KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Ryan Timms made more history at the 36th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway.
The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma driver joined Sammy Swindell and Danny Lasoski as drivers who have won both the 360 and 410 Knoxville Nationals at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World.”
Timms’ win aboard the Liebig Motorsports No.10 paid him $20,000 plus $15,000 in lap money.
Before a lap could be completed, Daison Pursley got into the left rear tire of rookie Austin Wood. Pursley spun, and Wood headed to the work area to replace a flat left rear tire.
After an initial start in which 2022 360 Nationals winner Aaron Reutzel got the advantage was called back, Timms shot out to an early lead on the second, ahead of Reutzel, James McFadden, Brian Brown and Tyler Courtney.
On lap two, McFadden shot under Reutzel to take second, but three laps later, Reutzel shot back by to reclaim the spot in a good battle. On lap nine, Courtney put a slider on Brown in turn two to take the fourth spot.
Timms was into lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit. Kyle Larson worked his way into the top five on lap 12. Courtney moved by McFadden into third on lap 17.
Reutzel stayed within striking distance of the leader after pulling away from Courtney and McFadden. Timms entered heavy lapped traffic with two to go. With lapped cars side-by-side in front of him, Timms slowed and Reutzel got into his back bumper in turn two.
Timms was able to save the car and pull away from there for the popular win in a 30-lap record time of 8 minutes, 44.1 seconds.
Reutzel maintained second, ahead of Courtney, Larson and McFadden.
“We’ve kind of been having problems with taking off lately,” said Timms. “On that first start, Aaron timed it well. He may have gone before me a little bit. I really didn’t think it would get called back. I’m glad that it did. Once we got going, I wasn’t sure where to run the whole race. I didn’t know what was working. Once we got to lapped traffic…I assume it was the 87 that got into the back of me. I was running the top the whole time. I guess it started going away there. I just struggled to hit the bottom for whatever reason. There were lapped cars everywhere. They were running the bottom and I saw Aaron get to my inside once, and obviously chopped him. I figured he was making his ground on the bottom. I was just really unsure whether to follow on the bottom. You don’t want to just follow lapped traffic.
“I wasn’t my best effort, but it was my best blocking effort. This is unbelievable. I was maybe even more nervous for this than I was for the 410 last year. These things are just so momentum driven. This just means the world. There’s not many guys who can say they’ve one either one, let alone both of them. I couldn’t do it without my great crew guys and great owner.”
“I think it just came down to I didn’t do a very good job,” said Reutzel. “I wish I’d have tried the bottom early. I thought we would just sit up there and log laps on top. I made one mistake and James got by me. Then I had to fight back by James. I kind of used my stuff up there and got to the bottom. I ran him right back down. All the lapped cars were down there and I had to move back up. Things didn’t play out for me. We’d get good runs and a lapped car would stop on the bottom. The one time I ran into the back of Timms, I thought he broke. I didn’t know he was running over a lapped car. That was crazy. I’m glad we were both able to keep going. I knew they were going to have a great car like they always have. I don’t know why that one (start) got called back that I got the lead on. Ultimately, I felt that was going to be the key was who got the good start. Ultimately, he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He was able to get us. I’m disappointed, but I guess when you’re disappointed in second at the 360 Nationals, that’s pretty good.”
“I really needed those first two starts to go,” said Courtney. “That second one especially. I got to third on the backstretch, but it is what it is. The race was a blast honestly. For 360’s not having much power, I felt like we did the best we could there. We needed a couple more laps there. I think stuff was getting interesting with lapped cars there. That’s just not how it played out. Congrats to Ryan and them. Not many get to win both the 360 and 410 Nationals. It’s pretty cool to witness that. I had to miss both these events last year with an injury, so I’m just glad to be here as a competitor.”
Wood was the Jetco Rookie of the 360 Nationals, and took home $500. Ryan Leavitt earned best appearing car from Skagit Speedway, earning $360 for his throwback rendition of his grandfather, Eddie Leavitt’s 1976 Knoxville Nationals winning Fred Aden No. 4J. Rico Abreu, who won the B main, earned the MPi steering wheel as hard-charger of the race, advancing from 21st to 12th.
