Saturday, July 18, 2020
Justin Henderson finishes off a banner weekend with the Midwest Power Series!
Knoxvile, Iowa (July 18, 2020): The 20-lap feature was the second time the Midwest Power Series travelled South to Knoxville, again partnering with the Nebraska 360s at the famed Marion County Fairgrounds just like 2019. A fantastic field of 46 cars were in attendance, with some of the biggest names in racing ready to battle for the $3,000 top prize. The big story coming into the event was Justin Henderson’s quest for a weekend sweep. Henderson had picked up his 6th career Midwest Power Series win at Jackson Motorplex the night previous, and an extra $3,000 bonus was on the line if he could win both features. Weekend sweeps with the series are nothing new for the driver out of Tea, SD. In 2015 he did so at St. Croix Valley and Cedar Lake, and again in 2018 he swept an entire weekend at Jackson and Ogilvie Raceway.
In his quest for another sweep and potentially a $9,000 weekend, he would have to do so against some tough odds. The pole-sitter was ASCS National point leader and multi-time ASCS Champion Sam Hafertepe Jr, maybe the best in all of 360 sprint car racing. The Texas native lead early over Carson McCarl and Henderson. McCarl used the outside line in turn number 2 to rocket into the second position in his 27 car, but it would not last long as Henderson used the cushion to pass McCarl for second soon after that. Brian Brown worked the low side of the Speedway in his battle with Clint Garner for fourth on lap five.
As so many sprint car races are, this was decided in lapped traffic. As Hafertepe worked his way through the back of the field, Henderson was able to reel him in. Hafertepe stumbled on the cushion in turn three, and that was all Henderson would need. He piloted his family owned number 83 to the lead on lap nine. He went on to capture the checkered flag in a race that went green-to-checkered and set the record for the fastest 20 lap feature ever completed in the 360 division at Knoxville.
The win was Henderson’s ninth of his career at Knoxville in the 360 class, and extended his record with the Midwest Power Series to 7 career victories. It came ahead of Hafertepe, McCarl, Brown and Garner. Brooke Tatnell, Scott Bogucki, Jack Dover, Jamie Ball and Matt Moro completed the top ten. McCarl and Bogucki set fast time in qualifying in their respective groups. Rob Kubli, Kelby Watt, Harli White and Seth Brahmer won heats and picked up $100 for their efforts from Al Parker Engines. Blake Hahn was hard charger passing nine cars. Ricky Montgomery won the C main, and Kaleb Johnson took the B.
In addition to the purse and bonus money, Henderson also took home a half hog, as it was Marion County Fair in Knoxville. He said in victory lane, “The track is a little bit technical, but you can race all over it, and it’s a lot of fun. That car was on rails, and that motor we just bought from Wayne Johnson…thank you Wayne Johnson! Thank you Greg Parent! We couldn’t do it without you.”
Full Results:
Time Trials Group One, 2 laps: 1. 27, Carson McCarl, 16.360; 2. 21, Brian Brown, 16.529; 3. 2M, Matt Moro, 16.579; 4. 5H, Michael Faccinto, 16.652; 5. 40, Clint Garner, 16.697; 6. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, 16.744; 7. 15, Christian Bowman, 16.748; 8. 35, Josh Higday, 16.767; 9. 83, Rob Kubli, 16.811; 10. 81A, Chris Morgan, 16.820; 11. 77X, Alex Hill, 16.832; 12. 1K, Kelby Watt, 16.845; 13. 24N, Nathan Mills, 16.868; 14. 76, Brad Comegys, 16.924; 15. 8L, Tom Lenz, 17.027; 16. 03, Jamey Ogston, 17.099; 17. 24, Garret Williamson, 17.185; 18. 23S, Stu Snyder, 17.228; 19. 81E, Eric Bridger, 17.279; 20. 1A, John Anderson, 17.421; 21. 33, Alan Zoutte, 17.532; 22. 24D, Danny Sams III, 17.563; 23. 11B, Ben Woods, 17.673.
Time Trials Group Two, 2 laps: 1. 28, Scott Bogucki, 16.543; 2. 83M, Justin Henderson, 16.569; 3. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., 16.590; 4. 14, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, 16.667; 5. 53D, Jack Dover, 16.721; 6. 70, Calvin Landis, 16.73; 7. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, 16.818; 8. 4J, Lee Grosz, 16.825; 9. 5J, Jamie Ball, 16.848; 10. 13V, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, 16.963; 11. 17W, Harli White, 17.008; 12. 22, Ryan Leavitt, 17.033; 13. 52, Blake Hahn, 17.036; 14. 53, Joe Beaver, 17.108; 15. 37H, Matthew Howard, 17.224; 16. 95, Matt Covington, 17.250; 17. 28X, Rich Cerveny, 17.577; 18. 91A, Reed Allex, 17.644; 19. B29, Bobby Mincer, 17.919; 20. 5M, Collin Moyle, 19.448; 21. 90, Lance Norick, NT; DQ (Light at Scales) 66, Ricky Montgomery; DQ (No Report to Scales) 45, David Luckie.
