Brad Sweet Dominates on Night #2 of the Knoxville Nationals!

Brad Sweet and Chad Kemenah Will Start on Row One Saturday Night

by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 9, 2018) – Brad Sweet picked up where he left off in Sunday’s Weld Racing Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank, by dominating the Thursday Toyota Night qualifier for the 58th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores. The Grass Valley, California native took home $12,000 for his win in the Kasey Kahne Racing #49. Sweet also secured himself the pole position for Saturday night’s $150,000 championship event. He will be flanked by Ohio’s Chad Kemenah, while the second row will be comprised of Wednesday high point drivers Kyle Larson and Donny Schatz.

Sweet started sixth in the 25-lapper, but wasted no time in getting to the front. He had the lead by turns three and four, ahead of Mark Dobmeier, Rico Abreu, Terry McCarl and Jacob Allen. Josh Schneiderman smacked the wall on the backstretch and slowed to a stop to bring a caution one lap in. Sammy Swindell spun a lap later, but fortunately, just avoided tipping over.

The rest of the event went green. Sweet led the field back to green ahead of Abreu, who had passed Dobmeier, McCarl and Allen. Tim Kaeding moved into the top five on the restart, and then grabbed fourth from McCarl on lap four. David Gravel, who started 13th shot from sixth to fourth on lap five. Two circuits later, he worked by Dobmeier for third.

Sweet jetted into lapped traffic on lap nine. He built a huge lead over Abreu that eclipsed four seconds with ten to go. There was no stopping the “Big Cat”, who took the checkers ahead of Abreu, Gravel, Kaeding and McCarl. Chad Kemenah, Cory Eliason, hard-charger Shane Stewart (from 23rd), quick timer Carson Macedo and Kraig Kinser rounded out the top ten. Sam Hafertepe Jr., Chris Martin, Dave Blaney, Swindell and Eliason won heat races. Don Droud Jr. took the C main, while Macedo claimed the B.

“That was fun,” said Sweet in Victory Lane, who will also receive $2,000 from SprintCarUnlimited.com for earning Saturday’s pole. “The car has been on rails all weekend. The job is only half done now. We’re obviously in good position on Saturday night. That’s what it’s all about. I think we made a little bit of a statement tonight. We by far had the best car. I feel like they’re going to be gunning for us on Saturday, so we just need to do our job. I feel like coming to (races like the Capitani Classic)…it doesn’t pay a lot and the competition is so tough…I need that extra track time. I’m not Donny Schatz. We’ve been tuning on this racecar.”

“That felt good,” said Abreu. “We just keep getting our car better and better. Thanks to all the fans…it’s cool to see this place packed. It’s cool to be in this environment. There’s no place in the world that creates so much energy. It’s a lot like the Chili Bowl…and both are races we’ve had success at. Three years in a row to be locked in the A main, it just shows how good this team is.”

“We had kind of a disappointing day qualifying,” said Gravel. “We really needed to win that heat race. It just wasn’t a good night point-wise. We had a really good car early in that A main. It wasn’t what we wanted, but we made the best of it. We’ll move on, we just needed to qualify better.”

Two firsts for the Knoxville Nationals occurred. Gio Scelzi, just 16 years, eight months and 14 days old this Saturday, will become the youngest driver to ever qualify for the championship event. That eclipses Jeff Gordon’s 1989 start at 18 years, and 15 days old. Also, Tom Harris of Banbury, Oxfordshire, became the first driver to compete at the Knoxville Nationals from the United Kingdom.

The top sixteen drivers locking themselves into Saturday night’s A main in the first eight rows included Sweet, Kemenah, Larson, Schatz, Aaron Reutzel, Kerry Madsen, Tim Shaffer, Carson Macedo, Gio Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Ian Madsen, Jacob Allen, Rico Abreu, Greg Hodnett, Shane Stewart and Terry McCarl.

Those drivers who will start in rows one through five of Saturday’s B main include Parker Price-Miller, Lucas Wolfe, Daryn Pittman, Brock Zearfoss, Cory Eliason, Mark Dobmeier, David Gravel, Sammy Walsh, Austin McCarl and Kraig Kinser.

Friday’s FVP Night will include the drivers who missed the top 26 in points. The top four finishers in Friday night’s main event will earn starting spots 17-20 in Saturday’s championship. The fifth place finisher will start 11th in Saturday’s B. The $10,000 Speed Sport World Challenge will also be run. If the winner of the race has not qualified already for Saturday night’s main event, they will be awarded the 25th starting spot. Two-time and defending World Series Sprintcars (WSS) champion James McFadden will start on the pole, alongside Lynton Jeffrey.

