Kathy Bell's In Lapped Traffic, Part One
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
Knoxville, Iowa - Last week was a busy one on Knoxville's north side. On Thursday night, I bet forty cars showed up for practice night at the Knoxville Raceway. We had midget drivers, some getting their first look at Knoxville soil, drivers gearing up for the Master's Classic (the competition for racers over 50) and weekly racers ironing out problem areas. A practice night at Knoxville or a night when some of the drivers rent the
track, can prove to be pretty interesting on its own.
I spent some time Thursday night at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum talking with Tom Schmeh, Director. If you know Tom, you know he's very wound up during that particular weekend. Not because of the racing but because he's getting ready for the big shindig on Saturday afternoon, the NSCHoF Induction ceremonies.
Tom and I shot the crap, talking about racing and who was being inducted. We each have our own ideas, yet we both love to talk racing. Next, I scooted up to the second floor where Larry Janousek (HoF volunteer) and Craig Agan, Marketing Director, were also preparing for the big day. If you ever get the opportunity, you need to watch the races from the second floor of the HoF. It provides a unique view of the race track. The HoF Phase 1 project to finish the second floor where all of the HoF Inductee's photos will be displayed will begin construction, soon.
Friday night I walked around the pits talking to some of the drivers. I talked to Jimmy Sills for a few minutes. If Sills had won, he would have been a three-time winner. He was also the defending champion from 2004. Since Rick Ferkel had won three titles in the Master's Classic I asked Jimmy if he won another one, if he'd want to have a race off with Ferkel? He just laughed.
The Master's Classic always reminds me of racer John Bankston. Bankston really enjoyed competing in the event and it was at the Master's Classic where I last visited with him. I dedicate this column to his memory. Sills was racing George (father of Danny) Lasoski's car in the Classic. He told me he only races about half a dozen times a year, now. He travels with his two-seater (sprint car) around the West coast area, California, Washington and Oregon. He also runs a sprint car school where he said he has taught some pretty good racers; Kasey Kahne, (NASCAR) Anthony Foyt and Ed Carpenter (IRL). He's serious about his racers and goes out to the track to give them pointers and coach them throughout the race.
Remember, Sills has had plenty of racing experience in his past having raced midgets, winged and nonwinged sprinters on both pavement and dirt. Sills raced for about 28 years before he retired. Remember the short retirement when he came back, incognito as Luke Warmwater? He has some nice wins in his career; a Knoxville Nationals Prelim win, an Outlaws win on the Indianapolis Mile, wins at Santa Maria, Rapid City and Devil's Bowl. He's also won the Hoosier 100 and Hulman 100 in a Silver Crown car and a Richmond win on pavement. He's had quite a career and he told me, "Yes, I like racing on dirt better than pavement."
I also talked to Johnny Rodriguez, a.k.a. J Rod, from Elk Grove, Calif. J Rod was here for the first time. Friday night he was running in the top five in the feature when he ran into some trouble and crashed. He was ok when I talked to him on Saturday night. He competes in the black #30 midget and Mark Priestley's #7 sprinter, mainly in CRA races at Perris. He plans on racing in all the USAC dirt midget shows this season and a few pavement races at the end of the season. The 29-year-old said he'd like to move on up the ranks to NASCAR or IRL cars. He feels the USAC series is a good venue to do that in. Oh, and did I mention he's not bad looking either. One of my race friends had a birthday
last weekend and she spotted him to have her picture taken with. Thankfully, he's a good sport and posed for the pictures.
I talked to Doug Wolfgang for a while on Friday night. Wolfie was in town with his son Robby. Can you believe the kid is a teenager? I think Wolfie said he's 13. Of course, I didn't want to pull out my notepad and start taking notes. That tends to make some people run the other way. I asked Doug when he was going to let me interview him again? He always tells me, "No one wants to hear about me, I'm old news." Right after he said it, three guys walked by hootin' and hollerin', "Hey Wolfie, how's it going man!?" I said,
"Yeah, you're old news, no one even remembers who you are, do they!?" He was quite entertaining too. We were talking about surfing the Internet when he piped up with, "Does it look like I surf the net with these hands? He held up his hands which if you remember have some missing digits, "I can't even pick my nose," he said as he pretended to pick his nose. He went on, "I can't even pick your nose," he said as he poked me in the eye. Ok Wolfie, I believe you aren't the best typist in the world.
Robby is racing motorcycles. My brother Perry and I are going to make the trek to South Dakota to watch him race, when the Knoxville season is over. Can't say I'm surprised, another Wolfgang is racing.
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