Knoxville, IL (Thursday, August 5, 2010) - The oldest fair in the state of Illinois hosted its annual fair race, with the Sprint Cars returning to the track for the first time in 19 years. Kaley Gharst would cross the finish line in first for the Sprint Invaders, while A.J. Fike topped the Modified feature and Greg Rossell took home the Mod Lite win.
Up first was the 12 lap Mod Lite feature, with Justin Buchholz and Rob Guss drawing the front row for the event. Buchholz would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mike Morrill, who started 6th. Morrill would jump to the outside of Buchholz on lap 1 to take over the top spot. The first caution of the event appeared on the completion of lap 2, as Brad Graflund spun in 2. On the restart Morrill moved back out into the lead, but Greg Rossell would grab the second spot. Rossell slipped under Morrill on lap 5 to take over the lead and then worked to hold Morrill off when the second caution of the event came out on lap 7. Graflund would spin in turn 4 to end his night with a second solo spin. On the restart Rossell grabbed the lead, with Morrill and Joe Huggins battling for second. Huggins great run up front would end on lap 9, as he spun to a stop in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Rossell again moved out into the lead on the restart and then held on over the final 3 laps to pick up the win. Bill Holden would get past Morrill on the final lap to claim 2nd, Morrill was 3rd, Buchholz held on for 4th, with Guss coming home in 5th.
A.J. Fike and Kevin Peters led the field to the drop of the green flag in the 20 lap Modified feature, with Fike jumping out front on lap 1. The first caution of the race would come out on the completion of lap 2, as Norm Brakeville and Charles Baker collided in turn 4. On the restart Bob Dominacki and Brandon Durbin would tangle on the backstretch to bring the yellow light back on. Fike would jump back out front on the restart, with Dean McGee and Darin Thye battling for second. The event was slowed for the final time, when Bruce Hanford, who was running 8th, spun to a stop in turn 2. On the restart McGee would get under Fike going into turn 1 and came out on the backstretch with the lead on lap 6. But Fike would inherit the lead back on lap 7, as McGee slowed out of four and made the left turn into the pits. Fike then pulled away over the final 13 laps to claim his first Modified win of the season. Thye came home in 2nd, Peters was 3rd, Donovan Lodge came from 8th to finish in 4th, with Hanford coming from the rear after his lap 5 spin to round out the top 5.
The final feature of the night was the 20 lap Sprint Invaders, with Jimmy Davies and Donnie Steward, suppose to start on the front row. But Steward had motors troubles at the finish of his heat and decided to tag the back of the field. That would put Davies and Matt Sutton on the front row for the wave of the green. Sutton would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1. The one and only caution of the event would come out on lap 2, as Jesse Wagler came to a stop in turn 3. On the restart Sutton again jumped out into the lead, with Davies working to hold of Kaley Gharst for second. While Sutton started to pull away from the battle for second, Gharst would over take Davies on lap 12 and then set his sites on Sutton for the lead. Sutton would come up on lap traffic on lap 13 and was slowed enough to allow Gharst to reel him in. Sutton would choose the bottom to get by the lapped cars, while Gharst jumped to the outside. Gharst would come out of turn 2 on lap 14 with the lead and then pulled away over the final 5 laps to claim the win. Sutton held on for 2nd, Davies came home in 3rd, Ryan Jamison was 4th, with Justin Parrish rounding out the top 5.
Notes from Knoxville: The Knox County fair board decided to make a change for the 2010 fair, as the United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) was the main event for the last 10 years. This year they decided to try and bring back the Sprint cars, with 15 cars showing up to compete......Andrew Smith started the Mod Lite feature in 13th and passed 6 cars to finish in 7th....Craig Morris and Ryan Booton had troubles in hot laps and scratched for the night......Bob Helm drove the second car owned by Donovan Lodge and came home 6th in the Modified feature....Bob Dominacki recovered from the lap 2 tangle to come back and finish 9th....Dean McGee had motor troubles on lap 7 of the feature, just as he took the lead, to end his night in 14th......Korey Weyant came from 13th in the Sprint feature and passed 5 cars to finish in 8th....Tim Moore started 15th and came home in 10th....Daniel Berquist drove the second car owned by Andy Huston to an 11th place finish.
RESULTS
Sprint Invaders Feature: 1. 14P-Randy Plath; 2. 3-Matt Sutton; 3. 99-Jimmy Davies; 4. 51J-Ryan Jamison; 5. 4J-Justin Parrish; 6. 84-Ben Wagoner; 6. 53H-Matt Harms; 7. 99w-Korey Weyant; 8. 40-Andy Huston; 9. 10T-Tim Moore; 11. 40x-Daniel Berquist; 12. 38-Seth Wilke; 13. 1M-Jim Moughan; 14. 6-Jesse Wagler; 15. 16HD-Donnie Steward
Modified Feature: 1. 10-A.J. Fike; 2. 50-Darin Thye; 3. M50-Kevin Peters; 4. 32-Donovan Lodge; 5. 61-Bruce Hanford; 6. 32x-Bob Helm; 7. 77-Ray Bollinger; 8. 44x-Shaun Lewis; 9. 5D-Bob Dominacki; 10. 83-Nathan Balensiefen; 11. 76-Norm Brakeville; 12. 15-Brandon Durbin; 13. 38-Dave Imming; 14. H7-Dean McGee; 15. 9-Charles Baker
Mod Lites Feature: 1. 77-Greg Rossell; 2. 79-Bill Holden; 3. 6-Mike Morrill; 4. 69B-Justin Buchholz; 5. 91-Rob Guss; 6. 8G-Dan Guss; 7. 7-Andrew Smith; 8. 88-James Chesmore; 9. 77x-Jim Neal; 10. 20-Kevin Lane; 11. 87-Blake Woodruff; 12. 67-Ron Conklin; 13. z50-Joe Huggins; 14. 23-Brad Graflund; 15. 32-Craig Morris (DNS); 16. 13-Ryan Booton (DNS)
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