Knoxville-WoO Preview

If you have the racing blues due to the bad weather like I do, at least this coming Saturday, May 11 the World of Outlaws will be at Knoxville Raceway! The Outlaws are headlined by five time series champion Donny Schatz and twenty time champion Steve Kinser.

Schatz is off to a slow start by his standards currently sitting third in the series point standings, but has two wins. His first ten races he had an average finish of 9.3, and his last nine that has lowered to 6.7. Once Schatz and crew chief Ricky Warner dial-in the new Hoosier tires they will tough to beat as usual. Schatz is the defending and five time champion of the Knoxville Nationals and will be the favorite on May 11. Season Stats: Wins-2, Top five-7, Top ten-13, Avg, finish-8.7.

Over the winter Daryn Pittman was hired to race the Kasey Kahne Racing #9 and is off to a strong start leading the points and has a series leading four wins. Through nineteen races Pittman has an impressive sixteen top ten finishes, the most of anyone on the WoO tour. Stats: Wins-4, Top five-13, Top ten-16, Avg, finish-5.5.

Schatz’s and Pittman’s best competition at Knoxville on May 11 will likely be the 2012 Nationals runner-up Brian Brown, who nearly won the Outlaws race Saturday at Eldora before Daryn Pittman passed him with only a handful of laps remaining. Brown has competed with the WoO on twelve occasions this season and has recorded five top ten’s. Look for Brown to make a strong showing on his home track at Knoxville!

Paul McMahan is driving the #51 this season and sits second in the point standings with one win. The Pennsylvania based CJB Motorsports team is looking to make their mark in their debut season with the Outlaws, and McMahan is in the prime of his career. Stats: Wins-1, Top five-9, Top ten-12, Avg, finish-8.6.

Joey Saldana has changed rides and now wheels the 71m Motter Motorsports machine. It’s been about a decade since the Motter team has fielded a sprinter. The resurrected 71m is off to a good start sitting fourth in points, but still looking for their first win. Stats: Wins-0, Top five-5, Top ten-12, Avg, finish-9.4.

Sammy Swindell is fifth in points and has collected one win so far. Look for Sammy to be on top of his game at Knoxville. Stats: Wins-1, Top five-4, Top ten-11, Avg, finish-9.7.

David Gravel started the season racing in Florida in his family owned #89G sprint car. When Bill Rose was injured in the third race of the season, Gravel was hired to fill in and he has put himself sixth in the point standings and is now on the full time tour. Stats: Wins-0, Top five-4, Top ten-10, Avg, finish-10.1.

Craig Dollansky (former Knoxville Regular) has two wins this season, but sits seventh in the Outlaws points. I would look for Dollansky and his #7 team to make big strides in the coming weeks and improve that position. The wins are there, and the consistency will follow. The Minnesota native always performs well at Knoxville. Stats: Wins-2, Top five-4, Top ten-10, Avg, finish-10.4.

Cody Darrah is currently in eighth in the WoO points. In his third full season with the Outlaws, Darrah has struggled this season, but has been close to winning on a couple of occasions. With his teammate Pittman leading the points, you have to think that Darrah will improve soon. Stats: Wins-0, Top five-2, Top ten-7, Avg, finish-12.3.


Steve Kinser finds himself ninth in the point standings with one feature win. In nineteen races he has one top five finish. The 58 year old “King of the Outlaws” is not off to a good start. It was only three years ago that he was competing for the win at the Nationals when his engine let go while running third. But he failed to qualify for the Nationals A main last season. Is the King’s age finally catching up with him? I wouldn’t ever count him out of winning more races. Stats: Wins-1, Top five-1, Top ten-7, Avg, finish-13.1.

2005 Knoxville track champion Kerry Madsen has been struggling this season, sitting eleventh in the points is not where I expected him to be. The team missed three features earlier in the season and has recently made a change at crew chief. Madsen won his first race of the season last Friday at Eldora, but followed that up with a finish of twenty-fourth the following night. The Keneric #29 team is based out of Knoxville and they won the June Outlaws event in 2012 at Knoxville, so I am sure they are excited to be back racing on their home turf. Stats: Wins-1, Top five-3, Top ten-8, Avg, finish-14.3.

