USAC RACES TO THE SPRINT CAR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD ON SATURDAY, JUNE 3
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
On Saturday night, June 3rd, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship visits one of the select few venues on racing’s Mount Rushmore: Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
Of course, the half-mile at the Marion County Fairgrounds is synonymous with the legendary Knoxville Nationals and wing sprint car racing, but this Saturday night, the wings have been grounded as USAC races into town for the ninth time ever, and for the first time since 2011.
Knoxville held its first USAC Sprint race back in 1968 when eventual two-time series champ Gary Bettenhausen took top honors while drivers Dick Tobias (1971), Sam Sessions (1972), Tom Bigelow (1973), Sheldon Kinser (1982), Sammy Swindell (1988) and Bud Kaeding (2010) followed up with victories of their own.
Brady Bacon, the two-time USAC National Sprint Car champ from Oklahoma was the most recent to bag a Knoxville victory in USAC’s last foray to Knoxville back in 2011 and has been clawing at the door of his first series win all season in the Dooling/Hayward Motorsports No. 63. His first trip to the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” with USAC resulted in a runner-up finish behind Bud Kaeding.
Also hitting the highway for Knoxville is four-time and defending USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion R.J. Johnson from Arizona, who ventures to south central Iowa to make his Knoxville debut in a car fielded by Tampa, Florida’s R.J. Johnson. No, that’s not a typo.
Series point leader, Ione, California’s Justin Grant, made his lone Knoxville USAC feature start in 2011, finishing in the 25th spot. The 26-year-old leads the series with three feature victories.
Rocklin, California’s Robert Ballou made his comeback to racing just a few weeks ago after being sidelined for eight months due to serious injuries suffered last September in a racing accident. In just his second night back, he was in victory lane at Eldora Speedway. The 2015 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champ finished 7th (2010) and 11th (2011) in his two series appearances at Knoxville.
Chris Windom, who currently stands third in points, has a pair of victories already this season. The defending USAC Silver Crown titlist from Canton, Illinois, grabbed 8th in 2010 and a runner-up finish behind Bacon in 2011 in his two series starts at Knoxville.
Dave Darland is the series’ winningest driver with 59 victories. The Lincoln, Indiana USAC Triple Crown champion collected 10th and 26th place finishes at Knoxville in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Action gets underway Saturday at Knoxville when cars hit the track at 6:30 pm! Tickets are available at the gate. Adult General Admission tickets are $20. Teens Age 13-19 are $15. Children Under Age 12 are Free. Pit Passes are $25.
You can watch all the action LIVE from Knoxville on http://www.TheCushion.com/. As always, you can view each and every USAC event one-day after the race is run, on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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