KNOXVILLE, Iowa — official release — One lap is all Shane Stewart led at Friday night’s qualifying feature for the FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores, but it was the one that mattered.

Stewart, who has one World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win on the season at Eldora Speedway in May, started the feature Friday night in sixth and after working his way through the field, passed Kraig Kinser on the final lap for the win.

“I was able to keep up with (Kraig) doing (running on the bottom in) one and two and it just worked out for me,” Stewart said. “My car was good. The time trials are stressful and of course making it through the heat races is stressful. I feel like if you could do both of those, the A main is crucial, but it’s not as crucial. I was going to be happy with running second and it just played out well for me.”

“Anytime you can turn right off them scales, there’s no better feeling. Just really, really happy for my guys; really happy for Kick-It and GoPro and Justin and Kyle.”

Starting from the front row tomorrow, Stewart said tonight’s win was great momentum for his team and that he feels like they will be in a position to win the Knoxville Nationals on Saturday night.

“I honestly feel like if I can put myself in a position to win it – I really feel like we have a good shot. I know 50 laps is a long race. We’re with a great group of cars this year. All those guys are going to be really hard to beat. I feel like if all our stars are in line, I feel like I can finish tomorrow on top of the podium.”

Kinser and Mark Dobmeier led the field to the green flag with Kinser leading the first lap. Though Kinser maintained the lead, the two battled through much of the feature. Farther back, Stewart, who started in sixth, was working his way through the field.

By the first caution on lap two, Stewart had moved to fourth and was able to pass David Gravel on the restart to take over the third position. Stewart set his sights on Dobmeier in second and by lap 13 was fighting for the position. Eight laps later, Stewart took over the second spot after a side-by-side battle with Dobmeier.

One final caution flew with three to go giving Stewart the opportunity he needed. Kinser held the lead for the first lap as Stewart looked for a way around. As Kinser took the white flag, he went high as Stewart looked low. Stewart was able to make it stick and complete the pass on the bottom.

“I heard him on that restart,” said Kinser, who finished second in his Mesilla Valley Transportation car. “I wasn’t getting the best restarts. I just couldn’t get it taken off. I thought he was on the outside of me. I just came up trying to block the line. I felt good at the top when I was in traffic. I thought I would run around the top and opened the door for him and he was right there.”

Kinser said his performance Friday night gave him confidence going into Saturday.

“We’ve got a situation where we don’t know what we have going into Knoxville or we’re not where we’d like to be,” Kinser said. “I’ve gotten away with some good finishes so hopefully we continue it. We’ve got a decent starting spot for the A main and we’ll go from there and see how we do tomorrow.”

Dobmeier, who battled with Donny Schatz throughout much of the feature, said he figured out too late that he could make his Senske & Son Transfer car work on the bottom.

“Right before that (final) caution, (Schatz) showed me he was a little bit better there on the bottom he got by me but luckily the yellow came out so I was able to get my spot back,” Dobmeier said. “Off the restart I didn’t know if these two were going to go to the bottom or what but I had a good car up top. So they both went to the bottom and I had to take a runner on top. After that I got down on the bottom and found I was pretty good down there. I was actually kicking myself I wasn’t down on the bottom more in that race. My crew, everybody gave me a good car.”

Donny Schatz leads the Knoxville Nationals points heading into Saturday with Shane Stewart in second, Kerry Madsen in third, Brian Brown in fourth and Paul McMahan in fifth. The top-20 starting positions in Saturday’s A main are now set.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series returns to action Saturday morning at Knoxville Raceway. All of Friday’s events, including the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge will be run prior to Saturday’s regularly scheduled show.

 

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Knoxville Raceway; Knoxville, Iowa; Aug. 8, 2014

A-main (25 Laps):1. Shane Stewart (6); 2. Kraig Kinser (2); 3. Mark Dobmeier (1); 4. Donny Schatz (7); 5. David Gravel (4); 6. Craig Dollansky (8); 7. Justin Henderson (5); 8. Brooke Tatnell (12); 9. Lee Jacobs (10); 10. Danny Dietrich (13); 11. Don Droud Jr. (9); 12. Greg Hodnett (11); 13. Daryn Pittman (22); 14. Davey Heskin (18); 15. Sammy Swindell (23); 16. Wayne Johnson (14); 17. Brad Sweet (24); 18. Randy Hannagan (15); 19. Tim Kaeding (21); 20. Tony Bruce Jr. (19); 21. Greg Wilson (16); 22. Josh Hodges (20); 23. Jac Haudenschild (17); 24. Tim Shaffer (3).

