Austin McCarl Takes Checkers In Thursday Night’s 360 Knoxville Nationals Prelim

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – KNOXVILLE, IA – Picking up his first career prelim night victory in the My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, Altoona’s Austin McCarl grabbed the lead on Lap 8 and led the remainder of Thursday’s 20 lap A-Feature to mark his first career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network as well.

McCarl’s second career win in 360cid competition at the Knoxville Raceway, the Kolthoff Electric/SCT No. 17a shot under the No. 70 of Calvin Landis through the first and second turns on Lap 6, only to have the caution appear for Ryan Leavitt.

Pinned to the back bumper of the Tom Madden Motorsports entry on the restart, McCarl again shot the gap between Landis and the berm to take the top spot.

“Calvin was kind of moving around there. I just had to stay patient. He was setting a good pace,” stated McCarl. ”

“The bottom was really good and threw up a bunch of juice through the middle. When I got to those first lap cars, they were running the top. I didn’t know what to do, so I blew it through the middle, and it stuck. I didn’t know how close those guys were behind him. Aaron and Kerry…those guys are World of Outlaws winners and the best in the world. I guess, in the end, I was lucky there wasn’t a yellow.”

Slowing opening his advantage, the battle for second heated up with Landis in the mix with Scelzi, Madsen, and Reutzel with the No. 87 getting the spot for a moment before mechanical issues struck on Lap 13. Getting to the infield to avoid the caution, the spot went to Kerry Madsen with Dominic Scelzi in tow.

Hitting lapped traffic with five laps to run, the slower traffic would not be enough to slow McCarl as the No. 17a crossed 2.539-seconds ahead of eighth starting, Kerry Madsen, who is the high point driver after Thursday prelim action. The final podium step went to California’s Dominic Scelzi with Shane Golobic moving up three spots to fourth. Tim Shaffer completed the top five.

Making up seven positions, Joe Beaver grabbed sixth with Roger Crockett seventh. Racing through the B-Feature, Cory Eliason clawed from 21st to eighth in the Rudeen Racing No. 26. Calvin Landis ended up slipping to ninth with Tim Kaeding, also making a 13-position run from 23rd to complete the top ten.

The 30th annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by continues Friday, August 7. Hot Laps begin at 6:45 P.M. with Qualifying getting underway at 7:15 P.M. (CT).

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV
Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa)
30th ASCS 360 Nationals – Night 1
Thursday, August 6, 2020

Car Count: 48

Single Car Qualifying (2 laps to set quick time)

Time Trials [Qualifying Order]: 1. 2, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. [2], 16.203; 2. 17WX, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA [21], 16.229; 3. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX [32], 16.247; 4. 14, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA [14], 16.318; 5. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX [35], 16.334; 6. 69, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK [17], 16.339; 7. 83M, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD [5], 16.349; 8. 35M, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA [27], 16.436; 9. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA [41], 16.447; 10. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO [10], 16.450; 11. 41S, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA [9], 16.486; 12. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA [40], 16.497; 13. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA [45], 16.534; 14. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA [13], 16.551; 15. 4J, Lee Grosz, Harwood, ND [33], 16.560; 16. 83, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA [34], 16.572; 17. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA [1], 16.594; 18. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK [44], 16.607; 19. 88, Kyle Offill, Tracy, CA [6], 16.671; 20. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA [4], 16.677; 21. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA [16], 16.685; 22. 66, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO [36], 16.698; 23. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA [12], 16.701; 24. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD [15], 16.702; 25. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH [19], 16.705; 26. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA [8], 16.726; 27. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA [7], 16.731; 28. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK [3], 16.737; 29. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK [25], 16.772; 30. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA [29], 16.772; 31. 115, Nick Parker, Tucson, AZ [23], 16.782; 32. 24, Garret Williamson, Columbia, MO [39], 16.799; 33. 5H, Michael Faccinto, Hanford, CA [30], 16.814; 34. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA [38], 16.870; 35. 33H, Colton Heath, Marysville, WA [20], 16.883; 36. 14B, Bailey Sucich, Granite Falls, WA [26], 16.926; 37. 66D, Chase Dunham, Leipsic, OH [24], 16.945; 38. 4H, Cody Hansen, Nunda, SD [46], 16.961; 39. 23M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC [28], 17.017; 40. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA [31], 17.030; 41. 1B, Chelsea Blevins, Janesville, CA [18], 17.046; 42. 51A, Elliot Amdahl, Flandreau, SD [37], 17.094; 43. 75X, JT Imperial, Mesa, AZ [22], 17.110; 44. 50Z, Zach Chappell, Talala, OK [43], 17.117; 45. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA [42], 17.498; 46. 6, Jett Carney, El Paso, TX [47], 17.566; 47. 6X, Frank Rodgers III, Lucas, IA [48], 17.748; 48. 4S, Adam Speckman, Rapid City, SD [11], 18.126.