2005 Knoxville Nationals champion Kraig Kinser isn’t off to the start he hoped for with only eight top ten finishes, and not making the feature at Merced, CA. After improving each of the last three seasons in the points by finishing tenth, eighth, and sixth from 2010-2012 respectively, it appeared that the 11K team was gaining momentum. It is still early in the season, but hopefully Kraig can win some races and rebound. Stats: Wins-0, Top five-3, Top ten-8, Avg, finish-13.5.
Jason Sides started the season strong with five straight top ten finishes, but has since struggled and missed the feature on a few nights. Sides is a talented driver with not as much funding as most teams on the tour. He hasn’t had the best of luck at Knoxville historically, but hopefully he can turn that around this weekend. Stats: Wins-0, Top five-2, Top ten-7, Avg, finish-15.3.

Although Tim Kaeding isn’t considered a full-time driver with the Outlaws, he has been the most impressive of anyone on the tour. In fourteen starts TK has three wins, nine top five’s, and eleven top ten’s. His average feature finish was 4.6 before last weekend, best of anyone on the tour, but he didn’t have a good weekend at Eldora with a twenty-sixth, and sixteenth place finishes. Look for Kaeding to be tough at Knoxville.

I would also keep a lookout for Lucas Wolfe in the Todd and Susan LaHaise #82. Wolfe is off the full-time Outlaws tour this season, but has found a solid ride. This car has performed well at Knoxville in the past, including winning the Knoxville Nationals Friday “Hard Knox” feature with Justin Henderson in the seat. Wolfe finished eighth and twelfth last weekend with the Outlaws at Eldora.

The “Knoxville Regulars” will be on hand to try to defend their home track, which hasn’t been an easy task over the years. There have been 132 World of Outlaws features (not including the Knoxville Nationals) at Knoxville Raceway since the series started racing here in 1979, and only twice has a “Regular” weekly competitor came away with a victory (Lasoski 1993, McCarl 2009).

Terry McCarl won an Outlaws race earlier this season in Florida, so he will be in contention for a win and looked good at the season opener. Brian Brown clearly has a chance to get the win. Bronson Maeschen won the Capitani Classic last August with several of the Outlaws competitors in that field. Mark Dobmeier won an Outlaws feature last year at Huset’s Speedway. Brooke Tatnell is a “Regular” this year and won an Outlaws feature in the 2010 season at Knoxville. Davey Heskin has finished in the top ten twice within the past three years at the Nationals, and he always qualifies well. Ian Madsen was really fast in the Nehring #18 at the season opener, as was Dusty Zomer. The chances of one of the “Regulars” beating the Outlaws, is higher than ever!

The Knoxville 360 class will be racing as well on May 11. See you in the stands!
Knoxville Raceway World of Outlaws career feature wins (not including Knoxville Nationals): 26-Steve Kinser, 24-Sammy Swindell, 14-Danny Lasoski, 14-Mark Kinser, 11-Doug Wolfgang, 9-Jac Haudenschild, 5-Donny Schatz, 5-Stevie Smith, 3-Craig Dollansky, 3-Joey Saldana, Tied with 2; Brad Doty, Dave Blaney, Johnny Herrera, Terry McCarl. Tied with 1 win; Bobby Davis Jr., Brooke Tatnell, Danny Smith, Jason Meyers, Jeff Swindell, Keith Kauffman, Kerry Madsen, Kraig Kinser, Shane Stewart, Tim Green.

Knoxville Raceway Season Opener Notes

The 60th Knoxville Raceway season opener saw 33-410’s, 28-360’s, and 21-305’s for a total of 82 cars drive through the pit gate, a healthy car count to start the season.

410 Class:
Brian Brown went out thirteenth in the qualifying order and established quick time with a lap of 15.039. Ian Madsen was second quick despite going out thirtieth in the order. Dustin Selvage won the first heat with Mark Dobmeier on his tail. Brian Brown had moved from sixth to second when his car seemed to have come out of gear and he stopped in turn two. Brown was towed to the pit and would start the B main. Heat two saw the start get called back with Garrett Dollanksy not in line on the front row. He moved to the third row which moved up Terry McCarl and Ian Madsen. Madsen had a great start and was around McCarl on the first corner. Madsen looked impressive and pulled away to an easy win. Heat three was all Shane Stewart coming from the third row. Stewart picked off cars easily after the field sorted itself out. Davey Heskin took a little longer to get by some cars but looked impressive the last few laps and finished third. In the B main Brian Brown pulled away to win easily. I had clocked him at 15.9, 15.4, 15.8 most laps he was in clean air so the track was still fast around the cushion. The Dunkin track preparation was spot on with a low groove, a high groove, and the middle came in as the moisture in the low groove was kicked up the track.

