KNOXVILLE, Iowa — On McKay Insurance Season Championship Night at Knoxville Raceway, three champions were crowned.
Aaron Reutzel was dominant in his win in the 410 class netting $5,000 and a $1,000 bonus for his win. Austin McCarl finished third but clinched his second season title in the 410 class at Knoxville.
Chase Randall (fourth career 360 win) and Kade Higday (eighth career win) won their respective features in the 360 and Pro Sprints classes, cementing their first track championships in their respective divisions.
Mason Mitchell was a first-time Knoxville winner with the Dirt Truck Racing Association.
The 25-lap 410 feature had a couple of ugly starts. Tasker Phillips spun on the first try, collecting his brother Sawyer in the process. The second try saw a nasty flip by Kade Higday. The third try was not a charm either. Lynton Jeffrey flipped violently in turn three, collecting both Riley Goodno and Ben Brown. Jeffrey and Brown walked away, but Goodno was taken to the hospital for observation.
Once underway, Zach Hampton took the early lead ahead of Dusty Zomer and Lachlan McHugh. Reutzel was a big mover, starting tenth, and moving into the top five on the second lap. After McHugh took second from Zomer, both Reutzel and Brian Brown moved into the top four in getting by Zomer on lap four.
Reutzel rode the cushion around McHugh for second on lap eight, and on the following circuit, slid by Hampton in the same spot to take the point for good. He was in traffic by lap 11, and had built a 4.2-second lead with 10 laps to go. Austin McCarl was surging as well, getting by Brown for fourth at that stage.
McHugh passed Hampton for the second spot on lap 18 before Tasker Phillips spun in turn two. Phillips had come from the rear to seventh. On the restart, McCarl and Brown passed Hampton for third and fourth. Up front, Reutzel was cruising.
Reutzel’s ninth career 410 win here came ahead of McHugh, who had a career best finish, McCarl, and Chase Randall who got by Brown late.
“(Winning at Knoxville) means more to me now than anything in my career,” said Reutzel. “This is what I like to do now is race around home. Being with my family and not being on the road. We like to race here and go pick and choose other races. The car was phenomenal in the A main. I couldn’t believe how good we were sliding in the middle…we had grip the whole time. I could run the top hard. You don’t usually drive from tenth to the lead like we did. It’s just fun when it’s that way.”
Cam Martin led early in the 20-lap 360 main event over Chase Randall, Ryan Giles, Jamie Ball and Tyler Groenendyk. Alex Vande Voort spun two laps in. That set up a restart, and Randall stuck the bottom of turn four to take the point, while Ball moved into third, and Sammy Swindell fifth.
Martin’s second place run ended when he blew a left rear tire on lap six. The restart saw Ball, who inherited second, take a shot at Randall, who squeezed between the sprinter and the wall in turn two. Shortly after, Dustin Clark got into the turn four wall to bring another caution.
Randall maintained his lead over Ball and Giles. Garet Williamson took over fourth from Swindell on lap eight. Carson McCarl was on the move, going from the 18th starting spot to sixth, and passing Swindell for fifth on the last lap.
“We’ve been working so hard for this all year long,” said Randall. “We came here with one goal and that was the championship. Every day, every week that we put in at the shop was for this moment. To be standing up here is unbelievable. I have an incredible crew behind me. Everything we did last year that we brought into this year had a whole new meaning.”
Brandon Worthington led the 18-lap Pro Sprints feature over Matthew Stelzer, Ryan Navratil, Kade Higday and Chase Young early in the going. Navratil used the high side to pass Stelzer for second on lap two, and Higday and Casey Friedrichsen followed him by the following circuit.
Worthington spun out of the lead, bringing a caution three laps in. Navratil inherited the lead, but Higday put a slider on him immediately when the green flew and pulled away. Another caution came out when Toby Mosher stopped in turn two five laps in. At the same time, Stelzer came to a stop on the frontstretch.
Higday led Navratil, Friedrichsen, Young and Mike Mayberry back to green. A.J. Johnson was the charger. He entered the top five after starting 13th, then took fourth from Young on lap nine, and third from Friedrichsen on lap 10. Higday entered lapped traffic on lap 12 before Stelzer broke a front end and crashed into the infield wall on the frontstretch with five laps to go.
Higday pulled away on the restart, while Johnson cruised into second, followed by a late closing J Kinder, Navratil and Friedrichsen.
“This year has been pretty spectacular to me,” said Higday. “It seems like we’ve had a bad five or six years here. It feels good to get a win on championship night here. We had it locked up before that feature, but I told my guys we were not losing that race. It’s been the busiest racing season we’ve had.”
Mason Mitchell led the 15-lap DTRA truck feature early over Brandon Cox, Jeff Johnson, Shonn Mapes and Jared Myers. Cox took the lead for himself on lap two before Del Enos and Shaun Clinger spun on the backstretch to bring the only caution.
Mitchell rode Cox’s bumper the majority of the way, looking for an opening. On the final lap, he got between the leader and the infield berm in turn four to edge ahead and take his first win here. Following Mitchell and Cox were hard-charger, Brandon Toftee, Johnson, Myers, Shawn Cooney, Rick Clark, Mapes, Clinger, Enos and Terry May.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” said Mitchell. “I appreciate the fans. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. This is the pinnacle of dirt track racing. I’m very fortunate and blessed to be doing what I love.”
