KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Austin McCarl made a number of thrilling moves in traffic to take a heartstopper Saturday on Vermeer Night at Knoxville Raceway.
The win was worth $5,000 for the driver from Altoona, Iowa aboard the Country Builders Construction No. 88.
Aaron Reutzel, who was one of the players in the 410 feature, won his second career Knoxville 360 feature and Mike Mayberry won for the second time this year and the fourth time in his career in the Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance.
Kerry Madsen shot out to the early lead in the 20-lap 410 feature from the pole, ahead of McCarl, Reutzel, Ayrton Gennetten and Justin Henderson.
On lap four, Reutzel attempted a slider on McCarl in turn four. Neither lifted, as they were mere inches from disaster. McCarl would keep his spot.
Madsen entered lapped traffic on lap seven, and McCarl was able to close at the halfway point. On lap 14, McCarl made a pair of thrilling moves in traffic in turn one to separate himself from a battle for the runner-up spot with Reutzel.
On lap 17, McCarl used the low side to reel in Madsen and use a lapper as a pick. He took the lead, and pulled away to his sixth career 410 win here.
Madsen held onto second, ahead of Reutzel, Gennetten and Henderson.
“I didn’t want to make mistakes, and put my car where I needed to,” said McCarl. “I want to give a shout out to Aaron Reutzel for not junking me in three and four there early in the race. It got a little hairy there. I wasn’t going to lift, and I knew he wasn’t going to either. That was actually pretty fun with him. Kerry Madsen and Aaron Reutzel are two of the top 10 sprint car drivers in the world, and I have a lot of respect for those guys. I just wanted to win so bad. (The track) was three lanes there. Just a big shout out to the Dunkins.”
The finish:
Feature (20 laps): 1. Austin McCarl (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (1); 3. Aaron Reutzel (4); 4. Ayrton Gennetten (3); 5. Justin Henderson (6); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 7. Carson McCarl (8); 8. JJ Hickle (7); 9. Sawyer Phillips (13); 10. Matt Juhl (10); 11. Davey Heskin (14); 12. Riley Goodno (15); 13. Josh Schneiderman (11); 14. Thomas Kennedy (17); 15. Tasker Phillips (16); 16. Ryan Giles (9); 17. AJ Moeller (12); 18. Chris Martin (18); 19. Tim Estenson (20); 20. Dustin Selvage (24); 21. Nathan Mills (22); 22. Presley Truedson (19); 23. Tyler Drueke (21); 24. Ben Brown (25); 25. Bobby Mincer (23) DNS – Joe Simbro, Landon Hansen. Lap Leaders:K. Madsen 1-16, A. McCarl 17-20. Hard-charger: S. Phillips.
Keyword: Austin McCarl Works Traffic To Perfection