LYNTON JEFFREY SCORES EMOTIONAL WIN;

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 4, 2022) – Lynton Jeffrey took an emotional victory Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway on McKay Group/Nationwide Insurance Night.  Jeffrey’s win came in record time aboard the JW Motorsports #2 and was worth $5,000. 

In a 410 make-up feature from April 23, Aaron Reutzel outdueled Brian Brown to the chequered flag for his second win of the year in the Ridge and Sons Racing #8.  The Terry McCarl/Clint Garner duel recorded another chapter in the 360 series, with McCarl emerging victorious, and Scotty Johnson blistered the Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance field in yet another track record time. 

 After heats were complete, a rain delay lasting over one hour set up a heavy track surface.  In the 20-lap 410 feature, Austin McCarl got a bit off kilter in turn four, collecting Justin Henderson.  Henderson’s car got into the wall and was unrepairable, while McCarl’s crew was able to make repairs after a second red flag for a flipped Matt Juhl.  No one was injured.  McCarl and Henderson entered the night one-two in points. 

 Once underway, pole-sitter Josh Higday led Jeffrey, Brown, Rico Abreu and Kerry Madsen.  Jeffrey pressured the leader on the high side in the early stages.  The two battled fiercely, with Jeffrey taking the lead on lap three, surrendering it back to Higday on lap four, and claiming it for good on the following circuit. 

 Meanwhile, Abreu took advantage of a Brown bobble to claim third.  The leaders entered traffic on lap eight.  On lap twelve, Madsen slid in front of Brown to claim fourth.  With five laps to go, Jeffrey had opened up a wide 4.6 second margin. 

 The Sydney, New South Wales, Australia native now living in Prairie City, Iowa would cover the 20 laps in 5:25.2 setting a new track standard, breaking Henderson’s 14-year-old mark, and claiming his sixth career 410 win here. 

Higday would finish a strong second, ahead of Abreu, Madsen and Brown.  Reutzel, Carson McCarl, Gio Scelzi, Ayrton Gennetten and Josh Schneiderman completed the top ten.  Reutzel set quick time, while Davey Heskin, Scelzi, Jeffrey and Riley Goodno won heats.  Tim Estenson claimed the B main. 

 “Everyone held their line (in traffic),” said Jeffrey in Victory Lane.  “There are a lot of great drivers here at Knoxville, and that shows.  We had an incredibly fast race car.  It just shows what this team’s made of.  This is for my boys.  It’s my son Dakota’s birthday today.  It’s also for my son Keenan…he died on this day in 2000.  There’s a lot of emotions today.  I’m just proud to win for my boys.” 

 The make-up 410 feature saw Reutzel get an incredible start from outside row two to take the early advantage, ahead of Austin McCarl, Jeffrey, Brown and Madsen.  Brown would shoot by Jeffrey for third on lap two and slide in front of McCarl for second on lap three. 

 Up front, Reutzel was rolling into lapped traffic by the seventh circuit.  Jeffrey and Madsen moved into third and fourth at that point.  Brown was in hot pursuit of the leader when the eighth place car of JJ Hickle got sideways, but kept it going, bringing the caution. 

Madsen would move into a podium spot on that restart, but more problems emerged for Hickle, who had climbed back to seventh, when a wing side panel came loose with nine to go.  Ryan Giles also pulled in at that point. 

 Reutzel shot back out front, while Jeffrey and Madsen exchanged the third spot.  Reutzel was back in traffic with three to go, and Brown was challenging, when Nathan Mills spun in turn three. 

 Reutzel held off Brown in a classic duel, keeping his car wide entering and exiting the turns.  He held on for his fourth 410 win here, worth $5,000.  Brown would chase him to the chequered flag, ahead of Madsen, Jeffrey and Austin McCarl.  Hard-charger Carson McCarl (from 22^nd), Matt Juhl, Henderson, Higday and Sawyer Phillips completed the top ten. 

