Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals Bumps Purse and Starting Field
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Knoxville, Iowa – Lucas Oil Products, a leading supplier of premium oils, greases and additives to the automotive industry, will be the title sponsor for the Knoxville Late Model Nationals through 2007. The event will be known as the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. With the new agreement between Speed Channel and Knoxville Raceway, the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals joins the Knoxville Nationals and 360 Nationals as premier short track events produced by Knoxville Raceway for SpeedTV.
The purse for the September 29 & 30, October 1st event will be $220,000. The Thursday and Friday preliminary mains each pay $6,000 to win with the top twelve going directly to the Saturday 100 lap main event each night. The Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals 100-lap feature will pay $35,000 to win, $17,500 for second and $2000 to start. Thirty drivers that take the green flag will have raced their way into the $152,000 event.
According to Ralph Capitani, Director of Racing for Knoxville Raceway, “The Lucas Oil Products sponsorship strengthens our commitment to build the event into dirt late model racing’s version of the Brickyard 400. At the same time Knoxville Raceway, with 36 nights of racing in 2005, will benefit from Lucas Oil’s participation in NASCAR, NARA, NHRA, IHRA, IHBA, ATPA and just about every other form of racing”.
Forrest Lucas, Founder and President of Lucas Oil Products, stated that, “The Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals sponsorship follows our recent decisions to sponsor the Lucas Oil NARA DirtCar Series, including their TV package in 2005, and event sponsorship of the season opening 6-day Lucas Oil NARA show at East Bay Raceway in Florida. We view this market as a growth opportunity for our line of high performance engine oils and gear oils that are second to none in the racing marketplace”. He went on to say, “There are over 700 dirt tracks across the USA and Canada that entertain late model fans with exciting racing throughout the year. Those fans are our customers for Lucas Oil products everyday and we are going to reach out to them with these sponsorships”.
The Inaugural Knoxville Late Model Nationals had 99 drivers from 26 states with 24 from the west, 26 from the east and 48 from the central states. The field included 19 track and regional champions. The 100-lap main event was made up of late model rookies, rising stars, today’s champions and long-time racers. Drivers and fans enjoyed “great” racing on all three nights. Thursday saw a tacky track all night that took every horsepower available to move around. Friday saw a track that slicked off for the feature and allowed drivers to move through the field high or low. Saturday the drivers had some of both with the last 40 laps run on two grooves.
The Celebrity Waiter/Auction at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum on Saturday followed by the 2-hour “Meet the Drivers” open house will again be a featured part of the 3-day activities.
Knoxville management announced other changes for 2005 including having all teams unload their cars and equipment in the infield each night on the pre-marked center pavement. This will allow fans to see all the action in the pits and around the racetrack with no blind spots. Based on this there will be no limit on entries as there is infield space for over 120 cars each qualifying night.
For 2005 the Speed Channel broadcast will run the following Saturday, October 8th versus the 4-week delay in 2004. The broadcast will include highlights of each qualifying night, non-qualifier mains and the entire 100-lap main event on Saturday. Viewers can also look for lots of driver interviews and inside looks at teams and cars.
Knoxville Raceway has been operated by the Marion County Fair Association continuously for 51 years. For 2005 fans will enjoy 36 nights of racing from April to early October featuring 360 and 410 sprint cars and drivers from across the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Special events highlighted by the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals event will also feature the Knoxville Midget Nationals and the Harris Clash for modifieds.
The facility attracts over 250,000 visitors annually, including 100,000+ attendance at the August Knoxville Nationals Annual Sprint Car Championship Event. The fan and trade show areas include booths, traveling interactive displays and large hospitality areas for as many as 100 exhibitors. The 52 skyboxes with closed-circuit TV and food and beverage service as well as the 4 story National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum will provide the opportunity for fans, participants and sponsors to enjoy being a part of the 50 year history of Knoxville Raceway. This includes the best in American racing with names including Foyt, Unser, Gordon, Kinser, Blaney, Wolfgang, Lasoski, Fisher, Kahne and so many others that have moved on to further success in every major racing series.
For more information please contact Ralph Capitani at (641) 842-5431 or go to www.knoxvilleraceway.com
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