David Gravel Prevails on Night #2 of NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores!
David Gravel won on Night #2 of the Knoxville Nationals Thursday (Ken Berry Racing Pix)
Thursday, August 8, 2019
David Gravel Prevails on Night #2 of NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores! by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 8, 2019) – Another great night of racing ended at the Knoxville Raceway with Connecticut’s David Gravel in Victory Lane. The driver of the Jason Johnson Racing #41 will start next to Wednesday high-point driver Aaron Reutzel in Saturday’s $150,000 finale of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. Thursday’s Fraternal Order of Eagles Night #2 saw a lot of twists and turns!
Quick qualifier Shane Stewart endured a scary crash in turn three of his heat race, but walked away. Unfortunately, he was done and will compete in Friday’s FVP “Hard Knox” Night.
The 25-lap feature saw Brock Zearfoss take off from the pole position to lead early over Brad Sweet, Gravel, Cory Eliason and Matt Juhl. Gravel used the high side to pass a low riding Sweet fo rsecond seven laps in. He then set his sights on the leader, and got by Zearfoss on lap eight. As the leader entered lapped traffic, however, Zearfoss used a lapper to get back by Gravel to lead lap nine.
At that point, Sye Lynch blew a right rear tire. Zearfoss led Gravel and Sweet back to green, but soon lost power with an electrical issue. Gravel assumed the lead for the restart. Joey Saldana moved into fourth at that point, and Carson Macedo followed him into fifth.
Tyler Courtney lost a driveline 11 laps in, bringing the final caution of the event. Gravel led Sweet and Eliason back to green. Eliason grabbed second, while Macedo moved into fourth.
The leaders were back in lapped traffic on lap sixteen. Eliason ran high, while battling a low riding Sweet. Sweet would shoot under Eliason for second with eight laps remaining. With five laps to go, Sweet began to reel Gravel in, but the leader was masterful in traffic in holding onto his fifth career win here.
At the checkers, it was Gravel ahead of Sweet, Macedo, Eliason and a late charging Rico Abreu. Saldana, B main winner and hard-charger Tim Shaffer, Parker Price-Miller, Juhl and Daryn Pittman rounded out the top ten. Jason Sides, Harli White, Zearfoss, Lynch and Sweet won heat races. Bill Balog won the C main. TJ Stutts turned over in the B main, but was uninjured.
“This is the car we ran in the Capitani, and it ran just as good,” said Gravel in Victory Lane. “I really feel good about where we’re at. I was nervous drawing a 71 out of 75 (for qualifying), but we’ve been able to qualify well all year, and were able to capitalize on that. It’s an awesome night. It can’t get any better than this. I felt like my last five laps were terrible. I don’t know if Brad got close to me or what. I could hit three and four like I wanted to, but struggled at the end. We’re happy to win, and happy to have a good points night.”
“We didn’t time that great,” said Sweet, who clocked in 15th quick. “We just didn’t do a good job at the beginning of the race. I was kind of searching around trying to find a spot that my car liked…just a little bit off. I think we learned some stuff tonight. David did a good job in lapped traffic. I thought we were going to have a run at him late. We got close, but he covered his lines. I honestly missed my marks a few times. It’s all about Saturday night. I think we’re locked in now with a decent starting spot.”
“I knew there was going to be a long way to come,” said Macedo. “My car was really good. Late in these races, to be good like that, and be able to come up through the field and finish on the podium is a testament to my mechanic (Joe Gaerte). We didn’t qualify the best, but hopefully, we can do well on Saturday.”
