Month of May

We have quite a battle for the 410 track championship at Knoxville this season. As I predicted, Davey Heskin is the mix and currently has the lead with 685 points, but only one point behind amazingly is Brian Brown who missed one week at the beginning of the season. Only 23 points back in third is Mark Dobmeier. Fourth is Terry McCarl 42 points back. Fifth is Bronson Maeshcen 96 points back. The lurkers who are by no means out of the mix is Ian Madsen, Dusty Zomer, Dustin Selvage, and although Danny Lasoski has missed two races, and will miss a third one in a few weeks while racing in PA Speedweek, the Dude is eighth in points with two wins in three starts.

Looking back at my pre-season predictions, I am dumbfounded that my pick to win Dusty Zomer is seventh in points and only has one top five finish. It’s obvious the Ingalls 91 team is down on horsepower in qualifying and that has hurt them having to start in the back of the features. Zomer’s qualifying average is 13.0 in five races this year with a best of sixth, and his average feature finish is 8.8.

Danny Lasoski will likely pick up Knoxville career wins 99 and 100 this season. When I was kid I never dreamed anyone would crush Earl Wagner's record of 43 wins and now Wagner is sixth on the all-time wins list. 98 or 100 wins is mind blowing and surely a record I will never see broken, along with David Hesmer's 65 wins in the 360 class. Lasoski is 53 years old and shows no signs of slowing down. He has had horrible luck at the Nationals the past two years running 13th in the B-Main in 2010, and a humiliating fifth in the D-Main in 2011. Look for the Dude to be strong in August.

I'm really happy to see Bronson Maeschen in the top five of Knoxville points. He has one quick time and three top fives. His average feature finish is 9.6 and average qualifying position is 4.6. He had a win taken away from him a couple of weeks ago as he led the distance until a late yellow gave Lasoski the opportunity to steal it with a pass on the high side. Maeschen is still looking for his first 410 feature win at Knoxville and he is knocking on the door.

360 Class:
Clint Garner is dominating this class. two wins, five top fives in six starts, three quick times. It's not even close as he has over a 200 point lead over second. The race for second in points is a good one with Nate Van Haafton, Matt Moro, Joe Beaver, Russ Hall, Jon Agan, Casey Fredrichson and Carson McCarl all separated by roughly 100 points. But Garner is headed to win his fourth consecutive 360 championship. He is so fast he catches up to some cars and he doesn't have time to react. Just ask Jamie Ball. I seriously think Garner could run in the top ten in the 410 class looking at my stop watch during the features.

305 Class:
This has turned into a good race with Mike Van Haafton, Matthew Stelzer, Mitchell Alexander, and LarryBall Jr. I expected Ball to run away with this points battle, but I'm pleasantly surprised it's turning into a competitive field of cars, and that the flag man is throwing the black flag to some of the slower cars finally.

Kudos to the Dunkin's for great track prep this season, and the drivers for giving the safety teams and Doug Clark's red flag a rest for three consecutive weeks.

I went to the Natty Light Knoxville Shootout on Sunday... day shows stink. And there was maybe 200 fans there. Never a good sign when more people are on the inside of the fences than outside. That modified and stock car crowd just isn't going to pay $15 to see a show, not when they're accustomed to paying $10 or less.


Marshalltown Speedway:
I've had a couple of good experiences at the Marshalltown Speedway this season and this last week (June 1) was simply the best racing I have ever seen there. The track conditions were tacky and fast, but wide and great racing. The SportMod feature went non stop and Gaitlin Leytham took the win, but watching Jake Strayer and Janae Gustin work their way through traffic was a lot of fun to watch.


The Stock Car feature Trent Murphy lead early but broke and Damon Murty would hold off Brian Irvine for several laps and then Jay Schmidt was able to sneak by Irvine at the line for second. Lots of side by side and rubbin in that feature.

The Modified feature Josh Truman grabbed the early lead and held off Tim Stevens and Kyle Brown. As the race went on Luke Wanninger and Jimmy Gustin drove their way up from mid pack and Wanninger took the lead on lap 13. A caution came out late but Wanninger was able to hold off Gustin for the win with Truman third and a great race between father and son as Kyle Brown edged father David for fourth. If you haven't been to Marshalltown this year, plan a trip.

