KNOXVILLE, Iowa — It was all James McFadden at the 13th running of the Avanti Windows & Doors Capitani Classic Presented by Great Southern Bank Sunday night at the Knoxville Raceway.
The Australian pilot earned $13,000 aboard the Tarlton Racing No. 21t for his first 410 victory here.
Daison Pursley, who won the $2,500 K-1 Racegear Pole Shuffle over McFadden earned the pole for the 25-lap main event, but his front row starting mate was too much, leading early over Pursley, Brian Brown, Gio Scelzi and Rico Abreu.
Abreu slid by Scelzi for fourth on lap two. On lap four, Austin McCarl entered the top five on lap four. Contact with another car brought Sheldon Haudenschild to a stop five laps in. Tarlton led Pursley, Brown, Abreu and McCarl back to green-flag racing.
Scelzi moved back into the top five on the restart, but by lap ten, McFadden had built his lead to 4.2 seconds. Carson Macedo entered the top five before McFadden was into traffic on lap 13. Macedo and Abreu traded fourth before the latter took the spot for good with eight to go.
At the checkers, McFadden won by a healthy margin over Pursley, Brown, Abreu and Macedo. Scelzi, McCarl, Donny Schatz, Logan Schuchart and Ryan Timms rounded out the top 10.
Seventy-five cars signed in for the event. Pursley and McFadden set quick time in their respective groups. Schuchart, Brad Sweet, Buddy Kofoid, Abreu, Timms and Kerry Madsen won heats. Justin Peck won the C main, and Sye Lynch and Justin Sanders won the B mains.
“You strive to win races at places like Knoxville, Williams Grove and Eldora,” said McFadden. “To win here in the 360 was cool (he was the 2019 360 Knoxville Nationals champion), but man this is bad-ass. I felt really good. We worked at it all night. Not doing a lot of half-mile laps, you second guess what you’re feeling. The guys just made the right decisions. For the team and myself, it’s a pretty special win.”
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 21T-James McFadden[2]; 2. 13-Daison Pursley[1]; 3. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 4. 24R-Rico Abreu[5]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 6. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 7. 88-Austin McCarl[6]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[9]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[13]; 10. 10-Ryan Timms[14]; 11. 14BC-Corey Day[11]; 12. 19-Brent Marks[7]; 13. 83-Michael Kofoid[17]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich[18]; 15. 39M-Anthony Macri[21]; 16. 87-Justin Sanders[20]; 17. 49-Brad Sweet[15]; 18. 55-Kerry Madsen[10]; 19. 18-Emerson Axsom[22]; 20. 44-Chris Martin[12]; 21. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr[16]; 22. 5-Brenham Crouch[24]; 23. 42-Sye Lynch[19]; 24. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[23].
