KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Brian Brown won for the 57th time in 410 action at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night matching Steve Kinser’s illustrious win total at the famed half-mile.
The Grain Valley, Missouri driver pocketed $5,000 for his win aboard the Brian Brown Racing No. 21.
Terry McCarl, who will run in the 360 class this season, started off things in spectacular fashion with victory, and Tyler Groenendyk picked up his fifth career win with the Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance on a cold, windy night at the Sprint Car Capital of the World.
Matt Juhl took off from his starting spot on the pole to lead early in the 20-lap 410 feature. With a lap in the books, A.J. Moeller climbed a competitor’s right rear and took a wild ride through turns one and two.
Juhl led Brown, Justin Henderson, Davey Heskin and Carson McCarl back to green. McCarl quickly took fourth before Tasker Phillips, who was running in the top ten had an attempted slider end up in the turn two wall.
The restart was Brown’s chance, and he took advantage, sliding in front of Juhl to take the point. Motor issues for Josh Higday slowed things again two laps later. That negated a pass that Don Droud Jr. had made to enter the top five, but it didn’t deter the veteran, as he shot from sixth to fourth when the green fell again.
Jordan Goldesberry was the next to have issues with 11 to go. The next restart saw Carson McCarl obliterate the cone, costing him a spot. Brown then led Juhl, Henderson, Droud and Austin McCarl, who started 17th. Droud took third from Henderson, and Austin McCarl followed into fourth. The good battle also saw Carson McCarl get back in the fray before Lynton Jeffrey ran out of fuel with nine to go.
A fuel only open red flag period was instituted. The last nine laps saw Brown pull away as he got his just deserts in Victory Lane. Juhl held on for second, with hard-charger Austin McCarl completing the podium. Henderson, Droud, Carson McCarl, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Heskin, Chris Martin (from 23rd) and Ayrton Gennetten completed the top 10.
“One guy doesn’t deserve to be in the same sentence with the other guy, and that’s Steve Kinser,” said Brown about his historic win. “He paved the way for guys like us. He’s one of my heroes. To have my name alongside his, as a feature winner here is pretty awesome. I’m proud of all of my guys. We had probably the roughest week we’ve had. We had some stuff that went on in the shop and we just had to keep working and working. These guys never quit.”
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. Brian Brown (3); 2. Matt Juhl (1); 3. Austin McCarl (17); 4. Justin Henderson (4); 5. Don Droud Jr. (10); 6. Carson McCarl (7); 7. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (15); 8. Davey Heskin (2); 9. Chris Martin (23); 10. Ayrton Gennetten (8); 11. Riley Goodno (11); 12. Brandon Wimmer (20); 13. Roger Crockett (9); 14. Josh Schneiderman (14); 15. Lynton Jeffrey (6); 16. Ryan Giles (18); 17. Tyler Drueke (21); 18. Nathan Mills (19); 19. Kaleb Johnson (22); 20. Jordan Goldesberry (24); 21. Josh Higday (16); 22. Sawyer Phillips (12); 23. Tasker Phillips (13); 24. AJ Moeller (5). Lap Leaders: Juhl 1-4, Brown 5-20. Hard-charger: A. McCarl.