Jetco 360 Knoxville Nationals Rookie Rundown
Thursday, August 3, 2023
By Joanne Cram
This year’s Jetco 360 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of of the Year award list of entrants is an extensive one, changing right up until day one of the event. With twenty-five 360 sprint car rookies, this is a packed field of talent that will make the 2023 event one to watch.
1 Brenham Crouch from Lubbock, Texas is the current IRA 410 points leader. He has had success in the POWRi series as well, and was the 2022 National Midget Champion for Keith Kunz. Goals for the 360 Nationals are to be competitive and learn as much as he can. Getting a top ten finish in the A Main and to earn Rookie of the Year honors would also be high on his list of goals.
4C Tuesday Calderwood has been a fixture this summer at Knoxville Raceway. Out of Goodyear, Arizona, Tuesday has typically ran the POWRi Wing Desert Series as well as the ASCS Southwest Region races, and some of the California shows when they work in the schedule. Career highlights for Tuesday include Central Arizona Speedway Micro Sprint Championship and feature wins, heat race wins with POWRi 360 Ting Desert Series. Goals for the 360 Nationals include to get as close to the A Main Saturday night as possible and be faster than she has been so far this season.
4CW Chris Windom out of Canton, Illinois is also no stranger to Knoxville Raceway, but this is his rookie year at the 360 Nationals. He is a full time 410 competitor with the All Stars. Past accomplishments include a USAC Triple Crown Win. Chris hopes to make as many laps as possible to prepare for the 410 Nationals and come out of the race with a strong finish on Saturday night.
T4 Tyler Graves is from Chariton, Iowa and typically races non-winged sprints at Oskaloosa’s Southern Iowa Speedway. This is his first season in a winged sprint car at Knoxville Raceway. Career highlights include a win at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Goals for the 360 Nationals include making at least the B Main.
5D Grae Anderson out of Des Moines, Iowa is a second generation driver, growing up around racing helping his dad, John Anderson on his 360. He is a Marine Reservist competing weekly at Knoxville. After an early season crash, the team put a new car together with help from Brown Farms. Goals for the rest of the season are to improve every night and have fun. Grae hopes to drive solid laps and get as far as he can towards the A Main on the final night.
G5 Gage Pulkrabek is out of East Grand Forks, Minnesota joining the field for the Knoxville 360 Nationals.
6T Christopher Townsend of Tarkington, Texas, is a regular with the ASCS series. Highlights of his racing career include a top 3 and a top 5 with ASCS. Goals for the 360 Nationals are to make every lap and try to make the best of every lap.
9M Liam Martin out of Binbrook, Ontario, Canada typically runs Oswego and Southern Ontario Sprint Series in 360’s. Last year finished 2nd in Oshwekan points, 3 wins at Oshwekan. Goals this Nationals are to compete well with a lot of drives he likes to watch.
7A Jack Anderson is a sixteen-year-old driver from Newton, Iowa is in his rookie season running at Knoxville Raceway in the 360 class. Race career highlights at Knoxville include a B Main win, five A Main starts, and a top 10 finish and is currently 12th in points. Jack’s background is in go karts since the age of four. 4-time IKF Grand National Champion, 2 time Maxxis Triple Crown Champion, 8 time Maxxis Season Champion, Maxx Daddy Champion, 2 time Outlaw Kart National Champion, and season champion at English Creek Speedway where he was undefeated. Goals for the Nationals are to be competitive and have a strong finish and ultimately, of course to make the A Main Saturday night.
9T Kasey Kahne is a veteran sprint car driver with the World of Outlaws, but this is his inaugural appearance at the 360 Knoxville Nationals. Out of Enumclaw, Washington, Kasey is excited to run his first 360 Nationals.
11M Brendan Mullen from Grand Forks, North Dakota is the 2021 NOSA Sprint Car Champion. He races with the NOSA, Huset’s weekly, and other races around the Midwest where his schedule allows. In addition to sprint cars, Brendan is a IKF Two Cycle Grand Champion from 2015. His goal for this year’s Nationals is to have a strong prelim night and to make the A Main on Saturday night. He has been coming to the Nationals since he was five years old and is excited to participate as a competitor this year.
14 Aidan Zoutte is a Knoxville, Iowa native and has been competing weekly at the track this season. The third-generation driver has partnered with veterans Tom and Robert Lenz and also running select sprint invader shows. In only his second season of racing, (23 Total Races) he has been gaining a lot of experience and seat time. Goals for the 360 Nationals would be to just compete to the best of his ability every time he is on the track and hopes to try to learn everything he can while competing with some of the best sprint car drivers in the country.
