6/4/2017
RacinBoys
Wayne Johnson soars to victory at Knoxville
By Bill Wright (Knoxville, IA) -- Wayne Johnson drove around front row starters, Tayler Malsam and Terry McCarl and never looked back to record his twelfth 360 win. McCarl chased him most of the way, while Clint Garner settled into third after passing Ryan Giles on lap three.
PHOTO CREDIT: The Cushion
The event was slowed only once on lap eleven, when the sixth place car of McKenna Haase and the seventh place machine of Jamie Ball came together in turn one. Haase spun, collecting Matt Moro who crashed into turn two. He was unhurt.
Johnson led the field back to green, ahead of McCarl, Garner, Giles and Malsam. Johnson pulled away the last seven laps to win over McCarl, Garner, Giles and Ball. Malsam, hard-charger Chris Martin, Austin McCarl, Joe Beaver and Christian Bowman completed the top ten. Malsam set quick time, while Haase, Devin Kline and Ball won heat races.
“We’ve been so bad in the last year and a half, and we haven’t known what we’ve been doing,” said Johnson in Victory Lane. “They convinced me we needed to do some stuff different. Old school guys got old school ways. They talked me into some crazy things and they worked. I knew right away our car was good. To drive by those guys early…Terry’s no slouch here. I just knew the car was good on the bottom in one and two.”
Chris Walraven was the pacesetter early in the 15-lap 305 feature ahead of Matt Stephenson and Ryan Leavitt. Casey Greubel slowed to a stop with four laps in the books, and Walraven led the field to green ahead of Stephenson, Leavitt, Kevin Hetrick and Tyler Glass. Hetrick shot into third, and shot around Stephenson for second on lap six.
Kade Higday entered the top five and traded fourth with Stephenson twice. Eric Bridger then entered that battle for position as well. Up front, Walraven was cruising on the bottom, tailed by Hetrick. On the final lap, the leader hesitated behind a lapped car in three. Hetrick made his winning move, sliding across Walraven’s nose and dragging to the finish line for his fourth career win here. Walraven trailed him ahead of Stephenson, Bridger and Higday. Glass, Leavitt, Matthew Stelzer, Brandon Worthington and Brad Comegys rounded out the top ten. Higday posted quick time, and Stephenson, Dan Henning and Leavitt won heats.
“I thought Chris was going to have the win there,” said Hetrick after his victory. “We kept gaining, and thank goodness there was lapped traffic, or he would have been gone. The lapped car worked to my advantage, and we’ll take it. To win three out of five here is unbelievable. There’s still nine races left, and we’ll just take it one race at a time.
Things heat up next Friday and Saturday night, June 9 and 10. The Brownells “Big Gun Bash” will feature the Craftsman World of Outlaws taking on the Knoxville regulars. On Friday night, the 305’s will be in action, while the 360’s will be running Saturday. For more information, visit http://www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 26, Tayler Malsam, Seattle, WA (1), 16.140; 2. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (17), 16.205; 3. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (13), 16.228; 4. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (12), 16.269; 5. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (21), 16.275; 6. 5M, Troy Manteufel, St. Peter, MN (6), 16.285; 7. 9, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (14), 16.314; 8. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (4), 16.316; 9. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (26), 16.318; 10. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (18), 16.326; 11. 22, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (25), 16.370; 12. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (7), 16.373; 13. 55, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (3), 16.391; 14. 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA (2), 16.491; 15. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (8), 16.513; 16. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (16), 16.553; 17. 5MRP, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.596; 18. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (20), 16.714; 19. 81A, Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS (24), 16.908; 20. 19, Rob Weuve, Oakland Acres, IA (5), 17.035; 21. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (19), 17.053; 22. 9M, Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, CO (23), 17.080; 23. 14, Josh Riggins, Lincoln, NE (10), NT; 24. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (11), NT; 25. 6, Mitchell Alexander, Knoxville, IA (15), NT; 26. 26N, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (22), NT.
