Bart Hartman Hopes to Follow in Father's Footsteps at Lucas Oil Knoxville L.M. Nationals
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps this week in his first-ever appearance at the Knoxville Raceway for the $35,000-to-win Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals. Bart’s dad, the late Larry “Butch” Hartman, won twice on the half-mile Marion County Fairgrounds in United States Auto Club (USAC) 100-lap Stock Car Division competition, once in 1971 and again in ’74. Bart will face such stiff competition in the September 28-30 events as NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Kenny Schrader, three-time Knoxville winner and inaugural Nationals champion Brian Birkhofer of Iowa, four-time Knoxville winner Billy Moyer of Arkansas, and defending Knoxville L.M. Nationals champion Scott Bloomquist of Tennessee.
Veteran Knoxville fans will remember Butch Hartman’s yellow-and-red #75 stock car, which was on display at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in 2004, courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. Butch's wins at Knoxville came at a time when the "Keokuk Gang", including Ramo Stott, Dick & Ron Hutcherson, Ernie Derr, Don White, and Gordon & Lem Blankenship, were dominating the stock car circuits in America. Bart’s Cornett-powered Rocket Chassis dirt late model is similarly painted and numbered to the original Dick Hartman-owned machine, with sponsorship from Urgent Cash, Gress Oil, Jarrett’s Body Shop and Imler Poultry.
Besides Birkhofer, Moyer, Bloomquist and the NASCAR stars, Hartman’s main competition will come from such pre-entered recognized dirt late model stars as Josh Richards of West Virginia, Chub Frank of Pennsylvania, Brady Smith of Wisconsin, Billy Drake of Illinois, Steve Francis of Kentucky, Dale McDowell of Georgia, Shannon Babb of Illinois, Rick Eckert of Pennsylvania, Jimmy Mars of Wisconsin, Darren Miller of Illinois, Tim McCreadie of New York, Jeep Van Wormer of Michigan, Steve Kosiski of Nebraska, Chris Madden of South Carolina, and Donnie Moran of Ohio. Kosiski and Mars are both two-time winners at Knoxville, while Eckert and Miller have each won once at the famed south central Iowa speed plant. Many Knoxville fans are familiar with McCreadie after his huge win at this year’s Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in January.
Those seeking to purchase tickets for the third annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals are encouraged to do so by calling 641-842-5431 or by logging onto www.knoxvilleraceway.com. Those seeking further information on Bart Hartman are directed to www.barthartman.com.
KNOXVILLE RACEWAY - History of Late Model Stock Car Championships
(note: championship criteria = minimum 30 laps distance or $3,000-to-win)
event number, date, winner, hometown, state, sanction, feature laps
01., 08/22/54, Don Rosenburger, Des Moines, IA, SISCRA, 100L
02., 08/07/59, Darrell Dake, Cedar Rapids, IA, IMCA, 50L
03., 05/27/62, Jule "Chub" Liebe, Oelwein, IA, IMCA, 200L
04., 05/18/63, Ramo Stott, Keokuk, IA, IMCA, 200L
05., 05/02/64, Dick Hutcherson, Keokuk, IA, IMCA, 200L
06., 05/01/65, Ernie Derr, Keokuk, IA, IMCA, 200L
07., 05/14/66, Ramo Stott, Keokuk, IA, IMCA, 200L
08., 06/07/69, Don White, Keokuk, IA, USAC, 100L
09., 06/06/70, Don White, Keokuk, IA, USAC, 100L
10., 05/01/71, Larry “Butch” Hartman, Zanesville, OH, USAC, 100L
11., 06/11/72, Chuck McWilliams, Walton, KY, USAC, 100L
12., 04/28/73, Ramo Stott, Keokuk, IA, USAC, 100L
13., 05/24/74, Larry “Butch” Hartman, Zanesville, OH, USAC, 100L
14., 09/13/75, Darrell Dake, Cedar Rapids, IA, open comp., n/a
15., 09/11/76, Joe Wallace, Kansas City, KS, open comp., n/a
16., 09/10/77, Curt Hansen, Dike, IA, open comp., n/a
17., 04/25/82, Jack Boggs, Webbville, KY, open comp., 50L
18., 09/12/82, Steve Kosiski, Omaha, NE, open comp., 50L
19., 07/25/85, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR, NDRA, 100L
20., 07/29/88, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR, WoO/ALMA, 30L
21., 09/10/94, Steve Kosiski, Omaha, NE, IMCA, 40L
22., 07/18/95, Willy Kraft, Lakefield, MN, NASCAR, 100L
23., 09/09/95, Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, IA, IMCA, 40L
24., 09/07/96, Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls, IA, IMCA, 40L
25., 09/06/97, Gary Webb, Blue Grass, IA, IMCA, 40L
26., 07/13/99, Rick Aukland, Fargo, ND, UMP, 50L
27., 06/27/00, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR, HAT/UDTRA, 60L
28., 07/11/00, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR, UMP, 100L
29., 10/14/04, Darren Miller, Chadwick, IL, XDCS, 30L
30., 10/15/04, Jimmy Mars, Elk Mound, WI, XDCS, 30L
31., 10/16/04, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA, XDCS, 100L
32., 09/29/05, Rick Eckert, York, PA, open comp., 25L
33., 09/30/05, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA, open comp., 25L
34., 10/01/05, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN, open comp., 100L
35., 05/12/06, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI, WDRL, 40L
36., 07/21/06, Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, IA, LOLMDS, 50L
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