A Feature 1: 1. 83M-Justin Henderson[3]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 3. 27-Carson McCarl[2]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[6]; 5. 40-Clint Garner[4]; 6. 14-Brooke Tatnell[8]; 7. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 8. 53D-Jack Dover[16]; 9. 5J-Jamie Ball[14]; 10. 2M-Matt Moro[7]; 11. 1K-Kelby Watt[17]; 12. 15-Christian Bowman[15]; 13. 35-Josh Higday[11]; 14. 17W-Harli White[18]; 15. 52-Blake Hahn[24]; 16. 83-Rob Kubli[9]; 17. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[21]; 18. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[23]; 19. 13V-Seth Brahmer[10]; 20. 5H-Michael Faccinto[13]; 21. 70-Calvin Landis[12]; 22. 81A-Chris Morgan[22]; 23. 77X-Alex Hill[19]; 24. 22-Ryan Leavitt[20]
B Feature 1: 1. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[1]; 2. 81A-Chris Morgan[3]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[2]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 5. 4J-Lee Grosz[4]; 6. 37H-Matthew Howard[10]; 7. 53-Joe Beaver[8]; 8. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 9. 24N-Nate Mills[5]; 10. 76-Brad Comegys[7]; 11. 66-Ricky Montgomery[17]; 12. 23S-Stuart Snyder[15]; 13. 24D-Danny Sams III[19]; 14. 81E-Eric Bridger[18]; 15. 11B-Ben Woods[20]; 16. 03-Jamey Ogston[11]; 17. 91A-Reed Allex[16]; 18. 28X-Rich Cerveny[14]; 19. 24-Garet Williamson[13]; 20. 8L-Tom Lenz[9]
C Feature 1: 1. 66-Ricky Montgomery[6]; 2. 81E-Eric Bridger[1]; 3. 24D-Danny Sams III[7]; 4. 11B-Ben Woods[9]; 5. 1A-John Anderson[3]; 6. 45-David Luckie[8]; 7. B29-Bobby Mincer[2]; 8. 33-Alan Zoutte[5]; 9. 5M-Collin Moyle[4]; 10. (DNS) 90-Lance Norick
Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 83-Rob Kubli[2]; 2. 77X-Alex Hill[1]; 3. 40-Clint Garner[4]; 4. 15-Christian Bowman[3]; 5. 2M-Matt Moro[5]; 6. 27-Carson McCarl[6]; 7. 24-Garet Williamson[9]; 8. 24N-Nate Mills[7]; 9. 8L-Tom Lenz[8]; 10. 81E-Eric Bridger[10]; 11. 11B-Ben Woods[12]; 12. 33-Alan Zoutte[11]
Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 1K-Kelby Watt[1]; 2. 35-Josh Higday[3]; 3. 21-Brian Brown[6]; 4. 81A-Chris Morgan[2]; 5. 5H-Michael Faccinto[5]; 6. 76-Brad Comegys[7]; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III[11]; 8. 23S-Stuart Snyder[9]; 9. 1A-John Anderson[10]; 10. 03-Jamey Ogston[8]; 11. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[4]; 12. (DNS) 90-Lance Norick
Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White[1]; 2. 5J-Jamie Ball[2]; 3. 28-Scott Bogucki[6]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 5. 53D-Jack Dover[4]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 7. 37H-Matthew Howard[8]; 8. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[3]; 9. 66-Ricky Montgomery[11]; 10. B29-Bobby Mincer[10]; 11. 28X-Rich Cerveny[9]
Heat 4 (7 Laps): 1. 13V-Seth Brahmer[2]; 2. 22-Ryan Leavitt[1]; 3. 83M-Justin Henderson[6]; 4. 70-Calvin Landis[4]; 5. 14-Brooke Tatnell[5]; 6. 4J-Lee Grosz[3]; 7. 53-Joe Beaver[7]; 8. 95-Matt Covington[8]; 9. 45-David Luckie[11]; 10. 91A-Reed Allex[9]; 11. 5M-Collin Moyle[10]