Heat one (started), 7 Laps, 1:58.2: 1. McKenna Haase (2); 2. Chris Martin (1); 3. Ryan Giles (4); 4. Austin McCarl (3); 5. Matt Moro (5); 6. Tayler Malsam (6); 7. Chris Morgan (7); 8. Ricky Montgomery (8) DNS – Scott Bogucki
Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:57.5: 1. Devin Kline (1); 2. Christian Bowman (2); 3. Clint Garner (5); 4. Rager Phillips (3); 5. Terry McCarl (6); 6. Calvin Landis (4); 7. Rob Weuve (7) DNS – Josh Riggins, Mitchell Alexander
Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 1:57.2: 1. Jamie Ball (2); 2. Tyler Groenendyk (1); 3. Wayne Johnson (6); 4. Joe Beaver (4); 5. Nate Van Haaften (3); 6. Sawyer Phillips (8); 7. Troy Manteufel (5); 8. Tom Lenz (7)
A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Wayne Johnson (4); 2. Terry McCarl (2); 3. Clint Garner (3); 4. Ryan Giles (5); 5. Jamie Ball (8); 6. Tayler Malsam (1); 7. Chris Martin (13); 8. Austin McCarl (12); 9. Joe Beaver (9); 10. Christian Bowman (11); 11. Rager Phillips (14); 12. Calvin Landis (17); 13. Nate Van Haaften (18); 14. Devin Kline (10); 15. Sawyer Phillips (21); 16. Tyler Groenendyk (15); 17. McKenna Haase (7); 18. Chris Morgan (19); 19. Tom Lenz (22); 20. Rob Weuve (20); 21. Matt Moro (6); 22. Troy Manteufel (16); 23. Ricky Montgomery (23) DNS – Josh Riggins, Scott Bogucki, Mitchell Alexander. Lap Leader: W. Johnson 1-18. Hard-charger: C. Martin. Howard Law $200: Rob Weuve.
305 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order): 1. 24, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (20), 17.042; 2. 56W, Chris Walraven, Knoxville, IA (5), 17.210; 3. 35, Kevin Hetrick, Gladstone, IL (11), 17.270; 4. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA (22), 17.305; 5. 76, Brad Comegys, Bondurant, IA (1), 17.318; 6. 1B, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (6), 17.351; 7. 55X, Matt Stephenson, Altoona, IA (19), 17.386; 8. 12T, Tyler Glass, Cedar Rapids, IA (16), 17.525; 9. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (7), 17.552; 10. 99, Matthew Stelzer, Papillion, NE (21), 17.571; 11. 64, Casey Greubel, Lacona, IA (8), 17.582; 12. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (9), 17.607; 13. 41, Jeff Wilke, Genoa, IL (13), 17.801; 14. 41D, Dan Henning, Columbia, IA (17), 18.083; 15. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (15), 18.156; 16. 21, Evan Epperson, Muscatine, IA (4), 18.161; 17. 1, Clifford Jones, Pleasant Hill, IA (14), 18.223; 18. 67, Jon Hughes, Knoxville, IA (3), 18.498; 19. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (18), 18.549; 20. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (10), NT; 21. 23T, Travis Rewerts, Des Moines, IA (12), NT; DQ (Scales) - 48D, Dallas Mendenhall, Unionville, MO (2)
Heat one (started), 6 Laps, NT: 1. Matt Stephenson (4); 2. Matthew Stelzer (3); 3. Eric Bridger (5); 4. Jeff Wilke (2); 5. Evan Epperson (1); 6. Chase Young (7); 7. Dallas Mendenhall (8); 8. Kade Higday (6)
Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:48.8: 1. Dan Henning (2); 2. Tyler Glass (4); 3. Brad Comegys (5); 4. Chris Walraven (6); 5. Casey Greubel (3); 6. Clifford Jones (1) DNS – Rob Kubli
Heat three (started), 6 Laps, 1:47.4: 1. Ryan Leavitt (3); 2. Kevin Hetrick (6); 3. Brandon Worthington (2); 4. Kelby Watt (4); 5. Mike Mayberry (1); 6. Jon Hughes (5) DNS – Travis Rewerts
A main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Kevin Hetrick (4); 2. Chris Walraven (1); 3. Matt Stephenson (2); 4. Eric Bridger (5); 5. Kade Higday (10); 6. Tyler Glass (7); 7. Ryan Leavitt (3); 8. Matthew Stelzer (8); 9. Brandon Worthington (12); 10. Brad Comegys (6); 11. Jeff Wilke (14); 12. Evan Epperson (16); 13. Mike Mayberry (15); 14. Clifford Jones (17); 15. Dan Henning (9); 16. Jon Hughes (18); 17. Kelby Watt (11); 18. Dallas Mendenhall (20); 19. Casey Greubel (13); 20. Chase Young (19) DNS – Rob Kubli, Travis Rewerts. Lap Leaders: Walraven 1-14, Hetrick 15. Hard-charger: Higday.
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
