2014 Knoxville Raceway 410 Preview

Thanks to Lucas Oil and MavTV national television, the 2014 Knoxville Championship Cup Series season will have a field of competitors that is stronger than ever.  A check for $20,000 awaits the KCCS champion at the end of the season and we have 17 nights of racing to see who comes out on top.  The season begins April 19 and the KCCS finals are August 23. 

Bronson Maeschen won the championship last year with one feature win and 10 top five finishes.  The farmer from Pleasantville has the same team back in 2014 and they should be ready to contend for another championship.  They made the trip to Volusia for the World of Outlaws three day show and were faster each night, winning their heat and making the dash on night three before crashing in the feature.


Ian Madsen had 11 top ten finishes last year, but no wins.  Look for this team to win races in 2014.  Madsen was the only driver to start every A-Main in 2013, including the Outlaw shows and Knoxville Nationals.  His qualifying efforts were better than any other team last year with three quick times.  This is the second season for the Nehring #18 team and with a full winter to get prepared I think they come out strong.  Ian’s driving skills will be sharp from racing in his homeland of Australia this winter.

Terry McCarl is a seven time KCCS champion and has 54 career wins at Knoxville Raceway.  He finished third in points last season, and started his 2014 season strong against the World of Outlaws with 2 top ten finishes in three nights in Florida and after two nights in Las Vegas he is sitting ninth in points, and could be higher if not for some bad luck.

Craig Dollansky is back!  He will drive the Big Game Tree Stands #7 sprinter the full schedule at Knoxville. The Minnesota native last raced a full season at Knoxville in 1995 when he finished third in the Jensen #55.  Since then he was been a full time Outlaw driver.  He has 12 career wins at Knoxville and 59 wins with the World of Outlaws, including 8 top five point finishes.  He has 7 top five finishes at the Nationals, the most of any driver who hasn’t won the event.  I look for Dollansky to be a title contender for sure.  

Brian Brown plans to race at Knoxville almost every Saturday, he will miss two shows for sure.  Last season he missed four shows and would have earned enough points to finish eighth.  I don’t think a top five point finish is out of question for Brown, but if he is hot and wins 6 or 7 races, or gets a rain out or two to land on the weeks he is away, he could be at the top of the championship standings.

Justin Henderson finished third in the Nationals last year in the Sundby #1.  He drove the car for the last half of the 2013 season, set quick time twice, and won one feature.  This is a potent team to watch.

Davey Heskin was fourth in points in 2013 and he nearly won the title in 2012. This guy continues to impress me more each year.  The 26 year old has four career wins at Knoxville, two top ten finishes at the Nationals, and is on the verge of big things. 

Brooke Tatnell is back in the Vermeer/Lewis #55 this season.  After an injury sidelined Tatnell for several weeks in 2013 Brooke is ready for another crack at the KCCS title.  The team has upgraded some equipment and should be fast.  Tatnell had a good winter in Australia finishing second in the World Series Sprintcars points.

Dusty Zomer finished 2013 fifth in the point standings. In 2011 Zomer won four features and was the runner up in points.  He hasn’t had the breaks go his way to win a feature that past couple of seasons, but had 10 top ten finishes in 2013 and was consistently up front.

Mark Dobmeier won more races than anyone last year at Knoxville, driving to victory lane three times and finished sixth in points. He has 12 career feature wins at Knoxville.  He raced with the WoO in Vegas and had a top ten finish his second night.  If the Lunstra #13 team can find a way to qualify in the top five frequently they could be a team that will contend for the championship.

Clint Garner, the winner of the past five 360 KCCS championships is moving up to the 410 division in 2014.  Garner has experience in the 410 class, finishing third in 410 points in 2006 and has two 410 feature wins at Knoxville. This guy will be a serious player in the 410 class.

Don Droud Jr. finished seventh in 2013 points. The veteran driver from Nebraska has finished second in KCCS points four different times and has 12 career feature wins at the famed half-mile.  Droud and the Sonner 47 team seemed to find more speed during the last half of 2013 and could be the sleeper team to watch.

There are several other drivers that have a shot to win a feature on any given night.  Lynton Jeffrey and Dustin Selvage finished eighth and ninth respectively in 2013 points.  Jeffrey is a 3 time feature winner at Knoxville, and Selvage showed some big signs of improvement last year.  Selvage, Ryan Bunton, Josh Schneiderman, Austin McCarl, and Rager Phillips are drivers that could pick up their first career Knoxville feature wins this season.

Larry Ball Jr. won the 305 championship last season, but is moving back up to the 410 class where he last competed a full season in 2002 when he finished 12th in points. It will be interesting to see how Larry fares in this super competitive 410 class.

RJ Johnson is making the move from the 360 to the 410 class this year and is the favorite to win 410 rookie of the year honors.  RJ did a good job filling the seat of the 55 car last season when Brooke Tatnell was injured. He qualified in the top five twice, won a heat race, and had one top ten finish in five races.

Danny Lasoski will likely be at Knoxville most Saturday nights.  I don’t know if he will be in the mix for points, but he could play the role of spoiler for sure. He is a 9 time KCCS champion, has 100 feature wins at Knoxville, a former World of Outlaws champion, and a four time Nationals champion. The Dude is the master of Knoxville.

The list of drivers who could be racing part time schedules at Knoxville is solid.  I look for Bryan Clauson, Sam Hefertepe Jr., Shane Stewart, Rico Abreu, Billy Alley, Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson, 

James McFadden, and possibly Kevin Swindell to all make appearances in KCCS races. The field is stacked and each Saturday night is going to be a war.

My pre-season pick to win the KCCS championship is Craig Dollansky. Outside of Brian Brown deciding to stay at Knoxville each week, I think the “Crowd Pleaser” will be awful tough to beat.  He has proven he can race for points with the Outlaws. But I look for Ian Madsen, Henderson, Maeschen, Heskin, McCarl, Dobmeier, Tatnell, and Zomer to all challenge for the title.

2014 will be a season to remember at Knoxville Raceway.  There will be 14 drivers competing as “Knoxville Regulars” that have previously won a feature at Knoxville Raceway, and a combined total of 249 feature wins.  It all starts April 12th with practice night, and April 19th with the season opener!  I can’t wait to smell the fumes of methanol!