With Droud and McCarl starting on the front row of the feature it looked like they would duel it out for the win, but Shane Stewart drove his #71 around both of them on lap two and threaded his way through lapped traffic with no problems making it look easy on his way to victory. The race behind Stewart for second was heated with Droud, McCarl, and Zomer for several laps until a lap nine caution for Austin McCarl who had a fire under his car. The safety workers were there right away to extinguish it, but it wasn’t the night A-Mac had hoped for. Stewart again pulled away on the restart and was never challenged. McCarl would take runner-up honors with Ian Madsen getting by Droud and Zomer late for third place. Brian Brown came from nineteenth to fifth.

410 Thoughts:
Shane Stewart is fast in any car he drives. How this guy hasn’t landed a full-time WoO ride is mind boggling to me. But it was great to see him come join us for a weekly show in the Indy Race Parts 71.

Terry McCarl is the man to beat for the championship. No one is better at “racing” in the features than he is. His experience makes up for whatever his car might be lacking.

I’m impressed with Ian Madsen and his new Nehring 18 team. They were very fast off the trailer and I think he will be McCarl’s toughest competition.

I was glad to see Dusty Zomer qualify well (fourth) which is what he was lacking last season. If he continues to qualify well and start up front in the features, he will win some races.

Davey Heskin qualified third, looked good in his heat race, but he didn’t go forward in the feature starting seventh and finishing eighth. I will be watching him closely next week to see if this was a one night deal where they struggled with the set-up, or maybe the competition has got better around him.

I was disappointed with the 55 of Brooke Tatnell. Tatnell qualified fifth, went from fifth to fourth in his heat race, and fifth to eleventh in the feature. I was expecting more but I think they will improve as the season goes.

Bronson Maeschen started ninth and finished ninth in the feature. Like Heskin I will keep an eye on Bronson to see if he improves next week.

Mark Dobmeier qualified thirteenth and drove from twelfth to seventh. Qualifying has hurt them in years past, and that is something they need to improve upon to win a track championship and win races.

Good to have Brian Brown in attendance. What a tough break for him, losing the rear end in his heat race. It would have been interesting to see him and Stewart battle for the win. But he looked faster than anyone else all night.

The return of David Hesmer will have to wait one more week as his team burnt a piston in their engine on practice night.


360 Class:
Jamie Ball was fastest in group qualifying with a 16.305. Randy Martin, Thomas Kennedy, and Tony Schilling were the heat race winners. Tyler Groenendyk appeared to have the feature in hand, leading by half a straightaway at one point. As Groenendyk entered lapped traffic he switched his line from the cushion to the middle and lower grooves and lost his momentum. This allowed veteran Clint Garner to pounce on the opportunity and get by for the win. Groenendyk still had an impressive run in second as he held off a charging Nate Van Haaften the last few laps for the position.

360 Thoughts:
Clint Garner is still the driver to beat in this class. It was good to see Groenendyk have a good showing after struggling last season. I hope that Tyler keeps progressing throughout the season. Although the track was perfect for passing and slide jobs, I didn’t see much of that with most of field finishing close to where they started, which left me scratching my head. Was it just the first night and teams adjusting to new rules and tires? Are the cars are more equal this year?

305 Class:
Matt Stephenson set a new 305 track record in qualifying with a lap of 16.846. Matthew Stelzer won the first heat race on the last corner by passing Mike Mayberry on the outside. Larry Ball Jr. destroyed the field in heat two. In the feature J Kinder had the early lead with rookie Jake Strayer keeping pace, but Larry Ball Jr. worked his way from eighth to the front as they raced through lapped traffic and picked up the win. Kinder and Strayer would finish second and third respectively. Last year’s 305 track champion Stelzer finished fourth while Matt Stephenson rounded out the top five.

Wrap-up:
I’m looking forward to next Saturday night already. Had the chicken bites this week, now I have to decide on tenderloin or nachos for next week... decisions. The #4 of Dakota Hendrickson is my early season vote for best appearing car, although Ian Madsen’s #18 is a close second. It was nice to see the return of a weekly program of sorts with the Full Throttle program being sold for $1 under the stands. It has a scorecard inside, and people keeping score in the stands is a lost art. When I was a kid, half the people in the stands would write down lineups and finishes. I guess we are spoiled today with lineups on our smart phones with Twitter and the Mobile App. I’m pleased to see the return of my friend Rustin Nelson writing a column in that program as well, he is always colorful. And what a great crowd on opening night!!! I hope that continues. See you in the stands.