The 58th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues with FVP night, Friday, August 10. There are still tickets available for the biggest event in sprint car racing! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
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Toyota Night #2 of the 58th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 41, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (9), 15.520; 2. 10H, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (6), 15.608; 3. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (20), 15.627; 4. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (1), 15.634; 5. 71P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (41), 15.643; 6. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Au (19), 15.691; 7. 44, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (5), 15.748; 8. 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH (10), 15.767; 9. 2, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (50), 15.783; 10. 7, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (18), 15.810; 11. 91T, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (3), 15.838; 12. 1X, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (2), 15.857; 13. 3, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (47), 15.861; 14. 17X, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (36), 15.862; 15. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (35), 15.894; 16. 7C, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (21), 15.902; 17. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (33), 15.925; 18. 99G, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (14), 15.942; 19. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (16), 15.948; 20. 35, Jamie Veal, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (34), 15.97; 21. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (26), 15.977; 22. 39, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (40), 15.980; 23. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (13), 15.982; 24. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (44), 15.985; 25. 83, Cory Eliason, Selma, CA (49), 15.989; 26. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (23), 15.993; 27. 26, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (42), 16.001; 28. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (12), 16.005; 29. 5, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (46), 16.020; 30. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (31), 16.026; 31. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (45), 16.032; 32. 9R, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15), 16.059; 33. 70, Dave Blaney, High Point, NC (11), 16.076; 34. 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (51), 16.084; 35. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (39), 16.121; 36. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (29), 16.123; 37. 44M, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (7), 16.125; 38. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (48), 16.137; 39. G1, Gary Taylor, Snohomish, WA (37), 16.150; 40. 25, Bobby McMahan, Elk Grove, CA (22), 16.204; 41. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (28), 16.214; 42. 35P, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (17), 16.244; 43. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (25), 16.258; 44. 71A, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (43), 16.259; 45. 28AU, Allan Woods, Brisbane, QLD, Aust. (32), 16.274; 46. 81, Lee Jacobs, Dalton, OH (30), 16.308; 47. 3X, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (24), 16.308; 48. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (27), 16.332; 49. 18J, Jenna Frazier, Rio Linda, CA (8), 17.756; 50. 84, Tom Harris, Banbury, OXFD, UK (38), 18.088; 51. 2MM, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (4), NT.

Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:42.8: 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2); 2. Mark Dobmeier (4); 3. Kraig Kinser (3); 4. John Carney II (5) / 5. Scott Bogucki (7); 6. Carson Macedo (8); 7. Matt Covington (1); 8. Cale Thomas (6) / 9. Lee Jacobs (10); 10. Thomas Kennedy (9)

Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:47.1: 1. Chris Martin (1); 2. Rico Abreu (5); 3. Spencer Bayston (4); 4. Chad Kemenah (8) / 5. Rager Phillips (2); 6. Jac Haudenschild (10); 7. Joey Saldana (3); 8. Trey Starks (7) / 9. Skylar Prochaska (9); 10. Don Droud Jr. (6)

Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.9: 1. Dave Blaney (2); 2. Tim Kaeding (6); 3. Harli White (3); 4. Jacob Allen (8) / 5. Skylar Gee (5); 6. Greg Wilson (9); 7. Jordyn Brazier (4); 8. Paige Polyak (7) / 9. Kyle Reinhardt (10); 10. Brian Brown (1)

Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:44.2: 1. Sammy Swindell (2); 2. Brad Sweet (8); 3. Gary Taylor (1); 4. David Gravel (3) / 5. Shane Stewart (7); 6. Brooke Tatnell (4); 7. Josh Baughman (6); 8. Danny Dietrich (5) / 9. RJ Johnson (9); 10. Jenna Frazier (10)

Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.1: 1. Cory Eliason (4); 2. Wayne Johnson (2); 3. Josh Schneiderman (3); 4. Terry McCarl (6); 5. Parker Price-Miller (8); 6. Jamie Veal (5); 7. Carson McCarl (7); 8. Allan Woods (9); 9. Bobby McMahan (1); 10. Tom Harris (10)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:18.1: 1. Don Droud Jr. (1); 2. RJ Johnson (4); 3. Bobby McMahan (2); 4. Lee Jacobs (5) / 5. Skylar Prochaska (3); 6. Tom Harris (6) DNS – 7. Thomas Kennedy; 8. Kyle Reinhardt; 9. Brian Brown; 10. Jenna Frazier; 11. Matt Moro

B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Carson Macedo (1); 2. Parker Price-Miller (2); 3. Shane Stewart (6); 4. Jamie Veal (12) / 5. Scott Bogucki (3); 6. Danny Dietrich (11); 7. Don Droud Jr. (19); 8. Cale Thomas (8); 9. Josh Baughman (9); 10. Greg Wilson (18); 11. Skylar Gee (10); 12. Brooke Tatnell (14); 13. Rager Phillips (16); 14. Lee Jacobs (23); 15. Allan Woods (17); 16. RJ Johnson (22); 17. Paige Polyak (5); 18. Trey Starks (4); 19. Joey Saldana (15); 20. Carson McCarl (7); 21. Jordyn Brazier (13); 22. Jac Haudenschild (20); 23. Bobby McMahan (21); DNS – 24. Matt Covington

