Knoxville Raceway
Misfortune is bound to strike a contender or two during their prelim at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store. There are too many variables in racing to allow all of them to get through smoothly. And FVP Parts Hard Knox Night is about allowing those World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car heavyweights a chance to regroup and potentially lock in to the Knoxville Nationals finale.
And that’s exactly what happened Friday night at Knoxville Raceway.
Bad luck bit a pair of favorites in Aaron Reutzel and David Gravel on Wednesday night, leaving them forced to compete on Hard Knox Night. And the two did exactly what they’re supposed to do. Reutzel wheeled the Ridge & Sons Racing #8 to the victory while Gravel finished a close second. Their finishes secured them spots 21st and 22nd in the lineup for the $185,000-to-win, $15,000-to-start finale.
It was a comfortable drive for Reutzel as he led the field to green and never looked back. The result looked slightly in doubt coming to the checkered as Gravel got a run off the final corner but Reutzel held on. The Clute, TX native entered the night confident that if he did his job, they should have no issue locking in.
“It’s fourth or nothing here,” Reutzel said. “I don’t know where fifth lines you up here, but I know it ain’t good. I had tough luck. Same with David, tough luck… I just kind of put myself in a bad spot (on Wednesday) and got caught up in a wreck, but my guys did a great job getting the car back together. We had a fast race car. We knew we just needed to come into tonight and get a good (Qualifying) time, get through our heat where it started us up front and do what we did.”
For Gravel, Wednesday’s troubles left him a little weary entering the Feature, especially with having to start seventh. But the Big Game Motorsports driver did what he needed to do to lock into his 11th Knoxville Nationals finale.
“I’m just happy to get in the show,” Gravel said. “We’ve been fast. We had a plenty fast enough car to lock in on a prelim night, but that’s racing sometimes. Happy to bounce back with a different car, different engine. We just threw these body panels on there and were fast. I was bummed to start seventh in that Feature. I knew we’d be good enough to get up there, but again you just never know. It’s racing.”
There’s another element to Hard Knox Night. It’s not only about giving the titans of Sprint Car racing a second chance. It’s also an opportunity for some speedy underdogs to potentially sneak in. And Friday at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” delivered on that storyline as well. After battling some recent adversity, Scott Bogucki drove an excellent 25 laps aboard the Liebig #10 to finish third, earning a spot in The Granddaddy of “Em All for the first time in his career in his seventh attempt.
“I really don’t have the words,” Bogucki said of his emotion. “It’s pretty emotional. I came over here 10 years ago as a crew guy, and this was always the dream. We missed it by one car two or three times now. Same thing Wednesday night. We qualified good and missed the Heat transfer by one. After last week and all of the disasters that have gone on, it’s so nice to rebound. I can’t thank Shane enough and all of the guys with the #10 for believing in me.”
Behind Bogucki came another feel-good story. Davey Heskin started 10th and spent the race moving forward and took over the final transfer in the closing laps. The St. Michael, MN driver locked into the sport’s biggest race for the first time in 11 years. The moment left Heskin full of emotion.
“Honestly, it’s just unreal,” Heskin said. “It’s a blessing to have everything we have. On Wednesday I was pretty down but we came back. I think tonight was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been for a Heat Race. I think that kind of showed the last few laps. It’s just unreal to lock in. Everybody here knows how much time and effort is put into these things. Just to do it with your family and friends is something unreal.”
The spots are secured for the four individuals who emerged from Hard Knox Night. Now, they can rest easy and focus on all that remains for them – the 62nd Knoxville Nationals finale on Saturday.
Parker Price-Miller owned the misfortune of finishing fifth to complete the top five. While it was a strong outing, it left the Kokomo, IN native without a guaranteed position in the Knoxville Nationals finale. The difference between finishing fourth and fifth in the Hard Knox Feature is starting 24th in the Saturday finale or 11th in Saturday’s Last Chance Showdown.
On top of winning the NOS Energy Drink Feature, Reutzel also claimed the Simpson Performance Products QuickTime Award for the first time this year and the eighth time of his career.
Brent Marks was the KSE Racing Hard Charger by virtue of his run from 19th to 6th in the main event.
CASE No.1 Engine Oil Heat One went to David Gravel (231st Heat Race win of career). Your Life Iowa Heats Two through Six were claimed by Parker Price-Miller (22nd of career), Cory Eliason (20th of career), Chris Windom (first of career), and Tim Kaeding (77th of career).
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars take on the $185,000-to-win, $15,000-to-start finale of the 62nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals on Saturday, August 12. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to Knoxville, catch all of the action live on DIRTVision.