Bloomfield Speedway:

I found my way to Bloomfield on Memorial Day for a day show of Modifieds and Stock Cars. It was a decent show as far as day racing. Better than sitting at home on the couch for sure as it was a nice day. But the racing wasn't anything spectacular except for Carter Vandenberg passing several cars on high side to win a makeup feature from a few weeks before that was rained out. Nathan wood nearly had a car destroyed as he tried to cross the track to the pit area and was waived by the official to go that he was clear but he was tagged by a Modified as he went across the track. Bad deal.

Des Moines-Iowa State Fairgrounds:
I've also made it to the State Fairgrounds two Friday nights this season. The racing there hasn't been the best either as that hairpin track is fast and hard on equipment. Although Shannon Anderson put on a clinic in the Hobby Stock feature on May 18 when I was there. The dirt trucks tore up so many cars that night they weren't able to field enough cars the next night at Knoxville when they were scheduled and again on Tuesday at the Marshalltown Deery Bros special.

I'm headed to Osky, Spencer WoO, and Knoxville WoO this weekend. Even missing my 20 year class reunion on Saturday. Priorities.... See you in the stands!

Heskin is THE Man!

Knoxville:
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.

KXV Outlaw Report

The World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday was a good show. The A-Main was good as Brian Brown lead the first 14 laps until Sammy Swindell used some lapped traffic to take the point and pull away. Sammy looked really good in the feature, it was like he was lurking for the first half of the race and then turned it up a notch.

To begin the night I was a little disappointed the track wasn’t faster in time trials as only three cars timed in under 15 seconds, and the luck of the draw was critical as Joey Saldana was quick time after coming out ninth. Kerry Madsen was second quick (3rd) and Craig Dollansky was third quick (1st). Sammy went out 12th and qualified 16th which was the last spot in the heat inverts. If Ryan Bunton would have been 0.028 seconds quicker, Sammy would have been 17th and buried in the feature. Bout time Sammy had some luck come his way at Knoxville, and that ultimately is what won the feature for him. Sammy won his heat, went from tenth to seventh in the dash, and was in the top three in the feature in no time before he went on to win.

Qualifying is everything in the World of Outlaws format. The heat races only saw one car outside the top two rows advance to the feature as Dusty Zomer raced his way into the show as he passed Dollansky to get into a top four transfer, but since Dollansky timed in the top two he was locked into the Dash regardless. Zomer was rewarded with not having to run the B main and with the 21st starting position in the A main. Good thing he raced his way in from the heat or he would have started… oh yeah in 21st anyway. Zomer went from 21st to seventh in the A main. Jason Sides advanced from 23rd to eighth to take the hard charger award. See how lucky you were Sammy?

Random thoughts:
I was surprised that Saldana went from third to fourth in the feature, and Schatz went from 15th to sixth. Schatz made it to the front at the Nationals last year from that far back.

I think Craig Dollansky is a good pick to win the Nationals. (Sammy is the favorite.)

Brian Brown was impressive but I think he just over drove the car trying to chase down Sammy and fell back to fourth. Still a good run for the Casey’s/FVP team.

Danny Lasoski quietly went from eleventh to fifth. He’s still good.

The King has lost his edge at Knoxville the past few years, Steve Kinser started 12th and finished 11th. He raced a lot with Terry McCarl who started tenth and finished 10th.

Davey Heskin continues to impress me more and more. I think he has a legit shot to win the 410 track championship.

Trey Starks is a 16 year old kid from Washington who had a great showing in his first trip to Knoxville. He was one of the last cars to time trial and qualified ninth, won his heat, third in the dash, and dropped to 16th in the feature. But a helluva showing, especially timing so well late in the order.

What's the deal with the WoO not weighing cars after heat races? If it smells like BS....

I felt for Josh Higday on Saturday night as he won the 360 feature and was disqualified for a unapproved tire that was legal a few years ago but isn’t any longer. Had to hurt for him as he worked hard to put his own team together this year. Nate VanHaafton inherited the win, and he is looking smoother all the time. Carson McCarl drove from 11th to fourth in his first 360 race. Hopefully these guys can give Clint Garner a run this year for the 360 track championship who was second on Saturday behind VanHaafton.

Off the track there was a lot of talk about Cody Darrah. Apparently there is a fan out there with a twitter account mocking Darrah and well, he turned up at the same hotel in Knoxville that the KKR crew was staying and Darrah ended up in cuffs for assault. The track was able to arrange bail so Darrah could race. I feel sad for Cody Darrah, not sorry, but sad. Be professional and don’t stoop to the level of people who have nothing better to do than to talk trash like that. I’m sure it’s aggravating, but assaulting someone isn’t the way to solve things. Darrah is under unrealistic expectations from fans and the media because he drives for Kasey Kahne. For guys like Saldana, Schatz, and Meyers, it took them five years to be a competitive and winning races consistently. Why is Darrah expected to be any different? It’s a lot of pressure to be in Cody Darrah’s shoes I’m sure. Hopefully Cody learns from this and it all works out. And hopefully this race fan learned something too. Don’t tweet words your mouth can’t cash.