 “We were great early,” said Reutzel afterwards.  “We were really falling apart late.  I didn’t want to see those yellows, because I was struggling through the middle at the end.  It felt good to race the 21 that way, because that’s the way he’s been racing me.  It was good to race each other that way for the win.  I’m glad I came out on top this time.  This is a big win for our race team.” 

 Clint Garner led early in the 18-lap 360 main event, but Terry McCarl was a rocket on the start from his eighth place starting position.  Kaleb Johnson, Calvin Landis and Jamie Ball rounded out the early top five before Ricky Montgomery came to a stop on lap three. 

 On the restart, Chase Randall entered the top five from seventh.  Garner was into lapped traffic on the ninth lap, with McCarl following closely.  Another caution opened up the track for the leader with four to go.  Cam Martin’s right rear tire was in shreds. 

 On the restart, McCarl went to the cushion high in two and shot by Garner to take the point for good.  Garet Williamson also took advantage moving up to the third spot. 

 While McCarl earned $2,000 for his tenth career 360 feature, Garner had his hands full holding off Williamson.  Johnson and Joe Beaver followed.  Randall, Landis, Ball, Riley Goodno and Nathan Mills rounded out the top ten.  Landis set quick time, while McCarl, Devin Kline and Christopher Thram won heats. 

 “I was just trying to go where he wasn’t,” said McCarl of his winning pass on the restart.  “That’s all you can do.  We had a couple of starts to see what he was going to do, but we just had a great car.” 

 Scotty Johnson dominated the Pro Sprints feature, leading wire to wire with a 15-lap track record of 4:19.1, eclipsing a 2018 mark held by Eric Bridger.  Jeff Wilke trailed him the distance, followed by Tyler Groenendyk, Bridger and Brandon Worthington, who gained fifth on lap two.  Matt Allen, Matthew Stelzer, Ryan Navratil, Mike Mayberry and Chase Young rounded out the top ten.  Groenendyk set quick time, while Allen and Wilke won heats. 

 “I knew this track was going to be ‘locked down,’” said Johnson of his third win here this season.  “I was just hoping I could make my corners, knowing someone may be right behind me.  The car handled great.  The rain kind of threw a wrench in things, but we made our adjustments.  This shows the hard work these guys put in during the week.” 

 Join us next Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11, for the Brownells Big Guns Bash featuring the World of Outlaws!  The Pro Sprints will also be in action on Friday, and the 360’s on Saturday.  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.  For information on the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, visit www.SprintCarHoF.com.  

 410 Results 

 Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (13), 15.119; 2. 83JR, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (8), 15.123; 3. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (29), 15.134; 4. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (9), 15.157; 5. 14, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (6), 15.242; 6. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (27), 15.248; 7. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (1), 15.257; 8. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (2), 15.276; 9. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (22), 15.280; 10. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (16), 15.282; 11. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (35), 15.291; 12. 25, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (12), 15.292; 13. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (21), 15.293; 14. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (11), 15.293; 15. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (3), 15.295; 16. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (31), 15.322; 17. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (14), 15.343; 18. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (26), 15.351; 19. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (34), 15.393; 20. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (24), 15.396; 21. 14T, Tim Estenson, Fargo, ND (4), 15.400; 22. 73, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (28), 15.424; 23. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (32), 15.456; 24. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (5), 15.498; 25. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (10), 15.558; 26. 1AU, Marcus Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (33), 15.567; 27. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (23), 15.632; 28. 5T, Presley Truedson, Kennedy, MN (19), 15.648; 29. 2KS, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (25), 15.697; 30. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (7), 15.723; 31. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (20), 15.792; 32. 76, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (30), 15.881; 33. 7W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (15), 15.891; 34. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (17), 16.045; 35. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (18), 17.712 

 Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:05.9: 1. Davey Heskin (2); 2. Justin Henderson (4); 3. Tim Estenson (1); 4. Aaron Reutzel (6); 5. Matt Juhl (3); 6. Josh Higday (5); 7. Dustin Selvage (9); 8. Ryan Giles (8); 9. Zach Hampton (7) 

  Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:06.2: 1. Gio Scelzi (2); 2. Austin McCarl (4); 3. Kerry Madsen (6); 4. Scotty Thiel (1); 5. Don Droud Jr. (3); 6. Ayrton Gennetten (5); 7. Marcus Dumesny (7); 8. Tyler Drueke (8); 9. Ben Brown (9) 

  Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:06.4: 1. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 2. Sawyer Phillips (2); 3. Brian Brown (6); 4. AJ Moeller (3); 5. McKenna Haase (1); 6. Josh Schneiderman (5); 7. Bobby Mincer (8); 8. Chris Martin (7); 9. Landon Hansen (9) 

  Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:09.0: 1. Riley Goodno (2); 2. Tasker Phillips (1); 3. Rico Abreu (6); 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 5. JJ Hickle (4); 6. Carson McCarl (5); 7. Nathan Mills (8); 8. Presley Truedson (7) 

 B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Tim Estenson (1); 2. McKenna Haase (3); 3. Scotty Thiel (2); 4. Marcus Dumesny (6) / 5. Chris Martin (7); 6. Zach Hampton (5); 7. Tyler Drueke (10); 8. Ryan Giles (9); 9. Ben Brown (14); 10. Nathan Mills (12); 11. Landon Hansen (15); 12. Dustin Selvage (13); 13. Tasker Phillips (4); 14. Bobby Mincer (11) DNS – Presley Truedson 

  A main (started), 20 Laps, 5:25.2 (NTR): 1. Lynton Jeffrey (3); 2. Josh Higday (1); 3. Rico Abreu (5); 4. Kerry Madsen (8); 5. Brian Brown (6); 6. Aaron Reutzel (7); 7. Carson McCarl (12); 8. Gio Scelzi (13); 9. Ayrton Gennetten (9); 10. Josh Schneiderman (10); 11. Davey Heskin (11); 12. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (19); 13. Riley Goodno (14); 14. Sawyer Phillips (15); 15. JJ Hickle (16); 16. Don Droud Jr. (20); 17. Marcus Dumesny (24); 18. McKenna Haase (22); 19. Austin McCarl (2); 20. Tim Estenson (21); 21. AJ Moeller (17); 22. Scotty Thiel (23); 23. Matt Juhl (18); 24. Justin Henderson (4). Lap Leaders: Higday 1-2, Jeffrey 3, Higday 4, Jeffrey 5-20. Hard-charger: Hafertepe. 

 Make-up A main from 4/23 (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (4); 2. Brian Brown (5); 3. Kerry Madsen (8); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (3); 5. Austin McCarl (1); 6. Carson McCarl (22); 7. Matt Juhl (6); 8. Justin Henderson (7); 9. Josh Higday (10); 10. Sawyer Phillips (12); 11. Chris Martin (15); 12. Davey Heskin (11); 13. Riley Goodno (19); 14. Dustin Selvage (16); 15. Tim Estenson (18); 16. Ben Brown (20); 17. Bobby Mincer (13); 18. Nathan Mills (17); 19. JJ Hickle (9); 20. AJ Moeller (2); 21. Ryan Giles (14); 22. Landon Hansen (21) DNS – 23. Tasker Phillips. Lap Leader: Reutzel 1-20. Hard-charger: C. McCarl.  