Qualifying:1. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (9), 14.934

 

Unofficial Knoxville Nationals Points

1. Donny Schatz – 492

2. Shane Stewart – 491

3. Kerry Madsen – 491

4. Brian Brown – 485

5. Paul McMahan – 484

6. Terry McCarl – 481

7. Craig Dollansky – 481

8. Justin Henderson – 472

9. Kraig Kinser – 471

10. David Gravel – 471

11. Mark Dobmeier – 464

12. Sam Haferepe, Jr. – 457

13. Joey Saldana – 454

14. Bryan Clauson – 444

15. Sammy Swindell – 443

16. Ryan Bunton – 443

17. Daryn Pittman – 441

18. Cody Darrah – 437

19. Stevie Smith – 434

20. Tim Shaffer – 434

21. Brooke Tatnell – 433

22. Don Droud, Jr. – 433

23. Lee Jacobs – 431

24. Clint Garner – 430

25. Tim Kaeding – 430

26. Sheldon Haudenschild – 428

27. Jeff Swindell – 427

28. Jason Johnson – 426

29. Matt Moro – 424

30. Greg Hodnett – 423

31. Brad Sweet – 422

32. Danny Dietrich – 421

33. Jon Agan – 420

34. Bill Balog – 416

35. Ian Madsen – 414

36. Wayne Johnson – 410

37. Lucas Wolfe – 409

38. Davey Heskin – 406

39. Tasker Phillips – 402

40. Bronson Maeschen – 402

41. Cole Wood – 401

42. Randy Hannagan – 401

43. Gary Taylor – 401

44. Caleb Helms – 400

45. Rico Abreu – 399

46. Greg Wilson – 396

47. Andy Gergg – 396

48. Dale Blaney – 394

49. Brent Marks – 394

50. Bud Kaeding – 393

51. Jack Dover – 392

52. Kevin Swindell – 390

53. Jac Haudenschild – 390

54. Tony Bruce, Jr. – 384

55. Steve Kinser – 383

56. Brandon Wimmer – 381

57. Chad Kemenah – 381

58. Danny Lasoski – 380

59. James McFadden – 379

60. Danny Holtgraver – 377

61. Josh Hodges – 374

62. Seth Brahmer – 367

63. Dusty Zomer – 366

64. Colby Copeland – 365

65. Trey Starks – 365

66. Austin Johnson – 361

67. Jason Meyers – 360

68. Jason Sides – 358

69. Lynton Jeffrey – 357

70. Brady Bacon – 356

71. Dakota Hendrickson – 353

72. Paig Polyak – 349

73. Brian Paulus – 347

74. Logan Schuchart – 344

75. RJ Johnson – 333

76. Jacob Allen – 331

77. Brad Loyet – 329

78. Chris Shirek – 326

79. Danny Smith – 316

80. Kaley Gharst – 310

81. Christopher Bell – 309

82. Johnny Herrera – 308

83. Dustin Selvage – 308

84. Glen Saville – 304

85. Ed Lynch, Jr. – 302

86. A.J. Moeller – 302

87. Chris Martin – 301

88. Mike Moore – 299

89. Rob Kubli – 298

90. Austin Wheatley – 288

91. Bob Weuve – 284

92. Joey Moughan – 274

93. Cap Henry – 271

94. Kody Kinser – 271

95. Jason Tostenson – 268

96. TJ Peterson – 267

97. Jimmy Light – 265

98. Dustin Clark – 263

99. Josh Schneiderman – 262

100. Curtis Evans – 261

101. Kory Crabtree – 259

102. Kevin Ingle – 238

103. Tyler Courtney – 230

104. Skylar Prochaska – 223

105. Critter Malone – 221