The last lap is the one that matters, and the final lap of the 31st annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank was one for the ages as California’s Giovanni Scelzi worked by Daryn Pittman for the $15,000 payday.
“I was running as hard as I could. My car was unbelievable,” said a nearly breathless Scelzi. “I love Bernie (Stuebgen). I can’t believe it. To win a crown jewel like this is unbelievable. I love this place. Pittman was so good on the bottom; I just never gave up. He’s such a smart racer. He broke my momentum going into one, and luckily I could drive back underneath him.”
Getting past Swindell Speedlab No. 39 for a moment just prior to the race’s only stoppage on Lap 12 for the tipped No. 21 of Brian Brown, the pass didn’t stick to the front straightaway with Pittman bringing the field back to life.
Getting some room over the No. 18, Scelzi worked varying lines around the half-mile oval with the top of one and two a constant. Starting to diamond off the fourth turn as the race drew into the closing lap, the gap between the top two closed rapidly.
Stealing the lead on Lap 23, the battle was tooth and nail, with Pittman retaking the point on Lap 24 by less than four-tenths of a second.
Back to the cushion, Scelzi shot into a wheel-to-wheel battle down the back straightaway. Running up on a slower car in the final two turns, Gio held the No. 39 to the bottom, keeping him from being able to slide and clear through the fourth turn, causing Pittman to bobble off the berm and allow Gio the advantage to the checkered flag by 0.579-seconds.
Holding on for second, the battle for third went the way of Justin Henderson, with Shane Golobic ending up fourth. Rolling up from 12th, Australia’s Brooke Tatnell was fifth.
Sixth went to Sam Hafertepe, Jr. with Clint Garner seventh. From 11th, Scott Bogucki was the second Australian in the top ten with an eighth-place finish. Terry McCarl was ninth, with Tyler Courtney earning Hard Charger honors with a run from 19th to tenth.
Three consolation features were contested before the SawBlade.com A-Feature, with Cory Eliason winning the BMRS B-Feature. The Hoosier Tire C-Feature went to Michael Faccinto, with Matt Covington winning the Smiley’s Racing Products D-Feature. The 2021 Rookie of the year was New Jersey’s, Kyle Reinhardt. The overall field of drivers was 90 for the 2021 event.
The next event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is Friday, August 27, as Terry Mattox Promotions presents the tour’s return to WaKeeney Speedway in WaKeeney, Kan.
The 2021 season is the 30th year of competition for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
For the first time, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with Racinboys.com and FloRacing.com featuring National Tour events in tandem. Both are subscription-based sites. FloRacing.com is $20 per month, billed annually at $150 per year. Racinboys.com is $29.99 per month.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2021, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National TourKnoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa)My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville NationalsSaturday, August 7, 2021
Event Count: 90
Smiley’s Racing Products D-Feature (Top 6 to the C-Feature)
D Feature (10 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 2. 24T-Chris Thram[1]; 3. 11N-Harli White[8]; 4. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[2]; 5. 21G-Gunner Ramey[6]; 6. 18T-Tanner Holmes[11]; 7. 23K-Rob Kubli[9]; 8. 66-Chase Dunham[10]; 9. 8M-Kade Morton[14]; 10. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]; 11. 19-Wes Wofford[19]; 12. 22S-Slater Helt[12]; 13. 86-Elliot Amdahl[13]; 14. 13MJ-Brandon Halverson[7]; 15. 88-Travis Reber[23]; 16. 55B-Brandon Anderson[20]; 17. 33-Alan Zoutte[15]; 18. 116-Vance Wofford[18]; 19. 14J-Mike Johnston[21]; 20. 1A-John Anderson[16]; 21. 57B-Boyd Peterson[22]; 22. 23-Devon Dobie[17]; 23. 2-Chase Porter[4]; 24. 35S-Jason Shultz[24]
Hoosier Tire C-Feature (Top 4 to the B-Feature)
C Feature (12 Laps): 1. 5H-Michael Faccinto[1]; 2. 5V-Colby Copeland[2]; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[10]; 4. 70-Calvin Landis[7]; 5. 7C-Devin Kline[12]; 6. 53-Joe Beaver[11]; 7. 44-Chris Martin[13]; 8. 18T-Tanner Holmes[24]; 9. 35L-Cody Ledger[17]; 10. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[8]; 11. 22X-Riley Goodno[18]; 12. 7M-Chance Morton[16]; 13. 21G-Gunner Ramey[23]; 14. 83A-Austin Miller[5]; 15. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[22]; 16. 83T-Tanner Carrick[9]; 17. 22L-Connor Leoffler[4]; 18. 11N-Harli White[21]; 19. 36-Josh Baughman[6]; 20. 18R-Ryan Roberts[14]; 21. 22-Ryan Leavitt[3]; 22. 24N-Nathan Mills[15]; 23. 24T-Chris Thram[20]; 24. 95-Matt Covington[19]
BMRS B-Feature (Top 4 to the A-Feature)
B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 26-Cory Eliason[1]; 2. 01-Sammy Swindell[2]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl[3]; 4. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 5. 9-Ryan Giles[5]; 6. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson[4]; 7. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 8. 63-JJ Hickle[11]; 9. 94-Jeff Swindell[16]; 10. 56N-Davey Heskin[13]; 11. 97-Greg Wilson[20]; 12. 70-Calvin Landis[24]; 13. 5H-Michael Faccinto[21]; 14. 5V-Colby Copeland[22]; 15. 27B-Jake Martens[17]; 16. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[23]; 17. 2M-Matt Moro[15]; 18. 11-Roger Crockett[10]; 19. 7-John Carney II[18]; 20. 53D-Jack Dover[12]; 21. 13V-Seth Brahmer[19]; 22. 9X-Jake Bubak[7]; 23. 35-Josh Higday[8]; 24. 9JR-Derek Hagar[14]
Sawblade.com A-Feature
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 2. 39-Daryn Pittman[2]; 3. 83H-Justin Henderson[8]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic[1]; 5. 14-Brooke Tatnell[12]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 7. 40-Clint Garner[6]; 8. 28-Scott Bogucki[11]; 9. 24-Terry McCarl[5]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[19]; 11. 83-Lynton Jeffrey[9]; 12. 27-Carson McCarl[7]; 13. 26-Cory Eliason[21]; 14. 09-Matt Juhl[13]; 15. 17A-Austin McCarl[23]; 16. 52-Blake Hahn[14]; 17. 01-Sammy Swindell[22]; 18. 35P-Skylar Prochaska[10]; 19. 69-Brady Bacon[20]; 20. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[15]; 21. 24W-Garet Williamson[16]; 22. 4W-Jamie Ball[17]; 23. 64-Ian Madsen[18]; 24. 21-Brian Brown[24]
Lap Leader(s): Daryn Pittman 1-22, 24; Giovanni Scelzi 23, 25Hard Charger: Tyler Courtney +9High Point Driver: N/AProvisional(s): N/A
ASCS PR
