Thursday Knoxville results 2006-08-03

"Lightning" Anderson Strikes in ASCS Knoxville Nationals Opener

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 3, 2006) -- The 16th Annual American Sprint Car Series Knoxville Nationals kicked off in rousing fashion as "Lightning" Johnny Anderson of Indianola, IA, made a late move around Gary Wright to win Thursday night's 20-lap preliminary feature atop the famed Knoxville Raceway half-mile clay oval.

Anderson stalked Wright through the opening 14 circuits before taking advantage of lapped traffic in turn two to take command on the 15th round en route to his first career O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National feature win.

"Gary Wright's the best in the business, I was really just trying to follow him and see what I could learn," Anderson explained in victory lane. "Then I saw those lapped cars there and knew I had a chance to make a move for the lead and was able to get it done."

Starting from the pole position, Wright outgunned Aussie Ian Madsen for the lead at the drop of the green with fourth-starter Anderson advancing to second on the opening lap. The feature event's only caution flew with one lap in the books when Iowa's Tyler Thompson slapped the retaining fence in turns one and two and came to a stop.

Back under way, Wright gradually slipped away from Anderson as the lead pair distanced themselves from the rest of the pack. Wright began working lapped traffic by the ninth round, and it was just three laps later when Anderson began closing the gap.

Mired behind a pair of lapped cars on the 14th lap, Anderson reeled in "The Texan" and began challenging for the point. As Wright stuck to the low line, Anderson moved to the middle of the track and raced by to take command in turn two with just a handful of laps remaining.

Anderson raced to Justin Clark's checkered flag with a 0.885-second advantage over Wright, with Larry Pinegar taking the show position another five seconds back after starting the race in sixth.

Clint Garner made the most of his debut aboard the Jason Johnson-owned No. 27 mount by racing from 12th to fourth, with Larry Ball, Jr., rounding out the top five.

California's Jonathan Allard climbed from eleventh to sixth, with Madsen in seventh. Missouri's Jesse Hockett charged from 17th to snare eighth, with 15th-starter Jeff Mitrisin and Scott Winters completing the top ten.

Pete Crall established a new track record by setting a quick time of 16.136 seconds in qualifying, then escaped injury in a wild flip down the backstretch on the final lap of the first heat race.

Danny Jennings and Pinegar made last-lap moves to win the opening two heat races, with Jake Peters, Wade Nygaard and Garner topping heats three through five. In addition to Crall, Ron Blair was a heat race flip victim when he got into the turn three fence on the opening lap of the second heat race.

Jan Howard captured the 8-lap Last Chance Qualifying race to advance to the 10-lap "C" Main in which he finished second to Randy Martin.

New York's Bryan Howland aced the field in the 12-lap "B" Main, with Roger Crockett, Luke Cranston and Jerrod Hull taking the final transfer positions to the feature event.

The "C" Main got off to a wild start that included four cars flipping in turn one on the opening lap. Those that flipped included Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Darren Stewart, Joe Beaver and A.J. Selenke, with Nick Mulheim involved as well. Selenke was shaken and briefly taken to a local hospital for observation before returning to the track later in the night.

Sixty-seven cars took part in the opening night of the 16th Annual American Sprint Car Series Knoxville Nationals with the second half of the field set to hit the track for Friday night's qualifying program.

O'Reilly ASCS Knoxville Nationals Thursday Preliminary Results:

Qualifying:

