Upper Midwest Ramblings from Knoxville Raceway
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
by Justin Zoch - Knoxville Raceway does not have the happiest history in its battle against the ruin rain can bring to a racetrack and there have been more than one weekend’s events lost to it but this week, the venerable half-mile got lucky. With rain, lightning, thunder and tragically severe weather swirling to the west and the south and throughout much of the state, the clouds parted amiably just before the first engine roared for hot laps. Just eight hours after the final checkered flag on night three of the championship chase, it started raining in Knoxville. For the next 24 hours, it did little else.
For the first time this season, the 410 count approached the 360 count as 34 of the Big Ironed variety signed in (despite notable absences from Greg Jones and Seth Brahmer). Meanwhile, in the back 360 pit area, 37 cars were signed in without the likes of John Kearney (who was not serious about retirement but serious about not chasing points), Tyler Houseman and Jonathan Cornell (absent after a turn one crash destroyed the front of his Sprinter)… Wayne Johnson made his first visit to Knoxville this year on an off weekend from the H&H Enterprises 94 schedule of 360 commitments. It was the first time the FattFro 410 had been out all season and Johnson finished a respectable seventh despite contact with Dennis Moore Jr. in the waning laps of the A-main. Moore spun to a stop on the backstretch and did not return. Johnson and Moore were among several teams to rent track time on Friday night and Moore admitted later that he is still getting himself physically and mentally back to full form. Odds are good that he’ll park the Gifford 17G in victory lane by season’s end… Kaley Gharst has had perhaps the most productive season thus far but it has not been easy. The Decatur-based teen missed the transfer this week and used a B-main win to secure 19th spot in the A-main, where he charged to fourth. At the opener, he came from 16th to fourth. Gharst has looked wicked fast and aggressive in both weekly features this year… Don’t you love the fact that B-main transfers in the 410 division at Knoxville don’t get their times ‘back’ in the A-main lineup? If you missed the transfer out of the heat, you should have to start at the back of the A-main... Mathematically speaking, put your money on John Hall to finish in the 2.5 spot next week (hey, you can bet on baseball teams to win by a run and a half!). Trust me on this one. He’s halved his finishes each week from 20th to 10th to 5th (plus two straight heat wins; one by an inch, the other a straightaway). Or, you could bet on second or third, depending on your proclivity for rounding up or down.
After a late day USAC triple header at Iowa Speedway, several open wheel luminaries skipped out on the Blake Shelton concert to take in the Knoxville weekly tilt. One guy couldn’t stand to just watch. Robert Ballou, who became the latest in a long line of Nor-Cal winged stars to turn USAC’s heads (see also, Damion Gardner, Bud Kaeding and Brad Sweet) with a win at Eldora last weekend, hurriedly rushed the 30-mile stretch of Highway 14 South just in time to qualify the MPHG 81 car. Things didn’t go well for Ballou, however, and he missed the show. Tyler Walker, who famously split from Guy Forbrook last year at the Nationals, was in the crowd (just hours after winning the Sprint Car show subbing for the two-young Brady Bacon at Iowa Speedway) as were the aforementioned Gardner (who drove Jason Leffler’s Sprint to 12th at Iowa Speedway), Matt Hummel and MVP videographer Dean Mills. The Hall of Fame housed one of its members, Chuck Gurney, and also provided a viewing area for Stephanie Mockler and her famous father Warren… Missouri’s Bob Curtis, who for years traveled the winged circuit spinning wrenches for the likes Ed Gifford, Kevin Rudeen, Jason Meyers and Scott Chilcutt is working for Kasey Kahne on Kevin Swindell’s team now… Brian Brown will have a new radio show, starting the Monday after Mother’s Day called Win It or Wear It and it will be hosted online by Kansas City’s Racin’ Boys and will be done in studio with co-host and Winged Outlaw Warrior mouthpiece Scotty Cook, who has a new website called www.sprintcarplanet.com up and running. Rumors have Brown’s uncle Danny Lasoski appearing on the first broadcast to discuss, presumably, the 2006 Nationals B-main, among other topics… In case you were curious, 360 competitors Tyler, Mike and CJ Houseman are all related but Dave, John and Russ Hall are not.
