KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Dusty Zomer won his first 410 feature event at Knoxville since 2015 in an exciting battle with Brian Brown Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway.
The Sioux Falls, South Dakota driver’s 11th career win here came aboard the Jeremiah Jordahl No. 3j and paid him $6,000.
Aaron Reutzel recovered from a tip-over in the season opener to win the 360 feature, while Mike Mayberry won his eighth career main event in the Pro Sprints class.
Dustin Selvage led the 20-lap 410 feature early over Zomer, Garet Williamson, Brian Brown and Aaron Reutzel. Zomer used the second lap to take the point.
Austin McCarl entered the top five on lap three. Brown disposed of Selvage for third on lap four before Christopher Thram flipped on the backstretch five laps in, negating a McCarl pass of Selvage for fourth.
On the restart, Brown surged into second, followed by McCarl. Jake Bubak got out of shape on the backstretch a lap later. Chris Martin and Kelby Watt took evasive measures, collecting J.J. Hickle who was upside down with nowhere to go.
Once the green flew again, Brown was all over Zomer. At the halfway point he edged Zomer at the line by a nose to lead lap ten. Zomer got up on the wheel hitting the bottom of turn one and two to regain the lead.
Chase Randall had climbed from 21st to seventh before bringing out a caution with eight to go. Jason Martin slowed a lap later to bring out the final yellow flag and set up a seven lap dash to the checkers.
Brown was all over Zomer again and led lap 14, again by a nose. Zomer again hit the bottom of one and two and chose to slide across three and four. The maneuver worked in holding off the rim riding Brown. Reutzel was third, ahead of Austin McCarl and Garet Williamson.
“I took a lot of notes from (Danny) Lasoski running like that,” said Zomer, crediting his mentor. “Every restart, I hugged the bottom as best I could trying to keep the car underneath me. I knew (Brown) was fast, and I was going to obviously try to make him pass me on the outside. I was getting to stagnant on the bottom of three and four, and once I changed my line there it was for the better. Anytime you see that 21 pull up beside you, it makes you sit up in the wheel a little bit more. I’m super happy for this team. We started this deal a year ago, and we just pieced everything together. This year we’re getting everything in place. I’m super happy.”
For the second week in a row, Joe Beaver set the pace early on in the 18-lap 360 main. Reutzel was fourth early, and then moved by Jamie Ball for third on the fifth lap. On lap six, Reutzel pulled off the move of the race, splitting leader Beaver and the second place car of Kade Higday in one swoop, taking the point for good. Ball gained second from Higday before Alex Vande Voort flipped in turn four with six to go.
Reutzel led Ball, Higday, Terry McCarl and Jack Anderson back to green. With three to go, Tony Rost came to a stop in turn two, setting up a three lap Dash. Hard-charger Tasker Phillips was active late, shooting by Kelby Watt and McCarl on the restart to briefly move into third. McCarl would gain the spot back on the final lap.
Reutzel’s 10th career 360 win here came ahead of Ball, McCarl, Phillips and Kelby Watt.
Casey Friedrichsen led early in the 15-lap Pro Sprints feature ahead of AJ Johnson, Ryan Navritil and Brandon Worthington. A lap was in the books when Worthington got into the turn one wall. He was unhurt.
On the restart, Mayberry shot from fourth to third, and on lap three, he took second. One lap later, he took the lead from Friedrichsen high in turn four.
Navratil brought out the caution with eight laps to go, setting up a run to the checkers. Mayberry led Friedrichsen, Johnson, J Kinder and Matt Allen back to green.
Kinder slowed and pulled off on the restart, while Mayberry took off and won by nearly half a lap. Johnson secured second ahead of Friedrichsen, Allen and Chase Young.
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. Dusty Zomer (2); 2. Brian Brown (8); 3. Aaron Reutzel (5); 4. Austin McCarl (7); 5. Garet Williamson (3); 6. Carson McCarl (6); 7. Dustin Selvage (1); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 9. Matt Juhl (24); 10. Zach Hampton (10); 11. Josh Schneiderman (13); 12. Sawyer Phillips (16); 13. Brandon Wimmer (17); 14. Emerson Axsom (11); 15. Roger Crockett (12); 16. Jamie Ball (18); 17. Chris Martin (23); 18. AJ Moeller (9); 19. Kelby Watt (19); 20. Chase Randall (21); 21. Jason Martin (22); 22. Jake Bubak (15); 23. JJ Hickle (14); 24. Christopher Thram (20).