1. 11-Pete Crall (DeSoto, KS) 16.136, 2. 5J-Larry Ball, Jr. (Knoxville, IA) 16.283, 3. 51h-Bryan Howland (Auburn, NY) 16.310, 4. R19-Scott Winters (Butterfield, MN) 16.335, 5. 23-Eric Jobe (Kansas City, MO) 16.353, 6. 11c-Roger Crockett (Eugene, OR) 16.358, 7. 7w-Larry Pinegar (Des Moines, IA) 16.413, 8. 7a-Johnny Anderson (Indianola, IA) 16.414, 9. 18x-Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 16.418, 10. 17J-Lance Yonge (Penn Yan, NY) 16.419, 11. 55-Ian Madsen (Sydney, NSW) 16.466, 12. 35-Ron Blair (Troy, OH) 16.502, 13. 9x-Gary Wright (Hooks, TX) 16.510, 14. 48-Tyler Thompson (Des Moines, IA) 16.573, 15. 83-John Kearney (Valley Falls, KS) 16.589, 16. 61a-Toby Brown (Carthage, MO) 16.620, 17. 0-Jonathan Allard (Chico, CA) 16.623, 18. 2m-Matt Moro (Ankeny, IA) 16.636, 19. 41k-Ray Allen Kulhanek (Conroe, TX) 16.640, 20. 27-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.645, 21. 22n-Nate Mosher (Prairie City, IA) 16.664, 22. 14-Randy Martin (California, MO) 16.696, 23. 57x-Jake Peters (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.700, 24. 10-Jeff Mitrisin (Oskaloosa, IA) 16.767, 25. 98-J.D. Johnson (Goddard, KS) 16.777, 26. 8-John Carney, Jr. (El Paso, TX) 16.788, 27. 97-Cory Seeling (Beaver Dam, OH) 16.810, 28. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO) 16.847, 29. 9n-Wade Nygaard (Fargo, ND) 16.857, 30. 31-Mark Pace (Lincoln, NE) 16.866, 31. 61J-Danny Jennings (Norman, OK) 16.943, 32. 67-Brian Thomas (Auburn, GA) 16.944, 33. 33x-Cameron McGahan (Kenai, AK) 16.957, 34. b4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 16.965, 35. 29x-Brandon Harkness (Sedro Wooley, WA) 16.993, 36. 20-Luke Cranston (Ness City, KS) 17.009, 37. 71R-Ryan Anderson (Charter Oak, IA) 17.017, 38. 04-Frankie Heimbaugh (Des Moines, IA) 17.020, 39. 94-Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO) 17.043, 40. 4g-John Anderson (Des Moines, IA) 17.057, 41. 99-Curt Michael (Ocean View, DE) 17.076, 42. 7c-Chris Morgan (Topeka, KS) 17.077, 43. 5c-Chad Hillier (Burlington, WA) 17.135, 44. d12-Doc Sloan (Imperial, MO) 17.153, 45. 4L-Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND) 17.170, 46. 11F-Foster Landon (Collinsville, OK) 17.174, 47. 69m-Chad Meinholdt (Topeka, KS) 17.208, 48. 65-Danny Heskin (St. Michael, MN) 17.227, 49. 33-Allan Zoutte (Knoxville, IA) 17.235, 50. 5g-Brett Golik (Newton, IA) 17.241, 51. 17-Jimmy Martin III (Felton, DE) 17.259, 52. 51J-Ryan Jamison (Mediapolis, IA) 17.278, 53. 53-Joe Beaver (Knoxville, IA) 17.328, 54. 46-Jan Howard (Byhalia, MS) 17.356, 55. 43-A.J. Selenke (Wichita, KS) 17.396, 56. 25m-Ken Mackey (Manitou Beach, MI) 17.400, 57. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX) 17.462, 58. 56-Davey Heskin (St. Michael, MN) 17.481, 59. 20bg-Bubba the Lovesponge (St. Petersburg, FL) 17.493, 60. 91-Darren Stewart (Bixby, OK) 17.556, 61. 38m-Nick Mulheim (Navarre, OH) 17.575, 62. 23F-Matthew Fox (Sedalia, MO) 17.784, 63. 00x-Ryan Grubaugh (St. Johns, MI) 17.862, 64. 47x-Louie Carufel (Port Huron, MI) 18.311, 65. s1-Garry Chippindall (Milburn, AUS) 18.663, 66. 18-Tim Newman (Cameron, MO) 21.630, 67. 96-Bronson Maeschen (Knoxville, IA) NT.

Last Chance Race (Top 10 to tail of "C" Feature):

Last Chance Race (8 Laps): 1. 46-Jan Howard, 2. 51J-Ryan Jamison, 3. 25m-Ken Mackey, 4. 53-Joe Beaver, 5. 91-Darren Stewart, 6. 43-A.J. Selenke, 7. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. 56-Davey Heskin, 9. 17-Jimmy Martin III, 10. 38m-Nick Mulheim, 11. 00x-Ryan Grubaugh, 12. 23F-Matthew Fox, 13. 47x-Louie Carufel, 14. 20bg-Bubba the Lovesponge, 15. s1-Garry Chippindall. DNS: 18-Tim Newman, 96-Bronson Maeschen.