2013 Knoxville Raceway Season Preview

The 2013 Knoxville Championship Cup Series season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive I can remember, especially in the 410 class. Many teams are coming into the season with experience. Some are brand new teams. And most of them have won races and have excellent equipment. With teams changing from Goodyear to Hoosier tires and harder-narrower tires than they have used before, it will be interesting to see who adapts the quickest to the new tire rules. Twin Features night is always a pivotal night in the points season, and this year it will pay full winnings for both features. Kudos to Brian Stickel and the Fair Board for that decision! The Capitani Classic event is just as important as twin features night and a lot can be gained or lost by making the A main as we saw last season. 2012 saw eight different winners in thirteen weekly shows in the 410 class, and it is hard to believe the competition is tougher in 2013, but it is.

410 Class:
The Favorite:
Seven time track champion Terry McCarl is the man to beat. Although McCarl didn’t have a stellar 2012 season in qualifying, he was the only driver to have an average finish of five or better (4.9) in 2012. T-Mac is the clear favorite to win in my eyes and he already has one World of Outlaws feature win in 2013 in Florida.

The Contenders:
Davey Heskin was the point leader most of the season last year and showed maturity behind the wheel. He won two features and his equipment held up all season. Losing the point battle late in the season was tough to swallow as McCarl outperformed Heskin at the Capitani Classic. I look for Heskin, with one more of year experience under his belts, to be right there again in 2013.

Dusty Zomer was second in points in 2011 but is coming off of a disappointing fourth place finish in 2012 with no feature wins. I look for the Ingalls #91 team to come back strong this season, win some races, and challenge for the title.

Bronson Maeschen won two races in 2012, including the Capitani Classic, and finished third in points. Something seemed to click last year for Maeschen and he proved he has the ability to compete for feature wins, not just great qualifying times. It will be interesting to see if Maeschen can sustain that type of effort in 2013.

Mark Dobmeier is another driver to keep your eyes on. He also struggled in qualifying in 2012, and then raced his way up front consistently as he was third in average feature finishes with an average of 7.3. Dobmeier won a World of Outlaws feature in 2012 at Huset’s and has the ability to win at any time. The Lunstra 13 team races racing three nights a week, which helps in a lot of ways, but I also wonder if that hinders them at times with not having fresh equipment at the big Knoxville half-mile. Dobmeier is due for a great points season, and this might be his year.

Australian Brooke Tatnell announced he will be making a run at the Knoxville track championship in 2013 driving the #11AU Barry Lewis owned car. Although Tatnell is a veteran with eleven World of Outlaws career feature wins and four career wins at Knoxville, this is his first real attempt to race for a championship at Knoxville. His only other season competing full time at Knoxville was 1994. Tatnell will be a force in the 410 class as a Knoxville Regular.

Another Aussie, Ian Madsen is coming off of an impressive 2012 season where he showed a lot of improvement at Knoxville winning one feature and finishing sixth in points. He also won the Sydney Speedway $50,000 challenge this winter in Australia after starting at the back of the field. Ian will be driving for a new team this season, the #18 Bret Nehring owned sprint car.

Wild Cards:
Don Droud Jr. will be back in the familiar Gil Sonner 47. Droud has finished seventh in points the past two seasons after finishing second in 2010. They could rebound and be a contender to the championship if they can qualify better. Droud is one of the best drivers in the pit area with a lot of experience.

Lynton Jeffrey was eighth in points in 2012. He didn’t win a feature last season, but if he has the funding and the power under the hood, he can drive his #12 Vortex Wings car to the front.

David Hesmer is coming back after an eight year layoff in the new #1 Bryan Sundby team. This team is focused on winning some races and competing solely at Knoxville. They will have a fast car and I look for them to be tougher in the second half of the season as long as their equipment holds up.

Dustin Selvage is entering his third season in the 410 class. He has performed well at times the past two seasons, and is still looking for his first feature win. Consistency has been his downfall, but I see a lot of potential in this driver. He will change from his family owned team to drive the Williams 7K.

