Rahmer wins Wednesday night Nationals opener
By Stacy Ervin

KNOXVILLE, IA (Aug. 9, 2006) - For the second year in a row, Pennsylvania's Fast Freddy Rahmer opened up the biggest race week of the sprint-car season with a win on opening night. And for the second year in a row, he can credit some of his success to the misfortune of another driver.

Rahmer took the $12,000 win on opening night of the 46th annual Knoxville Nationals presented by Super Clean, Midwest Ford Dealers and Hoosier Racing Tires.

Starting sixth in the feature, he stayed near the front as fellow Pennsylvanian Lance Dewease, who started outside the front row, dominated the race.

On the start, Dewease got a good jump on polesitter Gary Wright to take the point.

Jerrod Hull was the first to fall from the main event, pulling in on the second circuit.

Meanwhile, Dewease was running away with the race as Steve Kinser and Rahmer were passing Wright. Dewease hit lapped traffic at lap seven, around the same
time as Jan Howard was pulling into the pit area. Behind Dewease, Kinser and Rahmer were exchanging slide jobs as early as lap nine and they would continue
to fight it out well behind Dewease.

By lap 13, Daryn Pittman had caught up to Kinser and Rahmer and was trying to wrestle second place away from the duo. Dewease had run away and hid from his
closest competitors at this time, leaving the best race in the second spot.

Therefore it was a shock to the large crowd when the red flag came out on the 18th circuit as Dewease went straight into the fence in turn one and got upside down. Rahmer had been second at the time and he inherited the lead for the restart.

When the race went green, Rahmer took off while Kinser and Pittman nearly got together in the fight to catch up. In the waning laps, Pittman drove away from Kinser in second. That left Donny Schatz to pick up the pace. He got around Kinser and several others eventually followed.

The race was on the white-flag lap when another red flag came out for Steve King, who had taken a hard flip into the turn-three wall.

On the green, white, checkered restart, Rahmer again drove away, while Schatz got second. Pittman took third, Travis Rilat fourth, Craig Dollansky fifth and Brandon Wimmer sixth. Kinser slipped back to seventh. Chad Layton was eighth, Ed Lynch Jr. was ninth and Chad Kemenah 10th.

In victory lane, Rahmer noted it was a shame to see Dewease crash when two Pennsylvania cars had been running good.

"I'm awful proud to win tonight," he said. "I just couldn't be happier." At last year's running of the event, Rahmer inherited the win on Wednesday night's opener when Kinser suffered a crash while leading the race.

Knoxville Raceway season point leader Billy Alley thrilled the local fans when he set quick time for the night with a 15.151. The last-chance race was won by Natalie Sather. Heat races were won by King, Layton, PJ Chesson, Jeremy Campbell and Trevor Green.

Becca Anderson won the C-Main to transfer on to the B with Kenny Jacobs. The B-Main was won by Alley and other transfers to the A were Sammy Swindell, Jason Solwold and Jonathon Allard. A notable non-transfer from the B was perennial Nationals favorite Danny Lasoski, who finished fifth, just one spot out of a
transfer.

There were a couple of unfortunate incidents on the night. In the third heat race, Jon Agan got together with Anderson and took a nasty flip into the turn-one billboards on the first lap.

Lynton Jeffrey suffered in the B-Main, when he slowed to a stop on lap four. The unfortunate thing for him was that he was running in a transfer spot to the A at the time.

Dollansky changed a motor before the feature after time-trialing third and finishing third in his heat.

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY, Knoxville, IA
August 9, 2006


