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Trey Starks tops Knoxville Nationals opener

By Bill Wright (Knoxville, IA) -- Trey Starks picked a great time to win his first ever main event at the Knoxville Raceway! The Puyallup, Washington native held off a strong field at Knoxville Raceway Wednesday to take home the $12,000 Brandt Professional Agriculture Night #1 of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Aaron Reutzel found himself on top of the point standings, topping the 53-car field with 487 points, ahead of Tim Kaeding (466) and Paul McMahan (465).

PHOTO CREDIT: Ken Simon

Mark Dobmeier shot out from the pole to lead early in the 25-lap feature, ahead of Starks and James McFadden. Starks stayed true to the low side of the track, but performed a slider in front of Dobmeier in turn four to lead lap five. Reutzel, who started eighth, moved into the top five by lap nine, and the leaders entered lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit.

Scotty Thiel brought out the only caution of the race, when he spun in turn three on lap 12. Haudenschild battled back and forth for the fourth spot, while Starks held off Dobmeier for the point.

McFadden gained late, taking second from Dobmeier with five to go. Starks entered lapped traffic again with three laps remaining, but maintained his advantage over McFadden at the line. Haudenschild passed Dobmeier for third on the last lap, while Reutzel settled for fifth. Brent Marks, Tanner Thorson, Jac Haudenschild, Paul McMahan and Tim Kaeding roudned out the top ten.

Jamie Ball, Jac Haudenschild, Wayne Johnson, Tasker Phillips and Thorson won heat races that saw eight of the top ten qualifiers not transfer (top four) to the main event. Freddie Rahmer won the C main, and Kaeding claimed the B.

“I absolutely cannot believe it,” said an emotional Starks in Victory Lane. “This hasn’t been the best year for us for multiple reasons. We’ve had a ton of rain and haven’t got the laps we wanted to here. We learn something every week we come here, and it seems like the last couple weeks nothing has gone our way. After all the bad luck this week, to say we were due for this one is an understatement. To say we were due for this one is an understatement! We’ve needed this one, and tonight was the night to do it. Anybody who knows me running around this place…I don’t run the bottom. This year has taught me how to run the bottom here.”

“We really didn’t need that caution,” said McFadden. “I felt like we could go good on the bottom of three and four. Trey did a good job. He didn’t make too many mistakes. I wish the race was longer. We got better and better as the race went on. I messed up the start a bunch. We seem to bury ourselves in qualifying and can race good. I made too many mistakes in that feature race.”

“We definitely can’t complain after that,” said Sheldon Haudenschild. “There were just too many driver errors there. I’d make a mistake and about spun it out. I’ve just got to clean it up a little bit on my end. The car was really good. I made those mistakes and I was able to run them back down. That just shows how good our car was. I just can’t make that many mistakes in a short 25-lap race.”

The 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues Thursday night with Fraternal Order of Eagles Qualifying Night! For tickets and other information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

Brandt Professional Agriculture Night #1 of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (7), 15.165; 2. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (22), 15.331; 3. 7S, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (15), 15.418; 4. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (2), 15.476; 5. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (17), 15.480; 6. 13X, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (18), 15.515; 7. 83J, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (11), 15.523; 8. 71, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (49), 15.548; 9. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (27), 15.548; 10. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (40), 15.567; 11. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (14), 15.611; 12. 7X, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (5), 15.626; 13. 11, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (33), 15.638; 14. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (1), 15.674; 15. 44S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (26), 15.714; 16. 2M, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (46), 15.76; 17. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (37), 15.765; 18. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (21), 15.780; 19. 41S, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (32), 15.794; 20. 1, Travis Rilat, Heath, TX (47), 15.800; 21. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (6), 15.807; 22. 9, James McFadden, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (44), 15.838; 23. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (8), 15.865; 24. 70X, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (10), 15.871; 25. 88, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (38), 15.880; 26. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (4), 15.910; 27. 39, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (24), 15.925; 28. 11C, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (41), 15.945; 29. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (3), 15.948; 30. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (23), 15.967; 31. 1X, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (12), 15.971; 32. 3H, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (19), 16.017; 33. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (43), 16.025; 34. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (35), 16.025; 35. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (20), 16.026; 36. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (50), 16.027; 37. 5H, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (52), 16.028; 38. 64, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (25), 16.034; 39. 7SW, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (45), 16.061; 40. 99X, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (28), 16.068; 41. 85, Chase Wanner, Batavia, IA (48), 16.071; 42. 51, Freddie Rahmer, Salfordville, PA (51), 16.122; 43. 19T, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (42), 16.184; 44. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (13), 16.203; 45. 74, Brodie Tulloch, Upper Caboolture, QLD, Aust. (9), 16.21; 46. 73AF, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (31), 16.223; 47. J4, John Garvin, Sarver, PA (16), 16.228; 48. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (39), 16.268; 49. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (29), 16.324; 50. 9X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (34), 16.334; 51. 2MM, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (36), 16.340; 52. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (30), 16.695; 53. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust (53), NT.

