by Brian Walker August 13, 2022
Friday’s #HardKnox program at the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores continues to be one of the most intense nights in all of Sprint Car Racing.
With 72 cars unqualified for Saturday’s $175,000-to-win, $10,000-to-start main event, the pressure was real with racers taking their last chance to grab four lock-in positions to The Granddaddy of ‘Em All.
At the end of the 25-lapper, a familiar face was welcomed to Victory Lane as Rico Abreu made it back-to-back wins in Friday’s #HardKnox portion of the Knoxville Nationals. It was his third preliminary win and locks him into his seventh career A-Main.
The St. Helena, CA native led all 25 laps in a relatively unchallenged dispute. He’ll roll off from 21st in Saturday’s 50-lap finale.
“Solid performance by the team tonight,” Abreu noted afterward. “I let them down last night with some poor decisions, and I think I made up for it tonight. This is huge for us to put HyVee in Victory Lane across the street. I’m thankful for their support and everyone who continues to support this race team. I can see it in my guys’ eyes how bad they want it. These races are so damn hard to win, but we put ourselves in a position and we finally capitalized on it.”
Following Abreu to the stripe on Friday was Kerry Madsen aboard the Roth Motorsports #83JR. The St. Mary’s, New South Wales, Australia native is now locked-in for his 15th career Knoxville Nationals A-Main.
“I had one chance to send it early on, but the top-four is more important than heroics of the moment on this kind of night,” Madsen said on keeping it cool. “This Roth Motorsports #83 was so comfortable and easy to drive over those last 25 laps. We’re gonna see if we can make a charge tomorrow.
Rounding out the podium was Sheldon Haudenschild in the Stenhouse Jr. / Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink #17. Following a rough preliminary night, the Wooster, OH native successfully rebounded with an eighth-to-third charge as he booked his fourth trip to the Knoxville Nationals A-Main.
“I really didn’t want to see those restarts,” Haudenschild spoke on his nervousness. “I got by the #5 [Bayston] in traffic, but then the caution came out right away. I threw a bomb on him, but then knew I would have to do something different with the #21 [Brown] there. Luckily, it all worked out. This is a tough, stressful week for everyone.,
Scoring the 24th and final lock-in position was Brian Brown, of Grain Valley, MO, who rocketed by Spencer Bayston in a surprise attack on the final restart. His bold move paid off with a 12th career Knoxville Nationals A-Main start.”
“Shit was going on, I can guarantee you that,” Brown joked on his wild ending. “This night is chaotic, just because the pressure is so high. Everybody knows how important this race is to me and my team, but it has not been a great week. Nobody has given up, though, and I think it’s starting to pay off. We’re gonna keep driving our ass off until that last checkered flag falls. This definitely makes tomorrow easier and less stressful.”
Finishing behind the lock-in drivers and earning a position in Saturday’s B-Main lineup was Anthony Macri, Spencer Bayston, Corey Day, Justin Henderson, Brady Bacon, Dylan Cisney, Brooke Tatnell, Sawyer Phillips, Terry McCarl, and Brock Zearfoss.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24R-Rico Abreu[2]; 2. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[4]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[8]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[12]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[14]; 6. 5-Spencer Bayston[6]; 7. 14-Corey Day[1]; 8. 7-Justin Henderson[24]; 9. 21H-Brady Bacon[18]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney[13]; 11. 16-Brooke Tatnell[16]; 12. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[11]; 13. 24-Terry McCarl[7]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[10]; 15. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[20]; 16. 55T-McKenna Haase[23]; 17. 42-Sye Lynch[22]; 18. 1-Logan Wagner[15]; 19. 49X-Cale Thomas[17]; 20. 71-Cory Eliason[19]; 21. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[5]; 22. 