Ricky Weiss First Canadian to Win in a Late Model at Knoxville Late Model Nationals!

by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 13, 2019) – Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba became the first ever late model winner at the Knoxville Raceway on night #2 of the 16th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. Weiss’s win gave him $7,000 and 472 points, placing him in row two of Saturday night’s $40,000 to win finale. Friday’s winner, Shane Clanton will start on the pole, alongside Kentucky’s Darrell Lanigan.

Chris Madden led from outside of row one early in the 25-lap main event. Weiss, Tyler Bruening, Dennis Erb Jr. and Tyler Erb rounded out the top five. Don O’Neal passed Erb for fifth in what was a good battle that saw the two exchange the spot twice. Eleventh starting Josh Richards was on the move as well, and passed both Erb and Don O’Neal, entering the top five on lap eight. Richards passed Erb Jr. for fourth on lap 10.

Up front, Madden found comfort through the middle of the track until approaching lapped traffic on the fourteenth circuit. On lap 16, he tried to shoot under the lapped car of Mike Mataragas, and slid across turn one. It was all Weiss needed to jump to the point.

Weiss would pull away to win his second career Lucas Oil Late Model Series event. Madden held on for second, ahead of a late charging Richards, Bruening and Don O’Neal. Tyler Erb, Earl Pearson Jr., hard-charger Brandon Sheppard, Frank Heckenast Jr. and Hudson O’Neal rounded out the top ten.

Scott Bloomquist and Chris Simpson set quick time over their respective groups, while Shannon Babb, Richards, Weiss, Darrell Lanigan, Madden and Heckenast were heat race winners. Jonathan Davenport and Shane Clanton were the B main winners.

“It’s just awesome,” said Weiss in Victory Lane. “Never did we think we’d be in Victory Lane at Eldora. We didn’t get to capitalize on it. We’re just taking baby steps at it. We’re there. After last night, we were happy with that. We knew we were locked in the show. We debated on switching cars tonight and trying something, but we knew this thing was good. Every time we touched the track, we just got better and better. (Madden) was struggling a little bit. I eased a little bit, and when he got up in the middle of the track, I tried to hold the bottom. This car’s been phenomenal since we unloaded here.”

“We had a good car about half the race there,” said Madden. “Then I got extremely tight and I couldn’t turn across the middle there. We were trying to bide our own, and if we didn’t get to lapped traffic, I think we would have been o.k. I about spun out there, and that left the door open for Ricky. To have the night we did last night, we were able to bounce back and have a good one tonight.”

“I felt like we were running them down pretty good,” said Richards. “We had a fast car…I just had to hit it right and rely on the cushion. It was a lot of fun out there. It was traditional, old school Knoxville. The ledge was up by the wall and slick all the way across. I just had a lot of fun out there!”

The 16th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals conclude on Saturday night, September 14! For tickets and other information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals Night #2 Results

Group A Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (9), 18.009; 2. 1S, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (27), 18.189; 3. 1T, Tyler Erb, Houston, TX (8), 18.262; 4. 49, Jonathan Davenport, Mount Airy, NC (6), 18.295; 5. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (3), 18.349; 6. 40B, Kyle Bronson, Brandon, FL (25), 18.406; 7. 18J, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (2), 18.465; 8. 16T, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (21), 18.468; 9. 7W, Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB, Can. (19), 18.521; 10. 32P, Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL (1), 18.525; 11. 50, Shanon Buckingham, Morristown, TN (20), 18.540; 12. 43, Jeremy Grady, Story City, IA (13), 18.648; 13. 1, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (15), 18.672; 14. 14, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (11), 18.691; 15. 15B, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA (16), 18.739; 16. 18, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (10), 18.756; 17. 20RT, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, AZ (22), 18.790; 18. 58E, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (17), 18.831; 19. 2S, Stormy Scott, Las Cruces, NM (14), 18.869; 20. 33, Nick Marolf, Moscow, IA (7), 18.919; 21. B1, Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN (12), 18.924; 22. 32B, Cody Laney, Torrance, CA (24), 19.059; 23. 6Z, Corey Zeitner, Bellevue, NE (4), 19.486; 24. 58, Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, IA (18), 19.515; 25. 20W, Chad White, Saint Joseph, MI (26), 19.621; 26. 14M, Reid Millard, Jefferson City, MO (23), 20.343; 27. 44W, David Webster, Monroe, WI (5), NT.