15 Ryan Turner of Dunnville, Ontario Canada is currently leading the Oshweken Speedway points and is second in Southern Ontario Sprints points. Race career highlights include 16th Canadian Sprint Car Nationals Win at Oshweken, and a win at the 18th Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at Oshweken. He was also the 2019 Southern Ontario Sprints Champion. Goals for his inaugural 360 Nationals are to gain speed every time he hits the track and to make the A Main of Saturday night.
20 Justin Peck is from Monrovia, Illinois and is a full time 410 sprint car driver making his debut in a 360 at the Knoxville 360 Nationals.
24R Rico Abreu is no stranger to Knoxville Raceway, but this is his 360 Nationals debut this year. Out of St. Helena, California the two time Chili Bowl Winner hopes to have a top five finish at his rookie 360 Nationals.
35H Zach Hampton of Plainfield, Indiana makes his debut in a 360 at the Knoxville 360 Nationals as well this year. Zach’s typical series/schedule is anywhere in the Midwest to East Coast where there is racing: IRA, All Stars, World of Outlaws FAST, MOWA; running a true outlaw schedule. Season highlights and accomplishments this season are two 410 feature wins. Zach’s 360 Nationals goals include making his prelim feature and hopefully Saturday’s A main. Zach’s priority is to get good laps and notes in preparation for his 410 Nationals.
39 Hunter Schuerenberg out of Sikeston, Missouri, is also a repeat visitor to Knoxville Raceway as he typically runs 410 winged sprints. This season he has focused on running with the All Stars and has season highlights of All Star and an IRA wins as well as making the King’s Royal this year. Goals for this Nationals are to make the A Main Saturday and turn consistent laps to prepare for the 410 Nationals. Previous 360 experience was all the way back in 2004 and 2005, and he has only raced a 360 once between 2005 and 2023.
41 Colton Hardy from Phoenix, Arizona, says he hasn’t raced much over the past couple of years, and has just been trying to race when the opportunity arises. He is a multi-time micro champion in Arizona and a two time ASCS Southwest Region Champion. Goals for the 360 Nationals are to have a great prelim night with an A main start so he can be competitive for Saturday’s show.
86 Timothy Smith is out of Rocheport, Missouri making his first appearance at the Knoxville 360 Nationals.
87J Jace Park is from Overland Park, Kansas and competes with the ASCS. Season highlights are a win with ASCS and making all 4 main events on Saturday night of the Tulsa Shootout with Chad Boat. Goals for this year’s Nationals are to make the A Main Saturday night and have a successful Knoxville Raceway debut.
87X Shone Evans comes to us from Scotland, Ontario, Canada and is a Oshweken Speedway weekly competitor, as well as the Southern Ontario Sprint Series regular. He was the 2018 Crate Sprint Champion, and the 2018 Action Sprint Tour Champion. Goals for the 360 Nationals are to make the big show Saturday night. He is grateful for the opportunity car owner, Miles Hill is providing to him to run the Nationals this year.
98P Miles Paulus out of Marshall, Missouri is no stranger to 360 competition. Typically, he runs the ASCS Warrior Region and select ASCS National Tour shows. He has won three ASCS Warrior Region championships in 2018, 2019 and 2022, accumulating twelve feature wins. Before sprint cars, Paulus was a 600cc micro winner in the A Class at the Tulsa Shootout in 2016. After racing some July races at Knoxville Raceway, Miles hopes to be crowned 360 Nationals Rookie of the year and to make the feature Saturday night.
105 Cody Ihlen comes from Edgerton, Minnesota and is a weekly competitor at Husets and Jackson, as well as the MSTS 360. The team fills in races as they come up and when their schedule allows. Cody started in a 305 last year then moved into a 360. Career highlights are that he made the A Main with WoO at Ogilvie. Goals for the Nationals are to make the A Main on his preliminary night as well as the Saturday night big show.
938 Bradley Fezard from Bonnerdale, Arkansas is a 2nd year 360 driver, typically running the ASCS Sprint and the OCRS Sprint car series. He has a background in micro sprint racing, starting back in 2013. Accomplishments include a win at the Lucas Oil Now600 Non-wing championship and the POWRi micro championship. Goals for this 360 Knoxville Nationals are to make the A-feature at this year’s Nationals.
|