KNOXVILLE, Iowa — A two-time winner in non-winged sprint cars at Knoxville Raceway, Tyler Courtney got his first winged victory at the famed track in big fashion on Saturday night.
Courtney earned $30,000 for winning the 34th annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom Knoxville 360 Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank.
The Indianapolis native’s win came aboard the Clauson-Marshall Racing No. 7bc, and his payday included $20,000 to win and $10,000 in lap money.
Courtney led lap one of the 30-lap main event ahead of Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Cory Eliason and Jamie Ball. Axsom shot by Courtney to lead lap two before Chase Randall jumped the turn three cushion and flipped to bring the red flag.
The last 28 laps went non-stop with Axsom shooting back out to the lead and entering lapped traffic on the ninth circuit. Courtney reeled in Axsom and shot around him high in heavy lapped traffic on lap 12.
Courtney found his way around the lapped machine of Carson McCarl and then made a big move to get by two more lappers with ten to go.
Axsom struggled in traffic, but closed late to finish second, 1.5 seconds behind the victor.
Austin McCarl was third, ahead of Brian Brown and Cory Eliason.
Axsom earned a bonus $5,000 in lapped money and $500 from Jetco as Rookie of the 360 Nationals.
“The team has been busy,” said Courtney. “We came in with not a lot of expectations. We wanted to come here and get laps and confidence, and just get in the mood for the biggest week of the year next week. That was a really good racecar. I feel like we were really good there in the feature. We didn’t lead all the laps and get all the money, but we’ll take 30 grand! We’ve never quite got a wing win here, and at the 360 Nationals, I think that means just a little bit more. It’s a pretty special win.”
“This is a little disappointing for my guys,” said Axsom. “I felt like they gave me a car capable of winning, and I made a mistake and let Tyler by. Then I raced the same guy for about ten laps. I finally got by him and felt like I found a better line into three than Tyler. I was able to track him down, but I’m sure he was riding and saving his tires. I’m happy with our speed but I hate it for our guys. I felt like we had a car capable of winning.”
“I wish I could have been on the front row,” said Austin McCarl. “I just kept praying we’d get to traffic. We kind of got spread out there early. I felt really good. I could peel off and run the bottom stuck, but it just wasn’t quite enough to get past (Axsom). There just wasn’t enough down there to get a little grip and come across. I’m proud of that old girl in the frame rails (engine). It’s probably older than this camera man.”
The results:
E Main (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.9: 1. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (1); 2. 13v, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (6); 3. 3R, Russell Potter, Boonville, MO (2); 4. 27W, Weston Olson, Warren, MN (4); 5. 45x, Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS (7); 6. 17B, Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD (5); 7. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (8); 8. 8x, Micah Slendy, Sioux Falls, SD (10); 9. 22w, Aaron Werner, Colman, SD (12); 10. 938, Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR (11); 11. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (15); 12. 38, Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA (9) / 13. T4, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (13); 14. 4c, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (14); 15. 83, Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL (3) DNS – 20T, Corey Timmerman, Carmen, IL; 11N, Kasey Jedrzejek, Lagrange, OH; 47T, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA; 16G, Austyn Gossel, Windsor, CO; 91, Michael Day, Farmersville, TX; 41D, Dan Henning, Columbia, IA; 6G, Bryan Gossel, Windsor, CO; 88E, Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK; 17N, Nathan Anderson, Newton, IA; 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA; G5H, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA; 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA
D Main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (3); 2. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (1); 3. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (4); 4. 71, Brady Baker, Alexander, AR (5); 5. 2JR, Kelly Miller, Stirling, ALB, Can. (2); 6. 18, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, CO (10); 7. 55x, Chase Brown, Yutan, NE (12); 8. 23M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (7); 9. Ryan Bickett (18); 10. 1Z, Justin Zimmerman, Athens, TX (6) / 11. Russell Potter (15); 12. Kyler Johnson (17); 13. 29, Emilio Hoover, Broken Arrow, OK (8); 14. Weston Olson (16); 15. 15D, Andrew Deal, Caney, KS (9); 16. Seth Brahmer (14); 17. Tyler Lee (13); 18. Gage Pulkrabek (23); 19. Logan Alexander (24); 20. Aaron Werner (21); 21. Micah Slendy (20); 22. Aidan Zoutte (19); 23. Bradley Fezard (22); 24. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (11) DNS – 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA; 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA; 10, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust.; J2, John Carney II, El Paso, TX; 48T, Tyler Thompson, Des Moines, IA; 10B, Landon Britt, Memphis, TN; 47, Brant O’Banion, Worthing, SD; 2J, Zach Blurton, Quinter, KS
C Main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (1); 2. 88T, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (2); 3. 4J, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (10); 4. 41, Colton Hardy, Phoenix, AZ (3); 5. 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD (4); 6. Chris Martin (15) / 7. 36, Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (5); 8. Brooke Tatnell (17); 9. 98P, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (6); 10. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (11); 11. Brady Baker (18); 12. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (12); 13. 87x, Shone Evans, Scotland, ONT, Can. (13); 14. Kelly Miller (19); 15. Justin Zimmerman (24); 16. Ben Brown (16); 17. Ryan Bickett (23); 18. Chase Brown (21); 19. Ryan Roberts (20); 20. 11m, Brendan Mullen, Grand Forks, ND (9); 21. 9M, Liam Martin, Binbrook, ONT, Can. (7); 22. Lance Moss (22); 23. 15, Ryan Turner, Dunnville, ONT, Can. (8); 24. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (14); DNS – 4z, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD; 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK; 1, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX; 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO; 7a, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA; 99, Tony Rost, Utica, NE
B Main (started), 18 Laps, 5:36.5: 1. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (2); 2. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (1); 3. 2m, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (4); 4. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (11) / 5. 23, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA (6); 6. 22x, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (3); 7. 23w, Garet Williamson, Columbia, MO (14); 8. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (7); 9. 2c, Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK (8); 10. 77x, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. (5); 11. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (17); 12. 49x, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (16); 13. 64, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (9); 14. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (10); 15. Tanner Holmes (19); 16. Chase Johnson (21); 17. Jacob Hughes (23); 18. Chris Martin (24); 19. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (13); 20. Tanner Thorson (20); 21. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (18); 22. 4G, Cole Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (12); 23. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (15); 24. Colton Hardy (22) DNS – 69K, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK; 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN
Feature (started), 30 Laps, NT: 1. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (2); 2. 27A, Emerson Axsom, Franklin, IN (1); 3. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (4); 4. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (9); 5. 8, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (3); 6. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (6); 7. 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (5); 8. 21T, Cole Macedo, Lemoore, CA (12); 9. 6, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (8); 10. 88, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (10); 11. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (14); 12. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (19); 13. 27H, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (15); 14. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (17); 15. Carson McCarl (22); 16. Kasey Kahne (20); 17. Ryan Giles (23); 18. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (18); 19. 24, Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA (11); 20. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (16); 21. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (13); 22. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (7); 23. Chase Randall (21) DNS – 24. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO.