Smith outlasts Outlaws in Knoxville

Smith Outlasts Outlaws in Iowa Ethanol Classic By Richard Day KNOXVILLE, IA (July 1) -- The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series changed its format for the new millennium to provide its fans more excitement at its races. The alterations the Marion County Fair Board made on the Iowa Ethanol Classic gave the capacity crowd at Knoxville Raceway even more to cheer about Saturday. The enthusiastic fans cheered for Stevie Smith, who won the longest sprint car race in the legendary half-mile oval's history, at the end. The event, which previously called for two 25-lap feature races, now features a 50-lap championship race with a red period at its midpoint. Smith, the fourth leader in the race, exchanged first place with Donny Schatz three times in the final four laps to claim the $20,000 first prize. Schatz' third runner-up run of the season pushed him past Tim Shaffer into 12th place in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series point standings. "I had a good car, and we caught some breaks," Stevie said. "I've lost races at the end, too. It was just our turn tonight. When the car is as good as this one was tonight, it takes a lot off the driver. "We've struggled a little bit this year, and this is one we definitely needed. I'm happy for Ingersoll-Rand and RPM engines. We're glad to have them as part of our team." Smith, who finished 11th in Friday's Preliminary Feature, was the ninth-fastest qualifier Saturday. He finished third in the First NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race and earned the seventh row outside starting position in the "A" Feature by finishing sixth in the First CHANNELLOCK Dash. Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Steve Kinser drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim around Preliminary Feature winner Johnny Herrera in the fourth corner to take the lead as the green flag fell in the main event. Jac Haudenschild, who won the Ethanol Classic in 1997 and 1998, collided with Brooke Tatnell and hit the wall in turn two just seconds after the leaders completed the opening lap. Kinser was .9 seconds ahead of Herrera when he entered lapped traffic during the sixth lap. A blown right rear tire sent Randy Anderson crashing into the first-corner retaining wall in front of the leaders two laps later. A burned piston in Jimmy Vasser's #V12 Wirtgen Maxim sent Greg Hodnett into the pit area during the caution period. "The King of the Outlaws" forfeited the lead when his engine lost power as he entered turn one early in the 11th lap. Herrera inherited first place and raced away from the field as Schatz passed Second NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race winner Joey Saldana for sixth place high in the third corner when the green flag replaced the yellow. Dale Blaney surrendered second place when the #93 Amoco Maxim lost its right rear tire and spun into Dean Jacobs in turn one early in the 20th lap. Mark Kinser, who also collided with Blaney, forfeited fourth place when he pitted so his crew to replace his right front tire. Saldana and seven-time Knoxville Raceway champion Danny Lasoski stopped on the track just seconds before the red flag fell signaling the end of the first half of the race. After his crew changed the engine in the #83 Beef Packers Eagle, "The Dude" restarted with Steve Kinser, Blaney and Daryn Pittman. Smith, who passed 10 cars in the first 25 laps, steered his #19 Ingersoll-Rand Black Bandit into the low groove in turn one to pass Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner Sammy Swindell for third place as the race resumed. Andy Hillenburg, who raced into sixth place from inside the 12th row during the first half of the race, jumped the cushion and spun in the second corner the next time around. He collided with Jacobs, Blaney, Pittman, Lasoski, Saldana, Tatnell and Don Droud, Jr. Herrera was .89 seconds ahead of Smith and Schatz when he caught the backmarkers again early in lap 39. Schatz was only .4 seconds behind Herrera when Christi Passmore spun in turn four with six laps remaining. Schatz drove the #15 ParkerStores Maxim deep into the third corner to pass Herrera for the lead as the green flag replaced the yellow. Smith and Swindell passed Herrera when he slid over the cushion in turn two the next time around. Shaffer took the leaders out of lapped traffic when he stopped the #11H Vivarin Eagle on the back stretch with a flat right rear tire, setting up a four-lap dash to the checkered flag. Smith passed Schatz for the lead in the low groove between the first and second corners as the race resumed. Schatz returned the favor with a similar move the next time around, only to have Stevie beat him down the back straightaway to regain first place. Schatz challenged Smith high in turns three and four late in the final lap, but was .24 seconds behind at the checkered flag. "I was hoping Donny would leave the bottom open," Stevie said. "He did a nice job and had a fast car all night long, but he left the bottom open there on that restart. Sometimes it's better to be running second at the end." Mark Kinser finished in third place, ahead of Swindell, Herrera, Danny Wood, Lasoski, First CHANNELLOCK Dash winner Brian Paulus, Saldana and Shaffer, who started outside the eighth row.

