American Racing News Vol 1, Issue 2 Issue 6 | Page 28

Kyle Larson in the @Paul_Silva57 owned #57

bottom of the Knoxville Raceway
with Jason Johnson to his front.
Coming up on the tenth lap, the
leaders began closing in on the
back of the field. Giving Johnson
the advantage to close the gap,
the MVT No. 41 worked the cushion as Pittman rolled the bottom
side. Completing the ninth circuit,
Pittman came very close to a
slower car at the bottom of turn
four, just as Jason Johnson shot
off the fourth turn. Closing more
on the tenth round, Johnson
made a break for the lead on Lap
11.
Off the fourth turn, the cushion
was the line for Jason to grab the
point, but it would be short lived
as Pittman drove back around the
Priority Aviation No. 41 to lead
Lap 12. With the Bad Boy Buggies
No. 15 taking over the runner-up
spot in the mix, Schatz brought a
full head of steam behind him to
grab the top spot on the Lap 13.

The packed stands saw plenty of action.

Putting the Great Clips No. 9 to
third, Johnson returned to the
cushion with Schatz in the
crosshairs.
The caution flew on lap 16 for
Craig Dollansky, who suffered a
failed engine. Johnson rolled the
center of the first turn to no avail
as Kerry Madsen made his presence known with a high side pass
off the second turn to grab third
from Pittman in the Keneric Racing No. 1AUS. Struggling to get up
to speed, Pittman ended up three
wide to hold onto the fourth spot.
Finally fighting off the challenge,
Pittman went to work to regain
lost ground.
Still keeping pace with Schatz for
the lead, Johnson began searching
around the track, vacating the
cushion as the mandatory caution
flew on Lap 26.
With adjustments made, the field
went back to green with Johnson

on a mission…keeping pace with
Schatz as Kerry Madsen worked to
get around the pair. Going to the
cushion, Johnson built his momentum, taking the race lead off
the fourth turn of the 27th lap.
Side-by-side for several laps, Donny worked the bottom side as
Johnson continued on the cushion. Pulling away slowly from the
No. 15, Johnson found traffic on
Lap 33. Nearly climbing the wall
off the fourth turn on Lap 34, the
bobble allowed Schatz to bring
the No. 41 back into his grasp.
Under a second behind, Schatz
had his hands full as Kerry Madsen powered to by the No. 15 on
Lap 38.
Into the final ten rounds, the leaders found themselves in heavy
traffic as the race for second heated up again with Schatz retaking
the spot on Lap 41. Carrying a
huge run into the second spot, the