410 RESULTS

Time Trials, 1 lap, 1. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE, 15.151; 2. Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon WA, 15.298; 3. Craig Dollansky, Elk River MN, 15.326; 4. Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg PA, 15.35; 5. Donny Schatz, Fargo ND, 15.374; 6. Sammy Swindell, Germantown TN, 15.38; 7. Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls SD, 15.385; 8. Shane Stewart, Bixby OK, 15.399; 9. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA, 15.406; 10. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. , 15.407; 11. Jonathan Allard, Chico CA, 15.416; 12. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA, 15.426; 13. Becca Anderson, Houston DE, 15.433; 14. Kenny Jacobs, Holmesville OH, 15.44; 15. Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo PA, 15.449; 16. Daryn Pittman, Owasso OK, 15.467; 17. Danny Lasoski, Dover MO, 15.469; 18. Jason Sides, Bartlett TN, 15.483; 19. Randy Anderson, Clarion IA, 15.509; 20. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD, 15.517; 21. Jon Corbin, Carrollton MO, 15.522; 22. Steve Kinser, Bloomington IN, 15.53; 23. Jon Agan, Knoxville IA, 15.558; 24. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA, 15.561; 25. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA, 15.569; 26. Bob Bennett, Lewisberry PA, 15.586; 27. Jake Peters, Sioux Falls SD, 15.611; 28. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA, 15.614; 29. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA, 15.625; 30. Eric Vanderploeg, Altoona IA, 15.636; 31. Lance Dewease, Fayetteville PA, 15.637; 32. Gary Wright, Hooks TX, 15.651; 33. James Mosher, Albuquerque NM, 15.665; 34. Chad Kemenah, Findlay OH, 15.673; 35. Travis Rilat, Forney TX, 15.696; 36. Toni Lutar, White Rock, BC, Can. , 15.714; 37. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA, 15.739; 38. Luke Cranston, Ness City KS, 15.741; 39. Brandon Wimmer, Fairmont IN, 15.757; 40. John Lambertz, Sioux Falls SD, 15.776; 41. Steve King, Jetmore KS, 15.777; 42. Chad Layton, Harrisburg PA, 15.802; 43. PJ Chesson, Far Hills NJ, 15.816; 44. Jeremy Campbell, Monroe MI, 15.83; 45. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. , 15.847; 46. Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND, 15.882; 47. Chad Hillier, Sedro Woolley WA, 15.883; 48. Jan Howard, Byhalia MS, 15.932; 49. Jerrod Hull, Sikeston MO, 15.95; 50. Jerry Brey, Billings MT, 16.001; 51. Natalie Sather, Fargo ND, 16.008; 52. Dan Shetler, Johnstown PA, 16.013; 53. Gordy Vogelaar, Worthington MN, 16.029; 54. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA, 16.036; 55. Chris Schmelzle, Victoria, BC, Can. , 16.087; 56. Bobby Mincer, Burlington IA, 16.155; 57. Danny Jennings, Norman OK, 16.306; 58. Tyler Houseman, Runnells IA, 16.457; 59. Ty Bartz, Howards Grove WI, 16.594; 60. JD Johnson, Goddard KS, 16.624; 61. Dave Saffell, (R) Pleasantville IA, 16.938; 62. Doug Day, Winder GA, 17.102;


Heat 1, 10 laps, 2:39.0 (New Track Record, old track record 2:39.6, Wayne Johnson, August 1, 2003): 1. Steve King, Jetmore KS; 2. Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND; 3. Lance Dewease, Fayetteville PA; 4. Daryn Pittman, Owasso OK; 5. Jon Corbin, Carrollton MO; 6. Jonathan Allard, Chico CA; 7. Sammy Swindell, Germantown TN; 8. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 9. Toni Lutar, White Rock, BC, Can. ; 10. Bob Bennett, Lewisberry PA;


Heat 2, 10 laps, 2:39.1: 1. Chad Layton, Harrisburg PA; 2. Steve Kinser, Bloomington IN; 3. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA; 4. Gary Wright, Hooks TX; 5. Danny Lasoski, Dover MO; 6. Chad Hillier, Sedro Woolley WA; 7. Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon WA; 8. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA; 9. Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls SD; 10. Jake Peters, Sioux Falls SD;


Heat 3, 10 laps, 2:39.2: 1. PJ Chesson, Far Hills NJ; 2. Jan Howard, Byhalia MS; 3. Craig Dollansky, Elk River MN; 4. Luke Cranston, Ness City KS; 5. Shane Stewart, Bixby OK; 6. Jason Sides, Bartlett TN; 7. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA; 8. James Mosher, Albuquerque NM; 9. Jon Agan, Knoxville IA; 10. Becca Anderson, Houston DE;


Heat 4, 10 laps, 2:40.1: 1. Jeremy Campbell, Monroe MI; 2. Brandon Wimmer, Fairmont IN; 3. Chad Kemenah, Findlay OH; 4. Jerrod Hull, Sikeston MO; 5. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA; 6. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA; 7. Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg PA; 8. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 9. Randy Anderson, Clarion IA; 10. Kenny Jacobs, Holmesville OH;


