KNOXVILLE, Iowa -- Okalahoma's Wayne Johnson and Iowa's David Hesmer won feature event victories at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night. The wins were significant as this raceway heads into next week's conclusion of the Advance Auto Parts 360 Knoxville Nationals on August 6 and the Brodix Tournament of Champions for 360s on August 8, while the Knoxville Nationals on August 11-14 will determine a new 410 champion.

For Johnson, the win did not come soon enough as he had finished in the runner-up position in the last four outings here at this mid-Iowa racing facility. As Johnson told the large frontstretch crowd in a post-race interview, "Four seconds sucks!"

The twenty-lap feature event saw pole sitter Matt Moro get the jump at the start and lead the first five circuits. Moro rode the big half-mile oval on the cushion near the fences where the track actually registers as a five-eighth mile distance while Johnson chose the very bottom where the half-mile is measured. Moro was only able to get a ten car-length margin in these early laps and saw that melt to nothing when a yellow was displayed for Jaymie Moyle who stopped on the grass between turns three and four on the sixth lap.

When the race resumed, Johnson made his move in turns one and two with a perfect slide job and once in front of Moro he too went to the cushion. On the next go around Terry McCarl made a pass of Moro to take the second spot and the stage was set for what was certainly the most exciting finish of the year.

With McCarl in second, everyone knew they were in for a wild ride for the remainder of the race. Besides, as it turned out, no more cautions would slow the contest, but no one knew that fact at this time.

With the top four cars on the cushion near the fence (Johnson, McCarl, Moro and Californian Tim Kaeding), Kerry Madsen jumped into the mix in fifth after starting 13th. That was the way they continued to run past the five-mile mark. McCarl was unable to make up the gap between himself and Johnson but everyone anticipated what would happen when the frontrunners hit lap traffic.

On lap thirteen that happened and it was nearly disastrous for Johnson as he jumped the cushion in turn four allowing McCarl to make up the entire gap at once. As those two headed into turns one and two of the fourteenth lap, McCarl slid Johnson to take the point. Johnson would not be denied and continued on the high side absolutely on the wall of turn two. As he exited that turn he again had the lead and roared into turn three still on the cushion. McCarl went low to look for an advantage there but was not able to make his charm work on the pole.

Those two drivers continued that way as no more than five car-lengths ever separated them until they had nearly completed the seventeenth lap. That is when Johnson again jumped the cushion in turn four and McCarl got by on the low side to take that lap. Heading into turns one and two Johnson paid McCarl a courtesy call with a slide that found his Fatt Fro Motorsports Eagle motoring into the lead down the backchute.

The final laps saw a nose to tail battle between those two in traffic with no outcome certain at all. When they came out of the final turn it was Johnson high and McCarl low and it was a drag race to the checkerds with Johnson winning by no more than a nosewing. In fact, the transponder system showed the Johnson win to be .030 of a second.

When Johnson pulled into victory lane he slung his helmet out of the cockpit, managed a quick exit of his sprint car and climbed the frontstretch catch fence, much to the joy of the crowd. The win paid him $3,000. McCarl settled for the $2,000 second place check with Moro taking home $1,500 for third. Kerry Madsen and Skip Jackson, both of whom are Austrailians rounded out the top five. Kaeding, Travis Cram, Billy Alley, John VanDenBerg and Jeff Mitrisin completed the top ten.

In the 15-lap 360 sprint feature, David Hesmer put one more notch in a long list of feature event wins as he captured the A Main for that division. Hesmer lead all but the opening lap and was in control of the event to the finish. A couple of cautions slowed the race but each time Hesmer was able to pull away from the competition. The win marked the 63rd win for the Action Auto Parts Eagle and fourth here this season.

Second went to Larry Ball, Jr. who drove a heady race to gain the runner-up finish. Ball first worked on Frankie Heimbaugh for numerous laps before taking third for good on the seventh lap. He then went to work on Josh Higday and took the number two spot after a lap eleven restart. For all of his efforts he was not able to make a dent in the Hesmer lead and would have finished in that spot but lost it to Higday on the final lap. Running fourth was current points leader John Kearney as fifth place finisher Jake Peters had to transfer out of a B Main win to start on the tail of the feature. Heimbaugh, Johnny Anderson, Mike Trent, Darren Stewart and Eric VanderPloeg completed the final ten.

Forty-three 410s and forty-four 360s competed on this night.

