Smith Beats Rain, Mark Kinser in Ethanol Classic Opener
By Richard Day

KNOXVILLE, IA (June 21) - While Mother Nature has plagued the 
Skoal Outlaw Series through the first half of the 1996 season, 
her rain proved to be an ally Friday when the series opened the 
inaugural Iowa Ethanol Classic at Knoxville Raceway.

    Although rain delayed the Fourth Quaker State Heat Race for
1 1/2 hours, it made the racing surface extremely fast and led 
to three track records. Flagman Doug Clark didn't wave his 
yellow or red flag the rest of the night, either. Knoxville 
Raceway point standings leader Danny Lasoski set the eight-lap 
standard with a 2:07.7 clocking in the Fifth Quaker State Heat 
Race. Andy Hillenburg's 3;16.0 time in the "B" Feature set the 
12-lap record. Then came the record everyone wanted to set - the 
one for 20 laps. Four thousand dollars came with it.

That record now belongs to Stevie Smith. He passed outside 
polesitter Jac Haudenschild for the lead late in the second lap 
and held off World of Outlaws points leader Mark Kinser for the 
victory. He averaged 107.239 m.p.h. while winning his first 
Preliminary Feature of the year.

"We're starting to get going now," Smith said told the near-c
apacity crowd from victory lane. "We were running good at I-55 
(on June 12th); we were leading and we broke our front axle. We 
put a new car together and it really runs good. The crew has 
been working hard."

Although Stevie won the Preliminary Feature by 10 car-lengths, 
the #71M EcoWater Maxim was ailing at the end. Its rear end was 
smoking when Smith stopped in victory lane. Kinser, who smoked 
the 50-car field in time trials, was gaining on Smith during the 
final five laps.

Although Smith was the second-fastest qualifier, he was .395 
seconds off Mark's blistering pace. Kinser received his 17th 
EcoWater Quick-Time Award  f the season after circling the 
legendary semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval in 15.608 seconds.

But it was Stevie who won the Vivarin Dash for the right to 
start the Preliminary Feature on the pole. He and Haudenschild 
raced wheel-to-wheel down the front straightaway immediately af
ter the green flag fell in the evening's main event, and "The
 Wild Child" took the lead with a high move into  he first 
corner.

Smith challenged Haudenschild for first place for 1 1/2 laps
 before taking the lead with a similar move high in turn four.
Stevie was eight car-lengths ahead of his closest pursuers when 
Mark passed Terry McCarl for fourth place late in lap four.

Mark was challenging 11-time Amoco Knoxville Nationals champion 
Steve Kinser for third place when the leaders caught the
backmarkers during the sixth lap. Smith raced through lapped 
traffic with ease, and was 12 car-lengths ahead of "The Wild 
Child" within two laps.

Stevie was a half-straightaway ahead of the field midway t
through the race when Mark steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim deep i
nto the fourth corner to pass cousin Steve for third place. Two 
laps later, Mark won a front-straightaway  drag race with
Haudenschild to take over the runner-up spot.

Defending Skoal Outlaw Series champion Dave Blaney steered the 
#10 Vivarin J&J into the low groove in the first corner to pass 
Steve for fourth place two laps later. With the tires on the #11 
Quaker State Maxim starting to blister, "The King of the Outlaws"
slowed during the final six laps, allowing three more cars to p
pass him. He was never able to allow his tires  to cool during
the caution-free feature.

Mark started gaining ground on Smith with five laps remaining, 
but was 10 car-lengths behind when he took the checkered flag. 
Blaney executed a last-lap pass to take third place from 
Haudenschild.

Rounding out the top 10 in the Preliminary Feature were the 
Swindell brothers - Jeff and Sammy - McCarl, Steve Kinser, 
Hillenburg and Lasoski, who started inside the ninth row.

World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year candidate Joey Saldana had a
successful debut in the #75 Mopar Maxim, winning the Fourth 
Quaker State Heat Race and racing into 14th place from outside 
the 10th row. WoO

              1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                         Iowa Ethanol Classic
                   Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
                 Friday, June 21, Preliminary Program

Qualifications:  1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 15.608; 2. Stevie 
Smith, Motter 71M, 16.003; 3. Mike Reinke, Cowman 02, 16.014; 4. 
Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 16.064; 5. Skip Jackson, 
VanderEcken 10V, 16.088; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.132; 7. 
Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 16.130; 8. Terry McCarl, Gray 51, 
16.159; 9. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 16.169; 10. Jeff 
Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 16.215; 11. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 1
16.217; 12. Jaymie Moyle, Moyle 4, 16.223; 13. Dennis Moore, Jr., 
Cahill 7, 16.232; 14. Brent Antill, Jordan 1B, 16.236; 15. 
Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 16.245; 16. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 
16.251; 17. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 16.298; 18. Joe Gaerte,
Gaerte 3G, 16.344; 19. Larry Pinegar, J&J Racing 55, 16.386; 20. 
Danny Lasoski, Forbrook 5, 16.389; 21. John Kearney, Kearney 86, 
16.410; 22. Tim Baker, Baker 2TZ, 16.417; 23. Marlon Jones, 
Oswalt 1J, 16.419; 24. Joey Saldana, Stanton 75, 16.432; 25. 
Aaron Berryhill, Berryhill 97, 16.509; 26. Bob White, RCSN 
Racing 12, 16.577; 27. Jerry Richert, Jr., Johnson 81, 16.578; 
28. Scott Whitworth, Whitworth 96, 16.600; 29. Chad Mellenberndt, 
Mellenberndt 97M, 16.604; 30. Travis Cram, Cram 92, 16.633; 31. 
Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 16.671; 32. Peter Murphy, Kain 
1K, 16.673; 33. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11A, 16.703, 34. Leonard Lee, 
Lee 16L, 16.718; 35. Ryan Jamison, Jamison 51J, 16.741; 36. 
Chris Walraven, Beahlers 56, 16.748; 37. Jeff Mitrisin, Sereg 
5J, 16.813; 38. Steve Beitler, Beitler 21x, 16.869; 39. Donny 
Schatz, Schatz 15, 16.880; 40. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9, 16.939; 41. 
Shawn Moore, Moore 2x, 17.044; 42. Robert Jackson, Lewis 2AU, 
17.090; 43. Manny Rockhold, Rockhold 71, 17.111; 44. Jim Carr, 
McCarr 7M, 17.116; 45. Doran Doty, Doty 14, 17.157; 46. Mark 
Smyser, Smyser 69,1 7.163; 47. Mallory Armfield, Armfield 5MA, ,
17.436; 48. Tony Moro, Moro 2M, 17.656; 49. John Lambertz, 
Lambertz 12L, 17.828; 50. Wayne Redmond, Redmond 2H, 17.852.

First Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Mark Kinser, 2. 
Dave Blaney, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. John Kearney, 5. Greg Hodnett, 
6. Bob White, 7. Brian Paulus, 8. Shawn Moore, 9. Mark Smyser, 
10. Chris Walraven. (first four qualified for the Preliminary 
Feature)

Second Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Jaymie Moyle, 2. 
Jerry Richert, Jr., 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Jac Haudenschild, 5. Tim 
Baker, 6. Lance Blevins, 7. Jeff Mitrisin, 8. Robert Jackson, 9. 
Peter Murphy, 10. Mallory Armfield. (first four qualified for 
the Preliminary Feature)

Third Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Mike Reinke, 2. 
Marlon Jones, 3. Terry McCarl, 4. Scott Whitworth, 5. Dennis Moore, 
Jr., 6. Joe Gaerte, 7. Steve Beitler, 8. Manny Rockhold, 9. Dion 
Hindi, 10. Tony Moro. (first four qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)

Fourth Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Joey Saldana, 2.
Chad Mellenberndt, 3. Brent Antill, 4. Larry Pinegar, 5. Andy 
Hillenburg, 6. Sammy Swindell, 7. Leonard Lee, 8. Donny Schatz,
9. John Lambertz, 10. Jim Carr. (first four qualified for the 
Preliminary Feature)

Fifth Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Danny Lasoski, 2.
Aaron Berryhill, 3. Johnny Herrera, 4. Jeff Swindell, 5. Skip 
Jackson, 6. Ryan Jamison, 7. Doran Doty, 8. Wayne Redmond,  9.
Rich Bubak, 10. Travis Cram. (first four qualified for the 
Preliminary Feature) 

Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Stevie Smith, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 
3. Terry McCarl, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Mark Kinser, 6. Mike 
Reinke, 7. Dave Blaney, 8. Jeff Swindell. (finish determined the 
first eight starting positions in the Preliminary Feature)

C Feature (eight laps):  1. Rich Bubak, 2. Shawn Moore, 3. Manny 
Rockhold, 4. Robert Jackson, 5. Doran Doty ($110); 6. Wayne 
Redmond ($90); 7. Mark Smyser ($70). DNS - Mallory Armfield, 
Tony Moro, John Lambertz, Chris Walraven. (first four qualified 
for the "B" Feature)

B Feature (12 laps):  1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. 
Lance Blevins, 4. Dennis Moore, Jr., 5. Skip Jackson ($160); 6. 
Joe Gaerte ($135); 7. Greg Hodnett ($110); 8. Dion Hindi ($85); 
9. Ryan Jamison ($70); 10. Rich Bubak ($80); 11. Steve Beitler 
($50); 12. Peter Murphy ($50); 13. Shawn Moore ($70); 14. Robert 
Jackson ($70); 15. Tim Baker ($50); 16. Manny Rockhold ($70); 17. 
Bob White ($50); 18. Leonard Lee ($50). DNS - Jim Carr, Travis 
Cram, Brian Paulus, Donny Schatz, Jeff Mitrisin. (first four 
qualified for the Preliminary Feature)

Preliminary Feature (20 laps):  1. Stevie Smith ($4,010); 2. 
Mark Kinser ($2,310); 3. Dave Blaney ($1,610); 4. Jac 
Haudenschild ($1,410); 5. Jeff Swindell ($1,260); 6. Sammy 
Swindell ($1,180); 7. Terry McCarl ($1,110); 8. Steve Kinser 
($1,060); 9. Andy Hillenburg ($1,035); 10. Danny Lasoski 
($1,010); 11. Brent Antill ($910); 12. Lance Blevins ($730); 13.
Mike Reinke ($610); 14. Joey Saldana ($510); 15. Jaymie Moyle 
($310); 16. Larry Pinegar ($310); 17. Marlon Jones ($260); 18. 
John Kearney ($260); 19. Jerry Richert, Jr. ($260); 20. Aaron 
Berryhill ($260); 21. Chad Mellenberndt ($260); 22. Johnny 
Herrera ($260); 23. Scott Whitworth ($260); 24. Dennis Moore, 
Jr. ($280).

         Lap leaders:  Jac Haudenschild 1, Stevie Smith 2-20
            EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Mark Kinser
                                 WoO