Shane Stewart Holds Off Schatz on Night #1 of the 56th Annual Knoxville Nationals!
Story By: BRYAN HULBERT/ BILL WRIGHT/ KNOXVILLE RACEWAY MEDIA
Photos By: DICK AYERS / RACERSGUIDE.COM
KNOXVILLE, Iowa -August 11, 2016 – For the third year in a row, and fifth time overall in Knoxville Nationals preliminary competition, Oklahoma’s Shane Stewart parked the Jeff Gordon Foundation No. 2s in Victory Lane; winning Wednesday’s Brandt Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night to open up the 56th annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.
It was Stewart’s second consecutive year topping the Capitani Classic and his Knoxville Nationals prelim night. The $12,000 score is Shane’s tenth overall win at the Knoxville Raceway and win No. 6 on the season with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series.
Referencing the words of Ralph Capitani, warning that Shane would be tough to beat, Shane stated, “I hope you’re interviewing me one more time this week. Man, I tell you what, I’ve got a great car right now, but I know that we’re going to have to pick it up just a little bit more to beat that No. 15 (Donny Schatz). He’s just so darn good here on the bottom and I have so many people ask me how he’s so good, but he just…everything just slows down in the racecar for him. He’s so good at changing lanes and not scrubbing off speed, so I’ve got to get better at that if I’m going to beat him”.
Gridding the field fourth, Stewart gave chase the first nine circuits as Jeff Swindell took off with the lead over Wayne Johnson from the front row. Into third on the third round, Stewart carefully closed in on the No. 47. Setting up Swindell for the pass on Lap 9, Stewart made the slide through turns one and two but was denied the top spot.
Regrouping on Lap 10, the slide came again through the first two turns. Leaving almost no room for error, Swindell was forced to roll out of the throttle, taking away enough momentum for Stewart to hold off the turn to take the lead.
Under caution on Lap 12 for Lynton Jeffrey, who lost a wheel on the No. 12 machine, Shane no longer had Swindell to contend with, as Donny Schatz had moved into the runner-up spot on the eleventh round. Charging low on the No. 2c, the No. 15 was kept at bay by 0.012 seconds to complete Lap 13. Taking the lead the following lap, his advantage was short lived as Stewart drove back to the point.
Slowed again with eight laps to run, Stewart got the jump on the restart, but Schatz was quick to pick up the pace, challenging again for the top position on the podium on Lap 19. Now three times denied, the nine-time champion watched as Shane pulled his advantage to 1.390 seconds at the drop of the checkered flag.
“It’ll be a different racetrack on Saturday for sure. We’ve been trying to find speed on the top of this place ever since we’ve been coming here,” said Donny of his runner-up appearance. “It seems like there’s nights you can do it, and nights you can’t, but we know what to do to run the bottom, but right now, we’re just curious of what it’s going to do on Saturday and which way it’s going to go. Right now, that’s the million-dollar question.”
Moving up from fifth, Chad Kemenah brought the Hunter Racing No. 10h to the final podium step. On his finish, Chad stated, “This is good for Saturday, and takes a little bit of pressure off, but, my brother’s had the racecar good all year long and that’s what we’ve been good at is being consistent, so maybe on Saturday, we can be just as consistent, or a little bit better.”
Coming from eighth, Daryn Pittman brought the Great Clips No. 9 to fourth with Jamie Veal from seventh to complete the top-five. Having to start 20th on the field, Greg Hodnett was the highest finishing Pennsylvania driver on the night with a hard charging run to sixth in the Heffner Racing No. 27. After leading early on, Jeff Swindell faded to finish seventh with Wayne Johnson also falling back to eighth. Ninth went to Rico Abreu with Dusty Zomer tenth after running as high as fourth in the opening laps.