6B-Brandon Wimmer[21]; 23. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[9]; 24. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[3]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 71-Cory Eliason[3]; 2. 6B-Brandon Wimmer[1]; 3. 55T-McKenna Haase[7]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[9]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel[2]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 7. 09-Matt Juhl[6]; 8. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[12]; 9. 101-Lachlan McHugh[14]; 10. 17S-Sammy Swindell[8]; 11. 21K-Thomas Kennedy[10]; 12. 35-Zach Hampton[13]; 13. 40-Clint Garner[15]; 14. 18R-Ryan Roberts[19]; 15. 27-Carson McCarl[18]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[4]; 17. 16A-Colby Copeland[11]; 18. 11-Roger Crockett[22]; 19. 15M-Bobby Mincer[20]; 20. 9JR-Derek Hagar[23]; 21. 1X-Jake Bubak[21]; 22. 4W-Matt Wasmund[24]; 23. 17C-Carson Short[16]; 24. 11T-TJ Stutts[17]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[6]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch[2]; 3. 7-Justin Henderson[1]; 4. 22-Riley Goodno[3]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic[11]; 6. 1M-Don Droud Jr[9]; 7. 20G-Noah Gass[4]; 8. 55W-Mike Wagner[7]; 9. 2M-Davey Heskin[12]; 10. 52-Blake Hahn[13]; 11. 84-Scott Bogucki[18]; 12. 44-Chris Martin[5]; 13. 35K-Chad Kemenah[16]; 14. 45-Rusty Hickman[21]; 15. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8]; 16. 83T-Tanner Carrick[17]; 17. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[14]; 18. 99-Skylar Gee[19]; 19. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[10]; 20. 97-Greg Wilson[24]; 21. 11N-Harli White[20]; 22. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[23]; 23. 12-Tyler Drueke[22]; 24. (DNS) 19W-Chris Windom
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 1X-Jake Bubak[1]; 2. 45-Rusty Hickman[2]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett[5]; 4. 12-Tyler Drueke[3]; 5. 9JR-Derek Hagar[4]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[6]; 7. 4W-Matt Wasmund[10]; 8. 97-Greg Wilson[9]; 9. 10-Skylar Prochaska[8]; 10. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[11]; 11. 6-Bill Rose[7]; 12. 97G-Alan Gilbertson[13]; 13. (DQ) 7W-Dustin Selvage[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5C-Dylan Cisney[1]; 2. 24-Terry McCarl[2]; 3. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny[3]; 4. 6B-Brandon Wimmer[4]; 5. 7S-Robbie Price[5]; 6. 17C-Carson Short[9]; 7. 55T-McKenna Haase[6]; 8. 35-Zach Hampton[8]; 9. 21K-Thomas Kennedy[7]; 10. 18R-Ryan Roberts[10]; 11. 97-Greg Wilson[12]; 12. 12-Tyler Drueke[11]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Logan Wagner[1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 3. 14-Corey Day[4]; 4. 17S-Sammy Swindell[6]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel[3]; 6. 16A-Colby Copeland[7]; 7. 101-Lachlan McHugh[8]; 8. 11-Roger Crockett[11]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 10. 15M-Bobby Mincer[10]; 11. 11T-TJ Stutts[9]; 12. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[12]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 2. 49X-Cale Thomas[1]; 3. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[2]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 5. 40-Clint Garner[8]; 6. 27-Carson McCarl[9]; 7. 09-Matt Juhl[5]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[10]; 9. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[7]; 10. 6-Bill Rose[11]; 11. (DNS) 14H-Josh Higday; 12. (DQ) 71-Cory Eliason[3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[2]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston[3]; 4. 7-Justin Henderson[4]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[5]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 7. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[7]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee[10]; 9. 35K-Chad Kemenah[9]; 10. 9JR-Derek Hagar[11]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]; 12. 4W-Matt Wasmund[12]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 24R-Rico Abreu[4]; 3. 21H-Brady Bacon[6]; 4. 20G-Noah Gass[1]; 5. 42-Sye Lynch[3]; 6. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[8]; 7. 