Can’t wait for this weekend, it should be warmer!

April Showers: KXV and OSKY report

Knoxville:
Mother Nature is cruel. Knoxville Raceway was all set to go to kick off their 2012 season opener, the track was packed, cars were in the push off lanes, my son and I were in our seats with food and drinks, and then we felt sprinkles…. which was followed by more sprinkles. After an hour it let loose with heavy rain and thunder and it was washed out. What really punches you in the gut is waiting all winter to see racing and then to have Ma Nature give us an unseasonably warm March and early April where several Saturday’s came and went with beautiful weather for racing. Then we finally get to racing season and the weather turns cold and wet. “Thumbs down to Mother Nature,” said my six year old son. That sums it up. I will give Knoxville Raceway a thumb’s up for putting on a nice prerace event with a car show, inflatable bounce house and slide, heck we even caught part of a sheep sale earlier in the day and my kid loved all of it. Toby Kruse and John McCoy were easily accessible outside the ticket office meeting and greeting race fans like politicians. That was very cool for them to spread some good will. It genuinely seemed like a new attitude or aura about the place. At least we saw some cars on practice night which was exciting with a stop watch. The Dunkin’s had that track bad fast as Lynton Jeffrey was clocked at 14.5, just a tenth off the record. The new mufflers are a little quieter, and they have a different tone or ring to them as well. We’ll see how they sound in race conditions but casual fans won’t notice a difference.

Osky:
I have made it to all three Wednesday night shows at Oskaloosa’s Southern Iowa Speedway so far. Weather has been dry but cool on those nights luckily. Car counts have been decent for the first two weekly shows at 67 and 72. A-Mod car count has been 11 and 8 so hopefully that number goes up a little more, but it’s still improvement from last year. Richie Gustin has been the class of the Modified field so far but he sits second in points behind Cayden Carter. I would look for Richie to pull away at some point in this class, he had mechanical issues in the week one feature and pulled in, but won handily in week two.

In SportMod Jesse Sobbing is the clear favorite right now after winning week one and a second behind Jason McDaniel in week two. If Sobbing continues to make the 3 hour drive each Wednesday night from Glenwood he will be tough to beat. Carter Vandenberg and Bill Gibson are strong contenders and Curtis Van Der Wal has won his heat race each of the past two weeks. Good field of SportMods.

The stock car and hobby features have been unbelievable racing so far with some serious rubbin, three and four wide at times. Shannon Anderson is the class of the Hobby Stock field so far. Starting 12th last week was a tall order to catch Donavon Nunnikhoven who set sail from the front row, but one or two more laps and I think Anderson had him. Very impressive drive for them and as long as Anderson is starting 5 or 6 rows deep every week this is going to be exciting racing.

In Stock Car Matt Greiner is leading points with a pair of top five finishes and the two feature winners being Kyle Harwood and Damon Murty. Looking like a tough class to predict anything here but look for Greiner and Nathan Wood to emerge at the top come July. Zack VanderBeek has competed in stock car the last two weeks and been strong but I’m sure he will miss some races with USMTS Modifieds having a handful of Wednesday night races this summer.

The new 4 cylinder Sport Compact class (look like Rally Cars) has seen small car counts and it’s a growing class it sounds like. Not a big fan of these cars yet, but when only 6 of them are out there for a feature and they’re slow it’s not engaging to me. We’ll see how this class develops.

I am very impressed with the new management at Osky under Mike Van Genderen. Crowd support has been solid despite cool temperatures so I would say his promotion to get butts in the stands is working. There is also some new sponsor signage on the front stretch as well and it looks nice. Last week was free popcorn, and he is trying out some new things like $5 admission for certain local towns. He says he has more things to come yet so I’m anxious to see what he has in the works. I’m glad to see my @OskySIS twitter account is up to 115 followers already in three weeks. Hope you followers have enjoyed the updates.

I was also able to make it to Marshalltown Speedway for the Frostbuster but it was a very cold and late night with so many cars and I wasn’t able to stay for the whole show. My son had enough at 11pm but he was a trooper! Good showing there and glad to see Motown continue their success. I can’t wait to get up there for a weekly show in the coming weeks.