The Field: Josh Schneiderman, Ryan Bunton, Rob Kubli, AJ Moeller, Mike Moore, Dennis Moore Jr., Rager Phillips, Tasker Phillips, Glen Saville, Jarrod Schneiderman.

All of these drivers have experience and most have shown improvement. Ryan Bunton and AJ Moeller both had good qualifying efforts in 2012 but their lack of experience showed in features. Dennis Moore Jr. is moving back into the 410 class after racing in the 360 division the past few seasons. Rager Phillips has moved back into the #10 VaderEcken car and were fast at times two years ago when they combined their efforts, especially at the Nationals. Josh Schneiderman was tenth in points a year ago, but that was down from previous seasons. It will be interesting to see if he can rebound in 2013.

Sentimental Favorite: Robert Bell. Let’s hope we see the #71 back on the track in 2013.

Rookies: Dakota Hendrickson of Omaha, Nebraska, Jordan Goldesberry and Joey Moughan both of Springfield, IL.

Maybe: If Austin McCarl can pull some sponsorship dollars together we could see his #17a back on the track. He is a talented driver who could compete for some wins. I’ve also heard that the #19 of Bob Weuve from Newton might be coming back after taking last season off.

The Part-Timers: No doubt we will see heavyweights Brian Brown, Wayne Johnson, and Danny Lasoski at Knoxville a handful of times this year.

Invaders: It’s already been documented that some teams are planning to visit Knoxville Raceway more often this year to be more prepared for the Knoxville Nationals in August. Listening to recent Winged Nation broadcasts on MRN Radio, Dale Blaney said that he intends to show up on June 1 during the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame induction weekend as his father Lou Blaney will be enshrined. Greg Hodnett also alluded to making a couple of extra trips from Pennsylvania this year to make some laps after being disappointed with his Nationals results missing the Saturday A main the past two years. California driver Rico Abreu has also mentioned that he intends to race a few times in his bid to win Rookie of the Nationals. IRA champion Bill Balog has also mentioned that he will be at Knoxville more frequently this season.

360 Class:
The favorite is four time track champion Clint Garner, who absolutely dominated the points battle in 2012 with four wins. Ganrer will attempt to win his fifth consecutive championship in 2013, which would break the tie of him and David Hesmer with four track championships each. Garner alluded to trying the 410 division in 2013 at the end of last season but his team has since decided to stay with the same program this season.

The drivers hoping to end the rein of Garner are Nate Van Haaften who won two features last season, Jon Agan, Matt Moro, Josh Higday, and Joe Beaver. Agan and Moro both won one feature in 2012 and Beaver was consistently in the top ten. Higday and Moro are both experienced enough, and if they have the equipment and a little luck to stay up front they could do very well. I also think we will see Carson McCarl improve this year in his sophomore season in the 360 class and if he can get a feature win early in the season, that confidence boost might propel him to more wins and be someone to challenge for a top five point finish.

My Wild Cards are Russ Hall, Jamie Ball, RJ Johnson, and Casey Friedrichsen. All of these drivers have the capability to win features on any given night, but consistency is something they need to work on. Thankfully Jamie Ball is healthy and back racing after a serious crash a year ago. Alan Ambers will move up from the 305 class to 360 this year.

Part-Timers: While Randy Martin only runs a part-time schedule, when he is at Knoxville he is consistently in the top five. And with the field opened up to allow 410 competitors to race every week in both classes, I think we could see some teams trying their 360 equipment more frequently to gear up for the 360 Nationals. Brian Brown and Jason Johnson both entered the 360 class twice last season but might do it more often this year when they do show up since they are able to race both classes.

305 Class:
This class is hard to predict but Matthew Stelzer is the defending champion and is likely to be the driver to beat again. Mike Van Haaften and Mitchell Alexander were his top competition a year ago. Cody Ambers and J Kinder will likely show improvement. Matt Stephenson has always been competitive in his #55 and with some rookies coming in I think it will be a tough field of cars. This class is growing, and I have a hunch we will see car counts in this class continue to grow. The one rookie I have my eye on is Newton teenager Jake Strayer, who has had a successful career in SportMods in recent years at Marshalltown Speedway and he started the last race of the season at Knoxville in the 305’s in 2012.