The 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues Friday night with FVP Hard Knox Night! For tickets and other information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Fraternal Order of Eagles Night #2 of the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 5, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (4), 15.679; 2. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (7), 15.685; 3. 71P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (2), 15.706; 4. 83, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (16), 15.717; 5. 12N, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (27), 15.740; 6. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (41), 15.759; 7. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (3), 15.760; 8. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (1), 15.763; 9. 41, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (54), 15.872; 10. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (14), 15.916; 11. 69K, Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA (24), 15.946; 12. 4, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (46), 15.987; 13. 17B, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (31), 16.018; 14. 91, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (8), 16.022; 15. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (42), 16.037; 16. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (45), 16.041; 17. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (13), 16.048; 18. 70, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (9), 16.049; 19. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (18), 16.061; 20. 17BX, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (26), 16.107; 21. 35P, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (19), 16.111; 22. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (43), 16.117; 23. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (29), 16.127; 24. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (21), 16.139; 25. 18S, Jason Solwold, Mount Vernon, WA (20), 16.150; 26. 14M, Marcus Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (15), 16.157; 27. 2, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (35), 16.172; 28. 3C, Cale Conley, Vienna, WV (37), 16.194; 29. 92, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (38), 16.218; 30. 11T, TJ Stutts, Liverpool, PA (23), 16.242; 31. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (25), 16.249; 32. 71BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (36), 16.264; 33. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (12), 16.270; 34. 2AU, Andrew Scheuerle, Toowoomba, QLD, Aust. (6), 16.277; 35. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (44), 16.289; 36. 7JS, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (50), 16.290; 37. 17WX, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (56), 16.325; 38. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (11), 16.327; 39. 33M, Mason Daniel, Springville, CA (28), 16.353; 40. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (30), 16.380; 41. 29, Willie Croft, Roseville, CA (32), 16.425; 42. K4, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (47), 16.438; 43. 18M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (52), 16.484; 44. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (34), 16.487; 45. 53, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (48), 16.497; 46. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (10), 16.498; 47. 28P, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (5), 16.504; 48. 15M, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (51), 16.531; 49. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (55), 16.546; 50. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (49), 16.560 / 51. 84, Tom Harris, Banbury, OXFD, UK (39), 16.631; 52. 21P, Robbie Price, Cobble Hill, BC, Can. (33), 16.640; 53. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (22), 17.036; 54. 10, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (40), NT; 55. 83C, Adam Cruea, Troy, OH (17), NT; 56. 17XL, Caleb Helms, Findlay, OH (53), NT. Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:50.0: 1. Jason Sides (1); 2. Lance Dewease (6); 3. Kraig Kinser (2); 4. Cory Eliason (5) / 5. Brian Brown (7); 6. Skylar Prochaska (4); 7. Josh Schneiderman (10); 8. Marcus Dumesny (3) / 9. Willie Croft (9); 10. Shane Stewart (8)
Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:51.2: 1. Harli White (1); 2. Rico Abreu (4); 3. Tyler Courtney (2); 4. Carson Macedo (3) / 5. Tim Shaffer (8); 6. Terry McCarl (6); 7. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5); 8. Jacob Allen (7) / 9. Brian Paulus (10); 10. Chad Kemenah (9) Heat three (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Brock Zearfoss (5); 2. Thomas Kennedy (2); 3. Brooke Tatnell (4); 4. Parker Price-Miller (8) / 5. Scott Bogucki (7); 6. Cale Conley (3); 7. Josh Baughman (6); 8. Lance Moss (9) / 9. Bobby Mincer (10); 10. Derek Hagar (1)
Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:51.7: 1. Sye Lynch (3); 2. David Gravel (7); 3. Mason Daniel (1); 4. Clint Garner (5) / 5. Daryn Pittman (8); 6. Anthony Macri (4); 7. Cale Thomas (6); 8. Shane Golobic (10) / 9. Greg Wilson (9); 10. Andrew Scheuerle (2)
Heat five (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Brad Sweet (6); 2. Joey Saldana (8); 3. Jason Solwold (4); 4. Matt Juhl (7) / 5. Jack Dover (9); 6. TJ Stutts (3); 7. Chris Martin (10); 8. Craig Dollansky (2) / 9. Bill Balog (5); 10. Sawyer Phillips (1) C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:54.9: 1. Bill Balog (1); 2. Greg Wilson (5); 3. Willie Croft (3); 4. Chad Kemenah (4); 5. Robbie Price (8); 6. Andrew Scheuerle (2); 7. Bobby Mincer (6); 8. Tom Harris (7); 9. Kevin Ingle (9) DNS - 10. Shane Stewart; 11. Derek Hagar; 12. Sawyer Phillips; 13. Brian Paulus; 14. RJ Johnson; 15. Adam Cruea; 16. Caleb Helms
B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Tim Shaffer (1); 2. Daryn Pittman (2); 3. Scott Bogucki (5); 4. Jacob Allen (4) / 5. Terry McCarl (6); 6. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9); 7. Josh Baughman (7); 8. Shane Golobic (17); 9. Brian Brown (3); 10. Anthony Macri (11); 11. Cale Thomas (8); 12. Cale Conley (13); 13. Bill Balog (19); 14. Marcus Dumesny (12); 15. Chad Kemenah (22); 16. Greg Wilson (20); 17. Skylar Prochaska (10); 18. Willie Croft (21); 19. Chris Martin (18); 20. Lance Moss (16); 21. TJ Stutts (14); 22. Jack Dover (15) DNS - 23. Craig Dollansky; 24. Josh Schneiderman
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. David Gravel (6); 2. Brad Sweet (3); 3. Carson Macedo (13); 4. Cory Eliason (2); 5. Rico Abreu (10); 6. Joey Saldana (7); 7. Tim Shaffer (21); 8. Parker Price-Miller (8); 9. Matt Juhl (5); 10. Daryn Pittman (22); 11. Jason Solwold (12); 12. Jason Sides (18); 13. Thomas Kennedy (17); 14. Lance Dewease (4); 15. Mason Daniel (20); 16. Kraig Kinser (15); 17. Scott Bogucki (23); 18. Brooke Tatnell (11); 19. Brock Zearfoss (1); 20. Clint Garner (9); 21. Jacob Allen (24); 22. Sye Lynch (14); 23. Harli White (19); 24. Tyler Courtney (16). Lap Leaders: Zearfoss 1-7, Gravel 8, Zearfoss 9, Gravel 10-25. $350 K1 Race Gear Hard-charger: Shaffer.
