March 28, 2024

Knoxville Nationals get under way

Sprint car drivers, fans living the dream for 10 days in Knoxville

KNOXVILLE — NASCAR stars, small town fun and the best racing anywhere in the world started Thursday at Knoxville Raceway. The 10-day stretch sprint car race fans dream of is here.

The 54th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store runs Wednesday through Saturday.

The 360 Arnold Motor Supply Nationals kicked off the 10-day run at Knoxville Raceway with its qualifying runs Thursday and Friday. The 360’s final was Saturday and the 410s competed in the the third annual Capitani Classic Sunday.

Brian Brown finally marked the Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals off his bucket list in his 15th attempt at the $10,000-to-win event. Brown led start-to-finish in the 25-lap championship event Saturday. Sam Hafertepe Jr. placed second followed by Sammy Swindell, Mark Dobmeier and Tim Shaffer to round out the top five.

On Sunday, Ian Madsen became the first Australian driver to win the third annual Capitani Classic. Madsen led wire-to-wire for his sixth win of the season and fifth overall at Knoxville.

Madsen held Justin Henderson at bay early in the race. Henderson finished fifth as Brain Brown was second, Kerry Madsen took third and Davey Heskin ran fourth.

The Knoxville Raceway lights up next for the 54th running of the FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. Donny Schatz is the defending champion of the event, and carries a dozen wins on the season into the $150,000-to-win event. Qualifying kicks off Wednesday with the championship event on Saturday.

Tuesday afternoon was a Speed Sport Knoxville World Challenge Picnic. The event helped showcase the growing international impact of Sprint Car Racing by “Uniting Nations Through Motorsports.”  More than 2,000 Knoxville Nationals fans are expected to come from just Australia over the  10 days of racing.

Tuesday night the Knoxville Nationals queen contest will be held at 7 p.m. at Dyer Hudson Hall on the Marion County Fairgrounds.

Day one of the Knoxville Nationals will see fans go wheel-to-wheel with their NASCAR heroes in the Weld Racing Go-Kart Spectacular held at Slideways Karting Center. The Go Kart Spectacular on Wednesday will feature NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson taking on more than 50 of sprint car racing’s biggest fans at Slideways Karting Center from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. all to raise money for children’s cancer research.

Later Wednesday night half of the 110 car field will take to the track for their qualifying night. The other half will qualify Thursday night.

Friday the Jeff Gordon “Kick It” event will take place. A kickball game “kicks off” at noon featuring Sprint Car racing’s best drivers playing a seven-inning game of grassroots kickball to claim the “Tony Stewart Kick-It Cup” trophy.

A live auction will take place throughout the event with event tickets, hot passes, autographed racing memorabilia and more. All proceeds go to Kick-It for Children’s Cancer, a partner of Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation.

Friday night racing includes the Speed Sport Knoxville World Challenge where drivers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada compete against American drivers in one of the only international motorsports events. Also a full night of action as drivers race to fill the final four spots of Saturday night’s prestigious A-main event.

Saturday morning the Knoxville Nationals parade begins at 10 a.m. in downtown Knoxville. Fans can get up close with their favorite drivers and sponsors each day at Fan Fest on the Marion County Fairgrounds.

The 25 best drivers will compete Saturday night for their chance at becoming a Knoxville Nationals champion. Nearly $1-million in prize money will be awarded over the event.

Over the 10-day period points from every event will be calculated to award the Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa Speed Week Champion - Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car”

For tickets or more information visit knoxvilleraceway.com or call 641-842-5431.

24th Annual Arnold Motor Supply

Knoxville 360 Nationals Results

A main (started), 25-Laps, NT: 1. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (1); 2. 15H, Sam HafertepeJr., Sunnyvale, TX (4); 3. 1s, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (3); 4. 13, MarkDobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (10); 5. 45, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (14); 6. 41, JasonJohnson, Eunice, LA (6); 7. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (2); 8. 6, TerryMcCarl, Altoona, IA (20); 9. 28, Jonathan Cornell, Sedalia, MO (13); 10. DannyLasoski (21); 11. 18, Tony Bruce Jr., Owasso, OK (5); 12. 99, Brady Bacon,Broken Arrow, OK (19); 13. 18M, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (9); 14. 82,Bronson Maeschen, Pleasantville, IA (12); 15. Randy Hannagan (22); 16. 13v, SethBrahmer, Norfolk, NE (16); 17. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND (8); 18. Josh Higday(24); 19. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (15); 20. 20, Casey Friedrichsen,Arthur, IA (11); 21. 56, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (7); 22. 10V, CalvinLandis, Knoxville, IA (18); 23. Wayne Johnson (23); 24. 71, Kevin Swindell,Germantown, TN (17). Lap Leader:Brown 1-25. Hard-charger: T. McCarl.

305 Results

A main (started), 15-Laps, NT: 1. Devin Kline (8); 2. Stacey Alexander (6); 3. J Kinder (10); 4.Kevin Hetrick (2); 5. Mike Philben (9); 6. McKenna Haase (13); 7. Steve Breazeale (5); 8. Jeff Wilke (11); 9. Keoni Texeira (3); 10. Kade Higday (12);11. Tanner Edwards (14); 12. Bob Hildreth (15); 13. Andee Beierle (16); 14.Christopher Scank (20); 15. Lee Patterson (22); 16. Michael Fishel (19); 17. Matthew Stelzer (4); 18. Mike Mayberry (1); 19. Joe Simbro (21); 20. Terri O’Connell (17); 21. Mitchell Alexander (7); 22. Corey Kautz (18) DNS – Steve Palmer,Kevin Hiemstra. Lap Leaders: Stelzer 1-4, S. Alexander 5-11, Ball 12-15. Hard-charger: Kline.

3rd Annual Capitani Classic

410 Results

A main (started), 25-Laps, NT: 1. Ian Madsen (1); 2. Brian Brown (8); 3. Kerry Madsen (2); 4. DaveyHeskin (4); 5. Justin Henderson (3); 6. Brad Sweet (5); 7. Danny Lasoski (7);8. Daryn Pittman (6); 9. Shane Stewart (16); 10. Jason Johnson (14); 11.Bronson Maeschen (15); 12. Mark Dobmeier (17); 13. Jason Meyers (18); 14. Tony Bruce Jr. (13); 15. Lynton Jeffrey (12); 16. Dale Blaney (23); 17. Paul McMahan (11); 18. Terry McCarl (24); 19. Danny Holtgraver (10); 20. Tim Shaffer (21);21. Joey Saldana (22); 22. Randy Hannagan (19); 23. Kevin Swindell (9); 24.Craig Dollansky (20). Lap Leader: I.Madsen 1-25. Hard-charger: Stewart.