Let’s hope the weather forecast is wrong for this week as there is rain in there for Wednesday in Osky and Saturday when the World of Outlaws come to Knoxville.

Osky SIS 2012 Preview

Oskaloosa’s Southern Iowa Speedway has a long tradition of racing on Wednesday nights and that tradition continues in 2012 but with a change in management and rules. Mike Van Genderen of Newton, a native of New Sharon, has been named the new promoter at SIS. The 43 year old racer turned promoter will bring a jolt of new energy to the program as the racing will change from the previous eight year reign of Todd Staley promoted USRA sanctioned races with some low car counts the past couple of seasons, to Van Genderen and a return of IMCA sanctioned racing and rules. IMCA had sanctioned the racing at Osky from 1984-2003.

IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, SportMods and a new Sport Compact 4-cylinder class will run weekly. Van Genderen is ready for the challenge of rebuilding the rich tradition of racing in Osky. “Since I was a kid, running Southern Iowa Speedway has been a dream of mine,” said Mike. “This track is ready for a change and the Southern Iowa Fair Board is ready for a change. We’re going to do everything we can to see it return to its glory days.” Van Genderen has raced and worked at Southern Iowa Speedway in various capacities in past years, including flag­man for several years. “This is a great facility and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish here.” There is a new website at www.oskyspeedway.com and yours truly will be tweeting updates @OskySIS on most nights when I’m there. Some lower costs through the pit gate should help entries and there will be several nights of town appreciation night where if you show your ID from that town tickets are $5 per person.

The 2012 season kicks off on April 4 with the IMCA Frostbuster special with NASCAR legend Ken Schrader racing and the regular track point season will begin on April 11. Other highlights on the schedule include the return of the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models on June 20, Sport Mod special May 16, Hobby Stock special June 6, the Stock Car Shootout on July 4 with Fireworks after the races, Tuesday July 17 is the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified special, with the Southern Iowa Fair on July 18. Season championship is August 29, and the Fall Challenge special will be October 5 and 6. Don’t forget the All-Star and USAC sprint cars on August 6 and 7 before the Knoxville Nationals as well promoted by Terry McCarl.

Right now it’s hard to say how many cars will run weekly at Osky yet. With the new IMCA rules it definitely opens up the possibilities for teams that normally race at Marshalltown, Des Moines, and Boone to come in to race weekly or on part time basis.

Last years Modified (A-Mod) track champion was Oskaloosa’s Steven Blattler in his black 94 machine. This year he will have some tougher competition as with the new IMCA rules I am hopeful for higher car counts in this division. Some weeks last season there wasn’t enough cars to run two heat races. But in 2012 we already know that the 2011 B-Mod champion Cayden Carter is moving up to the A-Mod class and so is the 2011 Stock Car class champion Shane Weller. Right away you have two good drivers there to compete. It would be nice to see car counts closer to 18 or more on a weekly basis and I think that will happen.

In the Sport Mod (B-Mod) class with Carter moving up it leaves the door wide open for what is likely to be the largest class at the track. Carter VandenBerg will be the odds on favorite to win with Bill Gibson, Andrew Schroeder and Curtis Van Der Wal being a force each week to contend. Throw in about 20 other cars and this will be a good class to watch.

Stock Cars and Hobby Stock classes I don’t anticipate too much changing there. Kris Walker and Steve Allen had a close point battle in Hobbies last year with Walker winning by 36 points. Nathan Wood lost by a mere 32 points to Shane Weller in Stock Car, but with Weller moving up to Modifieds, Wood is the early favorite there. I would bet on quite a few more cars to be there.

I’m excited to cover more racing at Osky this year. I’ve always enjoyed the racing at that track and it’s a nice break in the middle of the week to get your racing fix. Through the new website you can find the complete schedule and information about tickets and season passes.

Knoxville Raceway 2012 Season Preview

The 2012 Knoxville Raceway 410 season is looking like another good one this year. 24 full-time teams at last count and we will probably have 5 or 6 part time teams we will see on a regular basis. Average car count in 2011 was 28 for weekly KCCS (Knoxville Championship Cup Series) shows. Gone is the nine time track champion of Danny Lasoski as he chases races in Pennsylvania this summer. That leaves the door open for someone else to win the track championship and the top three contenders have to be six time track champion Terry McCarl, 2011 runner-up Dusty Zomer, and Mark Dobmeier. After that I think it’s a scramble for fourth through tenth. And even below the top ten I think there are a couple of teams that could easily get in there. It is an unknown if Kevin Swindell will be back, but rumor has it Ian Madsen is coming back to run full time, but I do not have them factored into the power rankings. I asked the five member BHG power rankings panel to help me come up with a list for the 410 class. These are five well trained race fans with life-long knowledge of racing and communing in their pews at Knoxville for 30 years or more.