Heat one (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Jamie Ball (3); 2. Austin McCarl (1); 3. Brent Marks (6); 4. Paul McMahan (7) / 5. Kerry Madsen (5); 6. Ian Madsen (8); 7. Chase Johnson (4); 8. Chase Wanner (9) / 9. Don Droud Jr. (2); 10. Joey Moughan (10)

Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.6: 1. Jac Haudenschild (2); 2. Aaron Reutzel (8); 3. James McFadden (4); 4. Spencer Bayston (1) / 5. Logan Schuchart (5); 6. Sammy Swindell (3); 7. Justin Henderson (6); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (7) / 9. Freddie Rahmer (9); 10. John Garvin (10)

Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:44.5: 1. Wayne Johnson (2); 2. Scotty Thiel (1); 3. Mark Dobmeier (4); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (5) / 5. Tim Kaeding (8); 6. Gio Scelzi (7); 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9); 8. Roger Crockett (3) / 9. Davey Heskin (10); 10. Hunter Schuerenberg (6)

Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.1: 1. Tasker Phillips (2); 2. Jeff Swindell (1); 3. Justin Peck (4); 4. Paige Polyak (6) / 5. Dominic Scelzi (5); 6. Danny Dietrich (8); 7. Kyle Larson (7); 8. Ryan Roberts (3) / 9. Joe Simbro (10); 10. Rusty Hickman (9)

Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:43.2: 1. Tanner Thorson (4); 2. Carson McCarl (2); 3. Skylar Gee (1); 4. Trey Starks (6) / 5. Brady Bacon (8); 6. Donny Schatz (7); 7. Travis Rilat (5); 8. AJ Moeller (3) / 9. Jake Bubak (10); 10. Brodie Tulloch (9)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:49.5: 1. Freddie Rahmer (1); 2. Jake Bubak (7); 3. Rusty Hickman (2); 4. Matt Moro (8) / 5. Brodie Tulloch (3); 6. Joe Simbro (6); 7. John Garvin (5); 8. Glen Saville (10); 9. Joey Moughan (4); 10. Zach Hampton (9); DNS - 11. Hunter Schuerenberg; 12. Don Droud Jr.; 13. Davey Heskin

B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:21.2: 1. Tim Kaeding (2); 2. Gio Scelzi (6); 3. Ian Madsen (1); 4. Donny Schatz (8) / 5. Danny Dietrich (3); 6. Kyle Larson (7); 7. Kerry Madsen (10); 8. Brady Bacon (4); 9. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 10. Dominic Scelzi (12); 11. Justin Henderson (9); 12. Logan Schuchart (11); 13. Sammy Swindell (15); 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (20); 15. Chase Johnson (14); 16. AJ Moeller (18); 17. Rusty Hickman (23); 18. Jake Bubak (22); 19. Ryan Roberts (17); 20. Travis Rilat (13); 21. Chase Wanner (19); 22. Freddie Rahmer (21); 23. Matt Moro (24); 24. Roger Crockett (16)

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Trey Starks (4); 2. James McFadden (2); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 4. Mark Dobmeier (1); 5. Aaron Reutzel (8); 6. Brent Marks (6); 7. Tanner Thorson (10); 8. Jac Haudenschild (12); 9. Paul McMahan (7); 10. Tim Kaeding (21); 11. Donny Schatz (24); 12. Gio Scelzi (22); 13. Tasker Phillips (14); 14. Wayne Johnson (13); 15. Austin McCarl (16); 16. Ian Madsen (23); 17. Carson McCarl (15); 18. Spencer Bayston (17); 19. Skylar Gee (20); 20. Justin Peck (9); 21. Jamie Ball (11); 22. Paige Polyak (5); 23. Jeff Swindell (19); 24. Scotty Thiel (18). Lap Leaders: Dobmeier 1-4, Starks 5-25. $350 FK Rod Ends Hard-charger: Schatz.

hursday Point Totals

1 87 Aaron Reutzel 487
2 7S Tim Kaeding 466
3 13X Paul McMahan 465
4 19 Brent Marks 464
5 44S Trey Starks 463
6 18 Ian Madsen 455
7 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 453
8 9 James McFadden 450
9 71 Gio Scelzi 449
10 15 Donny Schatz 447
11 13 Mark Dobmeier 444
12 88 Tanner Thorson 440
13 3H Jac Haudenschild 424
14 19P Paige Polyak 423
15 48 Danny Dietrich 421
16 99 Brady Bacon 416
17 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 410
18 2C Wayne Johnson 410
19 70X Justin Peck 410
20 5J Jamie Ball 410
21 57 Kyle Larson 406
22 83J Lynton Jeffrey 401
23 2KS Austin McCarl 399
24 27 Carson McCarl 397
25 2M Kerry Madsen 396
26 7X Justin Henderson 390
27 5H Spencer Bayston 385
28 41S Dominic Scelzi 384
29 1S Logan Schuchart 384
30 99X Skylar Gee 380
31 7SW Jeff Swindell 377
32 64 Scotty Thiel 377
33 68 Chase Johnson 364
34 39 Sammy Swindell 359
35 1 Travis Rilat 356
36 20 AJ Moeller 341
37 18R Ryan Roberts 337
38 11C Roger Crockett 329
39 11 Hunter Schuerenberg 329
40 19T Kevin Thomas Jr. 322
41 85 Chase Wanner 309
42 45 Rusty Hickman 305
43 51 Freddie Rahmer 302
44 9X Jake Bubak 294
45 1X Don Droud Jr. 294
46 74 Brodie Tulloch 277
47 56 Joe Simbro 270
48 J4 John Garvin 269
49 73AF Joey Moughan 267
50 56N Davey Heskin 258
51 2MM Matt Moro 256
52 35 Zach Hampton 227
53 75 Glen Saville 226

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