Bryan Hulbert/Bill Wright – KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA, July 31, 2014 – After several small rain delays, the 24th annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals kicked off Thursday night with Davey Heskin taking his first 360cid Sprint Car victory at the Knoxville Raceway over the hard charging Jason Johnson.

“It was a fast track tonight, we were just balls to the wall out there,” said a nearly breathless Davey Heskin in Victory Lane. “We’ve had a mediocre season so far. I feel like so to park it here…even on a prelim night…it’s really special.”

Jumping to the lead on the start, Heskin found the tail of the field on Lap 8.

Moving to second on Lap 6, traffic allowed Jason Johnson to close the gap on Heskin. Traffic would play into the hands of the Minnesota veteran, as all roads to the No. 56 were blocked before the caution waved on Lap 11 for the stalled No. 29 of Russ Hall.

Having to play out the restart twice due to debris, Johnson stayed close to challenge for the lead but would slowly watch the Deluxe Crates No. 56 begin to pull away.

Working again amongst the back markers in the closing laps, Jason Johnson would seize the opportunity to strike. Taking the white flag, the Stenhouse, Jr. Racing / Curb Agajanian Performance Group No. 41 made the bid for the lead, but would come up short as Davey Heskin grabbed the win.

“I needed lapped traffic for sure,” commented second finishing Jason Johnson. “He left the door open for me on the white flag lap; but the driver missed the line.”

Tony Bruce, Jr. rebounded to finish third after a test run this past Saturday night that resulted in a fifteenth place finish. Current Knoxville Raceway 360cid Sprint Car point’s leader, Joe Beaver, finished fourth from eighth with Lee Grosz crossing fifth.

Casey Friedrichsen stated on the pole but slipped to finish sixth. Jamie Ball came from tenth to seventh with Kevin Swindell from twelfth to eighth. Brady Bacon crossed ninth with Dustin Selvage from nineteenth to finish tenth as the night’s Hard Charger.

Thursday night’s opener had 47 drivers draw in. Five Heat Races saw Kevin Swindell, Randi Miller, Jason Johnson, Cole Wood, and Ryan Roberts earning wins. The night’s C-Main was scrapped and remaining drivers moved to the B-Main with Nate Van Haaften winning.

Qualifying saw Joe Beaver fastest at 15.906 seconds. Beaver also emerged as the top point getter with 491 points. He was followed by Bruce (476), Johnson (474), Heskin (471) and Grosz (467).

Night two of the 24th Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals begins at 7:15 P.M. (CST) with Qualifying on Friday, August 1. For continued updates and results from the Arnold Motor Supply log onto http://www.ascsracing.com and http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com.

360 Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (35), 15.906; 2. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (12), 15.938; 3. 1, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (19), 15.969; 4. 1M, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (10), 15.990; 5. 3, Nate Van Haaften, Otley, IA (23), 16.106; 6. 10V, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (24), 16.108; 7. 22H, Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN (2), 16.151; 8. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (29), 16.155; 9. 10H, Danny Holtgraver, Pittsburgh, PA (22), 16.193; 10. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (33), 16.194; 11. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (11), 16.196; 12. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (38), 16.208; 13. 41, Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA (41), 16.238; 14. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (43), 16.252; 15. 20, Casey Friedrichsen, Arthur, IA (1), 16.263; 16. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (25), 16.281; 17. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (15), 16.289; 18. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (31), 16.296; 19. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (47), 16.323; 20. 1J, Danny Jennings, Norman, OK (16), 16.330; 21. 71, Kevin Swindell, Bartlett, TN (14), 16.367; 22. 29, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA (9), 16.371; 23. 47, Brant O’Banion, Norfolk, NE (28), 16.379; 24. 14R, Andy Gregg, Placerville, CA (36), 16.403; 25. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (34), 16.404; 26. 23KS, Steve Block, Splendora, TX (7), 16.435; 27. 90, Randi Miller, Rapid City, SD (26), 16.439; 28. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (13), 16.45; 29. 17WX, Cole Wood, Auburn, CA (46), 16.471; 30. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (21), 16.484; 31. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (20), 16.496; 32. 3H, Brandon Hanks, Burlison, TN (6), 16.501; 33. 7K, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (3), 16.541; 34. O9, Matt Juhl, Sioux Falls, SD (44), 16.59; 35. 05, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO (45), 16.624; 36. 47AU, Trevor Reynolds, Perth, WA, Aust. (30), 16.626; 37. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (39), 16.641; 38. 33V, Mike Van Haaften, Otley, IA (32), 16.654; 39. 83, Dave Getchell, Sperry, IA (5), 16.713; 40. 27B, Patrick Bourke, Gypsum, CO (18), 16.811; 41. 45X, Johnny Herrera, Albuquerque, NM (4), 16.833; 42. 9X, Jared Goerges, East Gull Lake, MN (42), 16.85; 43. 4X, Shawn Petersen, Irving, TX (40), 16.892; 44. 12M, James Mosher, Albuquerque, NM (27), 16.951; 45. 21R, Ryan Kitchen, Lincoln, NE (8), 17.764; 46. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (17), NT; 47. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (37), NT.

