A Doubleheader Weekend to Close September

For the first time in the history of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals, I found myself heading up the road alone for the Saturday night finale. Along with the internet updates, buddies Darryl and Fred had been there for the two preliminary nights, so I had a good feel for what had been going on when I pulled into the fairgrounds about noon. The open pit area until 3:00 PM always gets me there early, and with only myself to entertain, I even worked in a mid afternoon nap!
Even with the guys saving me a row 19 seat, the lure of the storied 1/2 mile drew me inside a full hour before hot lap time. After all, there is always old friends to see and new ones to meet at Knoxville!
 There were still 71 entrants on hand from the 80 that signed in on Thursday night, with the 66 car cap of the last several seasons being lifted, and no support classes competing. So that meant there would be four events on the card, and I did not hear much complaining.
 With 24 drivers already locked in to the 100 lap $40,000 to win main event, we were left with 47 cars vying for six remaining spots, and whatever provisionals the Lucas Oil series deemed necessary.
  First up was the 12 lap D main, with ten of the scheduled 16 starters still on hand. The plan was to advance the top four to the C Main, but with three C Main qualifiers not racing, the top seven moved up. On lap one, Colorado standout Scott Lewis pounded the turn four guardrail after contact from another car, ending his run. While central Illinois ace Steve Lance Jr, and Ohios' John Mason dueled up front, ninth starting Chad Chenoweth from Huron, SD, was on the move. He was going for fourth on lap five when he looped his # 7. Lance took off agin on the restart, leading all 12 laps for the win. Mason, local favorite Darrell Defrance, and Skip Frey followed. Chenoweth, Curt Schroeder, and Alonzo Grosse also moved on.
 A false start plagued the C, and on the restart, Chenoweth again spun his ride. New father Chris Simpson jumped to the lead form the pole position, with the top four in the 15 lapper headed to the B-Main. Eighth starting Tyler Breuning was on the move, rolling past outside pole starter Tim Lance for fourth on lap six. Four laps later, Tyler took over third. With three to go, fourth running Jason Utter stopped on the track, with another false start on the Delaware restart. Illinoian Mike Spatola faded out of the top four in those closing laps, with Simpson leading the distance. Breuning came home second, Lance rebounded for third, and Ryan Unzicker, in his first nationals appearance, barely edged Rob Moss for the final transfer spot.
  Donnie Moran took the early lead in the 20 lap B-Main, with Dennis Erb alongside, and Erb led lap two. With 14 to go, the yellow waved for Jesse Stovall, who had a flat tire. On the restart, Erb opened a big lead, with ninth starting Don Oneal charging to fifth. Austin hubbard moved around John Blankenship for the sixth and final transfer spot, while Jared Landers faded from contention. Eric Wells moved up to challenge Hubbard, but fell short. Erb outlasted Moran, Tim McCreadie, Chad Simpson, Oneal, and Hubbard to move to the big dance.
 With the race now being sanctioned by the Lucas Oil series, Blankenship, Landers, and Wells were all awarded provisionals, giving us a 33 car starting field.
   After on track introductions, Earl Pearson Jr. could not get his # 44 to fire, and was pushed to the hot pit area. Pearson would rejoin the field 13 laps later following a caution period. it had been a bad battery that betrayed Pearson.  Scott Bloomquist and  Jimmy Owens held the front row, and Owens took the early lead. Bloomer led lap three following a nifty slide job, and Brady Smith and Brian Shirley grabbed the next two spots. Before ten laps were down, Steve Francis moved to third, and Brian Birkhofer to fifth. But it was now Smith on the move, as he took the lead. The yellow on lap 13 was for Shirley, who lost an engine. Mark Burgtorf also retired with suspension damage at the same time,ending his time in the Lynn Richard # 15R On the restart, Birkhofer jumped to second. Friday night winner Mike Marlar was on the move, taking fith with 80 to go. A restart five laps later saw Birky lead one lap, before Smith took back the top spot, and Francis moved back in to third. The caution waved with 66 to go for McCreadie, and on the restart, Francis took second, Marlar moved to fourth, and 29 th starting Oneal put the Moring Motorsports # 71 in to the top ten. As Smith opened a sizable lead, Birky and Francis raced side by side, lap after lap. Several more cautions slowed the action, but each time, Smith opened a comfortable margin. As is often the case, several drivers made runs into the top ten, only to fade back. The top three had things in hand, and with 40 to go, Smith contacted Austin Hubbard as he tried to put him a lap down. That may have been Bradys downfall, as his lead began to shrink, and ten laps later, Francis turned up the wick, and took the lead. The leaders battled in traffic, before the Kentucky Colonel pulled away for his first Nationals win. Smith was a bit disappointed, but picked up a nice check for second. Birkhofer held third, Bloomquist took fourth, and Owens rebounded to fifth. Marlar drove a steady race to grab sixth, and Oneal moved to seventh with 16 to go, advancing 22 spots! Billy Moyer came home eighth, Chad Simpson moved up 19 spots to ninth, and Will Vaught completed the top ten.
  The 100 laps took about one hour to run, with the final checkers at a very respectable 10:30. Some Nationals features are better than others, but I have yet to leave disappointed, and when Francis called this his biggest and best win, calling Knoxville the premier track in the country for late models, I could not disagree!
  After bunking in Knoxville, we all headed back on Sunday for the season finale at Quincy Raceways. QR had added an extra night of racing, in part to aid the UMP late model championship chasers. That battle never developed, as Kevin Weaver had a disappointing weekend, and Shirley lost an engine. So the final determination for national UMP late model champ will happen in October at Eldora, but it looks like Shirley will capture the title.
  77 total cars checked in at Quincy, with 19 UMP modifieds the largest class. The non UMP classes were given a " cheaters night, " and stock car driver Terry Houston set the standard with a sprint car wing on his # 97. The point champion started things off with a flag to flag feature win over Michael Larsen and Jacksonville Raceway driver Brian Gaines. Tony Dunker continued his sport mod dominance, outlasting former track regular Joe Hooper in Bobby Anders car, and Lee County hotshoe Rick Barlow,Jr.
 The late model field was 12 strong, and fast qualifier Dustin griffin notched his fifth late model win of 2012 in a non stop 30 lapper. Denny Woodworth, rejuvenated since moving to a Griffin car, took second, followed by Burgtorf in his # 7B. Jerry Lierly took fourth in his first run since breaking his arm in a crash in July, while Jim Moon took fifth. Modified ace Jared Schlipman took a ride in Woodworths # 45DW, and stock car pilot Michael Larsen took his first latr model tour in Kevin Tomlinsons # 49. the surprise visitor on the final night was Michigan hot shoe Rusty Schlenk, who dropped out while running fourth.
 Jeff Delonjay picked up his first hobby stock win of 2012 edging out Jim Brown and point champ Jake Powers. The UMP mods took five tries to complete one lap, and suffered through eight caution flags in 25 laps. Despite the stoppages, vastly improved Craig Spegal recoded his first QR feature win. Burgtorf moved to second in the Mark Van Winkel # 24V, while point champ Steven Delonjay held off Jake Griffin for third.
 For the final race of 2012, track officials decided to run the sport compacts 40 laps, 40 minutes, or three cars ledt on the track. To be fair, there was some extra cash on the line. 13 of the 14 cars signed in took the feature green, and when the final checkers flew, four cars remained on the track. Austen Becerra took another win, although Laine VanZandt pushed him hard. Kimberly Abbott and Bryce Baker followed.
  There is still a month of racing in the area, so pull out the sweatshirt, and we will see you somewhere down the road.