With 47 drivers drawing in for Wednesday’s Brandt Professional Agriculture Qualifying night, Heat Race wins went to Chad Kemenah, Paige Polyak, Rico Abreu, Dusty Zomer, and Greg Hodnett. The C-Feature was topped by Josh Baughman with the B-Feature going to Sammy Swindell. The night’s quick time was achieved by Daryn Pittman with a time of 14.791 seconds.
Following Wednesday’s action, Daryn Pittman sits atop the points with 485. Jamie Veal is second with 477, followed by Donny Schatz, Chad Kemenah, and Shane Stewart who rounds out the top-five in standings with 472 markers.
The 56th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues Thursday night! Tickets are still available! To order tickets, or find more information about the Nationals, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 9, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (20), 14.791; 2. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (30), 14.794; 3. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (6), 14.887; 4. 71, Jamie Veal, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (21), 14.995; 5. 70, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (16), 15.013; 6. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (15), 15.048; 7. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (45), 15.061; 8. 2KS, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (41), 15.085; 9. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (12), 15.090; 10. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (5), 15.137; 11. 10H, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (11), 15.138; 12. 2S, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (42), 15.143; 13. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (26), 15.153; 14. 82, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (10), 15.177; 15. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (3), 15.188; 16. 47, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (24), 15.194; 17. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (4), 15.220; 18. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (1), 15.23; 19. 7, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (31), 15.230; 20. 10, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (23), 15.234; 21. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (22), 15.238; 22. 29, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (34), 15.243; 23. 09, Matt Juhl, Sioux Falls, SD (2), 15.248; 24. 55W, Logan Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (19), 15.259; 25. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (18), 15.263; 26. 7W, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (17), 15.267; 27. 93, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (36), 15.287; 28. 26, Willie Croft, Roseville, CA (28), 15.299; 29. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (9), 15.303; 30. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (8), 15.310; 31. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (38), 15.331; 32. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (32), 15.358; 33. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (40), 15.361; 34. 3G, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (7), 15.363; 35. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (29), 15.373; 36. 12H, Daniel Harding, Canning Vale, WA, Aust. (25), 15.415; 37. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (44), 15.415; 38. 18W, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (27), 15.442; 39. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (13), 15.512; 40. 27, Greg Hodnett, Spring Grove, PA (35), 15.519; 41. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (14), 15.524; 42. 17, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (37), 15.615; 43. 1X, Chad Trout, Dover, PA (33), 15.650; 44. 97, Dean Jacobs, Wooster, OH (39), 15.719; 45. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (47), 15.808; 46. 02, Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI (43), 15.837; 47. 4S, Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (46), 15.892
