2013 WoO Preview

It looks like we have a good field of cars this in the World of Outlaws with twelve full time teams traveling. I don’t see anyone competing with the clear favorite Donny Schatz, especially now that the series is back to Hoosier tires this season. The five time champion will likely make it six in 2013. But the race behind the #15 car should be an interesting one as I see no clear cut team who is above the others.

With Craig Dollansky putting together a solid 2012 campaign and leading the points after 2/3 of the season before Schatz went on a run the last 1/3 of the season, I think the Crowd Pleaser (Remember when he was the “Slingshot”) might be the one guy to give him a run for his money. The other contender is Daryn Pittman in the KKR #9 car this year. Pittman is in his prime, eager to be back on the full time WoO tour, and motivated for sure. But will he gel with Kale Kahne and KKR is the question. They were fast last week in Florida, but it’s a 90 race schedule.

I have this feeling 2013 is a pivotal season in the WoO. I think we will see Steve and Sammy start sliding down the point standings, and we will see Kraig Kinser, Jason Sides, and Kerry Madsen jump in the standings. Steve is in the twilight of his career. I sincerely hope the King can muster up one more championship, but I don’t see it happening. Sammy is still the most technically sound (mad scientist) in the pit area and his cars are fast, he will win races and set a lot of quick times, but consistency is his downfall. I really think Kraig and Sides will have breakout seasons. I look for Madsen to steadily improve as well.

I’m not sold on Cody Darrah. He drives hard, but his job is likely on the line this year. He has to win races and try to get into the top five in points or he will be replaced. KKR has too much invested to keep a driver who isn’t winning races. And there are plenty of other talented drivers out there to replace him (Tim Kaeding, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan).

Joey Saldana is a wildcard this year in the rebirth of the Motter 71m team. Although Joey knows the cars and engines well, it’s hard to believe a new team can just come out and compete for a championship in its first year on the road. They will likely win a few races, but I think this is a 2-3 year building process.

I hope Schatz doesn’t run away and hide from the rest of the field, but that’s my gut feeling. It should be a good season, and I’m thankful for all the media coverage today on Twitter and the Race Monitor app.

My WoO pre-season power rankings: 1. Schatz, 2. Dollansky, 3. Pittman, 4. K. Kinser, 5. Sides, 6. Madsen, 7. Sammy, 8. Darrah, 9. S. Kinser, 10. Saldana, 11. Kemenah, 12. Rose

World of Outlaws 2012 Review

Looking back at the 2012 World of Outlaws season I have some thoughts.

Donny Schatz is good….really good. I never thought we would see another Steve Kinser in sprint car racing, but Schatz is becoming the next closest thing to the King, maybe a Duke? At age 35 he still has a lot of time to catch and surpass the King’s records. He may never get to 20 championships or 600 career wins, but as far as the rest of the records I think he can break a lot of them. Schatz, the 1997 WoO rookie of the year didn’t win his first championship until 2006. That had to be nine LONG years of getting beat. He now has five World of Outlaws championships and 124 career WoO wins which is fourth all-time in the WoO.

Me being a statistician geek, I went and looked back at Schatz’ WoO season win totals, 1997-0, 1998-1, 1999-0, 2000-1, 2001-6, 2002-2, 2003-7, 2004-8, 2005-8, 2006-17, 2007-19, 2008-18, 2009-12, 2010-5, 2011-8, 2012-11. Yeah, the “Duke” won 17 races in 2006 during the NST split, but then he backed it up with 19 and 18 wins the following two seasons. I think he would have beaten the King and Lasoski in 2006 anyway if those guys were in the same series.

Of the five crown jewel or major events in winged sprint car racing (Knoxville, Kings Royal, Williams Grove National Open, Chico Gold Cup, and the Historical Big One) Schatz has accumulated 14 victories. That includes six Knoxville Nationals, two at the Kings Royal, one at the Gold Cup and HBO, and four at the Grove. 14 ranks Schatz second to the King with 37 wins by that measuring stick. 37 is a tall order to catch I think. The rest of that list is completed with Doug Wolfgang at 11 victories, followed by Sammy Swindell, Mark Kinser, Jac Haudenschild, and Kenny Weld who all have 7 victories. I think it’s safe to say Schatz is the second best sprint car driver of the WoO era.

The season started with the shocking announcement that two time defending champion Jason Meyers was not going to race full time and go on a 14 race farewell/tribute tour. I’m still not sold that Jason Meyers wanted to quit racing with the way the teams’ ownership structure fell apart, and there was talk of adding a second team, and then all of a sudden it was over? Maybe being closer to home and family was the reasoning, and I respect that. Making sure you are a better father and husband than a race car driver is certainly more important in my eyes. But my gut tells me he won’t stay out of racing forever. He is only 33 years old, at the peak of his career, and he still has a lot to accomplish. Meyers has won the Gold Cup and Williams Grove National Open but there are two big gaping holes on that resume that he hasn’t won yet, the Knoxville Nationals and the Kings Royal.

Sammy Swindell looked like the guy to beat at the beginning of the season, but after about halfway he seemed to lose his mojo. There is one trait over Sammy’s career that continues to haunt him to this day, his strive for perfection. Sammy is usually the fastest car, shown by setting quick time more than anyone this season with 14, which is five more than anyone else. He won 13 races which is also tops in the series for this season. But Sammy can’t consistently finish races because he is pushing the envelope for perfection which ends up costing him the title with 48 top ten finishes compared to Schatz with 60, Dollansky with 51, and Joey Saldana with 52. I love the all-out approach Sammy has. When he is on, he dominates and no one can touch him. But maybe if he didn’t always push the envelope to have the maximum output and maybe dialed it back a tick, he could get more top ten finishes and win another championship.

