In the Groove
Sunday, June 19, 2005
by Stacy Ervin - The 52nd Midseason Championships at the Knoxville Raceway and the 27th Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame induction ceremony combined to provide a stellar evening of action on Saturday, June 18.
The racing action was second-to-none in both the 360 and 410 cubic-inch sprint-car divisions and when the dust settled, we were left with one surprised first-time winner and two elated victory-lane celebrations.
To say that a win was a long time coming for 360 feature winner Tom Lenz would be an understatement. Having started racing at Knoxville nearly 20 years ago, Lenz had never seemed to have a serious challenge for a win before. But starting on the pole of the 20-lap midseason feature put him in contention. And running second, in the right place at the right time, handed him a long overdue victory.
Knoxville native Joe Beaver led most of the way and had mounted a big margin over Lenz through 15 green-flag laps. Ironically, had the race not been extended an extra five laps because of midseason, Beaver would have cruised to an easy win. But with five to go, he attempted to get around two lapped cars on the dry-slick surface and tagged the fence in turn four. With damage to his machine, Beaver pulled to the pit area and handed Lenz the lead.
Much to his credit, Lenz held off the hard charge of defending 360 track champ Jake Peters and other on his way to the popular win. That made him the fourth first-time winner in the division this year, proving that Knoxville racing is as competitive and unpredictable as ever.
It was a good win for Lenz, who makes about a six-hour round-trip tow every Saturday night from the Northeastern Iowa town of Strawberry Point. He does it with an open trailer hitched to the back of a pickup and not many spare parts on the load. The win couldn’t have come at a better time for him either, as it was noted in his victory-lane interview that his pickup had lost the alternator on the mile-long bridge between Pella and Knoxville on the way down that night.
Of course, I’ve mentioned before that the guys from Eastern Iowa are near and dear to my heart, being that I live there too. I love seeing them do well and to watch Lenz take those double checkereds was heartwarming. It was a sweet gesture when another Eastern Iowa racer, John Hall from Marion, who had won the B-Main, walked up to victory lane to congratulate his longtime friend and competitor. With Knoxville’s penchant for first-time winners this season and the fact that Lenz can get his first after nearly 20 years, can
the veteran Hall be far behind?
In keeping with the night’s emotional theme, Ricky Logan of Little Rock, Arkansas, started on the pole of the 25-lap 410 feature and brought home the victory. Though he was won a couple here before, it was the first this season for Logan and the first in an astonishing nine years for car owner Mike VanderEcken.
The win was not necessarily an easy one for the smooth Logan, who is one of the genuinely nicest guys to roam the Knoxville pit area. It involved a hefty race-long battle with the likes of Justin Henderson and Skip Jackson and the threats from the likes of Kerry Madsen, Brian Brown and Billy Alley.
The race had one caution period which came out when Jesse Giannetto and Chad Meyer had simultaneous rear-end troubles on their machine. But aside from that, the green-flag laps were fast and fierce and kept the fans on the edge of their seats.
When Logan scaled the scales and pulled to the victory-lane celebration, he and his crew were as animated as ever. Logan climbed out of his mount and promptly climbed all the way to the top of the catch fence on the frontstretch. After that, while track announcer Mike Roberts was conducting the winner’s interview, crew chief Tyler Swank proceeded to dump a cooler of ice on the pair. And VanderEcken himself was a tad choked up as he
dedicated the win to his father.
Unfortunately, the night of racing was not without its low moments. Popular 410 driver and another of the nicest guys in the pits Brent Antill blew a motor in time trials and could not return for the rest of the evening. It’s been a string of bad luck for Antill this season and I fear he may be forced to follow the lead of 360 driver David Hesmer. The multi-time 360 track champ was sorely missed this week, as he had announced his retirement earlier in the week following a wicked crash last week.
In addition, there was just plain bad luck following some drivers. Eric Mason and Jake Peters got together in a heat race and spun. Mason, in particular, has been suffering with motor woes and was using one leased from Tony Vermeer on this night. Davey Heskin spun in turn two and then a few laps later, made the same move, but capped this one off with a tip-over. Dave Hall was leading the B-Main in the 360 division when he slowed to a stop at halfway. In the 410-division heat races, Calvin Landis was leading his when under a yellow for someone else, he was forced pitside with a flat tire and was unable to return to the track.
On a brighter note, the emotion of the night was fueled by the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame inductions, which saw four more deserving individuals honored. Al Cole of Des Moines, a longtime car owner and sponsor, was inducted, as was Don Lamberti of Des Moines, chairman emeritus of the board and a director of Casey’s General Inc.
Cole holds the all-time record at Knoxville Raceway for a car co-owner, with 61 feature wins. During his association with car owner Guy Forbrook, Cole’s cars won seven track titles in the eight-year period between 1989-96.
Few have done as much for sprint-car racing as a whole than Lamberti, whose early interest in racing as a youngster has benefited the racing we know today. Having begun his association with sprint-car racing through lifelong friend Gil Sonner, the Casey’s General Stores logo now follows the Lonnie Parsons World of Outlaws car piloted by Tim Shaffer. In addition to his sponsorship, Lamberti was a founding board member and past treasurer of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum. The first-floor collection of sprint-car memorabilia at the site is known as the Donald Lamberti National
Sprint Car Museum in recognition of his lifetime contribution to the preservation of the sport.
Also inducted were former driver and current engine builder Lee Nelson of Ankeny and former track announcer Tim Trier of Newton.
Nelson followed his father, Skip, a former track announcer and 1989 hall of fame inductee, to the races. He began building engines in 1988 and began driving in the 360 class a year later. He won the 1994 360 Nationals and the track championship as a driver. As operator of Ostrich Engines since 1999, he has won three 360 Nationals and the last two Tournament of Champions events.
Trier follows his uncle Johnny Babb, a 1981 hall of fame inductee. Starting out with announcing high-school sports and drag racing, Trier became a Knoxville track announcer in 1979 and stayed for 15 years. After that, he ran the scoreboard for two years at Knoxville. He is currently the regular announcer at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and runs the computer at Stuart Speedway. Trier is a personal favorite of mine, having contributed so much to my childhood memories of Knoxville with his signature phrases like, "It’s Showtime" and "It’s Racetime in the Valley." I am honored to have spent two
seasons in the Knoxville pressbox with him and for the chance to get to know him personally. Just as he was a big influence on current track announcer Tony Bokhoven, Trier influenced my desire to get "inside" the sport a bit. To hear him get the chance to say, "It’s Racetime in the Valley" and to hear the crowd subsequently rumble the aluminum grandstands during his induction interview was a great reminder of the good old days at Knoxville.
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