In the Groove, Part One
Sunday, July 10, 2005
by Stacy Ervin - Twin features has got to be the greatest invention in sprint-car racing history. And to see the double features at the greatest sprint-car track in the world just makes them all that much more thrilling.
Knoxville Raceway hosted its annual round of twin features in both the 360 and 410 cubic-inch sprint-car divisions on Saturday, July 9. Though no one driver could pull of the astounding feat of winning both features, the racing action was second-to-none on the excitement scale.
The night started out with the return of some familiar drivers and cars. Rich Bubak, a longtime racer from Colorado, returned to Knoxville with a beautiful fuchsia-colored car. Ian Madsen returned in the F5 after an early season wreck. And Randy Anderson returned in the familiar blue 81 of Marty Johnson.
Troubles plagued a few drivers at the outset. Most notably, Eric Vanderploeg had trouble making a time-trial run during his scheduled time. Coming out after the other 36 competitors had gone, it was obvious the problems were not corrected. His night never improved either, as in the first 410 heat race, he and Michael Jones made contact which sent VanderPloeg flipping high into the air in turn one.
In that same heat race, there was a breathtaking moment when leader Jerrel Slinkard caught the inside berm in turn four and his top wing peeled off. As he turned sideways in front of oncoming traffic, it was amazing that no one caught a piece of his machine.
Even if good racing was the staple of the night, it couldn’t stop the big melees. They started in the 410 B-Main when Jamie Zaputil got sideways on the start. That led to a big mess, which involved Greg Jones, Dustin Selvage, Ian Madsen and Ryan Anderson.
The first 410 feature of the night nearly went green to checkered and saw Kerry Madsen and Billy Alley wage a torrid battle for the lead through lapped traffic. With two laps to go in the 20-lap event, Tim St. Arnold brought out the yellow flag when he spun in turn two. Madsen went on to claim the win.
The second 410 feature lineup was completely inverted, so that Madsen would have much work to do if he was going to win another on this night. And this race did not go nearly as smooth as the first one.
The original attempt at the start saw polesitter Jon Agan hang back a bit and let outside front-row starter Chris Walraven get away from the field. The large crowd which had gathered for one of the best nights of the season knew from the outset that flagman Doug Clark would call this one back. And some of the drivers may have sensed it too. As the field got to turn one, some drivers slowed, while others did not. That led to a huge pileup in the first turn in which Mike Reinke went for a wild flip. Jesse Giannetto, Randy Hannagan and Skip Jackson also got caught up in the wreckage. While those drivers were having some words on the track, Clark was hopping down from his flagman’s perch to have words of his own with Agan.
On the second attempt at a start, the front row was much more uniform. But Alley and Calvin Landis got together near the middle of the pack and Alley flipped in turn one. There were only three laps down when Landis decided he would flip his own machine.
After the early race troubles, visitor Jeremy Campbell took off with a commanding lead. It was a near miracle that allowed Campbell to even make the show. He had won the B-Main, however on twin-features night, no cars transfer to the A. The only way Campbell made the show was because Don Droud Jr., who had qualified for the features, could not start the first one and Campbell was let in as the alternate.
Though he made a good showing, the win was not to be for Campbell, who was passed by Ricky Logan with four laps left in the show. Logan’s win was certainly no surprise to the Knoxville regulars, who know that a rubber-down track such as we saw after many laps of racing is right up Logan’s alley. It’s a safe bet with track conditions like those that Logan may be climbing the fence in victory lane when all is said and done. Logan finished seventh in the first feature, so the win capped a good night for him.
Madsen and Brian Brown both made impressive runs in the second feature. Coming from the back due to his win in the first one, Madsen raced up to fourth place in the second. Brown finished fifth in the first one and then backed it up with a third in the second.
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