In the Groove
Sunday, June 26, 2005
by Stacy Ervin - What an interesting and unpredictable weekend it was at the KnoxvilleRaceway when the World of Outlaws rolled through town on Friday, June 24, and Saturday, June 25.
Friday’s racing action with the 410 cubic-inch WoO and Knoxville regulars and the companion 360 cubic-inch sprints was certainly exciting. But the real unpredictability came in the form of Saturday’s weather.
With hot, muggy air and thundershowers predicted for the weekend, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that Saturday’s show was a washout. But because all the activity had stayed north of Interstate 80 on Friday and much of Saturday, we got a tad complacent about our chances for rain.
About halfway through time trials on Saturday night, the skies opened up for what appeared to be a brief rain shower, which popped up just southwest of the speedway. About 10 minutes after qualifications were halted and the cars in line pushed back to their trailers, a blinding, driving rain, with incredibly strong winds and vivid cracks of lightning was over the track. Underneath the grandstands were a sea of people trying to seek shelter and a virtual river rushing over Ralph Street.
It’s evident in situations like this that Cappy and crew have the safety of the fans and competitors in mind when they are making tough decisions such as when to wait out the weather and when to just cancel.
Fortunately, we were treated to a full Friday night show that couldn’t have left anyone disappointed. Watching Kraig Kinser win the pole in his dash and then run away from the A-Main field was certainly history in the making. We’ve known for some time now that the kid is the second coming of the King and Friday’s win cemented that notion.
Of course, no one really saw it because everyone was watching the breathtaking battle for third place. Behind Kraig Kinser and second-place finisher Paul McMahan, a three-way fight broke out between Sammy Swindell, Terry McCarl and Steve Kinser. And near the end of the 20-lap race, Danny Lasoski, who had grenaded a motor in a huge way during his heat race, snuck into the picture as well. But it would be Swindell, who stuck a slide job on both McCarl and Kinser at the same time, taking third. McCarl was able to hold off Kinser and Lasoski for what would have been the all-important fourth spot. That meant he, along with Kraig Kinser, McMahan and Swindell, were locked in for Saturday night’s show and would not have to run time trials or heat races.
Friday’s main event saw only two caution periods. The first came when Don Droud Jr. slowed to a stop on the track. Droud had flipped while running the B-Main and Kerry Madsen had gotten into him. Ironically, both Droud and Madsen were able to make the night’s feature due to the provisional system that comes with the WoO. Since two Outlaws drivers opted for provisional starting spots, the two track regulars were allowed in as well. On the restart of the feature from Droud’s stoppage, Brian Brown got sideways and tipped his machine over.
Half of the heat races in the 410 division were also slowed by cautions. The first heat saw an unusual two slowdowns for debris on the track. The third heat was plagued by a couple of big problems. First, Mike Moore took a nasty flip on the start of the race in turn two. Luckily he was able to walk away from a series of side-over-side rolls which tore the top wing from the car. On the white-flag lap of that same race, Lasoski, who was running second at the time, blew the motor and erupted into a ball of flames down the
frontstretch. His big-time blowup left engine parts all around the speedway.
All four heat races in the 360 division went green to checkered with no mishaps. But in the B-Main, Brett Mather, who won two races in a row earlier this year, got too high in turn four and jumped the cushion. As he tried to correct, he came across the frontstretch and his right-rear tire was clipped by the left rear on the Scott Winters machine.
The 360 A-Main saw Joe Beaver and Rager Phillips get together on the backstretch, with Phillips nearly tipping over. The contact left Beaver with a broken drive line. Josh Higday picked up his first win of the year, and the mover of the night was Jeff Mitrisin, who transferred through the B, started 18th and finished fifth. It has been a tough season for both Higday and Mitrisin. Higday¹s race car, trailer and some personal possessions were stolen from his Des Moines home last month. The car was recovered but most of the spare parts and other necessities were not. Mitrisin suffered an injury early in the year at Eldora and was replaced by Droud in what was to be his 410 ride. After getting medical clearance a couple of weeks ago, Mitrisin found a ride in Steve Wares’ 360 mount which was vacated by Bobby Mincer.
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