RESULTS

410 Sprints Results

Time Trials: 1. Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA, 15.716; 2. Jason Johnson, Eunice, LA, 15.840; 3. Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA, 15.862; 4. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 15.973; 5. Max Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 15.981; 6. Billy Alley, Lincoln, NE, 16.012; 7. Wayne Johnson, Mustang, OK, 16.017; 8. Blake Feese, Saybrook, IL, 16.027; 9. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, AUST,16.073; 10. Mike Reinke, Howards Grove, WI, 16.111; 11. Matt Moro, Des Moines, IA, 16.102; 12. Jesse Giannetto, Palo, IA, 16.158; 13. Jaymie Moyle, Bridgewater, SA, AUST, 16.159; 14. Troy Little, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 16.159; 15. Ricky Logan, Little Rock, AR, 16.226; 16. Brent Antill, Ankeny, IA, 16.241; 17. Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO, 16.299; 18. Jeff Mitrisin, Oskaloosa, IA, 16.305; 19. Jason Solwold, Sedro-Wooley, WA, 16.330; 20. Colin Northway, Marion, IA, 16.349; 21. Scott Young, Union Grove, WI, 16.350; 22. Kerry Madsen, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 16.336; 23. Travis Cram, Snohomish, WA, 16.376; 24. Tim St. Arnold, Mitchellville, IA, 16.378; 25. Brooke Tatnell, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 16.382; 26. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD, 16.392; 27. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak, IA, 16.394; 28. John VanDenBerg, Oskaloosa, IA, 16.500; 29. Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA, 16.524; 30. Chris Walraven, Knoxville, IA, 16.602; 31. Dennis Moore, Jr., Grinnell, IA, 16.602; 32. Mark Hurd, Watkins, CO, 16.721; 33. Jeff Johnson, Indianola, IA, 16.738; 34. Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL, 16.772; 35. Jay Landolt, Woodriver, IL, 16.791; 36. Greg Jones, Earlham, IA, 16.893; 37. Mike Moore, Des Moines, IA, 16.899; 38. Larry Pinegar II, Des Moines, IA, 16.941; 39. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls, SD, 16.997; 40. Jerral Slinkard, Melcher-Dallas, IA, 17.220; 41. Marty Perovich, Sydney, NSW, AUST, 17.296; 42. Robert Bell, Colfax, IA, 17.669; 43. Tyler Houseman, Runnells, IA, 18.262.

First Heat, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Jaymie Moyle; 2. Jesse Hockett; 3. Lynton Jeffrey; 4. Terry McCarl; 5. Brooke Tatnell; 6. Max Dumesny; 7. Jeff Johnson; 8. Calvin Landis; 9. Mike Moore; 10. Marty Perovich.

Second Heat, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Kerry Madsen; 2. Jeff Mitrisin; 3. Mike Reinke; 4. Billy Alley; 5. Clint Garner; 6. Troy Little; 7. Chris Walraven; 8. Kaley Gharst; 9. Robert Bell; 10. Jason Johnson; 11. Larry Pinegar II.

Third Heat, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Travis Cram; 2. Matt Moro; 3. Tim Kaeding; 4. Wayne Johnson; 5. Dennis Moore, Jr.; 6. Jason Solwold; 7. Ricky Logan; 8. Ryan Anderson; 9. Chad Meyer; 10. Jay Landolt; 11. Tyler Houseman.

Fourth Heat, 8 laps, 2:18.0: 1. Tim St. Arnold; 2. Brent Antill; 3. Skip Jackson; 4. Colin Northway; 5. John VanDenBerg; 6. Blake Feese; 7. Jesse Giannetto; 8. Mark Hurd; 9. Greg Jones; 10. Jerrel Slinkard.

B Main, 12 laps, No Time: 1. Blake Feese; 2. Jason Solwold; 3. Jesse Giannetto; 4. Calvin Landis; 5. Ricky Logan; 6. Troy Little; 7. Max Dumesny; 8. Chris Walraven; 9. Chad Meyer; 10. Jeff Johnson; 11. Larry Pinegar II; 12. Mike Moore; 13. Jay Landolt; 14. Kaley Gharst; 15. Robert Bell; 16. Ryan Anderson; 17. Greg Jones; 18. Tyler Houseman; 19. Marty Perovich; 20. Mark Hurd.