Heat 5, 10 laps, 2:40.5: 1. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. ; 2. Travis Rilat, Forney TX; 3. Donny Schatz, Fargo ND; 4. Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo PA; 5. John Lambertz, Sioux Falls SD; 6. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 7. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA; 8. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD; 9. Jerry Brey, Billings MT; 10. Eric Vanderploeg, Altoona IA;


Last Chance Heat, 8 laps, 2:10.0: 1. Natalie Sather, Fargo ND; 2. Dan Shetler, Johnstown PA; 3. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA; 4. Bobby Mincer, Burlington IA; 5. Danny Jennings, Norman OK; 6. Chris Schmelzle, Victoria, BC, Can. ; 7. Ty Bartz, Howards Grove WI; 8. Tyler Houseman, Runnells IA; 9. Doug Day, Winder GA; 10. Gordy Vogelaar, Worthington MN; 11. JD Johnson, Goddard KS; 12. Dave Saffell, (R) Pleasantville IA;


C-Feature, 10 laps, 2:44.4: 1. Becca Anderson, Houston DE; 2. Kenny Jacobs, Holmesville OH; 3. Justin Henderson, Sioux Falls SD; 4. Randy Anderson, Clarion IA; 5. Jake Peters, Sioux Falls SD; 6. Toni Lutar, White Rock, BC, Can. ; 7. Eric Vanderploeg, Altoona IA; 8. Dan Shetler, Johnstown PA; 9. Bob Bennett, Lewisberry PA; 10. Danny Jennings, Norman OK; 11. Jerry Brey, Billings MT; 12. Natalie Sather, Fargo ND; 13. Ty Bartz, Howards Grove WI; 14. Bobby Mincer, Burlington IA; 15. Mike Moore, Des Moines IA; 16. Chris Schmelzle, Victoria, BC, Can. ; 17. Doug Day, Winder GA; 18. Tyler Houseman, Runnells IA; 19. Gordy Vogelaar, Worthington MN; 20. Jon Agan, Knoxville IA;


B Feature , 12 laps, No Time: 1. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 2. Sammy Swindell, Germantown TN; 3. Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon WA; 4. Jonathan Allard, Chico CA; 5. Danny Lasoski, Dover MO; 6. Calvin Landis, Knoxville IA; 7. Shane Stewart, Bixby OK; 8. Jason Sides, Bartlett TN; 9. Skip Jackson, Sydney, NSW, Aust. ; 10. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls SD; 11. Jon Corbin, Carrollton MO; 12. Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg PA; 13. Matt Moro, Ankeny IA; 14. Ryan Anderson, Charter Oak IA; 15. Bronson Maeschen, (R) Knoxville IA; 16. Chad Hillier, Sedro Woolley WA; 17. Tim St. Arnold, Des Moines IA; 18. John Lambertz, Sioux Falls SD; 19. Becca Anderson, Houston DE; 20. Kenny Jacobs, Holmesville OH; 21. James Mosher, Albuquerque NM; 22. Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust./Prairie City IA;


A Feature , 25 laps, No Time: 1. Fred Rahmer, Salfordville PA; 2. Donny Schatz, Fargo ND; 3. Daryn Pittman, Owasso OK; 4. Travis Rilat, Forney TX; 5. Craig Dollansky, Elk River MN; 6. Brandon Wimmer, Fairmont IN; 7. Steve Kinser, Bloomington IN; 8. Chad Layton, Harrisburg PA; 9. Ed Lynch Jr., Apollo PA; 10. Chad Kemenah, Findlay, OH, 11. Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon WA; 12. Gary Wright, Hooks TX; 13. Billy Alley, Lincoln NE; 14. PJ Chesson, Far Hills NJ; 15. Jonathan Allard, Chico CA; 16. Sammy Swindell, Germantown TN; 17. Trevor Green, (R) Adelaide, SA, Aust. ; 18. Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks ND; 19. Jeremy Campbell, Monroe MI; 20. Luke Cranston, Ness City KS; 21. Steve King, Jetmore KS; 22. Lance Dewease, Fayetteville PA; 23. Jan Howard, Byhalia MS; 24. Jerrod Hull, Sikeston MO. Lap Leaders: Dewease 1-18; Rahmer 19-25