Group B Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 32S, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (22), 18.212; 2. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (21), 18.290; 3. 1C, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (10), 18.301; 4. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (4), 18.398; 5. 5, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (5), 18.420; 6. 1ST, Johnny Scott, Las Cruces, NM (9), 18.423; 7. 28, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (25), 18.438; 8. 0M, Chris Madden, Gray Court, SC (16), 18.486; 9. 71, Hudson O’Neal, Morgantown, IN (19), 18.568; 10. 1D, Devin Moran, Dresden, OH (15), 18.618; 11. 25, Shane Clanton, Zebulon, GA (3), 18.640; 12. 1M, Mike Mataragas, Sycamore, IL (18), 18.848; 13. 29, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (1), 18.883; 14. 5N, Dustin Nobbe, Batesville, IN (27), 18.916; 15. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (13), 18.943; 16. 29D, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (26), 18.979; 17. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (12), 19.000; 18. 14J, Jake Neal, Omaha, NE (24), 19.045; 19. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (2), 19.112; 20. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (17), 19.128; 21. 99, Brian Harris, Davenport, IA (8), 19.190; 22. 22C, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (7), 19.318; 23. 54, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (23), 19.330; 24. 4W, JC Wyman, Griswold, IA (6), 19.526; 25. 10C, Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE (14), 20.091; 26. 22B, Jonathan Brauns, Muscatine, IA (11), 19.866; 27. 17, Tim Simpson, Iowa City, IA (20), 20.068.

Group A Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:49.0: 1. Shannon Babb (1); 2. Scott Bloomquist (6); 3. Earl Pearson Jr. (2) / 4. Chase Junghans (4); 5. Jonathan Davenport (5); 6. Stormy Scott (7); 7. Bobby Pierce (3); 8. Cody Laney (8); 9. Chad White (9)

Group A Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:48.6: 1. Josh Richards (2); 2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (1); 3. Tyler Bruening (4) / 4. Tim McCreadie (5); 5. Brandon Sheppard (6); 6. Shanon Buckingham (3); 7. Nick Marolf (7); 8. Reid Millard (9); 9. Corey Zeitner (8)

Group A Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:49.7: 1. Ricky Weiss (4); 2. Tyler Erb (6); 3. Brian Birkhofer (2) / 4. Kyle Bronson (5); 5. Dave Eckrich (1); 6. Jeremy Grady (3); 7. Brent Larson (7); 8. Jeremiah Hurst (8) DNS – 9. David Webster

Group B Heat one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Darrell Lanigan (2); 2. Dennis Erb Jr. (4); 3. Chris Simpson (6) / 4. Jimmy Mars (7); 5. Devin Moran (3); 6. Spencer Diercks (1); 7. Jonathan Brauns (9); 8. Charlie McKenna (8); 9. Billy Moyer Jr. (5)

Group B Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Chris Madden (4); 2. Don O’Neal (5); 3. Jason Feger (1) / 4. Shane Clanton (3); 5. Jimmy Owens (6); 6. Billy Moyer (7); 7. Mike Fryer (8); 8. Dustin Nobbe (2); 9. Tim Simpson (9)

Group B Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:57.6: 1. Frank Heckenast Jr. (2); 2. Mike Mataragas (3); 3. Hudson O’Neal (4) / 4. Chad Simpson (6); 5. Johnny Scott (5); 6. Jake Neal (1); 7. JC Wyman (8); 8. Brian Harris (7); 9. Junior Coover (9)

B main one (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Jonathan Davenport (2); 2. Brandon Sheppard (1); 3. Kyle Bronson (4) / 4. Stormy Scott (9); 5. Tim McCreadie (3); 6. Shanon Buckingham (6); 7. Chase Junghans (5); 8. Bobby Pierce (10); 9. Nick Marolf (11); 10. Dave Eckrich (8); 11. Jeremiah Hurst (15); 12. Cody Laney (13); 13. Brent Larson (12); 14. Chad White (16); 15. Reid Millard (14); 16. David Webster (17); 17. Jeremy Grady (7) DNS – 18. Corey Zeitner

B main two (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Shane Clanton (5); 2. Jimmy Owens (1); 3. Chad Simpson (2) / 4. Devin Moran (4); 5. Jimmy Mars (8); 6. Billy Moyer (9); 7. Johnny Scott (3); 8. Spencer Diercks (6); 9. Mike Fryer (11); 10. JC Wyman (12); 11. Brian Harris (15); 12. Dustin Nobbe (14); 13. Charlie McKenna (13); 14. Jake Neal (7); 15. Jonathan Brauns (10); 16. Junior Coover (16) DNS – 17. Billy Moyer Jr. 18. Tim Simpson

A main (started), 25 Laps, 8:54.1: 1. Ricky Weiss (1); 2. Chris Madden (2); 3. Josh Richards (11); 4. Tyler Bruening (3); 5. Don O’Neal (6); 6. Tyler Erb (5); 7. Earl Pearson Jr. (9); 8. Brandon Sheppard (21); 9. Frank Heckenast Jr. (16); 10. Hudson O’Neal (10); 11. Dennis Erb Jr. (4); 12. Chad Simpson (24); 13. Kyle Bronson (23); 14. Scott Bloomquist (7); 15. Jimmy Owens (22); 16. Chris Simpson (8); 17. Jonathan Davenport (19); 18. Darrell Lanigan (14); 19. Ricky Thornton Jr. (17); 20. Shannon Babb (15); 21. Brian Birkhofer (13); 22. Shane Clanton (20); 23. Jason Feger (18); 24. Mike Mataragas (12). Lap Leaders: Madden 1-15, Weiss 16-25. Hard-charger: Sheppard.