In The Groove
Monday, July 9, 2007
by Stacy Ervin - This summer holiday week has been one action-packed adventure, filled with fireworks both on and off race tracks in Iowa. Twin Features Night is a perennial can't-miss favorite at Knoxville Raceway and this year certainly did not disappoint. With two new winners, drama for some of the favorites and a little bit of silly season ride changing, it certainly held all the excitement for a stellar crowd, many of whom were first-timers who will hopefully return.
Brian Brown seems to be on a mission to avenge last year's point championship faltering and his two strong finishes were a big help in the 410s. In the 360s, the drama came from point leader Josh Higday, who suffered mechanically in his heat and couldn't make either feature. Jake Peters was also absent, apparently needing some time off after an earlier injury. John Kearney also failed to show.
The night also featured the return of Travis Cram, this time in the 17G vacated early in the week by Dennis Moore Jr. Travis’ daredevil driving and cool personality are welcomed back.
Independence Day racing thrills began on Tuesday at my home track, West Liberty Raceway, with the Sprint Invaders. It's like a full-circle trip, having caught the racing bug at the flat half mile best known for its late models before the hallowed halls of the Sprint Car Capitol of the World beckoned with winged rocket ships.
Sprint cars have raced several times at West Liberty now, mostly in special shows on holidays and during the famous July fair. But I think the 2007 version was the best race to date.
Kaley Gharst had the field covered, so covered that he might have taken a side trip to the grandstand to eat a turkey sandwich and then resume his big lead. But on the unlucky 13thlap, the large crowd on hand in the covered wooden grandstand was torn between watching him slow with a broken machine and catching a glimpse of Jordan Goldesberry mashing through the sheet-metal fence. All of it happened in turn three. The late models and other classes of cars which race weekly at Liberty do occasionally have spectacular wrecks, but Goldesberry won the prize with that launching out of the park. Fortunately, he was OK and nobody was foolish enough to be walking the sidewalk into the fairgrounds at the time.
After Gharst exited, it appeared Skip Jackson could easily inherit a win courtesy of Mark Burch's 1M. But from nowhere came Jerrod Hull, who had quietly won the night's B-Main and started in the second-to-last row of the feature. In the second turn of the last lap, Hull made his move and narrowly beat Jackson to the checkers. Before that, Rager Phillips had joined the top duo in putting on one of the greatest three-way battles ever before he faltered with mechanical issues at the end.
Between West Liberty's Sprint Invaders show and Knoxville's Twin Features, I got the chance to do one of the coolest things I have ever done in my own racing career, helping Knoxville Track Historian Bob Wilson lay out the 2007 Knoxville Nationals program.
This week promises more fun and excitement and new experiences for me.
Friday will see the Sprint Invaders make their inaugural visit to the Cedar County Fair in Tipton, a short 20 minutes from my home. Saturday will find me back in my familiar press box chair, but with bigger responsibilities. My partner in live website results, Bob Wilson, who has seen every Knoxville Nationals and more weekly Knoxville shows than most anyone else on the planet, will be taking a night off to attend his first ever race at Eldora Speedway. That's right, Bob's off to the Royal and I will be scrambling to keep up with both 360 and 410 results to write the official story. As the temperature heats up, so does the pressure.
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