Here are the official BHG 2012 Knoxville 410 power rankings presented by Dingus.
1. Dusty Zomer, 2. Mark Dobmeier, 3. Terry McCarl, 4. Austin McCarl, 5. Davey Heskin, 6. Don Droud Jr., 7. Dustin Selvage, 8. Lynton Jeffrey, 9. Kaley Gharst, 10. Bronson Maeschen.

Dusty Zomer may have won the KCCS most seasons with 4 wins, and 11 top tens in 13 races, but it wasn’t meant to be with Lasoski finishing in the top ten 13 times in 13 races with 3 wins. Take out Lasoski and you have to feel like Zomer in the Ingalls #91 car has a strong chance to win the championship. DZ has 9 career 410 wins at Knoxville.

Mark Dobmeier finished fifth in points last year while missing one night. He has 8 career 410 wins at Knoxville and he did well at the end of last year, highlighted with monster showing at the Nationals where he won the feature on his preliminary night and finishing sixth in the big dance Saturday. Momentum will carry him into contending for the championship.

Terry McCarl finished fifth in points last year in the Vermeer 55 car but T-Mac is now back in his own #24 car and I look for him to contend for sure. You can definitely make a case for him to be the favorite, and for what he may lack in equipment or funds, he can make up a lot of that with talent and experience. No doubt about it, he will be the best driver on the track. But can he find the horsepower to stay up front?

Austin McCarl finished sixth in points last year and the Grand View University student is now in his fourth year in sprint cars and shown improvement each year. He qualified for the 12th starting spot in the A-Main of the Nationals last year which ended up with a crash on the first lap, and he was the only driver to pass Shane Stewart all week. Looking for good things out of this kid, and hopefully he will pick up his first 410 win this year, if not two or three wins.

Davey Heskin finished eighth in points last year but if he would have had an engine for twin features night it would have been higher. He has made the A-Main of the Nationals two years in a row and I think he has blossomed into a good driver. He has one career win at Knoxville in a 410, but I think he can win another this year. Good kid too. Very impressed with his demeanor last year as I followed him for a story the week of the Nationals.

Don Droud Jr. is a talented driver, lots of experience, doesn’t tear up equipment, but hopefully Gil Sonner can find a some more power under the hood to get up front and qualify better.

Dustin Selvage will be in his sophomore season in a 410. Good young talent here and is on the verge of a breakout season I think.

Lynton Jeffrey should rebound after a somewhat disappointing 2011, which still found him winning one feature at Knoxville, but 3 finishes of 20th or worse hurt.

Kaley Gharst is back as a Knoxville regular this season driving the Jeremy Scadden #6 sprinter. He has three career 410 wins at Knoxville. A little uncertain how they will perform and how well their equipment is, but he is a proven veteran and glad to have him back.

Bronson Maeschen left the Jordan #1 and is back in his own #96 car this year. Good driver, usually has decent equipment, always qualifies well.

I also look for good things from Josh Schneiderman, Randy Anderson in the Vander Ecken #10, and it sounds like Rage Phillips is back in his own #9 car. Hoping we see Robby Wolfgang to have that breakout season as well if they can find some power under the hood. Rookie of the year contenders are Austin Johnson, TJ Peterson, and Jarrod Schneiderman. Good strong field of cars and I can’t wait to see everyone on the track for opening night on April 21.

Look for Clint Garner to clean up in the 360 class once again. Hopefully contenders Matt Moro, Russ Hall, Jon Agan, Carson McCarl, Jamie Ball, Nate Van Haafton, Dennis Moore Jr., and others can make for an exciting show there. I’m really looking forward to seeing the growth and improvement of Carson and Jamie this year.

In the 305 class we will have Larry Ball Jr as the favorite there, but look for his toughest competition to be Tasker Phillips, Mitchell Alexander, Matt Stephenson, Matthew Stelzer, and a wide open field including nine rookies.