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Kevin Swindell (2); 2. Joe Beaver (6); 3. Jonathan Cornell (4); 4. Brady Bacon (3) / 5. Calvin Landis (5); 6. Johnny Herrera (9); 7. Matt Moro (7); 8. Trevor Reynolds (8) / 9. Steve Block (1) DNS – 10. Aaron Reutzel (10)

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Randi Miller (1); 2. Lee Grosz (4); 3. Russ Hall (2); 4. Derek Hagar (8) / 5. Randy Hannagan (5); 6. Chris Martin (3); 7. Brandon Hanks (7); 8. Jared Goerges (9) / 9. Sawyer Phillips (6) DNS – 10. Kevin Ingle (10)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.1: 1. Jason Johnson (4); 2. Jamie Ball (3); 3. Tony Bruce Jr. (5); 4. Dustin Selvage (7) / 5. Alan Zoutte (1); 6. Mike Van Haaften (8); 7. Shawn Petersen (9); 8. Justin Henderson (6) / 9. Brant O’Banion (2)

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:13.1: 1. Cole Wood (1); 2. Davey Heskin (4); 3. Andy Gregg (2); 4. Danny Lasoski (6) / 5. Matt Covington (3); 6. Danny Holtgraver (5); 7. Matt Juhl (7); 8. James Mosher (9) / 9. Dave Getchell (8)

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:11.1: 1. Ryan Roberts (2); 2. Casey Friedrichsen (4); 3. Cody Ledger (1); 4. Danny Jennings (3) / 5. Nate Van Haaften (6); 6. Brad Loyet (7); 7. Carson McCarl (5); 8. Patrick Bourke (8) / 9. Ryan Kitchen (9)

C main (not run): 1. Sawyer Phillips (1); 2. Brant O’Banion (2); 3. Steve Block (3); 4. Dave Getchell (4) / DNS – 5. Ryan Kitchen (5) DNS – 6. Kevin Ingle (6)

B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Nate Van Haaften (2); 2. Calvin Landis (1); 3. Randy Hannagan (4); 4. Matt Covington (6) / 5. Brad Loyet (11); 6. Johnny Herrera (15); 7. Danny Holtgraver (3); 8. Matt Moro (8); 9. Matt Juhl (10); 10. Chris Martin (5); 11. Brandon Hanks (9); 12. Mike Van Haaften (13); 13. Sawyer Phillips (19); 14. Patrick Bourke (14); 15. Alan Zoutte (7); 16. Carson McCarl (22); 17. Trevor Reynolds (12); 18. Jared Goerges (16); 19. Shawn Petersen (17); 20. Dave Getchell (20); 21. Steve Block (21); 22. James Mosher (18) DNS – 23. Justin Henderson DNS – 24. Brant O’Banion

A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Davey Heskin (2); 2. Jason Johnson (3); 3. Tony Bruce Jr. (6); 4. Joe Beaver (8); 5. Lee Grosz (4); 6. Casey Friedrichsen (1); 7. Jamie Ball (10); 8. Kevin Swindell (12); 9. Brady Bacon (9); 10. Dustin Selvage (19); 11. Jonathan Cornell (5); 12. Danny Jennings (11); 13. Ryan Roberts (15); 14. Andy Gregg (14); 15. Cole Wood (17); 16. Matt Covington (24); 17. Calvin Landis (22); 18. Randi Miller (16); 19. Derek Hagar (20); 20. Randy Hannagan (23); 21. Nate Van Haaften (21); 22. Danny Lasoski (7); 23. Cody Ledger (18); 24. Russ Hall (13). Lap Leader: Heskin 1-20. Hard-charger: Selvage.

Points after night #1

53, Joe Beaver – 491
18, Tony Bruce Jr. – 476
41, Jason Johnson – 474
56, Davey Heskin – 471
4J, Lee Grosz – 467
20, Casey Friedrichsen – 459
28, Jonathan Cornell – 454
5J, Jamie Ball – 451
71, Kevin Swindell – 446
10V, Calvin Landis – 446
99, Brady Bacon – 445
1m, Danny Lasoski – 443
3, Nate Van Haaften – 440
22H, Randy Hannagan – 438
1J, Danny Jennings – 431
18R, Ryan Roberts – 428
14R, Any Gregg – 422
95, Matt Covington – 422
17wx, Cole Wood – 416
90, Randi Miller – 414
7K, Dustin Selvage – 409
10H, Danny Holtgraver – 407
29, Russ Hall – 406
3P, Sawyer Phillips – 400
35L, Cody Ledger – 392
44, Chris Martin – 385
27, Carson McCarl – 384
9JR, Derek Hagar – 383
1, Justin Henderson – 381
05, Brad Loyet – 359
2m, Matt Moro – 358
33, Alan Zoutte – 356
09, Matt Juhl – 350
3H, Brandon Hanks – 350
45x, Johnny Herrera – 345
33v, Mike Van Haaften – 339
23KS, Steve Block – 336
47, Brant O’Banion – 336
47AU, Trevor Reynolds – 327
27B, Patrick Bourke – 325
9x, Jared Goerges – 313
4x, Shawn Petersen – 312
83, Dave Getchell – 312
12m, James Mosher – 301
21R, Ryan Kitchen – 280
87, Aaron Reutzel – 273
2K, Kevin Ingle – 269