Combined Point Totals
Saturday A main
Pos Car Driver Points 1 87 Aaron Reutzel 487 2 41 David Gravel 481 3 12N Joey Saldana 479 4 49X Tim Shaffer 474 5 71P Parker Price-Miller 473 6 49 Brad Sweet 470 7 7S Tim Kaeding 466 8 13X Paul McMahan 465 9 19 Brent Marks 464 10 83 Daryn Pittman 464 11 44S Trey Starks 463 12 09 Matt Juhl 457 13 26 Cory Eliason 455 14 18 Ian Madsen 455 15 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 453 16 69K Lance Dewease 451
B main
17 9 James McFadden 450 18 71 Gio Scelzi 449 19 24 Rico Abreu 447 20 15 Donny Schatz 447 21 13 Mark Dobmeier 444 22 28 Scott Bogucki 442 23 88 Tanner Thorson 440 24 2 Carson Macedo 435 25 70 Brock Zearfoss 430 26 1A Jacob Allen 427
Remaining Drivers
27 18S Jason Solwold 426 28 3H Jac Haudenschild 424 29 19P Paige Polyak 423 30 48 Danny Dietrich 421 31 40 Clint Garner 417 32 55 Brooke Tatnell 416 33 99 Brady Bacon 416 34 21 Brian Brown 412 35 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 410 36 2C Wayne Johnson 410 37 70X Justin Peck 410 38 5J Jamie Ball 410 39 21K Thomas Kennedy 409 40 7JS Jason Sides 408 41 57 Kyle Larson 406 42 4 Terry McCarl 405 43 11K Kraig Kinser 404 44 92 Sye Lynch 402 45 83J Lynton Jeffrey 401 46 2KS Austin McCarl 399 47 27 Carson McCarl 397 48 17B Josh Baughman 396 49 2M Kerry Madsen 396 50 33M Mason Daniel 390 51 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 390 52 7X Justin Henderson 390 53 71BC Tyler Courtney 386 54 91 Cale Thomas 386 55 5H Spencer Bayston 385 56 17WX Harli White 384 57 41S Dominic Scelzi 384 58 1S Logan Schuchart 384 59 99X Skylar Gee 380 60 7SW Jeff Swindell 377 61 64 Scotty Thiel 377 62 39M Anthony Macri 371 63 17BX Bill Balog 364 64 68 Chase Johnson 364 65 35P Skylar Prochaska 363 66 3C Cale Conley 359 67 39 Sammy Swindell 359 68 1 Travis Rilat 356 69 5 Shane Stewart 355 70 14M Marcus Dumesny 353 71 20 AJ Moeller 341 72 18R Ryan Roberts 337 73 11T TJ Stutts 337 74 11C Roger Crockett 329 75 11 Hunter Schuerenberg 329 76 19T Kevin Thomas Jr. 322 77 17W Shane Golobic 319 78 7 Craig Dollansky 317 79 K4 Chad Kemenah 313 80 29 Willie Croft 312 81 W20 Greg Wilson 310 82 85 Chase Wanner 309 83 53 Jack Dover 308 84 18M Lance Moss 307 85 45 Rusty Hickman 305 86 51 Freddie Rahmer 302 87 44 Chris Martin 298 88 2AU Andrew Scheuerle 297 89 49J Josh Schneiderman 296 90 9X Jake Bubak 294 91 1X Don Droud Jr. 294 92 9JR Derek Hagar 279 93 74 Brodie Tulloch 277 94 3P Sawyer Phillips 273 95 56 Joe Simbro 270 96 15M Bobby Mincer 270 97 J4 John Garvin 269 98 73AF Joey Moughan 267 99 28P Brian Paulus 260 100 56N Davey Heskin 258 101 2MM Matt Moro 256 102 21P Robbie Price 237 103 84 Tom Harris 236 104 35 Zach Hampton 227 105 75 Glen Saville 226 106 2K Kevin Ingle 224 107 10 RJ Johnson 209 108 83C Adam Cruea 202 109 17XL Caleb Helms 195
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