As of right now, the 305 class has the 360 class outnumbered 25 to 20 this season. If you’re going to race for fun, entry level, and at a lesser cost, 305 is the answer. You don’t race for much money ($400 to win) but I think the 305 is going to become what the Sport Mod division has become for IMCA racing (that is a good thing if you’re not familiar with IMCA). I think this is a sign that more people are realizing that 360 racing isn’t any cheaper than a 410, especially with the 435 LS engine option that has a longer life. I foresee the trend of 360 class dwindling to continue at Knoxville barring some sort of major rules changes.

I can’t wait to walk in on opening night on April 21. I need my fix of tenderloin and chicken bites! And don’t forget that on Sunday the 22nd Knoxville is having a Modified, Sport Mod, Stock Car, Hobby Stock special. See you in the stands!

ASCS / WoO and $$$

Over the past year or so I’ve looked into the costs of racing 410 versus 360 sprint cars in depth and from a financial point of view more and more I can’t understand why so many owners are electing to race 360’s. The costs are basically the same other than a 360 engine will save you some rebuilds throughout the season. Now that the season is underway for the World of Outlaws and ASCS we’ve been able to see how many teams plan to run both series’ full time.

As of my count there are 17 drivers trying to run the full 63 race ASCS schedule. Gary Wright, Jason Johnson, Brady Bacon, Tim Crawley, Jack Dover, Tony Bruce Jr., Brad Loyet, Logan Forler, Seth Bergman, Wayne Johnson, Johnny Herrera, Dustin Morgan, Zach Chappell, Derek Hagar, Matt Covington, Aaron Reutzel, Austen Wheatley. Keep in mind ASCS lost last season’s champion Shane Stewart and Jeff Swindell.

The World of Outlaws has 10 full-time racers. Joey Saldana, Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Craig Dollanksy, Kraig Kinser, Kerry Madsen, Chad Kemenah, Cody Darrah, Lucas Wolfe, and Bill Rose. Most races will have 4 or 5 part-time teams. Sammy Swindell, Jason Sides, Stevie Smith, Brad Sweet, Brian Brown, Terry McCarl, Shane Stewart, and you can throw in Tony Stewart as well.

ASCS will run 63 nights for $4,000 to win and $400 to start.
WoO will run 75 races that pay $10,000 to win and $800 to start.

ASCS team based in Tulsa, OK would travel 19,109 miles for the season.
WoO team based in Indianapolis, IN would travel 26,620 miles for the season.
Difference of 7,511 miles, which is approximately $4,000 in diesel fuel.

ASCS lets teams change tires any time you push off (there goes your fuel savings).
WoO makes you run one tire all night.

ASCS charges more money for pit passes and to draw your pill. Do more people think the “draw” format is more fair than qualifying? Suddenly that 6 invert in a dash race with the WoO doesn’t sound so bad. For what a team would save in engine rebuilds with a 360 motor, you could recoup that money racing with the WoO, higher purses, cheaper pit passes, and no pill draws. So why are more teams racing with ASCS?

MY CONCLUSION: People race to win.

You want to compete against the TSR and KKR teams of Kinser, Schatz, Saldana, Darrah, and Sweet, and throw in Sammy most nights…. then get your butt handed to you on the PA swings? Most teams would struggle to stay in the top ten. Or would you rather roll the dice on a pill draw and try to win a handful of races a year?

I look at my local track at Knoxville. Why else would there have been 20 cars racing in the 305 class for $400 to win at the end of the 2011 season? It’s not like they were there to race for milk money. I think most people decide what to race (when it comes to traveling a national series) where they think they can WIN within the budget they have. Whether that is a go-kart, hobby stock, modified, late model, or sprint car. But I still don’t understand how you can make a profit from being a full time race car driver. Not without sponsors.

The chances of all 17 ASCS teams making all 63 shows are slim. I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing the ASCS or 360 racing, because I love those races like any race fan. I’ve driven a few hours out of my way to see those shows in my day. But I just don’t see how from the money end of it that many teams can survive.

At some point, the 410 organizations are going to have to find a way to get motor rebuilds from 8 races to 20 plus, because if they don’t 410 racing is going to die a slow death across the country. I think John McCoy and Knoxville Raceway are on to something with this 435 LS engine. Hopefully more people see the benefit of using it soon.

Whatever it is Emmett Hahn and ASCS is doing, it seems to be working. He has more cars racing for less money with just as good of a product on the race track in my eyes. You might not see Steve or Sammy at those shows, but its good racing. I’m just glad there is room for both right now.

Knoxville season preview is coming soon….