2015 Knoxville Raceway 410 Preview

Thanks to Lucas Oil and MavTV national television, the 2015 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 there are 17 nights of racing to see who comes out on top.  The season begins this Saturday, April 18 and the KCCS finals are August 29. 

Ian Madsen won his first Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup in 2014 after compiling three feature wins, seven top five’s, and 11 top ten finishes last year.  After a solid second place finish in 2013 the KCP Racing team stepped up in 2014 to win the title. Now the target is on their back but they are not by any means resting on their laurels. The team raced with the World of Outlaws on the west coast in the month of March to get ready for this year after making a change in chassis manufacturers. Ian once again raced this winter in his homeland of Australia and his reflexes should be as sharp as ever.

Terry McCarl is a seven time KCCS champion and has 54 career wins at Knoxville Raceway.  He finished a close second in points last season, only 71 points out. T-Mac started his 2015 season strong against the World of Outlaws in Florida and on the west coast with a win in Las Vegas, three top five’s, and six top ten finishes in twelve nights. Terry also went down to Australia for a few weeks in January and is looking as strong as ever to try to win his eighth track championship.

Justin Henderson finished third in points in 2014 and he has finished in the top five of the Knoxville Nationals each of the past two years in the Sundby #1. This team set quick time on four occasions last year and was only 85 points out of first.

Two-time track champion Brian Brown finished fourth in points in 2014 despite missing one week. “Blackjack” has been fast in recent years at the Knoxville Nationals as well, finishing runner-up to Donny Schatz each of the past three years. Brown won his first career 360 Knoxville Nationals last year and figures to make 2015 his year. Brown is scheduled to miss two races this year but as good as he was last year you can certainly count on him being in the top five and winning some features.

2013 track champion Bronson Maeschen finished ninth in points in 2014. The farmer from nearby Pleasantville is looking to rebound in 2015 by getting back into victory lane and compete for the championship once again.

Davey Heskin has been knocking on the door to win his first track championship in recent years. The Minnesota native has four career wins at Knoxville and he was the 2012 championship runner-up in a close point battle. He has finished in the top ten of the Knoxville Nationals twice and at age 24 he is still a growing talent in the Knoxville Regular stable. Look for Davey to be up front in 2015.

Just when you thought the field couldn’t get any tougher, add four-time Knoxville Nationals champion Danny “The Dude” Lasoski back to the full-time roster.  The nine-time track champion and all-time career feature wins record holder is behind the Big Game Treestands/Muddy sprint car AND he is reunited with crew chief Guy Forbrook. Can Danny win his tenth title? Can he add to his record of 101 wins? It’s hard to bet against this combination.

Brooke Tatnell is back in the Vermeer #55 this season.  The Aussie had a good winter in Australia winning the World Series Sprintcars championship for a record ninth time.  The Knoxville one-lap track record holder finished tenth in Knoxville points in 2014 and is hoping to improve that in 2015. Tatnell has won six features at Knoxville over the years and should be a solid contender this year.  

Dusty Zomer of South Dakota finished seventh in points 2014 and has been in the top ten at the end of the season in each of the past seven seasons at Knoxville. He has nine career 410 wins at Knoxville and for 2015 he has changed rides and will drive the LaHaise #82, a car that qualified for the Knoxville Nationals A-Main last year with Bryan Clauson.

Grand Forks, North Dakota driver Mark Dobmeier has left the Lunstra team for the newly formed Jimco Motorsports team. They will keep the #13 on the side of the wing panels. Dobmeier has finished in the top ten of points in seven of the last eight seasons and won 13 features along the way.

As if the field of drivers/teams wasn’t strong enough as it is, enter Tim Kaeding in the Lunstra #3 car. The driver from Northern California is a two-time King of the West series champion (formerly known as Golden State Challenge series), has four wins at Knoxville and 19 World of Outlaw wins on his resume. He is one of the best in the business and it’s going to be exciting to watch him every week at Knoxville and he will for sure be a contender for the championship and some feature wins.

Clint Garner will be back in the Fluth #40 sprinter for their second consecutive year in the 410 class. After winning five consecutive 360 KCCS championships, they moved up to the 410 division in 2014.  Garner finished 12^th in points last year and improved as the season went. Garner has experience in the 410 class, finishing third in 410 points in 2006 and has two 410 feature wins at Knoxville. This driver will be a serious contender in the 410 class.

Don Droud Jr. has parted ways with the Sonner 47 team and has climbed into the newly formed Troy Renfro owned TKS Motorsports #2KS.  The veteran driver from Nebraska finished second in KCCS points four different times and has 12 career feature wins at the famed half-mile.  Droud could be the sleeper team to watch out for in 2015.

There are several other drivers that have a shot to win a feature on any given night.  Lynton Jeffrey finished eighth in points last year and has three career wins at Knoxville.  Dustin Selvage is back his own #7 car for 2015 and he is looking to get his first career 410 win.  Ryan Bunton is in the Williams #7K and is hoping to carry the momentum of qualifying for the Knoxville Nationals A-Main last year into 2015. Josh Schneiderman is also a driver that could pick up his first career 410 Knoxville feature win this season.

Bryan Clauson will be competing most weeks at Knoxville Raceway in the Wood 17w car, but will miss a couple of weeks due to his attempt to qualify for this second Indianapolis 500 in May. It has been a while since a weekly driver at Knoxville made the Indy 500, perhaps since Joe Saldana.

2015 will be a season to remember at Knoxville Raceway!  Come out Saturday night for the Pella Motors, Race for Your School night, as we open up our 62nd season of weekly racing!  Kids 19 and under free admission!