Davey Heskin could win the Knoxville track championship in 2012. I said that a couple of weeks ago and I’ll keep saying it. The kid is good, has good equipment, and last Saturday he drove like a veteran as he made his way through lapped traffic and when the track took rubber he found it and held off a hard charging Brian Brown and Terry McCarl at the end. Very impressive win and I can sense he is hungry for more and he is growing in confidence.
Heskin is qualifying well, racing well, and now winning. He is the brightest rising star in sprint car racing in my opinion. Just hope I don’t jinx him by saying all that. HaHa!
Wayne Johnson has won a 410 and a 360 feature at Knoxville. The 410 win was certainly with the help of the invert draw to put him on the front row, but Wayne finds his way to the front even when he starts back 6 rows. Good to see him doing well and in some good equipment.
Terry McCarl is solid as ever and will be with Heskin, Zomer, Dobmeier, to the end in the 410 points race. Look for T-Mac to win soon in his Larry the Cable Guy BBQ sauce car.
Ian Madsen is third in 410 points at the moment. Ian has certainly become an improved driver from a few years ago and I think he can stay close to the top five at the end of the season.
Dustin Selvage has looked good, as has Bronson Maeschen. Just a good field of cars at Knoxville this year.
Clint Garner is already out to a 144 point lead in the 360 class and we’re only three races into the season. He is the best driver, with the best equipment in that class, and when he drove by Jason Johnson two weeks ago for the win it was cool.
Larry Ball Jr. should walk away with the 305 points. This class seems down this year compared to 2011 when we had Carson McCarl, Jaymie Ball, and Tasker Phillips all racing for wins. Now we have one or two fast cars and twenty cars that are a step down. And lengthening the laps of the 305 feature from 12 to 15 this year is a bad idea. Yes, those guys need laps to improve, but it hasn’t added to the entertainment value of the races and they’re eating up the racing surface for the 410 cars which is the main reason most people are there.
I’m a geek when it comes to digging into the Knoxville Nationals history and stats. The past few weeks I’ve been sifting through all sorts of information and finding some cool and weird things. Follow me @KnoxvilleNats as I will be posting some stats, photos, facts, etc. there on twitter.
Oskaloosa-Southern Iowa Speedway:
Seen some good races the past few weeks at Osky with their weekly IMCA shows. This past Wednesday night was a SportMod special 20 lap race paying $500 to win. It also included a pit stop on lap 10 for teams to make adjustments and change one tire. Scott VanBuskirk took the lead from Racer Hulin on lap four and set sail. But Curtis Van Der Wal clawed his way up from his eleventh starting spot into third at halfway, and then took the lead on lap 14, only to have VanBuskirk take it away with two laps to go and get the win. SportMod point’s leader Jesse Sobbing broke the driveline on the first lap, and with him starting twelfth he would have made a good race even better I have a feeling.
Cayden Carter in Modified, Nathan Wood in Stock Car, and Shannon Anderson in Hobby Stock all seem to have a good hold on their class points chases. In Modified Shane Weller and Brandon Banks will be there competing til the end. But we’ve seen the car count in this class dwindle a bit the past couple of weeks as some drivers (such as Richie Gustin) have decided not to run full time at Osky. The big half mile is just too hard on their engines.
Shannon Anderson is the man to beat in Hobby Stock for sure. He was involved in a crash last week and it took away his cushy point lead, but a win this week will extend it some more. Donavan Nunnikhoven has been able to get some wins and has been Anderson’s toughest competitor. John Watson, Kevin Fee, Dustin Griffiths, Eric Stanton, Bill Bonnett, and Danny Thrasher have been vigorously competing in the top ten and week in and week out these guys have put on a great show.
Marshalltown Speedway:
I have been able to make it to Marshalltown for a couple of races this season. Two weeks ago both the stock car and modified class winners came from the fifth row when Brian Irvine and Ronn Lauritzen won their races. Adam Larson and Jimmy Gustin should have a close battle for the Modified point’s race there.
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