5/7/2011
Sprint Source
Zomer Victorious in IRA Challenge by .01 of a Second As Lasoski Breaks!
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, May 7, 2011 – Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Dusty Zomer recorded career 410 win #6 on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway as he triumphed in the IRA Challenge. The win came by a mere .01 of a second as he passed a hapless Danny Lasoski who had broken a driveline coming to the finish. Lasoski had led every lap up to that point.
Lasoski shot out to the early lead from his starting position outside row one on the heavy black gumbo surface. Multi-time IRA champion, Billy Balog, trailed him early, but Zomer was quick to pounce into the runner-up spot on lap six. He was followed by Davey Heskin and Don Droud Jr. into third and fourth, respectively.
Heskin was able to use the low side of the raceway to pass Zomer for second, while Terry McCarl moved into the top five by a caution on lap 13 for a stopped Danny Heskin. Lasoski had three lapped cars between he and Davey Heskin before the caution, which erased his advantage. Davey made a charge on the low side on the restart, but the door was shut in turn three.
McCarl made a move around Droud for fourth on the backstretch when the two cars touched. The collision slowed Droud, who collected Donny Schatz in the Tony Stewart Racing #14. Schatz flipped down the backstretch, but was uninjured. On the restart with six laps to go, Lasoski led Davey Heskin, Zomer, Droud and McCarl back to green flag racing.
On the white flag lap, Zomer made a move by Davey Heskin, who bobbled, for second. It would turn out to be a winning move, as Lasoski slowed noticeably in turn four with the broken driveline. The dash for the finish had the crowd on its feet, as the final result had to be determined by the transponders and not the naked eye!
Trailing Zomer and Lasoski across the line were Davey Heskin, Droud and Terry McCarl. 410 Rookie of the Year candidate, Dustin Selvage, Brian Brown, Jessica Zemken, Mark Dobmeier and Austin McCarl rounded out the top ten.
“We knew it would be tough with Danny up front, and he would have won if something hadn’t have gone wrong,” said the driver of the Derek Ingalls’ #91 J&J. “I have to count my blessings. It’s Knoxville. Anything can happen here, even if it’s the last foot of the racetrack. It had to be close. My hat is off to my team. We’ll come out and try to do it again next week!”
Kevin Swindell topped qualifying and also took the first heat race. Davey Heskin, Lasoski and Schatz won heats, and Dobmeier topped the B main. Rager Phillips and Josh Schneiderman contacted in the first heat, sending Phillips into a series of wicked flips. He was uninjured.
Carnage greeted the 360 feature at the drop of the green flag. When Rod Richards slowed inside row three, it set off a chain reaction that resulted in a six-car pile-up. Jonathan Cornell got into the back of Richards and shot sideways into Jon Agan. Quick-timer Wayne Johnson, Agan, Jamie Ball, Cornell and Tom Lenz got the worst of the incident and were done for the evening. Richards would retire before the race went green. Many crews tended to the cars of Chad Humston and last week’s feature winner, Russ Hall, to get them back on the racetrack.
Once green, the race went in record-breaking time as defending Knoxville Championship Cup Series champion, Clint Garner, led wire to wire, covering the 15-lap distance in 4:13.0. That mark broke the old track record set by Tim Kaeding last August by over four seconds.
Behind Garner, Larry Ball Jr. was in pursuit the entire distance. David Hall came home third after a late run by Nate Van Haaften, who was fourth. Dennis Moore Jr. climbed his way to fifth after transferring through the B main. Matt Moro, Lee Grosz, Humston, Casey Friedrichsen and Josh Higday rounded out the top ten.
“It wasn’t easy,” said Garner whose #40 was powered by a Parker Engine. “This was only the second time I’ve race this year. I still made several mistakes. I just want to thank God for us being here. I have a number of guys helping me right now…Al Parker with the engines, Lynton Jeffrey helped us with our shocks today, Wayne Johnson is like a teammate right now…Sammy Swindell too. I’m just the lucky one who gets to stand up here with the trophy.”
In addition to quick time, Wayne Johnson won the first heat. Larry Ball Jr. and Van Haaften took the other heats, while Jamie Ball won the B.
The 410, 360 and 305 sprints will be back in action next week for Slideways Karting Center/Pella Printing Night!
Article Credit: Bill Wright
Submitted By: Bill Wright