The “All Clear” Sounds for Intense Action this Saturday!!!
Monday, June 6, 2005
by Bill Wright – If you were in attendance at the Knoxville Raceway last Saturday, you probably made a hasty exit. With the points races heating up, fans will be even more hasty in getting back to the track this Saturday night for Pella Corporation night!!!
Pella Corp. will host a pre-race dinner at Dyer-Hudson Hall, right behind the ticket office, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The public is welcome! They'll serve grilled chicken breasts, hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh fruit, potato salad, baked beans, ice tea and lemonade. In addition, a Pella Corp. window will be open at 5:00 p.m. at the ticket office to purchase discounted race tickets. Adults are $5 and kids are $3. You must show your Pella Corp. ID badge to receive a discount.
Also, a special ticket window will be open for Chariton residents. It's Chariton Night at the races! Show your proof of residence (driver's license, school permit, passport) and you may purchase a ticket for only $5. Children 14 and under accompanied by an adult get in for FREE!
The 410 class was able to get their time trials in last Saturday night, and both Wayne Johnson and Ricky Logan were able to reel in Kerry Madsen’s points lead just a little bit. Wayne gained five points by registering sixth quick last Saturday to draw within a scant 35 points of the leader. Logan registered quick time in Mike VanderEcken’s #10, gaining 30 points on Madsen. He sits 240 points behind the leader. Brian Brown and Skip Jackson round out the top five in points.
Matt Moro, Justin Henderson, Don Droud Jr., Calvin Landis and Billy Alley are currently running sixth through tenth in the standings. You may notice Alley is back in the standings after a couple of weeks off the “Drivers” section at www.knoxvilleraceway.com. Drivers are required to attend 75% of the contests at Knoxville to be eligible in the points race, and Alley is 6 for 8, so occasionally you will see drivers pop in and out of the standings. My “Monroe Math” shows me Alley is at 75% and he’s shown in tenth. If you would like to see how many points a driver has that’s not in the top ten, simply click on that drivers name somewhere on the site (i.e. “Results”, “News”, pre-entries). Their points keep tallying even though they’re not eligible for the points race.
Chad Meyer is on a roll and currently sits just outside of Knoxville’s top ten in the Lunstra 1w. He won for the third time this season last Sunday night at Huset’s Speedway (SD). Other Knoxville regulars with 410 runs last Sunday night included runner-up Lynton Jeffrey, Jake Peters in 4th, Billy Alley 5th, Dusty Zomer 6th, Clint Garner 7th, Mike Moore 11th, Troy Meyer 14th, Eric Vanderploeg 20th and Justin Henderson 21st.
The 360 class is set to fly back into action after a week off! Larry Ball Jr. continues to lead the standings by 56 points over John Kearney, who registered the tenth fastest time with the 410s last week. Johnny Anderson, David Hall, Jake Peters and John Schulz are all within 100 points of the leader. This one will come down to the wire.
Brett Mather’s win two weeks ago was his first ever at the famous half-mile, and it propelled him into seventh in the 360 standings. Joe Beaver, Josh Higday and Dusty Zomer are all running “top ten” right now in the ultra-competitive 360 class.
Another race to watch is the one for top rookie honors. Jarod Smith is 61 points ahead of Jon Corbin, who took a week off from Knoxville while sorting out a few mechanical issues. He took the win last Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO. Look for Corbin, the grandson of Hall of Famer Tom Corbin, to be back in action this Saturday at Knoxville.
Rager Phillips took advantage of a week off to get a couple of races in last weekend. He raced with the Sprint Invaders in Peoria last Friday night and was 7th. He then raced at Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, MO and came home 18th.
Jerrod Hull won the race at Peoria, with Jesse Giannetto coming home second. Other regulars in attendance were Schulz in 6th, Brent Antill in 12th, Nick Eastin in 13th and Stevie Walsh in 14th. Jake Peters ran at Jackson (MN) Speedway and was ninth.
Web Updates
Check out the new pictures from Hall of Fame weekend in “2005 Pit Shots” and some midget shots from Dave Hill.
Driver pre-entries for the 360 Nationals, Brodix Tournament of Champions, the Knoxville Nationals, the Clean-O World Challenge and the Late Model Nationals. Check our “Events” section for more information.
Thanks to all who are following along with our “Live Results” and on the KNIA/KRLS American Dirt Network at www.americandirtnetwork.com. If you absolutely, positively can’t make it to the track, we look forward to hearing from you. Until next time…
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