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (1-4 to the A-Feature, 5-8 to the B-Feature, remainder to the C-Feature )

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Ryan Leavitt[2]; 2. 2M-Matt Moro[1]; 3. 2-Kerry Madsen[6]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 5. 69-Brady Bacon[5]; 6. 83-Rob Kubli[3]; 7. 115-Nick Parker[7]; 8. 6-Jett Carney[10]; 9. 14B-Bailey Sucich[8]; 10. 1B-Chelsea Blevins[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Ricky Montgomery[2]; 2. 17A-Austin McCarl[4]; 3. 17WG-Shane Golobic[6]; 4. 24-Garet Williamson[7]; 5. 83M-Justin Henderson[5]; 6. 81E-Eric Bridger[1]; 7. 66D-Chase Dunham[8]; 8. 51A-Elliot Amdahl[9]; 9. 6X-Frank Rodgers[10]; 10. 20-AJ Moeller[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 70-Calvin Landis[4]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 3. 53-Joe Beaver[2]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[3]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 6. 5H-Michael Faccinto[7]; 7. 35M-Tim Kaeding[5]; 8. 75X-JT Imperial[9]; 9. 4H-Cody Hansen[8]; 10. 4S-Adam Speckman[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Tim Shaffer[6]; 2. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[2]; 3. 17W-Harli White[1]; 4. 63-JJ Hickle[4]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason[5]; 6. 88-Kyle Offill[3]; 7. 5J-Jamie Ball[7]; 8. 50Z-Zach Chappell[9]; 9. 23M-Lance Moss[8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 24N-Nathan Mills[1]; 2. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[5]; 3. 33H-Colton Heath[7]; 4. 23-Devon Dobie[2]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 6. 1A-John Anderson[9]; 7. 22X-Riley Goodno[8]; 8. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[3]; 9. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]

Hoosier Tire C-Feature (Top 4 to the B-Feature)

C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 4H-Cody Hansen[2]; 2. 14B-Bailey Sucich[1]; 3. 23M-Lance Moss[3]; 4. 1B-Chelsea Blevins[4]; 5. 6X-Frank Rodgers[5]; 6. (DNS) 4J-Lee Grosz; 7. (DNS) 20-AJ Moeller; 8. (DNS) 4S-Adam Speckman

BMRS B-Feature (Top 4 to the A-Feature)

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason[5]; 2. 83M-Justin Henderson[3]; 3. 35M-Tim Kaeding[4]; 4. 88-Kyle Offill[7]; 5. 5H-Michael Faccinto[12]; 6. 95-Matt Covington[10]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 8. 5J-Jamie Ball[13]; 9. 83-Rob Kubli[6]; 10. 66D-Chase Dunham[14]; 11. 50Z-Zach Chappell[18]; 12. 22X-Riley Goodno[15]; 13. 51A-Elliot Amdahl[16]; 14. 115-Nick Parker[11]; 15. 4H-Cody Hansen[21]; 16. 81E-Eric Bridger[9]; 17. 14B-Bailey Sucich[22]; 18. 75X-JT Imperial[17]; 19. 1B-Chelsea Blevins[24]; 20. 23M-Lance Moss[23]; 21. 6-Jett Carney[20]; 22. 1A-John Anderson[19]; 23. 69-Brady Bacon[2]; 24. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[8]

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 17A-Austin McCarl[2]; 2. 2-Kerry Madsen[8]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[3]; 4. 17WG-Shane Golobic[7]; 5. 14-Tim Shaffer[5]; 6. 53-Joe Beaver[13]; 7. 11-Roger Crockett[10]; 8. 26-Cory Eliason[21]; 9. 70-Calvin Landis[1]; 10. 35M-Tim Kaeding[23]; 11. 83M-Justin Henderson[22]; 12. 63-JJ Hickle[9]; 13. 24-Garet Williamson[19]; 14. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 15. 17W-Harli White[17]; 16. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[14]; 17. 66-Ricky Montgomery[12]; 18. 33H-Colton Heath[20]; 19. 88-Kyle Offill[24]; 20. 2M-Matt Moro[16]; 21. 24N-Nathan Mills[18]; 22. 23-Devon Dobie[15]; 23. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 24. 22-Ryan Leavitt[11]

Lap Leader(s): Calvin Landis 1-7; Austin McCarl 8-20
Hard Charger: Cory Eliason +13
High Point Driver: N/A
Provisional(s): N/A

Event Points as of August 6, 2020

1 2 Kerry Madsen 492
2 17WX Shane Golobic 486
3 14 Tim Shaffer 486
4 17A Austin McCarl 475
5 41S Dominic Scelzi 467
6 70 Calvin Landis 460
7 26 Cory Eliason 458
8 83M Justin Henderson 456
9 3 Ayrton Gennetten 453
10 35M Tim Kaeding 450
11 87 Aaron Reutzel 449
12 11 Roger Crockett 445
13 63 JJ Hickle 443
14 53 Joe Beaver 440
15 66 Ricky Montgomery 426
16 22K Kaleb Johnson 421
17 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 418
18 22 Ryan Leavitt 414
19 88 Kyle Offill 413
20 17W Harli White 410
21 2M Matt Moro 409
22 24 Garret Williamson 405
23 24N Nathan Mills 402
24 23 Devon Dobie 401
25 33H Colton Heath 392
26 83 Rob Kubli 389
27 69 Brady Bacon 384
28 95 Matt Covington 374
29 5H Michael Faccinto 363
30 81E Eric Bridger 353
31 5J Jamie Ball 352
32 115 Nick Parker 346
33 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 345
34 66D Chase Dunham 342
35 4J Lee Grosz 338
36 22X Riley Goodno 332
37 20 AJ Moeller 329
38 4H Cody Hansen 324
39 14B Bailey Sucich 324
40 50Z Zach Chappell 323
41 51A Elliot Amdahl 323
42 23M Lance Moss 312
43 75X JT Imperial 311
44 1B Chelsea Blevins 307
45 1A John Anderson 305
46 6 Jett Carney 299
47 6X Frank Rodgers III 276
48 4S Adam Speckman 265