Daison Pursley Harvests USAC Sprint Car Corn Belt Clash At Knoxville For $12,000 Payday

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Story By: BILL WRIGHT / KNOXVILLE RACEWAY – KNOXVILLE, IA – Daison Pursley made his first career point win with the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series count in a big way Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway by winning the Corn Belt Clash worth $12,000. The win came aboard the Team AZ Racing #21AZ for the Locust Grove, Oklahoma driver.

Eric Schulz flipped down the backstretch before a lap could be completed in the 30-lap Corn Belt Clash feature. He was unhurt. One green, Pursley led Carson Garrett, Justin Grant, CJ Leary and Brady Bacon. Leary and Bacon both passed Grant and Garrett to move themselves into second and third on lap two before Korbyn Hayslett slowed, bringing out the caution.

On lap four, Xavier Doney flipped while running seventh, bringing another stoppage. Bacon gained second from Leary on that restart, as he was a lone wolf on the cushion in turns one and two. The next slowdown came 12 laps in, when Logan Seavey slowed.

Pursley led Bacon, Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Justin Grant back to green. Bacon hit the bottom of turn four on the restart and got a run that propelled him under Pursley for the lead in turn one. He held that lead through a lap 15 caution for Garrett, and a lap 19 slowdown for Joey Amantea.

Pursley began reeling in the two-time winner of the Corn Belt Clash and shot by with a slider in turn three on lap 22, to take the lead for good. Pursley pulled away to the win, ahead of Bacon, Thomas, Leary and Kyle Cummins, who won a back and forth battle with Justin Grant for fifth. Robert Ballou was seventh, and Mitchel Moles, Jake Swanson and hard-charger (for the second night in a row) JJ Yeley rounded out the top ten. Bacon set quick time, and Ballou, Thomas and Doney won heats. Hayslett claimed the B.

“This is huge,” said Pursley in Victory Lane. “I feel like we were close so many times. I thought I gave it away once I messed up on the restart. I thought it was over from there, because Brady doesn’t usually make any mistakes. I just tried to keep on pressuring him in three and four, and thankfully we were able to do it. I was fortunate that he missed the bottom there in three and I was able to hit the bottom and slide by. Brady is no slouch at any track, and especially if you look at the history here at Knoxville.”

“(Pursley) kind of messed up on the restart and we were able to get by him,” said the second place Bacon. “He could just roll through the center, and kind of slide up and get a straight shot on the straightaway. I had to kind of just stay right on the berm. I just couldn’t get enough speed to keep him behind me. I was cheating getting into three and he just beat us. He ran a good race, and they were just a little better than us tonight.”

“We were constantly working on the car,” said Thomas. “It’s a full (Rock Steady Racing) team effort. Thanks to my team. We went from a 15th place finish last night to a third. That’s what it’s all about. I just kind of stalled out once I got to third. I couldn’t do as much as I wanted to. They kind of figured out a couple little things, but a big shout out to my team.”

Corn Belt Clash USAC National Sprint Car Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 69, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (26), 19.708; 2. 4, Justin Grant, Ione, CA (11), 19.769; 3. 15X, CJ Leary, Greenfield, IN (19), 19.863; 4. 15, Carson Garrett, Littleton, CO (10), 19.918; 5. 2B, Jake Swanson, Anaheim, CA (3), 20.027; 6. 21AZ, Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (24), 20.031; 7. 57, Logan Seavey, Sutter, CA (25), 20.224; 8. 3P, Kyle Cummins, Princeton, IN (1), 20.245; 9. 74, Xavier Doney, Odessa, MO (13), 20.275; 10. 88J, Joey Amantea, Mt. Pocono, PA (7), 20.306; 11. 19AZ, Mitchel Moles, Raisin City, CA (15), 20.329; 12. 5S, Chase Stockon, Fort Branch, IN (5), 20.377; 13. 12, Robert Ballou, Rocklin, CA (20), 20.396; 14. 3R, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (18), 20.432; 15. 4J, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (2), 20.485; 16. 33M, Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, OH (6), 20.495; 17. 2, JJ Yeley, Phoenix, AZ (12), 20.576; 18. 44, Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (23), 20.640; 19. 1H, Korbyn Hayslett, Troy, OH (16), 20.933; 20. 17GP, Jadon Rogers, Worthington, IN (14), 20.981; 21. 73, Logan Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (17), 20.998; 22. 47, Charles Davis Jr., Buckeye, AZ (8), 21.064; 23. 24M, Hunter Maddox, Bloomington, IN (4), 21.131; 24. 21K, Kobe Simpson, Bonham, TX (9), 21.322; 25. 38, Eric Schulz, Sioux Falls, SD (22), 21.428; 26. T4, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (21), NT

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:45.6: 1. Robert Ballou (2); 2. Brady Bacon (6); 3. Joey Amantea (3); 4. Carson Garrett (5); 5. Matt Westfall (1); 6. Logan Seavey (4) / 7. Korbyn Hayslett (7); 8. Charles Davis Jr. (8); 9. Eric Schulz (9)

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:47.2: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2); 2. Kyle Cummins (4); 3. Mitchel Moles (3); 4. Jake Swanson (5); 5. Justin Grant (6); 6. JJ Yeley (1) / 7. Jadon Rogers (7); 8. Hunter Maddox (8); 9. Tyler Graves (9)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:48.1: 1. Xavier Doney (4); 2. Daison Pursley (5); 3. Chase Johnson (2); 4. CJ Leary (6); 5. Chase Stockon (3); 6. Wesley Smith (1) / 7. Logan Calderwood (7); 8. Kobe Simpson (8)

B main (started), 12 Laps, 2:54.7: 1. Korbyn Hayslett (1); 2. Logan Calderwood (3); 3. Charles Davis Jr. (4); 4. Jadon Rogers (2); 5. Kobe Simpson (6); 6. Eric Schulz (7) / 7. Hunter Maddox (5); 8. Tyler Graves (8)

A main (started), 30 Laps, NT: 1. Daison Pursley (1); 2. Brady Bacon (6); 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9); 4. CJ Leary (4); 5. Kyle Cummins (11); 6. Justin Grant (5); 7. Robert Ballou (8); 8. Mitchel Moles (13); 9. Jake Swanson (2); 10. JJ Yeley (17); 11. Chase Johnson (15); 12. Matt Westfall (16); 13. Carson Garrett (3); 14. Chase Stockon (14); 15. Jadon Rogers (20); 16. Charles Davis Jr. (22); 17. Korbyn Hayslett (19); 18. Logan Calderwood (21); 19. Kobe Simpson (23); 20. Joey Amantea (12); 21. Logan Seavey (10); 22. Xavier Doney (7); 23. Wesley Smith (18); 24. Eric Schulz (24). Lap Leaders: Pursley 1-12, Bacon 13-21, Pursley 22-30. Hard-charger: Yeley.

 
 
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