KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Kerry Madsen became the second straight resident of Australia to claim a MyPlace Hotels Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank championship.
Madsen led all 25 laps to claim the $15,000 prize aboard Tod Quiring’s No. 2. The 30th annual running of the event saw 96 competitors representing 23 states and two countries.
Things got off to a rough start in the 25-lap main event for Matt Juhl, who flipped violently after contact with Calvin Landis in turn three. He was o.k.
Madsen shot out to the early lead over fellow front row starter, Joey Saldana, Shane Golobic, Tim Shaffer and Brian Brown. Golobic pulled a slider on Saldana for the second spot on lap three. A lap later, Lynton Jeffrey slowed with power steering issues and retired.
Madsen led Golobic, Saldana, Shaffer and Brown back to green. Brown shot from fifth to third quickly. Zearfoss was on the move as well, passing a pair of McCarl’s, Carson and Austin to go from eighth to sixth. He took fifth from Shaffer on lap 11.
Madsen entered lapped traffic on lap 13. Zearfoss picked off Saldana for fourth on lap 14. Cory Eliason was also on a charge from row eight. He entered the top five on lap 16.
Brown reeled in Golobic and got by him for second on lap 19. Madsen’s lead was over four seconds heading to the late stages. Bad luck would strike Brown on the last lap, as he went up in smoke and ducked into the infield.
Golobic finished 4.7 seconds behind Madsen. He was followed by the hard-charger Eliason, Zearfoss and Austin McCarl.
“Cody Jacobs got me a fantastic race car there,” said Madsen. “It was pretty smooth. I made a couple of minor mistakes, but it seemed like everywhere I went, it would respond. It was fun to drive. We’ve been knocking on the door so much this year…it was just great to give this to (the team). We had a different car for next week, but I might tell them to bring that one back. It was good.”
“(Kerry) was awfully fast,” said Golobic. “He just got out and left us. I thought maybe on the restart, I may be able to shoot the bottom. I kind of hung with him for a lap, but once we got rolling, he was on another level. He’s one of the best at this place and has a lot of laps. For us to compete and have a good battle with Brian Brown before he blew up…I’m proud of this team. We’ve had some struggles at this place in the past, but we’ve tried to get back here as much as we could and it’s begun to pay off. I just have a whole different comfort level and our car is really fast.”
“We just needed a yellow or two,” said Eliason. “That would have gave us a chance to dice it up with the leaders. I could see Shane and Kerry out in front. It was kind of fortunate that we were able to get to the podium, but we learned something for next weekend. We definitely picked up the pace in the last two weeks.”
Lance Norick opened the night with a win in the E main, Jamie Ball took the D main, Harli White claimed the C main and Juhl snagged the B.
Devin Wignall won his first feature at Knoxville, capturing the Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance tilt.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. 2, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (1); 2. 17wx, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (3); 3. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (15); 4. 3z, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (9); 5. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (6); 6. 12N, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (2); 7. 14, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (4); 8. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (20); 9. 41s, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (12); 10. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (5); 11. 83M, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (17); 12. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (23); 13. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (10); 14. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (11); 15. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (13); 16. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (7); 17. 47x, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (16); 18. Terry McCarl (22); 19. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (18); 20. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (14); 21. 35M, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (19); 22. JJ Hickle (24); 23. 83J, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City, IA (8); 24. Matt Juhl (21). Lap Leader: K. Madsen 1-25. Hard-charger: Eliason. $1,000 Knoxville 360 Booster Club Award: C. McCarl. $200 Jetco Rookie of the Year: Zearfoss. $360 DGRD Best Appearing Car: Jeffrey.