Knoxville 360 Nationals Results
E main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. 63W-Josh Weller, Mertztown, PA, (1); 2. T4-Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA, (2); 3. 27B-Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO, (4); 4. 6-Logan Moore, Des Moines, IA, (3); 5. 88R-Ryder Laplante, Calera, OK, (5); 6. 14T-Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust., (13); 7. 48-Nick Tucker, Mooresville, NC, (10); 8. 20I-Kelsey Ivy, Fremont, OH, (8) / 9. 33-Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA, (11); 10. 1A-John Anderson, Des Moines, IA, (7); 11. 11R-Rodney Huband, Wimberley, TX, (12); 12. 14Z-Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA, (14); 13. 71-Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA, (6); 14. 39JR-Brayden Mount, Rapid City, SD, (9) DNS 7, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA; 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN; 63T, Jack Thomas, Bates City, MO; 47, Tony Shilling, Knoxville, IA; 88, Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK; 56, Johnn Cressman, Hartford, SD; 0, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust.; 3z, Cole Vanderheiden, Papillion, NE; 16G, Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO; Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD; 52D, Skyler Daly, Hallsville, MO; 81, Kelly Miller, Lethbridge, ALB, Can.; 157, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO; 14J, Jason Wilson, Owasso, OK
D main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. 4W-Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA, (1); 2. 52-Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK, (3); 3. 24H-Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA, (2); 4. 23-Chase Dietz, York, PA, (5); 5. 45-Derek Hagar, Marion, AR, (10); 6. 9L-Laney Moore, Des Moines, IA, (7); 7. 938-Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR, (11) / 8. 77X-Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can., (6); 9. 9B-Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO, (8); 10. 5A-Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA, (13); 11. 83-Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL, (4); 12. 3-Cole Schroeder, Bozeman, MT, (12); 13. 27B-Garrett Benson (19); 14. 14T-Brooke Tatnell (22); 15. 88R-Ryder Laplante (21); 16. 0D-DJ Christie, Beachville, ONT, Can., (16); 17. 26Y-Chase Young, Des Moines, IA, (15); 18. T4-Tyler Graves (18); 19. 63W-Josh Weller (17); 20. 6-Logan Moore (20); 21. 20I-Kelsey Ivy (24); 22. 48-Nick Tucker (23); 23. 22P-Jesse Pate, Overbrook, KS, (9); 24. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall, MO, (14) DNS 4K, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA; 25, Jy Corbet, Gympie, QLD, Aust.; 23B, Seth Bergman, Snohomish, WA; 11T, Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL
C main (started), 12 Laps, 3:57.7: 1. 59-Evan Semerad, Malcolm, NE (1); 2. 7S-Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2); 3. 40-Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (5); 4. 86-Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (6) / 5. 01-Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (3); 6. 11N-Darin Naida, Adrian, MI (8); 7. 71B-Brady Baker, Alexander, AR (7); 8. 7T-Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (4); 9. 15K-Creed Kemenah, Alvada, OH (11); 10. 52-Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (19); 11. 7G-Jackson Gray, Ankeny, IA (10); 12. 2M-Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (17); 13. 23-Chase Dietz (21); 14. 55B-Chase Brown, Yutan, NE (15); 15. 8M-Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (9); 16. 9L-Laney Moore (23); 17. 24H-Kade Higday (20); 18. 45-Derek Hagar (22); 19. 23D-Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (16); 20. 1S-Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (14); 21. 938-Bradley Fezard (24); 22. 71T-Christopher Townsend, Cleveland, TX (12); 23. 1M-Sean McClelland, Tulsa, OK (13); 24. 4W-Jamie Ball (18) DNS 2, Whit Gastineau, Moore, OK; 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 28, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS
B main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. 14TSR-Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (3); 2. 26-Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (1); 3. 44-Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (4); 4. 71P-Parker Price Miller, Kokomo, IN (10) / 5. 63-JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (2); 6. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (8); 7. 17GP-Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (7); 8. 64-Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (9); 9. 4-Cameron Martin, Ankeny, IA (6); 10. 26R-Levi Hillier, Burlington, WA (5); 11. 19-Joel Myers Jr, Santa Rosa, CA (16); 12. 88W-Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (12); 13. 13-Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (13); 14. 4C-Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (11); 15. 40-Clint Garner (23); 16. 8C-John Carney II, El Paso, TX (19); 17. 09-Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (14); 18. 59-Evan Semerad (21); 19. 7S-Sawyer Phillips (22); 20. 49-Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (18); 21. 53-Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (20); 22. 86-Timothy Smith (24); 23. G2-Tony Rost, Utica, NE (15); 24. 44X-Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (17)
A main (started), 30 Laps, : 1. 10-Ryan Timms (1); 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel (2); 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney (5); 4. 57-Kyle Larson (7); 5. 21T-James McFadden (4); 6. 21-Brian Brown (3); 7. 77-Giovanni Scelzi (8); 8. 9-Chase Randall (11); 9. 11-Justin Henderson (6); 10. 14-Corey Day (16); 11. 39M-Anthony Macri (9); 12. 14TSR-Rico Abreu (21); 13. 22X-Riley Goodno (15); 14. 31-Brady Bacon (10); 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr (12); 16. 55-Kerry Madsen (19); 17. 71P-Parker Price Miller (24); 18. 44-Chris Martin (23); 19. 26-Justin Peck (22); 20. 24-Terry McCarl (17); 21. 9P-Daison Pursley (14); 22. 2A-Austin Wood (13); 23. 45X-Kyler Johnson (20); 24. 4J-Ryan Leavitt (18).
