Reflections from Knoxville.

Monday morning and I’m still worn out from Friday and Saturday nights! NOS Energy Drink definitely got their money’s worth out of me this weekend. I feel pretty good how our promotions went though, and working with the NOS Girls is always a fun time. I think I’ll need a few NOS drinks today to get my energy level back up. We’ll be in Knoxville again this weekend for the combined sprint and midget show.

If you find yourself on the Marian County Fairgrounds this weekend, make sure you stop by and say hello. We’ll hook you up with a free sample and some other NOS goodies.

My Take…

One drawback with working is I don’t get to pay as much attention as I normally would to the racing.

This was the case on Friday night. I missed most of the 305 show as well as the WoO Late Models. That was my first time watching those big cars at Knoxville and it was sort of surreal. Late models sound a lot like sprints so it was still strange seeing those running on Knoxville’s surface rather than the sprint cars. They did put on a pretty competitive race from what I could see in the infield.

-The 305s weren't a bad show at Knoxville. I hadn’t seen them run on the ½ mile before and they didn’t look too out of breath.

-Nebraska drivers (and Oval Operators) Trish Dover and Matt Stelzer both had good nights. Trish started thirteenth and finished seventh, and Stelzer finished tenth.

-The 305s will return to Knoxville in September during the three night Late Model Nationals.

-There was a pretty healthy showing for the 305s. They didn’t have enough to run a B, but they filled out the feature.

-The crowd wasn’t huge by any means for the Friday show. Late models put on a nice race there, but it’s Knoxville and sprints rule.

-From what I was told, the ASCS show at Rising City was pretty wild. Too many broken up race cars but some great racing in the feature. I’m glad that the Butler County Motorplex hosted another sprint car show. I always thought it was cool little track. I was sorry that I missed the show there.

-I was happy to that Don Droud Jr. ran Doug Lovegrove’s 44 Cow Car. I was sad to hear he was rear-ended during a caution period.

-Mike Boston is always a tough driver even when he’s not running Eagle. Boston picked up the win on Friday.

-Chad Humston is a great talent. I wish we could have the pleasure of watching him in a sprint car a little more often. He’s been having a great season in the late model too.
We’ll see him in a sprinter again at JMS on the 29th.

5000 free cups of NOS Energy Drink later and we’re onto Saturday night.

-As usual, Saturday had a great 410 and 360 car count. There were 50 teams competing with the Outlaws.

-Stevie Smith set quick time. I’m not sure I would have predicted that one. Glad to see it though, I’ve been a fan of Stevie’s since his near miss at the Nationals in ’93.

-I think the Outlaws should figure out a way to make their heats a little more competitive. As some critics would point out, WoO heats look like a hot lap session. Unlock the cars a little bit and we’d see a few more passes.

-It was a historic night for Knoxville. For the first time under Cappy’s tenure, a show was stopped to re-work the track. Two weekends in a row I watched an Outlaw show halted because of track prep. Who woulda thunk it?

-It was a good move, the feature had a lot of great racing in it.

-It was great to be at Knoxville and see Terry McCarl get his first feature win of the season. TMac always provides a great interview and dramatic post race victory lane kisses. Both of our NOS Girls got some bear hugs as well. I managed to stay clear of all of that!

-It was nice talking to the Dover clan. It was confirmed that Trish Dover will make her 360 debut at Junction Motor Speedway on the 29th of June. More on that later. Her brother Jack barely missed a transfer spot to the B main. He’ll get there eventually. Any time you run a WoO event I’m sure it’s an education.

-During the “intermission” I took the girls around to pose for pictures and hand out NOS stickers. For some reason, nobody wants to be in a photo with me. I can’t understand why.

-Donny Schatz is rumored to be in talks with Tony Stewart Racing about a possible deal of some kind. The rich get richer.

-I heard there were some interesting moments at Eagle's weekly show between a couple of the competitors. I always miss the crazy nights there.

-Congrats to Oval Operator Bobby Becker on his runner-up finish Saturday at Eagle.

-Would someone explain to me why the ASCS held a race in Denison, Iowa on Saturday night? With a lot of their field running weekly at other venues, it's no surprise there was a low car count.

-Two race events and two nights ending up in the Dingus. No wonder I’m so tired!

And Finally…

Getting paid to hang out with NOS Girls and attend races at Knoxville. Not a shabby way to spend a weekend. Four days we’ll set up and do it all over again. This time with USAC midgets. If that wasn't enough I get to see the IndyCars again at the Iowa Speedway Sunday afternoon. Life is indeed good.

Next Up…
USAC Midgets w/410 & 360 Sprints, Knoxville Raceway, June 22-23
Indy Racing League, Iowa Speedway, June 24