KNOXVILLE NATIONALS OVERACHIEVERS

Washington state would end after 2021 and when Brandon called he was ready. The Deuce 5 team has been competing at Knoxville all season and leads the race for 410 Rookie of The Year. Despite going out 27th, a solid, 13thquick time put J.J. out of 6th in his heat on Thursday night. In one of those rare, Moses-parting-the Red-Sea moments, a hole opened going into turn one on the first lap and Hickle drove through it, to the lead, on the opening lap. No one caught him, including Brad Sweet who started one spot ahead. In the feature, Hickle slipped from his 5th starting spot to 10th at the end but that was enough to put the rookie contender 10th overall in points for Saturday night. The good starting spot turned bad on lap one when he got over the right rear of Daryn Pittman and flipped, destroying the 25 car.

If tug-at-your-heart-strings stuff is up your alley, Tasker Phillips’ Nationals experience has to give those strings a big yank! He’s a farmer from nearby Pleasantville and a long-time racer at Knoxville, Starting in the 305s, he moved to the 360s, and now runs a 410. Drawing the number one pill for time trials can be a blessing or a curse. For Phillips, it was magic. His 15.4 second lap held up against the rest of the 50 car field and landed him in the 8th starting spot for heat race one. Like most of the other top 20 cars, he struggled to advance and had to run the B main. A 3rd place finish advanced him to the A main where he started 23rd and finished 18th. Those points and his 200 for quick time gave him the 15th starting spot in Saturday’s A main. In a well-used car, Tasker ran all 50 laps, not getting lapped until close to the end. For the 7TAZ, 18th had to feel like a win.

Honorable mention for feel-goods has to go to Lynton Jeffrey. Lynton builds Vortex Wings for a living and runs Knoxville every week. He has one feature win this season. On Thursday night, he hit the lowest of lows. As he took his warm up lap for time trials he felt a miss. Rather than risk his only engine, he pulled in. Assuming the worst, he took off his driving suit and was in shorts and a t-shirt when one of the crew found a broken spark plug. While the crew fixed the plug and inspected the others, Lynton quickly pulled his uniform over those shorts and t-shirt, jumped into the car and took his one lap at the end of qualifying. The result? 17th quickest time and a 5th place start in a heat. With one spot gained, he made the A main!

A 9th place finish in the A put Jeffrey in at 3rd in Saturday’s B main. An A main start went away when Justin Peck and James McFadden slipped past for the last two transfers. Heartbreaking, but a solid performance for a team that thought they were out of the Nationals before it even started.

Every racer has a storyline at the Nationals but these were some of my favorites.

engine builder SPOTLIGHT

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