Bryan Dobesh continues the curious trend of South Dakota dominance in the 360 ranks at Knoxville and nabbed his first career win at Knoxville. Dobesh made an easy go of it and became the third consecutive winner from the front row in the competitive division. Fellow Dakotan and three-time defending champion Jake Peters was fourth at the finish… Mitch Runge, another driver from the self-proclaimed Gateway to the Plains (Sioux Falls holds that lofty title), won a heat race in the 360s and explained to me later that the real key to getting around Knoxville is understanding the tires and making sure to keep the rubber as fresh as possible. Runge’s a smart kid and he’ll do what it takes to get faster and faster at Knoxville… With rain on Friday night in his hometown, Grand Forks, North Dakota’s Mark Dobmeier had just one race on his sked for the weekend. This year, he’ll chase titles at Grand Forks, Knoxville and Huset’s. Do you know anyone else in the country who is chasing championships at three tracks in three different states, two of which are not contiguous? I don’t… Tony Shilling made his first A-main of the season in the 410 division. One week ago, the second year pilot turned 18 on Saturday night… Dusty Ballenger had never raced at Knoxville, despite putting together some fine seasons in 360s, particularly since teaming with Barstad Motorsports. Last Saturday, he finished second to Dave Glennon at Cedar Lake in non-sanctioned action and this week he made his Knoxville debut in the 410 division. Owner and driver each admitted that expectations were low and that they just wanted to test their motor before next Sunday’s Huset’s 410 opener but Ballenger found the cushion agreeable in the B-main and roared to the sixth and final transfer spot and he’s now one-for-one in A-main starts.
Josh Schniederman is still sporting a deep, dark, eight-inch long bruise along his left elbow a full two weeks after his opening night turn three wall-pounder. He may be the smallest guy in the pits but that doesn’t mean he’s not packed with heart, although he admitted pre-race he would hate to take another tumble with his ailing limb. He didn’t and finished second to Dobesh, which matches his previous best at last year’s season championship when he lost out to Jon Corbin… Pete Crall similarly matched his previous best and got his second podium finish and first third-place run since June 11 of 2005… For all of the female readership, both of you presumably, Knoxville is taking applications for the coming Queen’s Contest, which will be held on Tuesday, August 7. More information is available at www.knoxvilleraceway.com... In last week’s diatribe, I mentioned how feature winner Chuck Swenson could make a serious charge for the championship. However, he planned to miss this week and chase the NCRA title in Dodge City, Kansas. He was so committed, he drove to Salina, Kansas, on Friday night before the total destruction of Greensburg, Kansas, called all track personal to duty and the races were canceled. Swenson and crew hustled back to Knoxville where Swenson jumped the start in the B, was sent to the tail and missed the A-main. The NCRA show is rescheduled for next Saturday… Mitchell Alexander was called upon to sub for Terry Alexander after the former underwent knee surgery recently. Mitchell put the 77 in the feature. The previous Friday, Mitchell splattered the contents of his 305 engine all over turn three… Clint Garner’s bad luck continued and he popped the engine in his number 40 on Saturday night.
Best Moment: Seeing Danny Heskin climb from the wreckage after a metal-twisting turn one, B-main crunch that looked bad the first time and positively frightening the second time. It was so appallingly violent that it prompted a rare rewind at the Dingus Lounge’s post-race airing.
Worst Moment: Hearing over the official’s radios that Skip Jackson, who happened to be the polesitter, wouldn’t even make the parade lap before heading to the work area with a flat left rear. Jackson gamely, but quietly, raced back to ninth from the tail but coupled with his opening night spin while battling for the lead, Mr. Consistency is in a hole to start the season.
Biggest Surprise: For the second straight time in weekly competition, Randy Anderson set quick time. This week it was a lucky sounding 14.777. Anderson, always known for his ability to get the most out of the least in his earlier days, has turned into a wise, smooth racer (perhaps required by owner Marty Johnson’s limited but quality equipment) in recent years and it is evident whenever he hits the track alone, nevermind the fact he was 50th quick against the Outlaws.
Biggest Disappointment: On a construction-laden, rain-soaked stretch of Highway 34, seeing Billy Alley’s TK Concrete hauler heading in the exact opposite direction of the 34 Raceway. Although myself and Bill Wright (better known as Bill W) had already realized our water-logged journey was an exercise in the inevitable, there is always hope – until you encounter the first returning hauler. Calls to IRA prez Steve Sinclair confirmed the show was over. Hearing that Chad Hillier was there and many other Outlaws were expected did not sooth the news. That could have a been a good one.
Most Important Thing: Dustin Lindquist’s win for Guy Forbrook. The duo of Gopher Staters put it all together just three races into their Knoxville tenure and got a win. Early in the year, Forbrook said they would evaluate chasing points in late May and, after entering this event in sixth, Lindquist should be poised near the top of the standings. Having this twosome at Knoxville on a weekly basis would go a long way for the 410 division.
Next week will find me at the can’t-miss return of the World of Outlaws at US 36 Raceway in Cameron, Missouri, (anywhere that Haud wins the debut event has to be worth a look) and then back to Knoxville for the IRA invasion. Sunday, of course, is reserved for my dear sweet mother, Gayle. Keep the e-mails coming, preferably of the heartwarming variety, but all are accepted at jzoch@threewidemedia.com.
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