7/10/2004 Knoxville,IA JOHN KEARNEY (Ridge 83)
by Bill Wright
360 (39 cars)
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. John Kearney 83 (2*) 2. Eric Vanderploeg 24 (1*) 3. Stacey Alexander 126 (6*) 4. Jerry Crabb 12x (3*) 5. Pete Crall 11 (7*) 6. Doran Doty 99x (5) 7. Mike Houseman 5 (10) 8. Jarod Smith 77J (8) 9. Alan Zoutte 33 (4) DNS - Rodney Turner 69 (9)
Vanderploeg took the early lead and battled Kearney, until the Kansas native took over on the second circuit. S. Alexander was impressive moving up three spots to third. Zoutte went up in smoke on the white flag lap. Houseman is teaming with Mike Waddell, running Waddell's motor with his chassis.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Brett Mather 54 (3*) 2. Josh Higday 10 (4*) 3. Rager Phillips 9 (1*) 4. Ryan Jamison 51J (5*) 5. Eric Jobe 23 (6) 6. Rob Edwards 22 (7) 7. DJ Heskin 84 (10) 8. Curtis Thorson 91 (8) 9. Mike Houseman Jr. Y5 (2) DNS - Nate Mosher 22N (9)
Mather battled Phillips to gain the lead. He led flag to flag. On lap two, Thorson spun, collecting Houseman Jr., who got upside down. Both were done for the night. Jamison got by Jobe for fourth and a transfer with two laps to go.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Jake Peters 57x (1*) 2. John Schulz 2s (2*) 3. Dusty Zomer 1z (6*) 4. Dave Hesmer 1 (4) 5. Larry Ball Jr. 5J (9*) 6. Bronson Maeschen 96 (7) 7. Dave Hall 51 (5) 8. Eric Mason B29 (8) 9. Nate Van Haaften 3 (10) 10. Stevie Walsh 20 (3)
Peters led the duration in a pretty stacked heat. Schulz did not give up without a fight, battling side by side with Peters for the first five laps. Zomer continues to impress and passed Hesmer in the last corner, coming for the checkered flag, sending Hesmer to the B. Ball also made a pass for fifth on the last lap, gaining enough passing points to qualify for the main event.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Mitchell Alexander 6 (4*) 2. Troy Meyer 11m (2*) 3. Joe Beaver 53 (5*) 4. Frankie Heimbaugh 04 (3) 5. Brett Golik 5G (6) 6. Mike Trent 14c (7) 7. Terry Alexander 77 (8) 8. John Hall 7H (9) DNS - Johnny Anderson 7a (1)
M. Alexander outdueled Meyer for the lead and held it despite a late charge by Meyer on the low side. Beaver grabbed third from Heimbaugh with two to go, giving him a transfer.
7/10/2004 Knoxville,IA (B)
1. Hesmer (1) 2. Heimbaugh (2) 3. Trent (10) 4. Golik (4) / 5. Jobe (3) 6. Doty (7) 7. T. Alexander (11) 8. D. Hall (12) 9. Maeschen (6) 10. Anderson (18) 11. J. Hall (14) 12. Edwards (5) 13. Heskin (9) 14. Van Haaften (17) 15. Smith (13) 16. Mason (15) 17. Mosher (19) 18. Houseman (8) 19. Walsh (16) DNS - Thorson, Zoutte, Houseman Jr., Turner
Hesmer took the early lead before Heimbaugh drove under him on lap two. Walsh lost his brakes on lap three and coasted to a stop. Meanwhile, Houseman retired with a flat right rear. On the restart, Heimbaugh led Hesmer, Jobe, Golik and Trent, up from tenth. Three more laps passed before Hesmer took the point again. On lap seven, Mason spun and retired. Now Hesmer led Heimbaugh, Jobe, Golik and Trent with three laps to go. Trent glided by Golik and then Jobe for an impressive third, while Golik grabbed the last transfer on the last lap from the rookie, Jobe.
7/10/2004 Knoxville,IA JOHN KEARNEY
1. Kearney (3) 2. Mather (2) 3. Zomer (7) 4. Vanderploeg (8) 5. Higday (4) 6. Peters (5) 7. M. Alexander (1) 8. Beaver (13) 9. Golik (20) 10. Meyer (10) 11. Jamison (14) 12. Trent (19) 13. Heimbaugh (18) 14. Crabb (15) 15. Crall (16) 16. Phillips (11) 17. Ball (12) 18. Schulz (9) 19. S. Alexander (6) 20. Hesmer (17)
Hesmer flipped on the initial try at green, ending his night. On the restart, M. Alexander took an early lead over Mather. Mather took command on lap two, one lap before Schulz stopped in turn three. The restart saw Mather ahead of M. Alexander, Kearney, Higday and Peters. Mather held the point strongly until lap ten of the twelve lapper when a stutter in the motor could be detected. Kearney passed him with one to go, but it was negated when Phillips stopped on the high side of turn four. Kearney's winning pass came on the restart to thwart a nice effort by Mather. The win was Kearney's 17th, moving him into third place all-time at the raceway. Zomer drove an impressive race and looked to have something for the leaders late. Vanderploeg also came on late. Golik was the hard-charger, moving forward 11 spots.
7/10/2004 Knoxville,IA JAKE PETERS 57x
1. Peters (11) 2. Golik (8) 3. Phillips (1) 4. Crall (2) 5. Jamison (6) 6. Trent (5) 7. Kearney (16) 8. Heimbaugh (4) 9. S. Alexander (19) 10. Zomer (14) 11. Beaver (9) 12. Higday (12) 13. Schulz (18) 14. Crabb (3) 15. Mather (15) 16. Jobe (19) 17. Doty (20) 18. Meyer (7) 19. M. Alexander (10) 20. Vanderploeg (12) DNS - Ball, Hesmer
Phillips took command on the cushion early. The sixteen year old rookie held the point through two stoppages on laps four and five. Lap four saw Meyer get a bit sideways, collecting Vanderploeg who flipped and landed on M. Alexander. All were uninjured but done for the night. On lap five, Beaver spun and restarted at the tail. Phillips led Golik, Crall, Heimbaugh and Jamison back to green flag racing. Golik was challenging and took over the lead on lap nine. All eyes were on Jake "the Snake" as he had been taking no prisoners through the field. On the white flag lap, using the far bottom of the track he passed Golik for his second career Knoxville win.