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. 61J-Danny Jennings, 2. 22n-Nate Mosher, 3. 3-John Carney, Jr., 4. 55-Ian Madsen, 5. 99-Curt Michael, 6. 61a-Toby Brown, 7. 20-Luke Cranston, 8. 11c-Roger Crockett, 9. 11F-Foster Landon, 10. 11-Pete Crall.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 7w-Larry Pinegar, 2. 0-Jonathan Allard, 3. 5J-Larry Ball, Jr., 4. 71R-Ryan Anderson, 5. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 6. 7c-Chris Morgan, 7. 97-Cory Seeling, 8. 67-Brian Thomas, 9. 14-Randy Martin, 10. 35-Ron Blair.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 57x-Jake Peters, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 75-Jesse Hockett, 4. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 5. 2m-Matt Moro, 6. 5c-Chad Hillier, 7. 51h-Bryan Howland, 8. 04-Frankie Heimbaugh, 9. 33x-Cameron McGahan, 10. 65-Danny Heskin.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 9n-Wade Nygaard, 2. 10-Jeff Mitrisin, 3. 48-Tyler Thompson, 4. R19-Scott Winters, 5. 18x-Tony Bruce, Jr., 6. 41k-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. 94-Jerrod Hull, 8. d12-Doc Sloan, 9. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 10. 33-Allan Zoutte.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 27-Clint Garner, 2. 83-John Kearney, 3. 23-Eric Jobe, 4. 17J-Lance Yonge, 5. 98-J.D. Johnson, 6. 5g-Brett Golik, 7. 29x-Brandon Harkness, 8. 4L-Lee Grosz, 9. 31-Mark Pace, 10. 4g-John Anderson.

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

"C" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 14-Randy Martin, 2. 46-Jan Howard, 3. 11F-Foster Landon, 4. 51J-Ryan Jamison, 5. 56-Davey Heskin, 6. 31-Mark Pace, 7. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 8. 17-Jimmy Martin III, 9. 33-Allan Zoutte, 10. 4g-John Anderson, 11. 33x-Cameron McGahan, 12. 53-Joe Beaver, 13. 91-Darren Stewart, 14. 43-A.J. Selenke, 15. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 16. 38m-Nick Mulheim. DNS: 11-Pete Crall, 35-Ron Blair, 65-Danny Heskin, 25m-Ken Mackey.

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

"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 51h-Bryan Howland, 2. 11c-Roger Crockett, 3. 20-Luke Cranston, 4. 94-Jerrod Hull, 5. 99-Curt Michael, 6. 69m-Chad Meinholdt, 7. 98-J.D. Johnson, 8. 46-Jan Howard, 9. 7c-Chris Morgan, 10. 5c-Chad Hillier, 11. 04-Frankie Heimbaugh, 12. 41k-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 13. 18x-Tony Bruce, Jr., 14. 4L-Lee Grosz, 15. 29x-Brandon Harkness, 16. 5g-Brett Golik, 17. 97-Cory Seeling, 18. d12-Doc Sloan, 19. 67-Brian Thomas, 20. 61a-Toby Brown, 21. 14-Randy Martin, 22. 2m-Matt Moro.

O'Reilly ASCS Knoxville Nationals Thursday Preliminary "A" Main Event:

"A" Feature (20 Laps): 1. 7a-Johnny Anderson, 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 7w-Larry Pinegar, 4. 27-Clint Garner, 5. 5J-Larry Ball, Jr., 6. 0-Jonathan Allard, 7. 55-Ian Madsen, 8. 75-Jesse Hockett, 9. 10-Jeff Mitrisin, 10. R19-Scott Winters, 11. 61J-Danny Jennings, 12. 17J-Lance Yonge, 13. 22n-Nate Mosher, 14. 57x-Jake Peters, 15. 23-Eric Jobe, 16. 51h-Bryan Howland, 17. 11c-Roger Crockett, 18. 94-Jerrod Hull, 19. 9n-Wade Nygaard, 20. 20-Luke Cranston, 21. 71R-Ryan Anderson, 22. 8-John Carney, Jr., 23. 83-John Kearney, 24. 48-Tyler Thompson.

Lap Leaders: Gary Wright 1-14, Johnny Anderson 15-20.

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