55W-Mike Wagner[5]; 8. 17W-Shane Golobic[7]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[11]; 10. 7W-Dustin Selvage[12]; 11. 11N-Harli White[10]; 12. 83T-Tanner Carrick[9]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 2. 16-Brooke Tatnell[5]; 3. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[4]; 4. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 5. 22-Riley Goodno[2]; 6. 19W-Chris Windom[8]; 7. 1M-Don Droud Jr[6]; 8. 45-Rusty Hickman[10]; 9. 84-Scott Bogucki[9]; 10. 10-Skylar Prochaska[11]; 11. 97G-Alan Gilbertson[12]; 12. 2M-Davey Heskin[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 6B-Brandon Wimmer, 00:15.832[1]; 2. 14-Corey Day, 00:15.856[6]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:15.880[13]; 4. 1AU-Marcus Dumesny, 00:15.923[19]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel, 00:15.966[2]; 6. 71-Cory Eliason, 00:15.970[11]; 7. 24-Terry McCarl, 00:15.987[20]; 8. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:16.007[32]; 9. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 00:16.014[18]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 00:16.018[28]; 11. 1-Logan Wagner, 00:16.028[25]; 12. 49X-Cale Thomas, 00:16.036[27]; 13. 7S-Robbie Price, 00:16.064[23]; 14. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:16.071[10]; 15. 09-Matt Juhl, 00:16.073[4]; 16. 55T-McKenna Haase, 00:16.084[14]; 17. 17S-Sammy Swindell, 00:16.104[12]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:16.203[36]; 19. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, 00:16.204[9]; 20. 16A-Colby Copeland, 00:16.246[26]; 21. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 00:16.261[21]; 22. 35-Zach Hampton, 00:16.262[31]; 23. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 00:16.284[16]; 24. 40-Clint Garner, 00:16.301[17]; 25. 17C-Carson Short, 00:16.329[15]; 26. 11T-TJ Stutts, 00:16.358[5]; 27. 27-Carson McCarl, 00:16.398[29]; 28. 18R-Ryan Roberts, 00:16.431[30]; 29. 15M-Bobby Mincer, 00:16.456[22]; 30. 1X-Jake Bubak, 00:16.496[33]; 31. 12-Tyler Drueke, 00:16.549[7]; 32. 11-Roger Crockett, 00:16.586[35]; 33. 6-Bill Rose, 00:16.639[3]; 34. 97-Greg Wilson, 00:16.652[8]; 35. 2KK-Kevin Ingle, 00:16.896[24]; 36. (DNS) 14H-Josh Higday, 00:16.896
Qualifying 2: 1. 7-Justin Henderson, 00:16.286[17]; 2. 24R-Rico Abreu, 00:16.297[21]; 3. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 00:16.309[5]; 4. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:16.318[2]; 5. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:16.328[10]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:16.332[33]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 00:16.347[15]; 8. 21-Brian Brown, 00:16.383[26]; 9. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:16.398[1]; 10. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:16.413[28]; 11. 20G-Noah Gass, 00:16.489[36]; 12. 44-Chris Martin, 00:16.503[4]; 13. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:16.525[18]; 14. 55W-Mike Wagner, 00:16.549[3]; 15. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 00:16.555[35]; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 00:16.567[6]; 17. 21H-Brady Bacon, 00:16.569[27]; 18. 1M-Don Droud Jr, 00:16.588[8]; 19. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 00:16.637[9]; 20. 17W-Shane Golobic, 00:16.639[22]; 21. 2M-Davey Heskin, 00:16.664[25]; 22. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:16.669[30]; 23. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 00:16.691[13]; 24. 19W-Chris Windom, 00:16.694[34]; 25. 35K-Chad Kemenah, 00:16.705[20]; 26. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 00:16.751[31]; 27. 84-Scott Bogucki, 00:16.759[19]; 28. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:16.802[12]; 29. 11N-Harli White, 00:16.991[14]; 30. 45-Rusty Hickman, 00:17.009[11]; 31. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 00:17.074[32]; 32. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 00:17.101[16]; 33. 10-Skylar Prochaska, 00:17.188[29]; 34. 4W-Matt Wasmund, 00:17.366[23]; 35. 7W-Dustin Selvage, 00:17.458[7]; 36. 97G-Alan Gilbertson, 00:17.538[24]
Hot Laps: 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[36]