Schatz tops the points but Stewart takes night one win at Knoxville
Shane Stewart wins night one at Knoxville
Knoxville National 2015 and the Schatz Stewart battle continues as the first group of 410 drivers take on the hollow clay of the Knoxville track.
Donny Schatz started in a blaze putting down fast time in the qualifying. Heat wins to Jamie Veal, Willie Croft, Tyler Courtney, Tony Shilling and Dakota Henderson
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The night started on a real positive note for the visiting Australians. In front of a excited Knoxville crowd Jamie Veal and Ian Madsen run 1st and second ahead of Donny Schatz and South Australian Scott Boqucki.
Scott Bogucki ready to challenge Knoxville
Young Jordyn Brazier who was a late replacement for his Dad climbed into third in his heat behind Tony Shilling and Davey Heskin.
The 25 lap Feature was wired by Shane Stewart finishing 0.614 seconds ahead of Schatz with david Gravel grabing the final podium position . Jamie veal was best of the Australians finishing 17th.Brazier came across the stripe in 22nd and Bogucki 23rd . Lap 15 saw the end of ian Madsen’s challenge when retired to the Pits with damage to the rear suspension.
Night one , perfect start for Shane Stewart and the Larson Marks Team and at the post race interview Shane had this to say about his win
“You don’t every let your guard down with him [Schatz]. I’ve been beat a lot this year by him and we’re going to have to be a little better to beat him on Saturday,” said Shane in Victory Lane. “Honestly, I told the guys when we drew No. 71 to just relax, it didn’t make a huge effect on Sunday with twice as many racecars, and I was actually shocked the track slowed down as much as it did but it is what it is. It put us on the front row and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Shane Stewart Knoxville
Donny Schatz
“This whole team’s phenomenal. Bad Boy Buggies and Chevrolet Performance, without those guys, we wouldn’t be doing this and Tony Stewart himself being here this year, we’re glad to have him here with us. We wanted to get him a win tonight, but we’ll try our damndest on Saturday night,” commented Schatz.
David Gravel “It’s been a crazy year testing how much I love this sport and I love it a lot. We’ve been working really hard, just struggling on the balance of the racecar and two days ago, we got a good balance, got a good Al Parker engine now, and were able to qualify well. I’m looking forward to the feature. If we keeping doing this, we’ll be up here more often.”
David Gravel at post race interview
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Shane Stewart (1); 2. Donny Schatz (8); 3. David Gravel (7); 4. Paul McMahan (5); 5. Justin Henderson (10); 6. Wayne Johnson (3); 7. Daryn Pittman (2); 8. Rico Abreu (23); 9. Greg Hodnett (9); 10. Sheldon Haudenschild (6); 11. Bryan Clauson (24); 12. Davey Heskin (11); 13. Tasker Phillips (21); 14. Cody Darrah (22); 15. Kraig Kinser (18); 16. Tony Shilling (15); 17. Jamie Veal (12); 18. Tyler Courtney (14); 19. Lee Jacobs (16); 20. Dakota Hendrickson (20); 21. Willie Croft (13); 22. Jordyn Brazier (19); 23. Scott Bogucki (17); 24. Ian Madsen (4). Lap Leader: Stewart 1-25. Hard-charger: Abreu.
Podim night one Knoxville
Points Accumulated Wednesday…
1 15 Donny Schatz 492
2 7 David Gravel 485
3 51 Paul McMahan 471
4 93H Sheldon Haudenschild 465
5 16 Shane Stewart 460
6 9 Daryn Pittman 457
7 24R Rico Abreu 456
8 12X Wayne Johnson 455
9 89 Cody Darrah 450
10 1D Justin Henderson 445
11 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 445
12 27 Greg Hodnett 439
13 17W Bryan Clauson 435
14 18 Ian Madsen 431
15 56 Davey Heskin 429
16 95 Matt Covington 410
17 35AU Jamie Veal 408
18 22 Tony Shilling 404
19 7S Jason Sides 403
20 71X Tyler Courtney 402
21 29C Willie Croft 398
22 11K Kraig Kinser 394
23 O Bud Kaeding 393
24 81X Lee Jacobs 390
25 19 Bob Weuve 389
26 12 Lynton Jeffrey 385
27 4 Dakota Hendrickson 384
28 83 Aaron Reutzel 384
29 31C Justyn Cox 384
30 84 Scott Bogucki 377
31 21AU Jordyn Brazier 376
32 19P Paige Polyak 370
33 69 Mike Moore 369
34 17A Austin McCarl 365
35 49J Josh Schneiderman 362
