Dusty Zomer Zooms to Victory Lane on Night #2 of the Knoxville 360 Nationals!
by Bryan Hulbert and Bill Wright
Knoxville, IA, August 7, 2015 – A stacked field of drivers made the call for night-two of the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank with Dusty Zomer capturing his fifth career victory in 360cid competition at the famed half-mile.
The second time Zomer has stood atop the podium on a 360 Nationals preliminary night, the non-stop, 20 lap A-Feature allowed the Buffalo Wild Wings No. 82 to race to a 5.462 second advantage at the checkered flag.
“My Crew Chief gave me a great car tonight. I just has to be patient. I knew Brown was going to be fast, I knew Sammy was going to be fast; everyone was going to be fast, but I just had to be patient, run our race, and run our line,” said Zomer in Victory Lane. “You know it was 20 laps and you don’t have to lead the first five, or the first 10, you just need to lead that last one.”
Taking off from the pole, Brian Brown jumped to nearly a second advantage as Dusty Zomer worked past Sammy Swindell for the runner-up spot in the opening laps. Working low at both ends of the track, Zomer pulled even with the Casey General Store No. 21 on Lap 8. Wheel-to-wheel around the half-mile, Zomer shot to the top spot the following lap.
Green the remainder of the feature event, Zomer was uncontested; taking the win over Sammy Swindell, and in doing so, secures the second starting spot in Saturday’s $10,000 to win feature event.
Asked about the run, Sammy replied, “The first part doesn’t pay, it’s the end. We were off a little, so we need to go back and figure out where we are at. This is the first time to run this car on a half-mile with a 360, so I can’t complain.”
Pulling off a close pass on the No. 21 for the second spot on Lap 18, Sammy talked about the pass saying, “He kept changing his mind. One lap he’d be low, the next he’d be high….just make up your mind. I got a good run off of one and slid him, and I guess he didn’t like it, but that’s how it goes.”
Working on the No. 21 on the final lap, Terry McCarl put the SnowPlow.com No 24 on the final podium step.
“I thought we had a shot there at Sammy and Brian at one point. I looked up and they were just right in front of me, and I thought I had them both, but a lapped car came down and took my spot there, but that’s okay,” said McCarl. “The car was good. I think we could have been a little bit better even, but overall a great night.”
McCarl’s third place run puts the three time 360 Nationals Champion on the pole for Saturday night.
Making his No. 21 as wide as possible, Brian Brown was able to hold onto a fourth place finish with Kevin Swindell coming from 11th to complete the top-five.
As high as third in the latter part of the feature event, Wayne Johnson slipped to a sixth place finish trying to battle through the back markers. Chad Kemenah advanced eight spots to finish seventh with Jac Haudenschild eighth. Tim Shaffer finished ninth with Tony Shilling moving forward six spots to complete the top-ten.
Fifty-four drivers on Friday night brings the weekend total to 102 for the 25th Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank. Five Heat Races went to Tony Shilling, Dusty Zomer, Don Droud, Jr., Ian Madsen, and Wayne Johnson. The night’s C-Feature was won by Randy Hannagan. B-Feature action went to Josh Baughman.
The 25th Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank concludes Saturday night with the championship! Knoxville Championship Cup Series 305 sprint cars will also be in action. For more information on Knoxville Raceway, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
360 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1), 16.152; 2. 45, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (2), 16.300; 3. 9, Ryan Giles, West Des Moines, IA (9), 16.412; 4. 86, Tyler Thomas, Collinsville, OK (5), 16.566; 5. 77X, Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, IA (8), 16.572; 6. 17, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (13), 16.579; 7. 82, Dusty Zomer, Brandon, SD (24), 16.591; 8. 20K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (10), 16.708; 9. 5H, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (3), 16.773; 10. 14K, Kyle Bellm, Nixa, MO (22), 16.811; 11. O1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (43), 16.828; 12. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (34), 16.835; 13. 8L, Tom Lenz, Marion, IA (4), 16.842; 14. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (21), 16.917; 15. 34DD, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (12), 16.927; 16. 13V, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (14), 16.938; 17. 21X, Bart Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA (15), 16.944; 18. 1X, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (28), 16.994; 19. 71, Kevin Swindell, Bartlett, TN (54), 17.006; 20. 17H, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (6), 17.038; 21. 74B, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (50), 17.064; 22. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (23), 17.115; 23. 