History Blog: Fast Times at Knoxville Raceway
Shane Stewart
Sunday, May 31, 2015
by Track Historian, Eric Arnold
Although the racing was rained out this week we were still able to witness history at the famed Knoxville Raceway in time trials. The one-lap track record of 14.407 by Brooke Tatnell has stood for nine years. That’s right, NINE YEARS. It was set on May 6, 2006, which was an unbelievable night in history with 26 cars breaking the track record. On that night the weather conditions were perfect. A cool 61 degrees, humidity 39%, dew point of 36 degrees, and almost no wind. This past Saturday the low lap times were somewhat surprising considering the humidity was so high at 88% and the dew point at a muggy 57 degrees, but the overcast sky and cool temperature of 60 degrees helped. Since that night in 2006 there have been only a few nights where cars have timed below the 14.700 mark and this past week was one of those exciting nights where we were able to see raw speed out of the fastest machines you will see race on dirt.
Last year I was challenged by Chris Walraven to come up with a list of the all-time top 25 lap times in history and after a week of research I had a list put together. Thanks to that research I was able to update that list today and I found that a total of eight drivers were able to crack into the top 25 on Saturday night.
Quick time this week was Shane Stewart with a lap 14.560 (average speed 123.6mph) which is now fourth best on the all-time list. I was able to communicate with Shane today and he felt that he could have broke the record if he had an open track in front of him. On weekly shows we use a format with groups of three cars on the track at the same time. Shane felt that the turbulence from the car in front of him slowed his time a bit. The other seven drivers cracking into the top 25 on this night were Davey Heskin, Danny Lasoski, Josh Schneiderman, Kerry Madsen, Lynton Jeffrey, Terry McCarl, and Daryn Pittman.
Here is the updated list after May 30, 2015.
Knoxville Raceway Top 25 One-Lap Time Trials
1. 14.407 Brooke Tatnell 5/6/2006 (average speed 124.9mph)
2. 14.527 Jason Meyers 5/6/2006
3. 14.547 Cody Darrah 8/12/2009
4. 14.560 Shane Stewart 5/30/2015
5. 14.567 Jason Solwold 5/6/2006
6. 14.573 Davey Heskin 5/30/2015
7. 14.580 Danny Lasoski 5/30/2015
8. 14.593 Chris Walraven 5/6/2006
9. 14.628 Cale Conley 9/12/2009
10. 14.633 Stevie Smith 5/6/2006
11. 14.634 Billy Alley 5/6/2006
12. 14.639 Josh Schniederman 5/30/2015
13. 14.649 Tyler Walker 5/6/2006
14. 14.652 Kerry Madsen 5/30/2015
15. 14.655 Bronson Maeschen 5/8/2010
16. 14.658 Lynton Jeffrey 5/30/2015
17. 14.659 Brian Brown 6/1/2013
18. 14.666 Davey Heskin 6/8/2013
19. 14.667 Terry McCarl 5/30/2015
20. 14.674 Donny Schatz 8/12/2009
20. 14.674 Daryn Pittman 5/30/2015
22. 14.678 Randy Hannagan 5/6/2006
23. 14.681 Terry McCarl 5/6/2006
24. 14.687 Paul McMahan 8/12/2009
25. 14.696 Danny Lasoski 5/6/2006
Tatnell’s record has stood for the second longest span of time in history. What was the longest amount of time the record stood? You have to go back to 1961 when Earl Wagner put down a lap of 22.70 with an ‘air scoop’ and that lap time stood for 12 years. The ‘air scoop’ or ‘wing’ as we now refer to them was banned after the 1961 season which slowed lap times down. The record finally fell when wings were allowed once again in 1973 and Dick Sutcliffe took Earl’s record down by more than two seconds with a lap of 20.32. The third longest span was when Don Droud Jr. recorded the first sub 15 second lap in 1998, breaking the track record with a lap of 14.938 which stood for nearly seven years until Joey Saldana broke it in 2005 with a lap of 14.908 and then later in 2005 at the Nationals Terry McCarl beat that at 14.907.
The Knoxville Nationals event track record is held by Cody Darrah at 14.547 which was set in 2009. To put down a lap in the month of August better than that will be tough to do with it typically being so warm and humid that time of year here at Knoxville.
Legends Danny Lasoski and Terry McCarl recorded their personal best lap times on Saturday night, now seventh and 19th on the list respectively. That's saying something when those two guys put down laps faster than they ever have with 156 feature wins between them.
This past Saturday we were flirting with record lap times but no one could quite get there. The track was fast and well prepared by the Dunkin track prep crew, and to a degree Mother Nature. The 305 and 360 records were close to falling. Justin Henderson’s lap of 15.563 fell just shy of the 15.520 record held by Joe Beaver. In the 305 class Trevor Smith put a lap of 16.894 down just missing the 16.846 record held by Matt Stephenson.
The secret to track record times is perfect weather and track conditions. Cool temperatures, low humidity, and if you watch the cars through the turns and you don’t see any mud-slinging up to the fence, it stays packed down tight like asphalt, you know you are in for some fast laps. With the modern era tire and weight rules track records are tougher to beat.
It really is amazing how history seems to happen on a weekly basis at Knoxville Raceway, which is one reason why I love this place so much. Knoxville has something no other dirt track can buy, and that is history and how often we are able to celebrate it. Come out again this Saturday night and you will likely witness more history in the making.
|