The best part of a new season is that we really don’t know how it will all turn out. From week to week we see teams evolve. Some get better and some get worse as they struggle to keep up with the wear and tear throughout the season. It is the best reality show in my opinion. My favorite part of opening night though is walking through the ticket entrance tunnel and walking up the ramp to my seat, soaking in the environment with some chicken bites, and then watching the push trucks drop the hammer to help fire off the cars. The smell of the methanol is intoxicating as the cars idle by slowly. The anticipation of that first Doug Clark green flag builds. And then the track is packed down tight and the command is given to turn em’ loose! Ahhh it is heaven. As I have grown older a lot of things in life change, but the feeling I still get with that first green flag stays the same and it takes me back to sitting with my father in the stands as a child. Those are some of the best memories of my life, and I hope you make great memories as well this season with your friends at family at Knoxville Raceway in 2013. Good luck to all the competitors and I hope it’s a safe season for all involved.

2013 WoO Preview

It looks like we have a good field of cars this in the World of Outlaws with twelve full time teams traveling. I don’t see anyone competing with the clear favorite Donny Schatz, especially now that the series is back to Hoosier tires this season. The five time champion will likely make it six in 2013. But the race behind the #15 car should be an interesting one as I see no clear cut team who is above the others.

With Craig Dollansky putting together a solid 2012 campaign and leading the points after 2/3 of the season before Schatz went on a run the last 1/3 of the season, I think the Crowd Pleaser (Remember when he was the “Slingshot”) might be the one guy to give him a run for his money. The other contender is Daryn Pittman in the KKR #9 car this year. Pittman is in his prime, eager to be back on the full time WoO tour, and motivated for sure. But will he gel with Kale Kahne and KKR is the question. They were fast last week in Florida, but it’s a 90 race schedule.

I have this feeling 2013 is a pivotal season in the WoO. I think we will see Steve and Sammy start sliding down the point standings, and we will see Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, and Kerry Madsen jump in the standings. Steve is in the twilight of his career. I sincerely hope the King can muster up one more championship, but I don’t see it happening. Sammy is still the most technically sound (mad scientist) in the pit area and his cars are fast, he will win races and set a lot of quick times, but consistency is his downfall. I really think Kraig and Sides will have breakout seasons. I look for Madsen to steadily improve as well.

I’m not sold on Cody Darrah. He drives hard, but his job is likely on the line this year. He has to win races and try to get into the top five in points or he will be replaced. KKR has too much invested to keep a driver who isn’t winning races. And there are plenty of other talented drivers out there to replace him (Tim Kaeding, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan).

Joey Saldana is a wildcard this year in the rebirth of the Motter 71m team. Although Joey knows the cars and engines well, it’s hard to believe a new team can just come out and compete for a championship in its first year on the road. They will likely win a few races, but I think this is a 2-3 year building process.

I hope Schatz doesn’t run away and hide from the rest of the field, but that’s my gut feeling. It should be a good season, and I’m thankful for all the media coverage today on Twitter and the Race Monitor app.

My WoO pre-season power rankings: 1. Schatz, 2. Dollansky, 3. Pittman, 4. K. Kinser, 5. Sides, 6. Madsen, 7. Sammy, 8. Darrah, 9. S. Kinser, 10. Saldana, 11. Kemenah, 12. Rose

World of Outlaws 2012 Review

Looking back at the 2012 World of Outlaws season I have some thoughts.

Donny Schatz is good….really good. I never thought we would see another Steve Kinser in sprint car racing, but Schatz is becoming the next closest thing to the King, maybe a Duke? At age 35 he still has a lot of time to catch and surpass the King’s records. He may never get to 20 championships or 600 career wins, but as far as the rest of the records I think he can break a lot of them. Schatz, the 1997 WoO rookie of the year didn’t win his first championship until 2006. That had to be nine LONG years of getting beat. He now has five World of Outlaws championships and 124 career WoO wins which is fourth all-time in the WoO.

Me being a statistician geek, I went and looked back at Schatz’ WoO season win totals, 1997-0, 1998-1, 1999-0, 2000-1, 2001-6, 2002-2, 2003-7, 2004-8, 2005-8, 2006-17, 2007-19, 2008-18, 2009-12, 2010-5, 2011-8, 2012-11. Yeah, the “Duke” won 17 races in 2006 during the NST split, but then he backed it up with 19 and 18 wins the following two seasons. I think he would have beaten the King and Lasoski in 2006 anyway if those guys were in the same series.

