Consolation race finishes

B-main: Jason Feger, Tim McCreadie, Tyler Reddick, Jared Landers, Kent Robinson, Rob Moss, Earl Pearson Jr., Andy Eckrich, Frank Heckenast Jr., John Duty, Jeremiah Hurst, Brian Harris, Chris Spieker, Kerry Hansen, Jack Sullivan, Tyler Bruening, Rich Bell, Charlie McKenna, Dave Eckrich, Jill George, Brady Smith, Ray Cook, Paul Glendenning, Denny Eckrich.

C-main: Chris Spieker, Jack Sullivan, Ray Cook, Dave Eckrich, Mike Fryer, Darrel DeFrance, Tim Lance, Al Humphrey, Kevin Sather, Mike Wallace, Billy Myer Jr., Scott Lewis, Jay Johnson, Alonzo Gross, Nick Marolf, Junior Coover, Curt Schroeder, Chad Chenoweth.

Mid-event notes

Chad Simpson starts on the pole of the main event (lineup at upper right); the feature has an eight-car inversion based on qualifying times, putting fast qualifier Scott Bloomquist outside the fourth row. ... Among drivers done for the night (and working on banged-up cars) are those in the second-heat skirmish in turn two: Bub McCool, Mike Marlar, Steve Casebolt and Matt Furman. ... Don O'Neal also scratched from the C-Main after damaging the right-front of his car in a tangle with Jason Feger in the fifth heat. ... Jason Utter, who got into the outside guardrail hard after losing the lead to Jimmy Mars in the fifth heat, is gingerly holding his right arm; he hopes it's only bruised and not broken (listen to audio above). ... Brian Birkhofer was working on his carburetor after his heat race victory, which puts him starting in the fourth row of the main event. "I'm just making sure it's got enough gas for this big half-mile," Birkhofer cracked. Said fellow driver John Blankenship, eavesdropping from behind: "It looked like it had plenty of power to me." ... Chris Simpson, runner-up in the first heat, is using a rear end borrowed from fellow Longhorn Chassis driver Brad Neat after finding problems with his car earlier this afternoon (listen to audio above). ... Chris Spieker won the C-main and transfers to the rear of the B-main. ... Jason Feger won the B-main to lead four transferrees to the main event.

Fifth heat

Fourth-starting Jimmy Mars overtook front-row starter Jason Utter on the eighth lap, and Utter's race came to an abrupt end when he got into the guardrail between turns one and two to bring out a red flag. Mars held on the final four laps with seventh-starting Dale McDowell and ninth-starting Darrell Lanigan hot on his heels. McDowell turned back Lanigan's high-side charge while Jason Rauen was further back for the final transfer spot.

Finish: Jimmy Mars, Dale McDowell, Darrell Lanigan, Jason Rauen, Jason Feger, Earl Pearson Jr., Jill George, Tyler Bruening, Darrel DeFrance, Junior Coover, Jason Utter, Don O'Neal.

Fourth heat

Becoming the third driver to overcome the 10-car inversion, Steve Francis rallied to cut down John Blankenship's straightaway lead for a late-race pass in the fourth 12-lapper. Blankenship, who started fourth and took the early lead from Dan Schlieper, was second with eighth-starting Brian Shirley rallying into third. Schlieper got the final transfer spot while Brady Smith, who held the fourth spot for several laps, nearly got sideways in turn four on the eighth lap to lose a position, and then lost the fifth spot to Rob Moss at the checkers.

Finish: Steve Francis, John Blankenship, Brian Shirley, Dan Schlieper, Rob Moss, Brady Smith, Kerry Hansen, Andy Eckrich, Jay Johnson, Dave Eckrich, Scott Lewis, Ray Cook, Mike Wallace.

Third heat

Tenth-starting Austin Hubbard rallied for a last-lap pass of Billy Moyer to win the third prelim. The fifth-starting Moyer overtook fellow third-row starter Kent Robinson on the fourth lap and led until Hubbard charged past on the backstretch on the final lap. Robinson jumped into the lead on the first lap, slipping past Jack Sullivan at the start-finish line, but he and Sullivan faded midway through the race. Hubbard took the second spot from Scott James on the seventh lap and tracked down Moyer while James and Jimmy Owens wrapped up the final transfer spots in the caution-free prelim.

Finish: Austin Hubbard, Billy Moyer, Scott James, Jimmy Owens, Tyler Reddick, Kent Robinson, Jeremiah Hurst, Frank Heckenast Jr., Jack Sullivan, Nick Marolf, Mike Fryer, Alonzo Grosse.

Second heat

Brian Birkhofer, scheduled to start 10th, took advantage of a better starting spot after a first-lap wreck and blitzed into the lead on the first lap, building a full straightaway advantage before the halfway mark and cruising to an easy 12-lap victory. Will Vaught took second from Shannon Babb on the seventh lap and got the runner-up spot while Babb and Eric Wells (who inherited the pole) got the other two transfer spots. A red flag appeared on the initial start when a scamble on the first lap exiting turn two involved more than half the field as McCool got sideways. McCool was knocked out of the race while polesitter John Duty and Steve Casebolt had to restart on the rear.

Finish: Brian Birkhofer, Will Vaught, Shannon Babb, Eric Wells, Charlie McKenna, Rich Bell, John Duty, Paul Glendenning, Curt Schroeder, Steve Casebolt, Bub McCool, Matt Furman, Mike Marlar.

First heat

Fast qualifier Scott Bloomquist overcame the 10-car inversion, outrunning home-state brothers Chris and Chad Simpson for a victory in the ifrst heat. Also transferring to the main event was Brad Neat in fourth while Jared Landers in fifth will go to the B-main. Bloomquist took the lead from Chris Simpson on the 10th of 12 laps. Poleisitter Chris Spieker got into the wall on the second lap and was scored last.

Finish: Scott Bloomquist, Chris Simpson, Chad Simpson, Brad Neat, Jared Landers, Tim McCreadie, Denny Eckrich, Brian Harris, Kevin Sather, Tim Lance, Al Humphrey, Chad Chenoweth, Chris Spieker.

Qualifying

Scott Bloomquist, gunning for a record fifth straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory, topped 64 qualifiers Thursday at Knoxville Raceway on the opening night of the three-night Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals.

Bloomquist toured the half-mile sprint car stronghold in 17.335 seconds to set fast time on the first of two qualifying nights. Thursday and Friday's complete programs (paying $7,000 to semifeature winners) help drivers accrue points to set up the lineup for Saturday's $40,000-to-win main event.

With the 10-car inversion for heat races, Chris Spieker, John Duty, Jeremiah Hurst, Kerry Hansen and Jill George are scheduled to start on the pole.

Thursday's time trials (unofficial)