RacingNation.com
Home / USAC / Night One-Knoxville Midget Nationals

Night One-Knoxville Midget Nationals

Knoxville, Iowa, June 19—Brad Sweet Captured the 20-Lap King Doodlebug Classic, Friday Night at Knoxville Raceway.

It was the opening night at the 7th Annual Knoxville Midget Nationals presented by Iowa Telecom. This event is co-sanctioned by the USAC National, Badger, POWRi and SMRS Midget Series.

Darren Hagen flipped on the opening lap causing a multi-car accident, resulting in a complete restart. Cole Whitt jumped into the lead at the start. A lap 4 caution for debris bunched up the field. Whitt pulled to a slight advantage, one lap later Sweet regained second position. Third place Levi Jones stopped on the track surface at the mid-way point erasing Whitt’s advantage. Sweet challenged on the restart but Whitt held a two second lead with five laps remaining. One lap later, two separate cautions and a red flag occurred.

On the restart Sweet drove under Whitt and drew even with Whitt, exiting turn two, pulling into the lead on the back stretch. Sweet driving the Kasey Kahne owned Spike/Mopar #49 finished 0.58 seconds ahead of Whitt, Ricky Stenhouse, Jerry Coons Jr., Bobby East and Michael Pickens. The first six finishers earned automatic starting positions for Saturday’s 25-lap Championship feature. “The car was flawless, the last restart, we got a perfect run and made the pass stick” commented Sweet in victory lane.

SUMMARY

20-LAP FEATURE: 1. Brad Sweet, 2. Cole Whitt, 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Bobby East, 6. Michael Pickens, 7. Russ Harper, 8. Aaron Fiscus, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Levi Jones, 11. Mike Hess, 12. Brad Kuhn, 13. Brett Anderson, 14. Gary Altig, 15. David Gough, 16. Gary Taylor, 17. Brad Loyet, 18. Scott Hatton, 19. Tim Noble, 20. Don Droud Jr., 21. Chad Boat, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Brady Bacon, 24. Bradley Galedrige, 25. Austin Brown, 26. Ryan Criswell, 27. Kody Swanson, 28. Darren Hagen. NT

10-LAP SEMI FEATURE WINNERS: East, Taylor

8-LAP HEAT RACE WINNERS: Whitt, Jones, Sweet, Droud, Bacon

CARS PRESENT: 44

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Whitt 1-16, Sweet 17-20

**Hagen flipped on first lap of feature. Bacon flipped on lap 16 of feature. All drivers uninjured.

Share Button