Wins come on both ends of the scale as Knoxville Raceway opens

If you follow Knoxville, you already know the tale of the tape from Saturday night. If you aren't an avid follower, here's a chance to catch up. The 2011 season opened with two first-timers entering victory lane, and one veteran. Carson McCarl got his first win, coming in the 305 sprints. Russ Hall hoisted his first Knoxville trophy winning the 360 sprint main, and Danny Lasoski won victory number 94 at the historic half mile. I had a good time coming on the heels of my practice night visit the night before. There were 29 410s, 27 360s and 17 305s in the

305 Winner - Carson McCarl is joined by his mom Lori in victory lane. The 16-year-old won his first feature at the track. - Conrad Nelson photo

360 Winner - Russ Hall joined the ranks of first-time winners at Knoxville winning the 360 sprint A-main. - Conrad Nelson photo

410 Winner - Danny Lasoski (center) won the 410 main event Saturday night. He is joined by second place Brian Brown, right, and third place Dusty Zomer, left. - Conrad Nelson photo

pit area, so it was a solid field of cars to kick things off. The 410s tried a new qualifying procedure with all cars qualifying, and then the top eight being inverted in three heat races. Six cars from each heat went to the main, and out of those 18, the fastest 12 qualifiers redrew for positions to start the A main. Cappy made the announcement earlier in the afternoon at press conference on the fairgrounds. He said this procedure won't be used every week, but expect to see it four or five more times as the season rolls along. I haven't heard much griping about it, and personally, I like the format - it mixes things up nicely. While on qualifying, the 360s timed during hot laps and based their qualifying upon those times. The heat races were fairly exciting, but two consecutive windy days, and two days worth of laps on the track saw the elements take their toll. By feature time, the track was nice, smooth, and fairly wide, but it had rubbered down and the racing line was at a premium. If you started near the front, you held and edge. McCarl started third in his win, Hall started on the pole, and Lasoski started on the pole. I'm not saying that any of these three couldn't have won otherwise, all three were strong all night, and Hall ran off with his win, but the track conditions did play a role in the results. Still, everyone seemed happy as the finals checkered fell. Well, almost everyone. In the final two laps of the 410 main, I watched as Joey Moughan and Austin Johnson tried to run in the same spot coming out of turn two. Moughan's car went over the nose of Johnson's, mashing down the nose wing while leaving a trail of rubber. Moughan bounced on down the backstretch, while Austin spun a 360, stayed on the gas, and then motored on to finish the race. I lifted my camera to shoot, expecting them to wad them up, but both drivers held on and the race finished without what looked like a sure red flag in the making. It was almost too exciting. Events will keep me close to home this weekend, which means I will be returning to Knoxville Saturday night as the IRA sprinters invade to take a crack at the regulars - I always look forward to this one. Thanks to Conrad Nelson for the victory lane shots. I will be posting car shots on the PositivelyRacing Facebook page, so be sure to check them out.