In the Groove
Sunday, April 23, 2006
by Stacy Ervin - With near-perfect Iowa spring weather and an impressive field of cars, the 53rd season of racing got underway on Saturday, April 22, at the Sprint Car Capital of the World in Knoxville, Iowa.
After a long winter, it was a joy to be back at the track. And for me, a joy to be back in the pressbox high atop the grandstands aiding longtime track historian Bob Wilson with the live results page on knoxvilleraceway.com.
This season, in addition to my regular column spot on the official Knoxville Raceway site, Hoseheads and TJ Slideways Websites and in the pages of Hawkeye Racing News, I add a new gig to my repertoire in the form of a spot on a new Australian Sprint Car Weekly Website. Though this column will
remain in the same format it has for the past several years, I will add a special Aussie update at the end of each entry. I¹m happy to help my friends Down Under come a little closer to the action at the greatest race track in the world.
For me, this season opener marks the beginning of my 31st year of attendance at Knoxville and I simply couldn¹t love the place any more than I do with each passing year.
Many a Knoxville season opener has seen rain, frigid temperatures and even snow, but this year¹s version was highlighted by abundant sunshine and highs in the 70s. Even more so, it was highlighted by a good old-fashioned wondering of just who would show up to race. With both the World of Outlaws
and the National Sprint Tour traveling series off, representatives from both organizations pulled through the gates.
Those, along with our usual strong field of local drivers, made for unpredictable racing in both the 360 and 410 divisions, even in spite of a track surface which dried out probably much earlier than the track crew would have preferred.
In the 410 division, six-time track champion Terry McCarl of Altoona, Iowa, welcomed himself home with his 42nd career win at the speedway. McCarl, who is in his second full year of traveling with the WoO and is the current one-lap track record holder at Knoxville, showed he hasn¹t forgotten how to
motor around this place. It was noted that this win helps him to be the all-time leading feature winner for sprint cars in the nation at this point.
After a hard-fought battle with Australian natives Skip Jackson and defending track champion Kerry Madsen, both of whom have raced at Knoxville for several seasons now, McCarl planted a victory-lane kiss on flagman Doug Clark and appeared to be exhilarated by a bit of booing which came from a
segment of the large grandstand crowd. McCarl noted he had missed that booing since being gone from Knoxville¹s weekly show since it meant he wasn¹t driving to victory lane as often.
In the 20-lap feature event, McCarl started in the second row with Madsen and the pair followed polesitter Jackson for the first pair of laps. On the third lap, McCarl wrestled the lead and kept it for two laps until Jackson took it back. On the next circuit, McCarl took it back again and was able to
keep the lead through the remainder of the race. But Jackson and Madsen were hot on his heels waging a torrid race-long battle for second. There were no cautions in this event, but there was one breathtaking moment when Charter Oak, Iowa, driver Ryan Anderson¹s machine began to smoke and at one point flashed a fire right in front of Jackson and Madsen.
There were other scary incidents earlier in the night, however. California traveler Jason Meyers posted quick time in time trials but got off on a bad note in the first 410 heat race when he drove over the wheel of Iowa driver Jerrel Slinkard and took it to the fence in turn one. He could not restart
and was forced to transfer to the feature through the B-Main, where he finished second to Anderson.
NST traveler Danny Lasoski, who is the winningest driver in Knoxville Raceway history and has many of his track championships to claim, also had problems in his heat race when a drive line forced him pitside. He would not return for the B-Main. In that B, Knoxville regular Rager Phillips flipped hard into the turn-four fence.
Other surprise visitors for the night included: Oklahoma¹s Shane Stewart, who finished fifth; Washington¹s Jason Solwold, who finished sixth; North Dakota¹s Donny Schatz, who finished eighth; Texas¹ Travis Rilat, who finished ninth; and Pennsylvania¹s Tim Shaffer, who finished 24th after pulling in early with mechanical problems.
As for the Aussies in the 410 division, Jackson claimed second and Madsen third in the feature event. Traveler Brooke Tatnell dropped in for the night and came out with a seventh-place finish. Lynton Jeffrey finished 15th. Trevor Green finished 20th in the feature but he did have some good luck on the way there. While running the B-Main, South Dakota driver Dusty Zomer suffered a flat left-rear tire while running in the fourth and final transfer position. At the same time, fifth-place runner and popular Knoxville driver Larry Ball Jr. looped his car in turn one. With those two having problems, sixth-place runner Green was able to capitalize, inheriting the final transfer spot. Another popular longtime Knoxville regular and Australian native Jaymie Moyle was not piloting a car, but rather working as crew chief for first-time 360 competitor Robby Ross of Missouri.
In that 360 class, a first-time feature winner emerged as Watertown, South Dakota, driver Chuck Swenson led all but lap eight on the way to an exciting victory. Starting outside the third row, he shot out to an early advantage in a caution-filled race. With four laps down, Knoxville native Joe Beaver
backed into the turn four wall and flipped. On the restart, Kansas City pilot Eric Jobe flipped badly in the same spot. Former track champion Randy Martin from Missouri suffered nose-wing damage in the incident and on the next attempt at a restart, the caution returned when the nose wing was deposited on the track.
The only serious threat to Swenson¹s lead came on lap eight when former track champion John Kearney of Kansas took the lead briefly. Swenson got it back though, and when Kearney bobbled on the last corner, defending track champion Jake Peters of South Dakota got second place. That made for a 1-2 sweep for South Dakota drivers. Peters had an impressive run, coming from 15th starting spot. Oskaloosa, Iowa, driver Jeff Mitrisin also put on a show, having transferred to the feature from the B-Main and coming home fifth.
New Zealander Stevie Walsh, the only non-American competing in the 360 class, finished 20th in the feature event after making only three laps.
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