 360 Results 

 Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (6), 15.937; 2. 24W, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (1), 15.950; 3. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (19), 15.964; 4. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (23), 15.981; 5. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (7), 16.005; 6. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (8), 16.070; 7. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (18), 16.095; 8. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (22), 16.105; 9. 83, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (14), 16.131; 10. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (10), 16.136; 11. 11, Tyler Barrick, Slater, IA (17), 16.169; 12. 5M, Collin Moyle, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.170; 13. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (24), 16.182; 14. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (5), 16.262; 15. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (12), 16.324; 16. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (13), 16.363; 17. 7C, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (20), 16.439; 18. 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD (9), 16.461; 19. 9M, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO (21), 16.468; 20. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (11), 16.488; 21. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (4), 16.591; 22. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (15), 16.666; 23. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (3), 16.677; 24. 2, Jason Billups, Holt, MO (2), 17.629 

 Heat one (started), 7 Laps, NT: 1. Terry McCarl (2); 2. Clint Garner (5); 3. Jamie Ball (4); 4. Riley Goodno (3); 5. Calvin Landis (6); 6. Alex Vande Voort (8); 7. Ricky Montgomery (7); 8. Tony Rost (1) 

 Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 1:56.6: 1. Devin Kline (1); 2. Joe Beaver (4); 3. Garet Williamson (6); 4. Ryan Leavitt (2); 5. Nathan Mills (5); 6. Tyler Barrick (3); 7. Cam Martin (7); 8. Alan Zoutte (8) 

 Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 1:57.7: 1. Christopher Thram (2); 2. Kaleb Johnson (6); 3. Jacob Hughes (1); 4. Austin Miller (4); 5. Collin Moyle (3); 6. Chase Randall (5); 7. John Anderson (7); 8. Jason Billups (8) 

 A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Terry McCarl (8); 2. Clint Garner (2); 3. Garet Williamson (3); 4. Kaleb Johnson (4); 5. Joe Beaver (5); 6. Chase Randall (9); 7. Calvin Landis (1); 8. Jamie Ball (6); 9. Riley Goodno (12); 10. Nathan Mills (7); 11. Christopher Thram (11); 12. Devin Kline (13); 13. Alex Vande Voort (19); 14. Ryan Leavitt (15); 15. Tony Rost (16); 16. Jacob Hughes (17); 17. Alan Zoutte (20); 18. John Anderson (21); 19. Jason Billups (23); 20. Cam Martin (18); 21. Austin Miller (10); 22. Tyler Barrick (14); 23. Ricky Montgomery (22) DNS – Collin Moyle. Lap Leaders: Garner 1-14, T. McCarl 15-18. Hard-charger: T. McCarl. 

 Pro Series Results 

 Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 17X, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (6), 17.106; 2. 44, Scotty Johnson, Dallas, IA (1), 17.188; 3. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (5), 17.194; 4. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (4), 17.199; 5. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (2), 17.204; 6. 99, Matthew Stelzer, Papillion, NE (8), 17.239; 7. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA (11), 17.279; 8. 41, Jeff Wilke, Knoxville, IA (10), 17.370; 9. 17, Matt Allen, Adel, IA (9), 17.404; 10. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (12), 17.818; DQ (Scales) – 14J, Mike Johnston, Des Moines, IA (7), 17.759; 12. 12P, Ryan Navratil, Des Moines, IA (3), NT 

  Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:46.2: 1. Matt Allen (1); 2. Eric Bridger (2); 3. Brandon Worthington (3); 4. Tyler Groenendyk (5); 5. Chase Young (4); 6. 14J, Devin Wignall, Altoona, IA (6) 

  Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:44.9: 1. Jeff Wilke (2); 2. Mike Mayberry (4); 3. Josh Jones (1); 4. Matthew Stelzer (3); 5. Scotty Johnson (5); 6. Ryan Navratil (6) 

  A main (started), 15 Laps, 4:19.1 (NTR): 1. Scotty Johnson (4); 2. Jeff Wilke (2); 3. Tyler Groenendyk (6); 4. Eric Bridger (1); 5. Brandon Worthington (3); 6. Matt Allen (8); 7. Matthew Stelzer (9); 8. Ryan Navratil (12); 9. Mike Mayberry (5); 10. Chase Young (7); 11. Josh Jones (10); 12. Devin Wignall (11) Lap Leader: Johnson 1-15. Hard-charger: Navratil.