Outlaws and Indy Cars

The first big weekend of the 2007 season for me. The World of Outlaws ran the half mile at Knoxville on Saturday, and the Indy Racing League at the Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

My Take...

Saturday

-The Outlaws at Knoxville usually put on a pretty good show, and Saturday was no exception. With 57 410's and nearly 40 360's for good measure, it was great being at a show with nothing but sprints.

-We had the great pleasure of viewing the races from the suites atop the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame a Museum in turn 2. Museum director Tom Schmeh hooked us up with the passes and a parking permit. I've come to know Tom pretty well over the winter months this year and he has always been very generous. I had not seen a show from the suites since '94 and it made a great night even better. Thanks again Tom!

-Once again Donny Schatz looked very strong winning the feature at Knoxville. He's really become a complete driver in the last couple seasons. I think it's safe to say the torch has been passed and the 15 is now the car to beat night in and night out.-We witnessed a rare occurrence Saturday night. Steve Kinser flipped. Luckily it wasn't a very hard flip. In fact the King didn't even get out of the car. He was towed to the infield work area. The top wing was replaced and the King finished the feature without a nose wing. I honestly don't know if I've ever seen the 11 get upside down.

-How's this for being complete racing geeks? There were three of us on the Knoxville trip, myself, my dad and Aaron Allgood (who wrenches on Doug Lovegrove's car when he's not wasting time with me). We went 1-2-3 in our pics for the feature. I had Schatz winning, Allgood picked Joey Saldana who ran second, and my dad picked Jason Meyers who ended up third. It became obvious that we are pure racing geniuses on this trip.

-Our Nebraska 410 guys had a so-so night. Billy Alley made the Outlaw feature, but retired early with mechanical problems. 410 rookie Jack Dover looked smooth, but the car seemed to run out of breath on the big 1/2 mile. Perhaps it was gears or maybe the bullet just wasn't putting out the power they needed. Either way, looks like he's getting comfortable running Knoxville and he'll do better the next time the Outlaws are in town.

In the 360's Ryan Roberts made his second Knoxville A-main and kept his nose clean and brought the car home in 19th.-Chuck Swenson won the 360 feature and looked very strong doing it. Swenson seems poised to have a very strong year in the X car.

-It was a great night for racing and it always feels good to get back to Knoxville. I'm working on a few things that may require me to see more races there this year and that would not be a bad thing!

Sunday

-Frankly, I was disappointed with the IRL race on Sunday. Dan Wheldon dominated the event, there was little passing and little drama overall. This is a big change from what I've seen at Kansas in the past.

-I hope the IRL takes a long look at what the reasons are for the lack of action. I've been championing the IRL cause for a long time, and one of the reasons I love it so much was the great action. That action has been missing from this season and I hope they get it fixed. It looked too much like a Cup race out there.

-The facility at the Kansas Speedway is very nice, but the atmosphere isn't good for Indy Car racing. Too many NASCAR fans wearing their black "3" shirts just using up the tickets they had to buy along with their Cup tickets. I wish I could go to an Indy Car race and not have it look like a NASCAR race. I guess that's the world we live in, maybe next month at Indy.

-I have to congratulate Milka Duno on a job well done. In her first IRL start she stayed out of trouble, made good pit stops, and finished the race. I think that's all you can ask from someone with her experience.

-Now onto May. Perhaps my favorite event of the summer. I hope that we see a great Indy 500 like last year. I hope that the action returns to the IRL. I hope someone can find an answer for those red and white Target cars. I still think Team Penske will be the team to beat on Memorial Day weekend. I'll be there and I can't wait!

And Finally...

It was a great weekend to get out and spend some time at the races. Watching sprints at Knoxville and Indy Cars at Kansas in the same weekend was a real treat. I'm lucky there are such great people in my life that can share these trips with me.I missed the action at Eagle Raceway, so I can't really summarize how my Oval Operators did this weekend, other than what's already posted online. I'm going to miss next week's action at Eagle as well, but I'll be back in mid-May. With school ending this week, and racing season heating up, it's a great time of year.

I'll get a few photos from the weekend up ASAP.

Next Up

Iowa Speedway, USAC Triple Crown and Knoxville Raceway, 360 & 410 Championship Cup Series, May 5