KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Ryan Timms set a blistering pace and held off Brian Brown to win his first feature Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway.
Timms’ win in the winged 410 sprint car headliner was worth $6,000 and came aboard the Liebig Racing No. 10.
Clint Garner won for the first time in almost three years in the Randall Roofing 360 class. The win was his 48th, which is second all-time at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” to David Hesmer (60).
When Cory Eliason started slowly from his pole position in the 20-lap feature event, Timms stormed from his starting spot in row two to lead early in the 20-lap 410 feature ahead of Brian Brown, Austin McCarl, Kerry Madsen and Scott Bogucki.
Brown shot by Timms to lead lap two, but the Oklahoma youngster used the cushion to glide back around Brown and into the lead. Meanwhile, Madsen moved by Austin McCar for third.
It would be brief, as Madsen suddenly spun in turn two, backed into the wall, and tipped over. He was uninjured. Timms led Brown, McCarl, Bogucki and Eliason back to green. Timms pulled away, and encountered lapped traffic on the ninth circuit.
While he maneuvered well through traffic, Brown was slowly reeling him in. On lap 21, Brown tried a slider, that fell short. Timms margin of victory at the checkers was just two-tenths of a second over Brown. Austin McCarl was third, and Eliason grabbed fourth late from Bogucki.
“I thought I had it put away once I got around Brown on lap three,” said Timms. “I thought I should be able to walk away, and I was feeling really good. I was definitely not as perfect as I like to be. I saw Brown come in there (on lap 16), and I wasn’t expecting it at all. I kind of got out of it for a second, and he gave me room, so I got back on it to get around him. I was very thankful not to see him again after that. I’m just so stoked to win here at Knoxville. This is a place that was at the top of my bucket list. To knock it out so fast…I really wasn’t expecting it.”
The 18-lap Randall Roofing 360 main event needed four tries to go green. Alex Hill got sideways in turn one on the initial start, collecting Tasker Phillips, who got upside down, and Chase Brown, who also suffered extensive damage.
Several other cars continued after repairs. The second try saw Sawyer Phillips get upside down on the front straight, and Riley Goodno blow a right rear.
Once underway, Tyler Groenendyk led, ahead of Ryan Leavitt, Clint Garner, Matt Covington and Kade Higday. Covington used the low side to pass both Garner and Leavitt, moving into second. Garner then drove by Leavitt in tight racing amongst the three to take third on lap six. Higday stopped in turn two with damage, surrendering his fifth place run with 12 laps to go.
The restart saw Groenendyk leading Covington, Garner, Leavitt and Jamie Ball. Garner shot into second when the green fell, and Ball took fourth. Timothy Smith shot into the top five riding the cushion soon after.
Garner used a low line in turn four to drive past Groenendyk and take the lead on lap 12, and entered lapped traffic with five to go. Garner pulled away from there for the $2,000 win. Groenendyk was second, ahead of Covington, Ball and Smith. Leavitt.
NASCAR Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt won the Pro Sprint feature.
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. 10-Ryan Timms[3]; 2. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl[4]; 4. 2KS-Cory Eliason[1]; 5. 78-Scott Bogucki[6]; 6. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[8]; 7. 1-Tasker Phillips[10]; 8. 2M-JJ Hickle[14]; 9. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[9]; 10. 39-Lynton Jeffrey[16]; 11. 27-Carson McCarl[15]; 12. 17A-Jack Anderson[19]; 13. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[7]; 14. 44-Chris Martin[11]; 15. 09-Matt Juhl[17]; 16. 1K-Kelby Watt[21]; 17. 22-Riley Goodno[24]; 18. 8H-Jacob Hughes[22]; 19. 31-Kyle Bellm[12]; 20. 12X-Kameron Key[20]; 21. 15JR-Cole Mincer[13]; 22. 24T-Christopher Thram[23]; 23. 49-Josh Schneiderman[18]; 24. 55-Kerry Madsen[5].
