Knoxville Nationals Queen Story (Better Late Than Never!)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Here is the story on this year's Nationals Queen Contest submitted by Joanne Cram. Our apologies for the late print!
2008 Knoxville Nationals Queen Contest
By Joanne Cram
Eleven contestants competed on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening to become the 2008 Knoxville Nationals Queen. With contestants from as far away as New South Wales, Australia, the contest was full of race loving ladies.
Aside from the Australia entry, most of the ladies reside here in the Midwest. Many of the contestants arrived in town to watch some of the 360 Nationals action, but they were all here and ready to meet the judges by early Tuesday morning. Included this year in the contest are: Shanie George of Des Moines; Kaila Hamann from Pipestone, Minnesota; DiAnn Cressman of Hartford, South Dakota; Loir Klootwyk from right here in Knoxville; Ashley Zimmerman of Aledo, Illinois; Amanda Ellis of Brooklyn, Iowa; and Melanie Eadie of New South Wales, Australia; Amie Miller of Pleasant Hill, Iowa; Kristin Plath from Stronghurst, Illinois; Cassie Zomer from Brandon, South Dakota; and Summer Sistad of Creston, Iowa.
The ladies meet and mingle at the Queen Contest luncheon sponsored by Mr. C’s Restaurant, and get to know one another during the day. As they finish eating, meeting, and greeting, they are called upon one at a time to meet with a panel of invited judges, which included Ron Shaver, Donny Schatz, Don De Kock, Deb Dennison, Natalie Sather, and Vicki Agan. As the ladies get the chance to meet each other and mingle with one another, they are able to build an idea for whom they would like to vote to be Miss Congeniality of the Contest.
After the votes were cast, 28 year old Amie Miller, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa was crowned Miss Congeniality. Amie is has been involved in racing for 18 years as a fan, and recently has become a NOS Energy Drink Spokesmodel. Amie also works as a research coordinator for KCWI channel 23 out of Ankeny, Iowa and does commercials as well. Amie has a two year old daughter, Reese, and her boyfriend is 360 driver, Doug Lovegrove.
When the ladies returned for the evening portion of the contest, they were to informally come out to introduce themselves once again to the judges and the crowd at the Dyer Hudson Hall on the fairgrounds. The ladies were then to change into their gowns which they would wear, should they be chosen to represent Knoxville as the Queen or a member of the court.
When all the ballots were cast, Kristin Plath of Stronghurst, Illinois was crowned 2nd Runner Up. Kristin is a 17 year old high school senior who is also very involved in school activities which include volleyball, softball, and she is class president. When Kristin graduates from high school, she hopes to attend the University of Illinois, Springfield, to study dentistry. Kristin’s dad was a 20 year veteran racer and now owns a 360 car.
First Runner Up for the 2008 court is Cassie Zomer of Brandon, South Dakota. Cassie is Dusty Zomer’s (#5z 410) 19 year old younger sister. She attends college at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota and is studying elementary education. Cassie enjoys being a part of the races by helping sell t-shirts for her brother and her boyfriend, Ryan Bickett. In Cassie’s spare time, she likes to volunteer as a Big Sister with the Big Brother-Big Sister Program as well as do hair, makeup and nails for people.
The 2008 Knoxville Nationals Queen is recent Creston High School Graduate, Summer Sistad. Summer is 18 years old and has been coming to the races with her grandpa since she was two weeks old. Summer also began helping David Hall (#51 360 sprint) in the pits by cleaning the car and doing stats. Summer will be attending Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, where she has been awarded a scholarship to wrestle on the college’s women’s wrestling team.
The ladies of the Knoxville Nationals Queen Court have an extremely busy schedule which is well under way. Each day they have full agendas which keep them busy volunteering around the track and helping various community organizations.
Special thanks to all the drivers and car owners that helped support the contest by donating items for the ladies gift bags, as each contestant was given a gift bag for participating in the contest. In addition to the donations from the drivers and owners, thanks goes out to Jay Smith of Mr. C’s, luncheon catering; Rick and Elisabeth Gibson of Gibson’s Jewelry; Andrea Wiesenmeyer of Grafx 2 a tee; Candi Stevens of Candi’s Flowers; Deb Dennison of Dennison Racing Tees; Frank Miskimis, Pepperidge Farms; Sheila Ross; and Joanne Cram with Tastefully Simple.
Contest coordinator is Christi Woodruff. Assistants to the contest include Mahala Cox, Joanne Cram, Barb O’Brien, Kristi Konda, Sherrie Sage, Melanie Funk, Carol Ripperger, and Bobbi Cram.
(Pictured): Sistad, Zomer, Plath and Miller
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