Of the five crown jewel or major events in winged sprint car racing (Knoxville, Kings Royal, Williams Grove National Open, Chico Gold Cup, and the Historical Big One) Schatz has accumulated 14 victories. That includes six Knoxville Nationals, two at the Kings Royal, one at the Gold Cup and HBO, and four at the Grove. 14 ranks Schatz second to the King with 37 wins by that measuring stick. 37 is a tall order to catch I think. The rest of that list is completed with Doug Wolfgang at 11 victories, followed by Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, and Kenny Weld who all have 7 victories. I think it’s safe to say Schatz is the second best sprint car driver of the WoO era.

The season started with the shocking announcement that two time defending champion Jason Meyers was not going to race full time and go on a 14 race farewell/tribute tour. I’m still not sold that Jason Meyers wanted to quit racing with the way the teams’ ownership structure fell apart, and there was talk of adding a second team, and then all of a sudden it was over? Maybe being closer to home and family was the reasoning, and I respect that. Making sure you are a better father and husband than a race car driver is certainly more important in my eyes. But my gut tells me he won’t stay out of racing forever. He is only 33 years old, at the peak of his career, and he still has a lot to accomplish. Meyers has won the Gold Cup and Williams Grove National Open but there are two big gaping holes on that resume that he hasn’t won yet, the Knoxville Nationals and the Kings Royal.

Sammy Swindell looked like the guy to beat at the beginning of the season, but after about halfway he seemed to lose his mojo. There is one trait over Sammy’s career that continues to haunt him to this day, his strive for perfection. Sammy is usually the fastest car, shown by setting quick time more than anyone this season with 14, which is five more than anyone else. He won 13 races which is also tops in the series for this season. But Sammy can’t consistently finish races because he is pushing the envelope for perfection which ends up costing him the title with 48 top ten finishes compared to Schatz with 60, Dollansky with 51, and Joey Saldana with 52. I love the all-out approach Sammy has. When he is on, he dominates and no one can touch him. But maybe if he didn’t always push the envelope to have the maximum output and maybe dialed it back a tick, he could get more top ten finishes and win another championship.

Craig Dollansky came up 114 points short of winning the championship. I’m sure it was disappointing for his team to a degree with having the point lead late into the season until Schatz made his late season charge after winning the Nationals. But I think Dollanksy is close to pulling it off within the next few years. His team has been building up to this and we will see if he has anything for Schatz in 2013.

Joey Saldana had a disappointing season with five wins and fourth in the standings. Joey is a good driver but the KKR combination wasn’t working anymore and it was time for a change. I hope the rebirth of the 71M Motter team is a better match for him. But I have a feeling Daryn Pittman won’t do much better in the KKR 9 machine.

Steve Kinser didn’t set quick time once all season, finished fifth in the standings with four wins, yet his son Kraig set quick time seven times with the same engine package and he also won four features. I honestly feel that the King just needs to add resources at the engine shop, or subcontract out the engines, because you can’t have your traveling crew chief pulling double duty as the engine builder as well, not when Scott Gerkin is on the road. There is just no way to pull that off today with teams having the resources they do. To me it’s amazing that Gerkin has been able to pull this off as long as he has so successfully, but the landscape has changed and they need to change to survive. The King is 58 so soak in every lap you can of him while you can, because he is the best there ever was, and ever will be. But Sammy is 57 and is as good as he ever was. I think the King has a few good years left in him.

Cody Darrah is steadily improving, but I think his back against the wall and he needs a breakout season in 2013.

Kerry Madsen had a good season with five wins and was the biggest surprise of the season to most people by showing he can win at the highest level. Hope his team has something build on next year.

Good to see Lucas Wolfe get his first win, had one quick time on the season. He seemed to show some improvement running up front more frequently at the end of the season.

Chad Kemenah won two races and is still trying to hang with the best. Give the guy credit he is out there on the road and is dedicated.

I think you could argue that Tim Kaeding might be the most talented shoe who isn’t on the full time WoO tour, and he is probably one of the top ten (or five) in the country over all. Four WoO wins, 17 top ten finishes, and he ran a limited schedule.

Sounds like Jason Sides will be back full time in 2013 with the legal issues put away.

Good to see guys like Brian Brown and David Gravel race with the Outlaws more frequently this past year.

Bottom line…. Schatz is good. But I would have loved to see the Schatz/Meyers rivalry continue.