A Main, 20 laps, No Time: 1. Wayne Johnson; 2. Terry McCarl; 3. Matt Moro; 4. Kerry Madsen; 5. Skip Jackson; 6. Tim Kaeding; 7. Travis Cram; 8. Billy Alley; 9. John VanDenBerg; 10. Jeff Mitrisin; 11. Jesse Giannetto; 12. Jesse Hockett; 13. Calvin Landis; 14. Brooke Tatnell; 15. Tim St. Arnold; 16. Brent Antill; 17. Lynton Jeffrey; 18. Clint Garner; 19. Jason Solwold; 20. Blake Feese; 21. Colin Northway; 22. Dennis Moore, Jr.; 23. Mike Reinke; 24. Jaymie Moyle. Lap Leaders: Moro 1-5; W. Johnson 6-16; McCarl 17; W. Johnson 17-20

Advance Auto Parts 360 Sprints

First Heat, 7 laps, 2:03.9: 1. Johnny Anderson, Indianola, IA; 2. Eric Mason, Knoxville, IA; 3. Rob Edwards, Dubuque, IA; 4. Mike Trent, Columbia, MO; 5. Larry Ball, Jr., Knoxville, IA; 6. Eric Jobe, Kansas City, MO; 7. Mitch Alexander, Knoxville, IA; 8. Jerry Crabb, Des Moines, IA; 9. Mike Houseman, Des Moines, IA; 10. Mike Houseman II, Des Moines, IA; 11. Ryan Voss, Okaboji, IA.

Second Heat, 7 laps, No Time: 1. Frankie Heimbaugh, Des Moines, IA; 2. John Kearney, Valley Falls, KS; 3. Eric VanderPloeg, Altoona, IA; 4. Terry Alexander, Knoxville, IA; 5. Bret Mather, Ames, IA; 6. Ryan York, Racine, WI; 7. DJ Heskin, St. Michael, MN; 8. Bobby Mincer, West Burlington, IA; 9. Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA; 10. Stacey Alexander, Lacona, IA; 11. Gary Moyer, Des Moines, IA.

Third Heat, 7 laps, 2:03.4: 1. Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA; 2. David Hesmer, Marshalltown, IA; 3. Bronson Maeschen, Knoxville, IA; 4. Joe Beaver, Lincoln, NE; 5. Mike Peters, Sioux Falls, SD; 6. John Hall, Marion, IA; 7. Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD; 8. Darren Stewart, Bixby, OK; 9. David Hall, Des Moines, IA; 10. Doug Wilson, Blackwater, MO; 11. Pete Crall, DeSoto, KS.

Fourth Heat, 7 laps, No Time: 1. Stevie Walsh, Aukland, SI, New Zealand; 2. Jon Schulz, West Burlington, IA; 3. Curtis Thorson, Newton, IA; 4. Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA; 5. Troy Meyer, Sioux Falls, SD: 6. Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA; 7. Brett Golik, Newton, IA; 8. Rick Ideus, Lincoln, NE; 9. Nate Mosher, Prairie City, IA; 10. Nate VanHaaften, Otley, IA.

C Main, 8 laps, No Time: 1. Rick Ideus; 2. Mike Houseman; 3. Jerry Crabb; 4. Stacey Alexander; 5. Doug Wilson; 6. Peter Crall; 7. Dave Hall; 8. Donnie Steward; 9. Mike Houseman II; 10. Ryan Voss; 11. Nate VanHaaften; 12. Gary Moyer; 13. Nate Mosher.

B Main, 10 laps, No Time: 1. Mike Peters; 2. Bret Mather; 3. Darren Stewart; 4. Joe Beaver; 5. Eric Jobe; 6. Brett Golik; 7. Ryan Jamison; 8. Bobby Mincer; 9. John Hall; 10. Rick Ideus; 11. Mike Houseman; 12. Mitch Alexander; 13. Troy Meyer; 14. DJ Jeskin; 15. Ryan York; 16. Dusty Zomer.

A Main, 15 laps, No Time: 1. David Hesmer; 2. Josh Higday; 3. Larry Ball, Jr.; 4. John Kearney; 5. Jake Peters; 6. Frankie Heimbaugh; 7. Johnny Anderson; 8. Mike Trent; 9. Darren Stewart; 10. Eric VanderPloeg; 11. Bret Mather; 12. Rager Phillips; 13. Eric Mason; 14. Rob Edwards; 15. Terry Alexander; 16. Curtis Thorson; 17. Bronson Maeschen; 18. Jon Schulz; 19. Stevie Walsh; 20. Joe Beaver. Lap Leaders: Higday 1; Hesmer 2-15