Heat one (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Chad Kemenah (6); 2. Daniel Harding (1); 3. Jeff Swindell (5); 4. Daryn Pittman (8) / 5. Scott Bogucki (4); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 7. Tasker Phillips (3); 8. Glen Saville (9) / 9. Matt Covington (2); 10. Mike Reinke (10)
Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:38.4: 1. Paige Polyak (1); 2. Logan Schuchart (2); 3. Shane Stewart (6); 4. Danny Dietrich (4) / 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 6. Sammy Swindell (8); 7. Jason Sides (5); 8. Brian Brown (7) / 9. Josh Baughman (9); 10. Danny Smith (10);
Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:39.1: 1. Rico Abreu (2); 2. Colby Copeland (1); 3. Matt Juhl (4); 4. Wayne Johnson (5) / 5. Craig Dollansky (7); 6. Willie Croft (3); 7. Josh Schneiderman (6); 8. Ian Madsen (8) / 9. Chad Trout (9);
Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:41.7: 1. Dusty Zomer (6); 2. Johnny Herrera (1); 3. Donny Schatz (7); 4. Jamie Veal (8) / 5. Paul McMahan (5); 6. Brandon Wimmer (2); 7. Chase Johnson (3); 8. Logan Wagner (4) / 9. Dean Jacobs (9);
Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:39.4: 1. Greg Hodnett (1); 2. Davey Heskin (2); 3. Austin McCarl (4); 4. Dakota Hendrickson (5) / 5. Danny Holtgraver (8); 6. Matt Moro (3); 7. Jonathan Cornell (6); 8. AJ Moeller (7) / 9. Randy Hannagan (9);
C main (started), 8 Laps, 2:08.1: 1. Josh Baughman (2); 2. Randy Hannagan (3); 3. Chad Trout (1); 4. Danny Smith (5) / 5. Mike Reinke (6); DQ (Scales) Dean Jacobs (4); DNS – 7. Matt Covington
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:16.1: 1. Sammy Swindell (1); 2. Ian Madsen (2); 3. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 4. Craig Dollansky (6) / 5. Brian Brown (5); 6. Jason Sides (10); 7. Paul McMahan (11); 8. Danny Holtgraver (3); 9. Josh Schneiderman (8); 10. Sheldon Haudenschild (15); 11. Tasker Phillips (14); 12. Scott Bogucki (12); 13. Jonathan Cornell (9); 14. Brandon Wimmer (19); 15. Josh Baughman (21); 16. AJ Moeller (7); 17. Willie Croft (16); 18. Chase Johnson (17); 19. Randy Hannagan (22); 20. Logan Wagner (13); 21. Danny Smith (24); 22. Glen Saville (20); 23. Chad Trout (23); 24. Matt Moro (18)
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Shane Stewart (4); 2. Donny Schatz (6); 3. Chad Kemenah (5); 4. Daryn Pittman (8); 5. Jamie Veal (7); 6. Greg Hodnett (20); 7. Jeff Swindell (2); 8. Wayne Johnson (1); 9. Rico Abreu (14); 10. Dusty Zomer (3); 11. Craig Dollansky (24); 12. Danny Dietrich (10); 13. Sammy Swindell (21); 14. Ian Madsen (22); 15. Matt Juhl (11); 16. Logan Schuchart (13); 17. Austin McCarl (12); 18. Daniel Harding (16); 19. Dakota Hendrickson (9); 20. Davey Heskin (15); 21. Colby Copeland (18); 22. Paige Polyak (17); 23. Johnny Herrera (19); 24. Lynton Jeffrey (23). Lap Leaders: J. Swindell 1-9, Stewart 10-25. Hard-charger: Hodnett.
Wednesday Point Totals
1 9 Daryn Pittman 485
2 71 Jamie Veal 477
3 15 Donny Schatz 476
4 10H Chad Kemenah 476
5 2S Shane Stewart 472
6 1 Sammy Swindell 459
7 82 Dusty Zomer 456
8 2KS Craig Dollansky 454
9 47 Jeff Swindell 452
10 18 Ian Madsen 449
11 2C Wayne Johnson 443
12 12 Lynton Jeffrey 429
13 29 Danny Dietrich 427
14 09 Matt Juhl 422
15 24 Rico Abreu 420
16 10 Dakota Hendrickson 417
17 70 Danny Holtgraver 416
18 17A Austin McCarl 414
19 27 Greg Hodnett 412
20 21 Brian Brown 409
21 1S Logan Schuchart 405
22 12H Daniel Harding 393
23 49J Josh Schneiderman 392
24 56N Davey Heskin 391
25 7S Jason Sides 390
26 7 Paul McMahan 390
27 19P Paige Polyak 386
28 18W Colby Copeland 383
29 20 AJ Moeller 381
30 28 Jonathan Cornell 380
31 45X Johnny Herrera 377
32 84 Scott Bogucki 376
33 93 Sheldon Haudenschild 368
34 7W Tasker Phillips 362
35 26 Willie Croft 349
36 55W Logan Wagner 345
37 3G Brandon Wimmer 343
38 68 Chase Johnson 342
39 2M Matt Moro 331
40 17 Josh Baughman 316
41 75 Glen Saville 307
42 95 Matt Covington 304
43 11N Randy Hannagan 302
44 1X Chad Trout 298
45 4S Danny Smith 291
46 97 Dean Jacobs 280
47 02 Mike Reinke 275
