KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Brad Sweet captured the 20-lap King Doodlebug Classic Friday night at Knoxville Raceway.
It was the opening night at the seventh- annual Knoxville Midget Nationals presented by Iowa Telecom. This event is co-sanctioned by the USAC, Badger, POWRi and SMRS Midget Series.
Darren Hagen flipped on the opening lap causing a multi-car accident, resulting in a complete restart. Cole Whitt jumped into the lead at the start. 
A lap-four caution for debris bunched up the field. Whitt pulled to a slight advantage, with Sweet second. Third-place Levi Jones stopped on the track midway through the event, erasing Whitt’s advantage. 
Sweet challenged on the restart, but Whitt held a two-second lead with five laps remaining. One lap later, two separate caution flags and one red flag slowed the pace.
On the restart, Sweet drew even with Whitt exiting turn two, pulling into the lead on the backstretch. Driving Kasey Kahne’s Spike-Mopar No. 49, Sweet finished 0.58 second ahead of Whitt.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Jerry Coons, Jr., Bobby East and Michael Pickens rounded out the top- six drivers, which gained automatic starting positions for Saturday night’s 25-lap finale.
“The car was flawless,” said Sweet. “The last restart  and made the pass stick.”
The summary:
First Heat (8 laps): Cole Whitt (Kunz 71), Darren Hagen (Kunz 67), Tracy Hines (Stewart 21), Jerry Coons, Jr. (Wilke-Pak 11), A.J. Fike (RFMS 69), Zach Daum (Daum 5d), Dustin Morgan (M & M 93), Chris Windom (Windom 17), Daniel Robinson (Robinson 24d).
Second Heat (8 laps): Levi Jones (Stewart 20), Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (RFMS 32), Brad Kuhn (B & T 07), Kody Swanson (Nine Racing 19), Brad Loyet (Loyet 05s), Tim Noble (Wide Open 71n), Donnie Ray Crawford (Tel-Star 55), Chad McDaniel (McDaniel 1c), Will Pierce (Pierce 10).
Third Heat (8 laps): Brad Sweet (Kahne 49), Chad Boat (Boat 30), Gary Altig (Mecum 67x), Gary Taylor (Tel-Star 5x), Michael Pickens (Lein 2), Brett Anderson (Anderson 11a), Alfred Galedrige, Jr. (Galedrige 26), Brent Beauchamp (Beauchamp 112), Don O'Keefe (LOK 0k).
Fourth Heat (8 laps): Don Droud, Jr. (Triple Crown 1h), Ryan Criswell (R & C 11c), David Gough (Hardy 14), Dave Darland (Nine Racing 9), Bobby East (Klatt 4), Danny Stratton (Simmons 5f), Bradley Galedrige (Galedrige 29), Matt Smith (Hardy 14a), Jason Holt (LOK 8j).
Fifth Heat (8 laps): Brady Bacon (Kahne 99), Scott Hatton (Huston 15), Russ Harper (Harper 09), Mike Hess (Hardy 4x), Austin Brown (Brown 7b), Aaron Fiscus (Wide Open 7x), Bobby Ross (Pierce 4r), Kevin Swindell (Pedregon 75).
First Semi (10 laps): East, Loyet, Pickens, Stratton, Noble, Smith, Fiscus, McDaniel, Robinson, Brown, Ross, A. Galedrige, O'Keefe.
Second Semi (10 laps): Taylor, Hess, Anderson, Fike, Windom, Morgan, Beauchamp, B. Galedrige, Pierce, Holt, Crawford, Daum.
Feature (20 laps): Sweet, Whitt, Stenhouse, Coons, East, Pickens, Harper, Fiscus, Hines, Jones, Hess, Kuhn, Anderson, Altig, Gough, Taylor, Loyet, Hatton, Noble, Droud, Boat, Darland, Bacon, B. Galedrige, Brown, Criswell, Swanson, Hagen.