5G, Curt Michael, Ocean View, DE (27), 17.135; 24. 3K, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (18), 17.14; 25. 10H, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (25), 17.146; 26. 22, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA (36), 17.152; 27. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (49), 17.154; 28. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (41), 17.180; 29. 18M, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (37), 17.185; 30. 40H, Caleb Helms, Findlay, OH (38), 17.189; 31. 2X, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (26), 17.205; 32. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (42), 17.251; 33. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (29), 17.282; 34. 56B, Ryan Bernal, Hollister, CA (11), 17.328; 35. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (30), 17.355; 36. 2L, Logan Forler, Boise, ID (20), 17.382; 37. 23W, Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN (51), 17.401; 38. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (47), 17.441; 39. 25, Dylan Peterson, Hartford, SD (7), 17.449; 40. 1B, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (48), 17.516; 41. 33M, Kris Miller, Woodward, OK (17), 17.528; 42. 55XM, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (33), 17.529; 43. 88N, DJ Netto, Hanford, CA (19), 17.535; 44. 11N, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (45), 17.536; 45. 9X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (39), 17.561; 46. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (44), 17.568; 47. 7, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (32), 17.663; 48. 25B, Jake Blackhurst, Hanna City, IL (53), 17.841; 49. 8, JD Johnson, Goddard, KS (31), 17.877; 50. 14H, Jim Huppunen, Welland, ONT, Can. (16), 18.038; 51. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (52), 18.206; 52. 2D, Dave Saffell, Pleasantville, IA (40), 18.483; 53. 5, Jason Schroeder, Spring Hill, KS (46), 19.048; 54. 38, Mike Dapra, Gillette, WY (35), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.2: 1. Tony Shilling (1); 2. Sammy Swindell (4); 3. Terry McCarl (6); 4. John Carney II (2) / 5. Jack Dover (10); 6. Josh Baughman (5); 7. Seth Brahmer (3); 8. Parker Price-Miller (7) / 9. Logan Forler (8); 10. Kris Miller (9)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.6: 1. Dusty Zomer (5); 2. Davey Heskin (1); 3. Brian Brown (4); 4. Tim Shaffer (6) / 5. Jeff Swindell (2); 6. Tasker Phillips (7); 7. Bart Friedrichsen (3); 8. Scott Winters (8) / 9. Kaley Gharst (10); 10. Brandon Wimmer (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:22.8: 1. Don Droud Jr. (3); 2. Curt Michael (2); 3. Ryan Giles (6); 4. Matt Covington (7) / 5. Thomas Kennedy (5); 6. Tom Lenz (4); 7. Brooke Tatnell (8); 8. DJ Netto (9) / 9. Jake Blackhurst (10); 10. Blake Hahn (1)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:20.4: 1. Ian Madsen (1); 2. Kevin Swindell (3); 3. Tim Kaeding (2); 4. Tyler Thomas (6) / 5. Chris Martin (4); 6. Dakota Hendrickson (5); 7. Ryan Bernal (7); 8. Dylan Peterson (8) / 9. Randy Hannagan (9); 10. JD Johnson (10)
Heat five (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Wayne Johnson (6); 2. Chad Kemenah (2); 3. Jac Haudenschild (4); 4. Johnny Herrera (7) / 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 6. Harli White (3); 7. Kyle Bellm (5); 8. Jake Bubak (9) / 9. Jim Huppunen (10); 10. Caleb Helms (1)
C main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Randy Hannagan (6); 2. Logan Forler (1); 3. Kaley Gharst (5); 4. Brandon Wimmer (3) / 5. Caleb Helms (2); 6. Jake Blackhurst (8); 7. JD Johnson (7); 8. Kevin Ingle (9); 9. Kris Miller (4); 10. Jason Schroeder (11); 11. Dave Saffell (12); 12. Jim Huppunen (10) DNS – 13. Blake Hahn; 14. Mike Dapra
B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Josh Baughman (1); 2. Scott Winters (12); 3. Thomas Kennedy (2); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (17); 5. Harli White (9); 6. DJ Netto (16); 7. Seth Brahmer (7); 8. Bart Friedrichsen (8); 9. Jack Dover (18); 10. Chris Martin (6); 11. Ryan Bernal (13); 12. Brooke Tatnell (15); 13. Parker Price-Miller (11); 14. Kaley Gharst (23); 15. Tasker Phillips (10); 16. Tom Lenz (5); 17. Jake Bubak (19); 18. Randy Hannagan (21); 19. Logan Forler (20); 20. Dylan Peterson (14); 21. Brandon Wimmer (22); 22. Dakota Hendrickson (3); 23. Kyle Bellm (4) DNS – 24. Jeff Swindell
A main (started), 20 Laps, 6:20.3: 1. Dusty Zomer (3); 2. Sammy Swindell (2); 3. Terry McCarl (8); 4. Brian Brown (1); 5. Kevin Swindell (11); 6. Wayne Johnson (4); 7. Chad Kemenah (15); 8. Jac Haudenschild (9); 9. Tim Shaffer (7); 10. Tony Shilling (14); 11. Ryan Giles (6); 12. Curt Michael (13); 13. Davey Heskin (17); 14. John Carney II (12); 15. Sheldon Haudenschild (22); 16. Johnny Herrera (18); 17. Ian Madsen (16); 18. Scott Winters (20); 19. Tyler Thomas (5); 20. Matt Covington (19); 21. Josh Baughman (21); 22. Don Droud Jr. (10); 23. Thomas Kennedy (23); 24. Tim Kaeding (24). Lap Leaders: Brown 1-8, Zomer 9-20. Hard-charger: Kemenah.