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 8-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[7]; 3. 10-Scott Bogucki[2]; 4. 2M-Davey Heskin[10]; 5. 9P-Parker Price Miller[9]; 6. 19-Brent Marks[19]; 7. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[3]; 8. 5T-Ryan Timms[5]; 9. 1-Justin Henderson[8]; 10. 11-Cory Eliason[17]; 11. 26-Zeb Wise[22]; 12. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[15]; 13. 21H-Brady Bacon[21]; 14. 4W-Jamie Ball[4]; 15. 3-Tim Kaeding[14]; 16. 39M-Justin Sanders[16]; 17. 49X-Tim Shaffer[11]; 18. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey[18]; 19. 4CW-Chris Windom[12]; 20. 5C-Dylan Cisney[13]; 21. 7S-Robbie Price[24]; 22. 17W-Shane Golobic[23]; 23. 17B-Bill Balog[6]; 24. 42-Sye Lynch[20]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 2. 21H-Brady Bacon[1]; 3. 17W-Shane Golobic[4]; 4. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten[6]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 6. 24T-Christopher Thram[7]; 7. 1C-Brenham Crouch[5]; 8. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[13]; 9. 11N-Harli White[11]; 10. 20G-Noah Gass[14]; 11. 50YR-JJ Hickle[20]; 12. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[12]; 13. 35-Zach Hampton[23]; 14. 70-Kraig Kinser[18]; 15. 44-Chris Martin[24]; 16. 1M-Don Droud Jr[10]; 17. 16A-Colby Copeland[19]; 18. 95-Matt Covington[22]; 19. 16-Brooke Tatnell[15]; 20. 44P-Skylar Prochaska[21]; 21. 1A-Chase Dietz[17]; 22. 20-AJ Moeller[16]; 23. 4J-Kevin Thomas Jr[9]; 24. 17AU-Jamie Veal[8]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 42-Sye Lynch[1]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[8]; 3. 7S-Robbie Price[3]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[6]; 5. 6B-Clint Garner[2]; 6. 1K-Kelby Watt[11]; 7. 1X-Jake Bubak[17]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[21]; 9. 25-Lachlan McHugh[13]; 10. 24H-Kade Higday[4]; 11. 22-Riley Goodno[7]; 12. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[16]; 13. 10V-Cap Henry[12]; 14. 101-Kalib Henry[10]; 15. 21T-Cole Macedo[15]; 16. 83T-Tanner Carrick[14]; 17. 55T-McKenna Haase[24]; 18. 17X-Terry McCarl[22]; 19. 35B-Austin Bishop[23]; 20. 105-Cody Ihlen[19]; 21. W19-Trent Pigdon[20]; 22. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[18]; 23. 27-Carson McCarl[5]; 24. 45-Rusty Hickman[9]
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 44P-Skylar Prochaska[1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[3]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 4. 17X-Terry McCarl[5]; 5. 35-Zach Hampton[9]; 6. 35B-Austin Bishop[13]; 7. 44-Chris Martin[11]; 8. 55T-McKenna Haase[18]; 9. 121-RJ Johnson[15]; 10. 9H-Landon Hansen[10]; 11. 15JR-Cole Mincer[4]; 12. 6X-Frank Rodgers[8]; 13. 4K2W-Matt Wasmund[19]; 14. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[17]; 15. 6-Bill Rose[7]; 16. 37-Ayden Gatewood[6]; 17. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[12]; 18. 56-Joe Simbro[14]; 19. 78-Bill Wagner[16]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[20]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2-David Gravel[3]; 2. 5C-Dylan Cisney[1]; 3. 8-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[2]; 6. 24T-Christopher Thram[6]; 7. 16A-Colby Copeland[10]; 8. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[8]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[11]; 10. 20-AJ Moeller[9]; 11. 1M-Don Droud Jr[7]; 12. 121-RJ Johnson[13]; 13. 35-Zach Hampton[12]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9P-Parker Price Miller[2]; 2. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[4]; 3. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[1]; 4. 17AU-Jamie Veal[6]; 5. 21H-Brady Bacon[3]; 6. 20G-Noah Gass[8]; 7. 50YR-JJ Hickle[10]; 8. 1C-Brenham Crouch[5]; 9. 1A-Chase Dietz[9]; 10. 11N-Harli White[7]; 11. 44-Chris Martin[12]; 12. 17X-Terry McCarl[11]; 13. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[13]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Cory Eliason[1]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms[4]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer[2]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 5. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten[5]; 6. 16-Brooke Tatnell[8]; 7. 70-Kraig Kinser[9]; 8. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[7]; 9. 4J-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]; 10. 44P-Skylar Prochaska[10]; 11. 35B-Austin Bishop[12]; 12. 6-Bill Rose[11]; 13. 