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Brad Sweet (6); 2. Rico Abreu (2); 3. David Gravel (13); 4. Tim Kaeding (5); 5. Terry McCarl (4); 6. Chad Kemenah (8); 7. Cory Eliason (10); 8. Shane Stewart (23); 9. Carson Macedo (21); 10. Kraig Kinser (11); 11. Mark Dobmeier (1); 12. Jacob Allen (7); 13. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (15); 14. Parker Price-Miller (22); 15. Spencer Bayston (9); 16. Wayne Johnson (18); 17. Jamie Veal (24); 18. Sammy Swindell (17); 19. John Carney II (3); 20. Chris Martin (19); 21. Gary Taylor (20); 22. Dave Blaney (16); 23. Harli White (12); 24. Josh Schneiderman (14). Lap Leader: Sweet 1-25. Hard-charger: S. Stewart.

Final Combined Points

A main

1 49 Brad Sweet 491

2 10H Chad Kemenah 479

3 57 Kyle Larson 475

4 15 Donny Schatz 474

5 87 Aaron Reutzel 473

6 2M Kerry Madsen 473

7 49X Tim Shaffer 471

8 41 Carson Macedo 469

9 71 Gio Scelzi 468

10 3 Tim Kaeding 467

11 18 Ian Madsen 467

12 1A Jacob Allen 465

13 24R Rico Abreu 463

14 27 Greg Hodnett 462

15 2 Shane Stewart 458

16 24 Terry McCarl 455

B main

17 71P Parker Price-Miller 454

18 24W Lucas Wolfe 453

19 9 Daryn Pittman 452

20 4 Brock Zearfoss 444

21 83 Cory Eliason 440

22 13 Mark Dobmeier 437

23 5 David Gravel 431

24 5H Sammy Walsh 431

25 2KS Austin McCarl 429

26 11K Kraig Kinser 426

Friday Competitors

27 7C John Carney II 425

28 39 Spencer Bayston 424

29 09 Matt Juhl 423

30 11 Roger Crockett 421

31 28 Scott Bogucki 420

32 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 416

33 41S Dominic Scelzi 416

34 35 Jamie Veal 415

35 29 Willie Croft 411

36 13X Paul McMahan 405

37 99 Brady Bacon 404

38 0 Lynton Jeffrey 404

39 40 Clint Garner 403

40 4K Kasey Kahne 401

41 1 Sammy Swindell 400

42 3H James McFadden 400

43 1S Logan Schuchart 400

44 2C Wayne Johnson 399

45 71X Kevin Thomas Jr. 398

46 17W Harli White 396

47 91T Cale Thomas 395

48 70 Dave Blaney 394

49 5J Jamie Ball 392

50 44M Chris Martin 390

51 10 Clyde Knipp 390

52 49J Josh Schneiderman 390

53 17X Josh Baughman 390

54 1X Don Droud Jr. 389

55 85 Chase Wanner 388

56 99G Skylar Gee 384

57 48 Danny Dietrich 383

58 19P Paige Polyak 383

59 44 Trey Starks 383

60 15M Bobby Mincer 382

61 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 382

62 G1 Gary Taylor 378

63 7 Carson McCarl 376

64 56N Davey Heskin 371

65 7S Jason Sides 368

66 19 Brent Marks 367

67 55 Brooke Tatnell 367

68 17B Bill Balog 362

69 12N Cole Duncan 361

70 9R Rager Phillips 352

71 3P Sawyer Phillips 351

72 21AU Jordyn Brazier 348

73 97G Hunter Schuerenberg 347

74 26 Joey Saldana 344

75 17WX Shane Golobic 342

76 W20 Greg Wilson 333

77 28P Brian Paulus 319

78 95 Matt Covington 316

79 9X Jake Bubak 314

80 28AU Allan Woods 313

81 68 Chase Johnson 312

82 81 Lee Jacobs 310

83 71A RJ Johnson 310

84 25 Bobby McMahan 304

85 2K Kevin Ingle 302

86 3X Jac Haudenschild 301

87 70S Jeff Swindell 298

88 20 AJ Moeller 294

89 35P Skylar Prochaska 286

90 21 Brian Brown 283

91 21K Thomas Kennedy 281

92 7W Tasker Phillips 280

93 91 Kyle Reinhardt 268

94 84 Tom Harris 265

95 18J Jenna Frazier 259

96 2MM Matt Moro 230

Friday Speed Sport World Challenge Lineup (20 laps)

James McFadden, 400
Lynton Jeffrey, 404
Jamie Veal, 415
Dominic Scelzi, 416
Scott Bogucki, 420
Austin McCarl, 429
Sammy Walsh, 431
Cory Eliason, 440
Parker Price-Miller, 454
Terry McCarl, 455
Tim Kaeding, 467
Ian Madsen, 467
Carson Macedo, 469
Kerry Madsen, 473
Skylar Gee, 384
Brooke Tatnell, 367
Jordyn Brazier, 348
Allan Woods, 313
Thomas Kennedy, 281
Tom Harris, 265