We shared an enjoyable evening at the Knoxville Raceway for the annual Harris Clash, with fellow racing friends and enthusiasts--which always makes it even more special.
By my count, 74 IMCA modifieds participated on the beautiful Tuesday night in Knoxville, with Mother Nature giving us her blessing for a change!
Six heat races qualified three drivers each, with the first two being eligible for the redraw positions. Michael Long, Mark Elliott, and John Allen showed their power and won their heats by a lengthy margin. Other winners were Randy Havlik, Jay Noteboom and JJ Wise. Four drivers also qualified from each of the three B-mains, for a 30-car starting field.
A change in the main event was an interesting feature this year when the cars were halted at the halfway mark, stopped on the front stretch, and were allowed five minutes to make any changes, add fuel, change tires, etc. The race had been dominated through the halfway mark by Keokuk, Iowa driver, Michael Long. He left the rest of the field in the dust, pulling away substantially. He would do so again when the race was restarted after the competition caution. The top ten when they restarted were Long, Randy Havlik, Kenny Schrader, Gordon Grabouski, JJ Wise, Jon Snyder, Mark Elliott, Eric Dailey, John Allen, and Mike VanGenderen. A few laps later, Wise was taken out of the equation, when he let loose with smoke and a lost motor. Several more cautions flew and one with eight laps remaining took several attempts to resume racing. At that point, the running order was Long, Schrader, Elliot, Dailey, Garoubski, Havlik, VanGenderen, Snyder, and Jake Durbin was in the ninth spot.
The last handful plus of laps were run caution free. Eric Dailey made the move around Ken Schrader to grab the runner up spot and Gordon Grabouski also passed Schrader for third. Long continued his "out in front and gone" charge to the checkered flag, making it appear he had won his first Harris Clash. Wait a minute on that conclusion! After several "re-weighs", Long came up too light each time---we heard anywhere from 20-60 pounds. After Long's disqualifcation, that put Eric Dailey on the podium and the 2011 Harris Clash winner. Dailey, from Armstrong, Iowa came from starting seventeenth to take the win. Jordan Grabouski was awarded the runner up postion, Schrader, who had started on the pole, was third, fourth went to Newton, Iowa's Mike VanGenderen who nosed out Todd Shute in fifth, at the finish line.
As a few side notes, we noticed very few pre-registered drivers not in attendance, several being those from the southeastern Iowa area. Those that made an appearance and not pre-registered were Tim Murty, JC Wyman, Riley Emmel, and Tom Charles.
The track produced some pretty rough ruts on the low side, sending cars bouncing at times, though the higher lines appeared much smoother. A couple of drivers we spoke to afterwards, said those ruts were pretty deep too. It was nice to see some drivers we seldom see anymore, Tom Charles from Bonner Springs, Kansas for one.
We enjoyed our night at Knoxville, watching one of the "must see" races on our calendar every year. Our great thanks to Bob Harris for the hospitality and for putting on this show. You can find more indepth takes on the night's race by checking fellow Positively Racing comrade's articles at "Back Stretch" and "Tapfan's Tours". Full results are also at www.imca.com, www.knoxvilleraceway.com and www.harrisclash.com. Check them out. Until next time, happy racing!
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