4K2W-Matt Wasmund[13]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 4CW-Chris Windom[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[3]; 3. 10-Scott Bogucki[4]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 5. 25-Lachlan McHugh[8]; 6. 6B-Clint Garner[2]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[6]; 8. 101-Kalib Henry[7]; 9. 105-Cody Ihlen[10]; 10. 15JR-Cole Mincer[11]; 11. 9H-Landon Hansen[12]; 12. 27-Carson McCarl[5]; 13. 78-Bill Wagner[13]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Tim Kaeding[1]; 2. 4W-Jamie Ball[4]; 3. 1-Justin Henderson[3]; 4. 7S-Robbie Price[2]; 5. 18T-Tanner Holmes[5]; 6. 83T-Tanner Carrick[8]; 7. 55T-McKenna Haase[13]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[9]; 9. 1K-Kelby Watt[7]; 10. 37-Ayden Gatewood[11]; 11. W19-Trent Pigdon[10]; 12. 45-Rusty Hickman[6]; 13. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[12]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 39M-Justin Sanders[1]; 2. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey[6]; 3. 2M-Davey Heskin[3]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch[4]; 5. 24H-Kade Higday[2]; 6. 10V-Cap Henry[7]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[10]; 8. 22-Riley Goodno[5]; 9. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[9]; 10. 6X-Frank Rodgers[11]; 11. 21T-Cole Macedo[8]; 12. 56-Joe Simbro[12]; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[13]
Qualifying A: 1. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 00:15.425[3]; 2. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer, 00:15.442[17]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:15.479[21]; 4. 2-David Gravel, 00:15.510[30]; 5. 21H-Brady Bacon, 00:15.574[31]; 6. 19-Brent Marks, 00:15.589[34]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:15.591[12]; 8. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:15.594[2]; 9. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 00:15.600[19]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 00:15.652[29]; 11. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 00:15.690[8]; 12. 11-Cory Eliason, 00:15.721[13]; 13. 17W-Shane Golobic, 00:15.722[28]; 14. 1C-Brenham Crouch, 00:15.734[26]; 15. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:15.738[5]; 16. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:15.754[7]; 17. 17AU-Jamie Veal, 00:15.756[25]; 18. 4J-Kevin Thomas Jr, 00:15.756[11]; 19. 1M-Don Droud Jr, 00:15.769[18]; 20. 11N-Harli White, 00:15.775[10]; 21. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 00:15.795[14]; 22. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 00:15.866[24]; 23. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:15.870[37]; 24. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 00:15.881[39]; 25. 20-AJ Moeller, 00:15.890[20]; 26. 1A-Chase Dietz, 00:15.891[36]; 27. 70-Kraig Kinser, 00:15.896[32]; 28. 16A-Colby Copeland, 00:15.906[15]; 29. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 00:15.925[9]; 30. 44P-Skylar Prochaska, 00:15.928[38]; 31. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:15.963[22]; 32. 17X-Terry McCarl, 00:16.039[6]; 33. 6-Bill Rose, 00:16.050[16]; 34. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:16.132[35]; 35. 44-Chris Martin, 00:16.169[27]; 36. 35B-Austin Bishop, 00:16.322[4]; 37. 121-RJ Johnson, 00:16.462[23]; 38. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:16.537[1]; 39. 4K2W-Matt Wasmund, 00:16.657[33]
Qualifying B: 1. 10-Scott Bogucki, 00:15.508[2]; 2. 4W-Jamie Ball, 00:15.736[21]; 3. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:15.799[25]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:15.841[28]; 5. 1-Justin Henderson, 00:15.849[14]; 6. 2M-Davey Heskin, 00:15.966[12]; 7. 6B-Clint Garner, 00:15.976[8]; 8. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:15.978[7]; 9. 24H-Kade Higday, 00:15.995[5]; 10. 4CW-Chris Windom, 00:16.003[4]; 11. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:16.019[15]; 12. 39M-Justin Sanders, 00:16.031[13]; 13. 27-Carson McCarl, 00:16.043[9]; 14. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 00:16.047[22]; 15. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:16.110[6]; 16. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:16.119[20]; 17. 45-Rusty Hickman, 00:16.137[26]; 18. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:16.151[39]; 19. 101-Kalib Henry, 00:16.152[11]; 20. 1K-Kelby Watt, 00:16.200[31]; 21. 10V-Cap Henry, 00:16.203[24]; 22. 25-Lachlan McHugh, 00:16.205[27]; 23. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 00:16.271[3]; 24. 