"In the Groove" with Stacy Ervin
Monday, April 30, 2007
by Stacy Ervin - If the first two weeks are any indication, the 2007 racing season at the Knoxville Raceway is going to be a stellar one. Three nights of outstanding racing action are already in the books and they were coupled with fantastic weather. The crowd at this Saturday's World of Outlaws show was fabulous and all of those people should really consider coming out to watch our weekly show this year too.
Our first night of racing was April 21, and it featured great weather and great action, particularly in the 410 feature event. That race saw the majority of the top finishers coming from deep in the field.
Arguably the most impressive was Scott Winters, who won the night's B-Main and finished a strong third in the feature. Were it not for a late caution, Winters might just have passed Ricky Logan and Brian Brown to get the win. Winters is one of those guys we don't talk about much, but based on this performance, maybe we should. Another good run was staged by Dennis Moore Jr., a former track regular and crowd favorite.
The Beav has been out a few years trying to make a go in California, but it's nice to finally have him back home.
Though the crowd for this race was pretty good, it should have been better based on the bargain to be had in watching such great racing. And the night featured an added bonus for those in attendance, the chance to sit with NASCAR driver Boris Said, who came down after competing at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. Said and his small entourage truly enjoyed themselves at the Sprint Car Capitol of the World. Track officials kept Said busy with interviews, frisbee tosses and green-flag waving, and he was an excellent sport about all of that, as well as all the autograph seeking. It was impressive to me that a driver like Said would want to spend his time watching our beloved weekly show. What a great guy!
The dark moments of the night came in the form of two nasty crashes. The first involved Josh Schneiderman, who all but destroyed a beautiful new yellow machine. This crash aside, I believe the youngster is destined to get his first Knoxville win this year. The diehards will recall he was very close last year when he stood the car on end down the backstretch and faltered. Bart's kid and his driving have really matured in the last couple of years.
The second involved Matt Moro, who suffered from contact on the frontstretch with Larry Pinegar when Pinegar moved into a higher groove to miss a slowing Pete Crall. The contact was enough to send Moro flying and flipping hard. Moro has certainly taken his share of rides in his career, but this one was a doozy. Ironically, Moro's luck wasn't much better when the sprint cars took to the track one week later. A crash in hot laps left many thinking it was going to be deja vu.
Another outstanding feature race was witnessed by a very large crowd on April 28 when the Outlaws, all put back together after last year's split, rolled into town. It wasn't much of a shock that 2006 Knoxville Nationals winner and World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz took the win. But the race he and Joey Saldana put on was a great one on a wickedly fast track. Not only was the grandstand approaching full, the pit area was nearly overflowing, with 58 410s and almost as many 360s.
It was really nice to see the place populated on both sides of the fence.
There were several crashes on this night, too, but the worst involved Tim Kaeding and Jason Martin. The two took a wild airborne tumble down in turn one and Kaeding was lucky to have crawled out of what was left of his Kinser-Stewart collaboration machine.
The 360 division returned to true form this week too, after Josh Higday made a snoozer out of the opening night feature race. This week, just as it looked as though Higday would run away and hide again, Chuck Swenson came along and made it interesting. Swenson is one of the most animated victory-lane interviews there is and that's always fun.
Heat races in the 360 class were fantastic too, which can be sort of rare given that the track isn't usually at optimum race conditioning when they are in progress. The best one was the second, when polesitter John Hall held off the always fast Johnny Anderson by 0.021 at the checkered flag. It's great to see the veteran Hall starting off his 2007 on such a high note. After at least making the opening night A-Main, he improved his feature finish position by 10 this weekend. In fact, Hall got a pair of 10s this week. Friday's Sprint Invaders show at Donnellson saw him put on a good run from eighth to third in his heat race and come home 10th in the feature. He was also 10th Saturday at Knoxville. It's good to see guys who have had long careers at Knoxville still towing in every week and giving it their all in hopes of getting that coveted win someday.
The track maintenance crew is used to hearing comments, both good and bad. But on Saturday night, they were to be given the highest kudos.
We've not seen the track in that good of shape for a while, particularly on a World of Outlaws night. And it was a special feat because the World Dirt Racing League late models had given it a good beating the night before.
Having grown up in the heart of late-model territory in Eastern Iowa, and with the legendary West Liberty Raceway just about in my front yard, I do greatly enjoy these late-model shows once in a while. It's nice to see new drivers try to negotiate the hallowed half-mile in Knoxville and to hear new names come out of the PA. Now if we could just get the fans of those drivers to come on over and see what our place is all about, we'd be set. I know you guys are out there because I've seen you at West Liberty.
And finally, I was impressed with the 305 division on Friday night as well. The total of 27 cars exceeded my expectations and the racing was great. Steve Breazeale is another one of those old veterans who still puts the pedal to the metal and lives the dream. However, I must admit I was incredibly bummed out when Trish Dover suffered a cut tire while leading late in the race. Had luck been on her side, the Nebraska driver would have been the first woman to ever get a feature win at Knoxville and that would have been a stellar site. As it was, Dover made more than a few fans, I would venture to guess, and I believe we'll be hearing a lot more about her in the near future. You go, girl!
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