-Don Droud, Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 17.143, 22. 88-Tim Crawley (Benton, AR) 17.147, 23. 15s-Nick Smith (Broken Arrow, OK) 17.156, 24. 43-A.J. Selenke (Wichita, KS) 17.174, 25. 22b-Ben Gregg (Phoenix, AZ) 17.176, 26. 35-Ron Blair (Troy, OH) 17.235, 27. 7m-Chad Meyer (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.238, 28. 12J-Jared Ridge (Snohomish, WA) 17.244, 29. 95-Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 17.299, 30. 1-Pete Crall (Desoto, KS) 17.332, 31. 98-J.D. Johnson (Goddard, KS) 17.336, 32. 1s-Trey Robb (Newcastle, OK) 17.343, 33. 5-Justin Henderson (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.346, 34. 24-Josh Higday (Des Moines, IA) 17.357, 35. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe (Rock Rapids, IA) 17.358, 36. 11-Chad Corken (Highlands Ranch, CO) 17.420, 37. 3-Nate Van Haaften (Otley, IA) 17.421, 38. 34-Josh Padellford (Pleasantville, IA) 17.440, 39. 2mx-Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) 17.458, 40. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 17.461, 41. 5L-Eric Lutz (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.472, 42. 12-Rod Richards (Des Moines, IA) 17.489, 43. 15-Jack Potter (Kansas City, MO) 17.538, 44. 8k-Butch Hanssen (Sioux Falls, SD) 17.577, 45. 7L-Darren Long (Elida, OH) 17.583, 46. 34h-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH) 17.642, 47. 17-Samantha Taylor (Bonney Lake, WA) 17.683, 48. 54-Brett Mather (Ames, IA) 17.689, 49. 71-R.J. Johnson (Tampa, FL) 17.693, 50. 94s-Natalie Sather (Fargo, ND) 17.698, 51. 20au-Troy Little (Sydney, NSW) 17.703, 52. 48-Tyler Thompson (Des Moines, IA) 17.745, 53. 4b-Bryn Gohn (Malabar, FL) 17.768, 54. 2-Luke Dollansky (Elk River, MN) 17.888, 55. 33-Alan Zoutte (Knoxville, IA) 17.915, 56. 1p-Curtis Evans (Norburne, MO) 17.938, 57. 5x-Dave Glennon (Casselton, ND) 17.994, 58. 13-Kathryne Minter (Bedford, TX) 18.214, 59. 2w-Kenneth Walker (Sapulpa, OK) 18.270, 60. 31p-Travis Porter (Rock Island, IL) 18.523, 61. 9*-Brian Parker (Dallas, TX) 19.137.

Heat Races (Top 4 Advance to "A" Main; Positions 5-8 to "B" Main; Positions 9-10 to "C" Main)

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 35-Ron Blair, 3. 9w-Gary Wright, 4. 27-Don Droud, Jr., 5. 15b-Brad Bowden, 6. 51-Dave Hall, 7. 5L-Eric Lutz, 8. 98-J.D. Johnson, 9. 11-Chad Corken, 10. 34h-Luke Hall.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tim Crawley, 2. 91s-Brooke Tatnell, 3. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 4. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier, 5. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 6. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 7. 1s-Trey Robb, 8. 7m-Chad Meyer, 9. 17-Samantha Taylor, 10. 12-Rod Richards.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 12J-Jared Ridge, 2. 2m-Matt Moro, 3. 7n-Roger Crockett, 4. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 5. 15s-Nick Smith, 6. 5-Justin Henderson, 7. 53-Brett Mather, 8. 23-Stephen Lines, 9. 15-Jack Potter, 10. 34-Josh Padellford.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 4a-Kenny Adams, 3. 53d-Jack Dover, 4. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 5. 86-Lee Jacobs, 6. 24-Josh Higday, 7. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 8. 43-A.J. Selenke, 9. 71-R.J. Johnson, 10. 8k-Butch Hanssen.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown, 2. 40-Clint Garner, 3. 1-Pete Crall, 4. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 5. 18-Ryan Newman, 6. 22b-Ben Gregg, 7. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 94s-Natalie Sather, 9. 7L-Darren Long, 10. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe.

"C" Main -- Top 2 Advance to "B" Main

"C" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 11-Chad Corken, 2. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe, 3. 71-R.J. Johnson, 4. 34-Josh Padellford, 5. 34h-Luke Hall, 6. 5x-Dave Glennon, 7. 20au-Troy Little, 8. 8k-Butch Hanssen, 9. 17-Samantha Taylor, 10. 48-Tyler Thompson, 11. 15-Jack Potter, 12. 1p-Curtis Evans, 13. 33-Alan Zoutte, 14. 12-Rod Richards, 15. 4b-Bryn Gohn, 16. 9*-Brian Parker, 17. 31p-Travis Porter, 18. 13-Kathryne Minter, 19. 2w-Kenneth Walker, 20. 2-Luke Dollansky, 21. 7L-Darren Long.

"B" Main -- Top 4 Advance to "A" Main

"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 15s-Nick Smith, 2. 5-Justin Henderson, 3. 7m-Chad Meyer, 4. 15b-Brad Bowden, 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 7. 1s-Trey Robb, 8. 54-Brett Mather, 9. 94s-Natalie Sather, 10. 43-A.J. Selenke, 11. 5L-Eric Lutz, 12. 98-J.D. Johnson, 13. 18-Ryan Roberts, 14. 51-Dave Hall, 15. 99-Shawn Van Wyhe, 16. 86-Lee Jacobs, 17. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 18. 23-Stephen Lines, 19. 24-Josh Higday, 20. 11-Chad Corken, 21. 3-Nate Van Haaften. DNS: 22b-Ben Gregg.

18th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Friday Preliminary "A" Main Event:

"A" Feature (20 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 9w-Gary Wright, 3. d1-Jesse Giannetto, 4. 91s-Brooke Tatnell, 5. 75J-Jesse Hockett, 6. 7n-Roger Crockett, 7. 4a-Kenny Adams, 8. 11x-Gregg Bakker, 9. 21-Brian Brown, 10. 40-Clint Garner, 11. 88-Tim Crawley, 12. 11xx-Garry Lee Maier, 13. 27-Don Droud, Jr., 14. 53d-Jack Dover, 15. 5-Justin Henderson, 16. 2m-Matt Moro, 17. 15s-Nick Smith, 18. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 19. 12J-Jared Ridge, 20. 1-Pete Crall, 21. 7m-Chad Meyer, 22. 95-Matt Covington, 23. 35-Ron Blair, 24. 15b-Brad Bowden.

Lap Leaders: Jesse Giannetto 1-11, Wayne Johnson 12-20.

-credit: ascs