21T-Cole Macedo, 00:16.338[38]; 25. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:16.353[32]; 26. 1X-Jake Bubak, 00:16.366[17]; 27. 2KK-Kevin Ingle, 00:16.380[29]; 28. 105-Cody Ihlen, 00:16.431[16]; 29. W19-Trent Pigdon, 00:16.477[35]; 30. 95-Matt Covington, 00:16.603[36]; 31. 15JR-Cole Mincer, 00:16.612[34]; 32. 37-Ayden Gatewood, 00:16.670[33]; 33. 6X-Frank Rodgers, 00:17.345[30]; 34. 9H-Landon Hansen, 00:17.464[19]; 35. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:17.464[1]; 36. 56-Joe Simbro, 00:17.464[10]; 37. 78-Bill Wagner, 00:17.464[18]; 38. 55T-McKenna Haase, 00:17.464[23]; 39. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:17.464[37]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 19-Brent Marks, 00:15.797[34]; 2. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:15.819[78]; 3. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 00:15.827[39]; 4. 10-Scott Bogucki, 00:15.829[41]; 5. 21H-Brady Bacon, 00:15.842[31]; 6. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:15.900[37]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:15.916[71]; 8. 44P-Skylar Prochaska, 00:16.011[38]; 9. 2-David Gravel, 00:16.025[30]; 10. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:16.026[64]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:16.034[22]; 12. 4W-Jamie Ball, 00:16.036[60]; 13. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:16.038[54]; 14. 2M-Davey Heskin, 00:16.048[51]; 15. 55T-McKenna Haase, 00:16.049[62]; 16. 1-Justin Henderson, 00:16.061[53]; 17. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:16.090[46]; 18. 1A-Chase Dietz, 00:16.093[36]; 19. 5T-Ryan Timms, 00:16.148[21]; 20. 17AU-Jamie Veal, 00:16.163[25]; 21. 1C-Brenham Crouch, 00:16.166[26]; 22. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:16.181[67]; 23. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:16.203[59]; 24. 101-Kalib Henry, 00:16.208[50]; 25. 4K2W-Matt Wasmund, 00:16.239[33]; 26. 25-Lachlan McHugh, 00:16.247[66]; 27. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 00:16.252[61]; 28. 121-RJ Johnson, 00:16.255[23]; 29. 1X-Jake Bubak, 00:16.256[56]; 30. 39M-Justin Sanders, 00:16.310[52]; 31. 95-Matt Covington, 00:16.317[75]; 32. 44-Chris Martin, 00:16.318[27]; 33. 70-Kraig Kinser, 00:16.321[32]; 34. 27-Carson McCarl, 00:16.324[48]; 35. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:16.334[45]; 36. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 00:16.340[29]; 37. 4CW-Chris Windom, 00:16.355[43]; 38. 10V-Cap Henry, 00:16.356[63]; 39. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 00:16.358[42]; 40. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 00:16.362[24]; 41. 6B-Clint Garner, 00:16.381[47]; 42. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:16.381[76]; 43. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:16.383[35]; 44. 105-Cody Ihlen, 00:16.389[55]; 45. 1K-Kelby Watt, 00:16.409[70]; 46. 24H-Kade Higday, 00:16.422[44]; 47. 21T-Cole Macedo, 00:16.439[77]; 48. 37-Ayden Gatewood, 00:16.529[72]; 49. W19-Trent Pigdon, 00:16.549[74]; 50. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:16.551[40]; 51. 17W-Shane Golobic, 00:16.687[28]; 52. 2KK-Kevin Ingle, 00:16.743[68]; 53. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 00:16.838[3]; 54. 56-Joe Simbro, 00:16.876[49]; 55. 15JR-Cole Mincer, 00:16.900[73]; 56. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 00:16.960[19]; 57. 11-Cory Eliason, 00:16.980[13]; 58. 1M-Don Droud Jr, 00:17.075[18]; 59. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:17.201[2]; 60. 45-Rusty Hickman, 00:17.215[65]; 61. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:17.235[5]; 62. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 00:17.261[14]; 63. 35B-Austin Bishop, 00:17.293[4]; 64. 4J-Kevin Thomas Jr, 00:17.335[11]; 65. 20-AJ Moeller, 00:17.375[20]; 66. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:17.420[12]; 67. 6X-Frank Rodgers, 00:17.435[69]; 68. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:17.447[7]; 69. 6-Bill Rose, 00:17.455[16]; 70. 16A-Colby Copeland, 00:17.463[15]; 71. 9H-Landon Hansen, 00:17.471[58]; 72. 11N-Harli White, 00:17.590[10]; 73. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 00:17.591[9]; 74. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:17.763[1]; 75. 17X-Terry McCarl, 00:17.897[6]; 76. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 00:17.913[8]; 77. 78-Bill Wagner, 00:18.896[57]; 78. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer, 00:18.896[17]