<pre> 2000 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Fifth Annual Iowa Ethanol Classic Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA Saturday, July 1, Feature Program #29 Vivarin qualifications: 1. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 15.297; 2. Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 15.353; 3. Danny Wood, Woodburn 21W, 15.442; 4. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 15.478; 5. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 15.485; 6. Brooke Tatnell, Parsons 6, 15.505; 7. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 15.522; 8. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 15.549; 9. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 15.570; 10. Chris Walraven, Walraven 56, 15.642; 11. Tim Shaffer, Helm 11H, 15.665; 12. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 15.679; 13. Daryn Pittman, Pittman 3, 15.711; 14. Jeff Mitrisin, Mitrisin 5J, 15.714; l15. Christi Passmore, GAP Roofing 1A, 15.725; 16. Dean Jacobs, Holbrook 8H, 15.733; 17. Greg Hodnett, Millennium Racing V12, 15.772; 18. Don Droud, Jr., Burch 1M, 15.800; 19. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 15.922; 20. Micah Schliemann, Carnahan R19, 15.942; 21. Larry Pinegar II, Pinegar 11L, 15.950; 22. Toni Lutar, Lutar 4x, 15.994; 23. Matt Moro, Moro 2M, 16.089; 24. Terry McCarl, Serace 55, 16.137; 25. Randy Anderson, Strange Performance 47, 16.145; 26. Travis Cram, Stroud 1S, 16.159; 27. Mark Toews, Toews 5T, 16.166; 28. Bill McCroskey, McCarl 24, 16.230; 29. Steve Genneten, Smith 86x, 16.234; 30. Bob Weuve, BW Racing 19W, 16.257; 31. John Lambertz, Lambertz 12L, 16.282; 32. Manny Rockhold, Gould 02, 16.284; 33. Jaymie Moyle, Jordan 1J, 16.335; 34. Brent Antill, Nickel/Roebuck 12, 16.343; 35. Mike Reinke, SCA Inc. 02x, 16.371; 36. John VanDenBerg, VanDenBerg V10, 16.395; 37. Eddie Leavitt, Jr., Leavitt 22A, 16.399; 38. Jamie Zaputil, Zapitul 1Z, 16.578; 39. Kerry Madsen, Vanderecken 10V, 16.642; 40. Clyde Nagel, Nagel 23, 17.066; 41. Steve Breazeale, Sage 57, 17.179; 42. George Porter, GP Excataving 99, 18.159. First NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Brian Paulus, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Daryn Pittman, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Larry Pinegar II, 7. Randy Anderson, 8. Steve Genneten, 9. Eddie Leavitt, Jr., 10. Steve Breazeale, 11. Jaymie Moyle. (first three qualified for the CHANNELLOCK Dashes) Second NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Joey Saldana, 2. Brooke Tatnell, 3. Chris Walraven, 4. Jeff Mitrisin, 5. Don Droud, Jr., 6. Travis Cram, 7. Toni Lutar, 8. Brent Antill, 9. Jamie Zaputil, 10. George Porter, 11. Bob Weuve. (first three qualified for the CHANNELLOCK Dashes) Third NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Danny Wood, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Tim Shaffer, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Christi Passmore, 6. Mike Reinke, 7. Mark Toews, 8. John Lambertz, 9. Kerry Madsen, 10. Matt Moro. (first three qualified for the CHANNELLOCK Dashes) Fourth NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Lance Blevins, 4. Dean Jacobs, 5. Terry McCarl, 6. Manny Rockhold, 7. John VanDenBerg, 8. Micah Schliemann, 9. Bill McCroskey, 10. Clyde Nagel. (first three qualified for the CHANNELLOCK Dashes) Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified Johnny Herrera, Steve Kinser, Dale Blaney and Mark Kinser for the first four starting positions in the Second CHANNELLOCK Dash. First CHANNELLOCK Dash (eight laps): 1. Brian Paulus, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Brooke Tatnell, 5. Chris Walraven, 6. Stevie Smith, 7. Lance Blevins, 8. Tim Shaffer. (finish determined second eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) Second CHANNELLOCK Dash (eight laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Dale Blaney, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Danny Lasoski, 7. Joey Saldana, 8. Danny Wood. (finish determined first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) C Feature (eight laps): 1. Manny Rockhold, 2. John Lambertz, 3. Mike Reinke ($125); 4. Brent Antill ($100); 5. Eddie Leavitt, Jr. ($80); 6. John VanDenBerg ($70); 7. Steve Breazeale ($60); 8. Jamie Zaputil ($50); 9. Clyde Nagel ($40); 10. George Porter ($30). (first two qualified for the "B" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Christi Passmore, 3. Don Droud, Jr., 4. Randy Anderson, 5. Terry McCarl ($200); 6. Micah Schliemann ($175); 7. Travis Cram ($150); 8. Matt Moro ($100); 9. Mark Toews ($90); 10. Manny Rockhold ($100); 11. Larry Pinegar II ($60); 12. Steve Genneten ($50); 13. Toni Lutar ($50); 14. John Lambertz ($70); 15. Bob Weuve ($50); 16. Bill McCroskey ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (50 laps): 1. Stevie Smith ($20,000); 2. Donny Schatz ($6,000); 3. Mark Kinser ($3,500); 4. Sammy Swindell ($3,200); 5. Johnny Herrera ($3,000); 6. Danny Wood ($2,500); 7. Danny Lasoski ($2,300); 8. Brian Paulus ($2,200); 9. Joey Saldana ($2,100); 10. Tim Shaffer ($2,050); 11. Jeff Mitrisin ($2,000); 12. Brooke Tatnell ($1,600); 13. Don Droud, Jr. ($1,520); 14. Dean Jacobs ($1,200); 15. Daryn Pittman ($1,100); 16. Dale Blaney ($1,000); 17. Christi Passmore ($920); 18. Steve Kinser ($700); 19. Andy Hillenburg ($700); 20. Chris Walraven ($700); 21. Lance Blevins ($700); 22. Greg Hodnett ($720); 23. Randy Anderson ($720); 24. Jac Haudenschild ($700). Lap leaders: Steve Kinser 1-10, Johnny Herrera 11-44, Donny Schatz 45-46, Stevie Smith 47-50 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Sammy Swindell