Thank You Sammy

Studio 92 Photo - 2013

The career of Sammy Swindell at the Knoxville Raceway is something that I cherish being able to see in my lifetime.  There were so many ups and downs and dramatic moments.  He was cheered and jeered, and when Sammy spoke, people listened. And no driver will ever have the innovative engineering talents and skills Sammy has.  There is a lot to celebrate and remember about his career.

Sammy won 48 features here at Knoxville, which ranks fifth all time on our career wins list, and one of those was the 1983 Knoxville Nationals. Breaking down those 48 feature wins at Knoxville, 24 were World of Outlaws sanctioned events, 7 Nationals preliminary feature wins, 1 win in the only USAC sanctioned winged sprint car event at Knoxville in 1988, and in 1982 Sammy swept Twin Features night, one of only six drivers to accomplish that.  Sammy also won 3 features in the 360 class here, one of those being the last win of his career at this year’s 360 Knoxville Nationals preliminary night.

Sammy’s Knoxville Nationals statistics are impressive (all-time ranking shown).  1 win, finished second three times, 14 top five’s (4th), 20 top ten’s (2nd), 32 Championship A-Main starts (2nd), 7 preliminary feature wins (2nd), 5 quick time’s (4th), 18 heat race wins (1st), and led 89 laps (4th) in 7 different Championship A-Main’s.  All of that in his record 40 Nationals entries. 

There is no doubt Sammy is one of the best to ever strap in a sprint car.  Here is his major win resume:  3 World of Outlaws championships, Kings Royal-3, Williams Grove National Open-2, Manzanita Western World-3, Chico Gold Cup-1, Lernerville Silver Cup-3, Eldora Nationals-1, Fram Dash-2, Bristol Channellock Challenge-2, Ascot Pacific Coast Nationals-1, Syracuse Nationals-5, Chili Bowl-5

Sammy was great, but you can’t help but remember the gut wrenching moments as well over the years for him at Knoxville. He was so close to winning the Nationals in 2010, leading 46 laps only to come up short with a flat tire ending his race.  The memory of Sammy bowing for the fans will forever be in our memories. 

The 1978 Knoxville Nationals Sammy started on the pole, but the rear end broke on his 44x sprinter on lap 1.  Sammy had won the 5 lap A Trophy Dash earlier in the night from the third row.

At the 1980 Nationals Sammy won his preliminary night but parted ways with the Federal Express 91 team before the Sunday afternoon championship race and walked away from a chance to start up front.

Sammy wins the 1983 Knoxville Nationals

In 1983 Sammy had his day when Steve Kinser led the first 25 laps before his engine gave out and Sammy got the win. No one would have predicted that would be Sammy’s only Nationals victory at the time. 

In 1990 Sammy came close to winning the Nationals. Mark Kinser was running away with the race until his engine failed on lap 22. That set up an epic finish between Sammy and Bobby Allen. It would be heartbreak for Sammy that year as he led laps 26-28 with oil leaking all over him before losing to Bobby Allen and finishing second. A lot of race fans consider 1990 to be one of the best Nationals ever.

The 1997 Nationals Sammy passed Mark Kinser for the lead on lap 8, but on lap 11 Don Droud Jr. crashed in front of the leaders bringing out the red flag.  Sammy swerved to miss Droud but Mark couldn’t avoid Sammy and ran over the back end of his car, causing both Sammy and Mark to go to the work area to be able continue in the race, which Dave Blaney would go on to win.

1998 he led at the white flag and started running out of fuel in turns 1 and 2 as Lasoski went by for the win.

It is amazing at all the bad luck he had at Knoxville.  But Sammy will forever be remembered as a champion.  He won with and without a wing, and he was the only guy besides Doug Wolfgang to beat Steve Kinser on a consistent basis.  He had the opportunity to drive Indy Cars and in NASCAR. 

One of my favorite Sammy moments happened at the 1999 Kings Royal where he nearly lapped the field.  It was a stinker of a race, but I can’t remember the last time I witnessed a spanking like that one.  He was in a league of his own that night. 

Studio 92 Photo - 2013

Some of my other favorite memories are his wins at Bristol on dirt.  Not only was it his sponsor’s event the “Channellock Challenge,” but he won it both years the event was held. Sammy always had a knack for the higher speed type of tracks like Knoxville, Eldora, Bristol, Syracuse, and I saw him win a race on the Indiana State Fair mile track in 1985, which I believe was the night before pole day at IMS. Just insane to think how fast winged sprint cars were on those mile tracks. YouTube video here of that race.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw-gjA77_Hw 

Sammy will be missed, as will Steve Kinser.  These 2 men will leave a huge void for the sprint car world to be filled.  Thanks for the memories Sammy.