World Nationals at Marshalltown Speedway

I was hoping for an IMCA Modified Nationals event at Knoxville, but I will settle for Marshalltown instead! Toby Kruse announced a couple of weeks ago that Marshalltown Speedway will be hosting an event labeled the 7th Annual World Nationals (formerly known as the Havoc on the Highbanks) and putting up $10,000 to win! To compare how big that number is, the Knoxville Harris Clash pays $2,000 to win, the sports “super bowl”, the Boone Super Nationals has a base winning payout of $2,000, the catch is the contingency money ($100 per sanctioned event competed in capped at 50 events) with the potential to win up to $7,000. Richie Gustin won $5,700 in 2011 and Jeff Taylor won $2,700 in 2012. So for a guaranteed $10,000 to win race in the IMCA Modified ranks is a big deal, and Marshalltown is a perfect site for it that will offer close short track racing.

The one rule that sticks out for this event is that teams with a Crate motor are ineligible to compete. From Marshalltown Speedway Press Release:
The 2013 “World Nationals” will be a Hawkeye Dirt Tour event. It is with great pride that Marshalltown Speedway is able to partner with PBM Performance/Erson Cam/World Products to become the title sponsor of this high profile event. With this new sponsorship package in place, during the 2013 “World Nationals”, the IMCA Modifieds will be running built motors only, this in appreciation for the support of local machine shops and high performance engine builders.

This is a big step for IMCA Modified racing. As the costs of racing continue to increase, the purses have held steady. IMCA historically hasn’t wanted to have big payouts thinking that would control the cost of racing and help the competitive balance. But in recent years teams have been building more expensive engines in the Modified class, and the days of teams claiming an engine seem to be gone. So if the environment is such that teams can spend more money, it makes sense that we have an upper tier event that pays more money. The car count will be interesting to see how it pans out with probably half the teams in Iowa racing a crate, but I have a feeling some of those teams will go find an engine somewhere for this event. Just to clarify, the crate engines will be allowed in the other classes that compete that weekend.

With Carl Moyer (Karl Chevrolet) being such a large marketing partner and presence for local IMCA dirt track racing in Iowa and a proponent of the crate engine program, I’m a little surprised about the crate rule. But I’m guessing there is enough support from PBM Performance/Erson and Cam/World Products to make all this happen.

I’m excited for this event and think it’s a great idea by promoter Toby Kruse to put on something like this. Toby tells me there will be more details announced in the coming weeks about this event, including how much the Modified race will pay for second, third, and so forth.

Brian Stickel named Knoxville Raceway GM

Knoxville Raceway announced today that Brian Stickel has been promoted to the General Manager position, replacing Toby Kruse who resigned in September. John McCoy stays put as the Director of Competition. Gary Schumacher will now take on the role of the Office Manager along with his accounting duties (Director of Accounting and Human Resources). Stickel has been the Director of Marketing and Sales at Knoxville since 2006 and he will continue to oversee those areas as the GM. So not much is changing at the raceway, basically one management position has been eliminated compared to last year.

Stickel is a familiar face at the track with a proven track record. His background is quite extensive within racing and business and I think he is a good choice by the Marion County Fair Board to represent the Knoxville Raceway and help to continue its traditions while also trying to help it grow in the future. I have had a good experience working with Brian the past few years with press credentials, stories for the Nationals programs, planning a company outing, and Twitter. I approached Brian two years ago about why the track should use Twitter, how it could be used, and the benefits. So he agreed to let me post the results and news and it’s worked out well. It’s amazing how when you talk to people face to face, or over the phone, how much more receptive they are to any idea you may have, and you are taken more seriously.

Looking over the resume for 52 year old Stickle is quite impressive. He is a native of nearby Pleasantville and now resides south of Knoxville not too far away from the English Creek Speedway. Here is a summary of Brian’s past work experience in chronological order (thanks to Brian for sharing his resume with me).

Owned his own company that promoted mountain biking events in Vermont.
Director of Competition: National Off-Road Bicycle Association.
Deputy Competition Manger: Mountain Biking 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Executive Director: Greater Des Moines Sport Authority.
Pacific Division Director: NHRA.
Drag Strip Director: Mid-America Motorplex (Pacific Junction, Iowa).
Executive Director: Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development.

As you can see he has a background in a lot of other areas besides sprint car racing, and I think that is a good thing. But his heart is where his home is, and that is Knoxville Raceway. Brian has a passion for sprint car racing and he also understands the business side of things as well. I look forward to the 2013 season and what the new management team has in store for us race fans.