Top 30 360 Drivers at Knoxville Raceway

The Knoxville Raceway 360 class was created in 1983. It is hard to believe 30 years have gone by that this support class has been racing at the famed half-mile.  As track historian I have been looking at past season results and point standings and thought it was a good time to come up with my ranking for the top 30 360 drivers over the past 30 years (31 years now).  The criteria I used to determine this is 1 point for a feature win, 3 points for a track championship, 1 point for a top five point finish, and 1 point for a top ten point finish.  I counted 197 different drivers that have competed and finished in the end of the season points over that 30 year span.  Here are my rankings...

30. Rick McClure:  4 seasons, 4 wins, 3 top fives, 4 top ten’s. Who could forget the pink #25.

29. Jesse Gianetto: 4 seasons, 4 wins, 3 top fives, 3 top ten’s. He also won the 2006 360 Nationals.

28. Terry Alexander: 17 seasons, 4 wins, 0 top fives, 8 top ten’s. No one has competed in more seasons than TA. 

27. Jeff Haines: 5 seasons, 4 wins, 3 top fives, 5 top ten’s. Unfortunate his career was cut short due to injuries.

26. Brett Mather: 11 seasons, 5 wins, 1 top five, 6 top ten’s.

25. Terry Thorson: 7 seasons, 7 wins, 1 top five, 4 top ten’s.

24. Dustin Selvage: 6 seasons, 7 wins, 2 top fives, 3 top ten’s.

23. Joe Beaver: 15 seasons, 3 wins, 2 top fives, 9 top ten’s.

22. Lee Nelson: 7 seasons, 7 wins, 2 top fives, 2 top ten’s, 1 championship. 1994 360 Nationals.

21. Danny Young: 1 season, 9 wins, 1 top five, 1 top ten’s, 1 championship. Young passed away in 1995.  This guy could drive!

20. Billy Alley: 1 season, 10 wins, 1 top five, 1 top ten, 1 championship. 2004 & 2005 360 Nationals champion and he also swept twin features in 2003.

19. Larry Pinegar II: 2 seasons, 10 wins, 1 top five, 1 top ten, 1 championship.

18. Mackie Heimbaugh: 5 seasons, 6 wins, 3 top fives, 4 top ten’s, 1 championship.

17. Bob Thompson: 11 seasons, 9 wins, 1 top five, 8 top ten’s.

16. Mike Chadd: 3 seasons, 10 wins, 2 top fives, 3 top ten’s, 1 championship.

15. Brian Brown: 1 season, 13 wins, 1 top five, 1 top ten, 1 championship.

14. Johnny Anderson: 10 seasons, 9 wins, 4 top fives, 7 top ten’s.

13. Jon Agan: 10 seasons, 9 wins, 4 top fives, 7 top ten’s.

12. Steve Breazeale: 12 seasons, 11 wins, 4 top fives, 6 top ten’s.

11. Matt Moro: 9 seasons, 7 wins, 4 top fives, 7 top ten’s, 1 championship.

10. Wayne Redmond: 4 seasons, 11 wins, 3 top fives, 4 top ten’s, 1 championship.

9. Mike Twedt: 7 seasons, 11 wins, 5 top fives, 6 top ten’s, 1 championship.

8. Jake Peters: 3 seasons, 10 wins, 3 top fives, 3 top ten’s, 3 championships.  Peters was about the smoothest driver I can remember in 360 weekly racing. What a talent.       

7. Dwight Snodgrass: 9 seasons, 10 wins, 6 top fives, 8 top ten’s, 1 championship.

6. Dean Chadd: 3 seasons, 18 wins, 3 top five, 3 top ten’s, 1 championship.

5. Josh Higday: 10 seasons, 17 wins, 6 top fives, 8 top ten’s, 1 championship.

4. John Kearney: 6 seasons, 23 wins, 4 top fives, 5 top ten’s, 1 championship.

3. Randy Martin: 6 seasons, 19 wins, 5 top fives, 6 top ten’s, 2 championships.

2. Clint Garner: 6 seasons, 20 wins, 6 top fives, 6 top ten’s, 5 championships.

1. David Hesmer: 13 seasons, 65 wins, 13 top fives, 13 top ten’s, 4 championships.

Hesmer is the king of Knoxville 360 racing. No one was ever better than him. The guy averaged five wins per season.  Simply amazing. And he won two 360 Knoxville Nationals championships.  For some perspective, Garner won 20 races in 6 seasons.  He would have to win 45 more times to catch him.  It seemed like the Chadd brothers dominated this class in the early years, until Hesmer came along.  

Hope you enjoyed the rankings.  I'm a stats and numbers geek so this was fun for me, but most importantly, some great stats are now in my master Knoxville Raceway History spreadsheet! 

Look for a 410 drivers list next week...