Craig Dollansky came up 114 points short of winning the championship. I’m sure it was disappointing for his team to a degree with having the point lead late into the season until Schatz made his late season charge after winning the Nationals. But I think Dollanksy is close to pulling it off within the next few years. His team has been building up to this and we will see if he has anything for Schatz in 2013.

Joey Saldana had a disappointing season with five wins and fourth in the standings. Joey is a good driver but the KKR combination wasn’t working anymore and it was time for a change. I hope the rebirth of the 71M Motter team is a better match for him. But I have a feeling Daryn Pittman won’t do much better in the KKR 9 machine.

Steve Kinser didn’t set quick time once all season, finished fifth in the standings with four wins, yet his son Kraig set quick time seven times with the same engine package and he also won four features. I honestly feel that the King just needs to add resources at the engine shop, or subcontract out the engines, because you can’t have your traveling crew chief pulling double duty as the engine builder as well, not when Scott Gerkin is on the road. There is just no way to pull that off today with teams having the resources they do. To me it’s amazing that Gerkin has been able to pull this off as long as he has so successfully, but the landscape has changed and they need to change to survive. The King is 58 so soak in every lap you can of him while you can, because he is the best there ever was, and ever will be. But Sammy is 57 and is as good as he ever was. I think the King has a few good years left in him.

Cody Darrah is steadily improving, but I think his back against the wall and he needs a breakout season in 2013.

Kerry Madsen had a good season with five wins and was the biggest surprise of the season to most people by showing he can win at the highest level. Hope his team has something build on next year.

Good to see Lucas Wolfe get his first win, had one quick time on the season. He seemed to show some improvement running up front more frequently at the end of the season.

Chad Kemenah won two races and is still trying to hang with the best. Give the guy credit he is out there on the road and is dedicated.

I think you could argue that Tim Kaeding might be the most talented shoe who isn’t on the full time WoO tour, and he is probably one of the top ten (or five) in the country over all. Four WoO wins, 17 top ten finishes, and he ran a limited schedule.

Sounds like Jason Sides will be back full time in 2013 with the legal issues put away.

Good to see guys like Brian Brown and David Gravel race with the Outlaws more frequently this past year.

Bottom line…. Schatz is good. But I would have loved to see the Schatz/Meyers rivalry continue.

World Nationals at Marshalltown Speedway

I was hoping for an IMCA Modified Nationals event at Knoxville, but I will settle for Marshalltown instead! Toby Kruse announced a couple of weeks ago that Marshalltown Speedway will be hosting an event labeled the 7th Annual World Nationals (formerly known as the Havoc on the Highbanks) and putting up $10,000 to win! To compare how big that number is, the Knoxville Harris Clash pays $2,000 to win, the sports “super bowl”, the Boone Super Nationals has a base winning payout of $2,000, the catch is the contingency money ($100 per sanctioned event competed in capped at 50 events) with the potential to win up to $7,000. Richie Gustin won $5,700 in 2011 and Jeff Taylor won $2,700 in 2012. So for a guaranteed $10,000 to win race in the IMCA Modified ranks is a big deal, and Marshalltown is a perfect site for it that will offer close short track racing.

The one rule that sticks out for this event is that teams with a Crate motor are ineligible to compete. From Marshalltown Speedway Press Release:
The 2013 “World Nationals” will be a Hawkeye Dirt Tour event. It is with great pride that Marshalltown Speedway is able to partner with PBM Performance/Erson Cam/World Products to become the title sponsor of this high profile event. With this new sponsorship package in place, during the 2013 “World Nationals”, the IMCA Modifieds will be running built motors only, this in appreciation for the support of local machine shops and high performance engine builders.

This is a big step for IMCA Modified racing. As the costs of racing continue to increase, the purses have held steady. IMCA historically hasn’t wanted to have big payouts thinking that would control the cost of racing and help the competitive balance. But in recent years teams have been building more expensive engines in the Modified class, and the days of teams claiming an engine seem to be gone. So if the environment is such that teams can spend more money, it makes sense that we have an upper tier event that pays more money. The car count will be interesting to see how it pans out with probably half the teams in Iowa racing a crate, but I have a feeling some of those teams will go find an engine somewhere for this event. Just to clarify, the crate engines will be allowed in the other classes that compete that weekend.

With Carl Moyer (Karl Chevrolet) being such a large marketing partner and presence for local IMCA dirt track racing in Iowa and a proponent of the crate engine program, I’m a little surprised about the crate rule. But I’m guessing there is enough support from PBM Performance/Erson and Cam/World Products to make all this happen.

I’m excited for this event and think it’s a great idea by promoter Toby Kruse to put on something like this. Toby tells me there will be more details announced in the coming weeks about this event, including how much the Modified race will pay for second, third, and so forth.

Brian Stickel named Knoxville Raceway GM

Knoxville Raceway announced today that Brian Stickel has been promoted to the General Manager position, replacing Toby Kruse who resigned in September. John McCoy stays put as the Director of Competition. Gary Schumacher will now take on the role of the Office Manager along with his accounting duties (Director of Accounting and Human Resources). Stickel has been the Director of Marketing and Sales at Knoxville since 2006 and he will continue to oversee those areas as the GM. So not much is changing at the raceway, basically one management position has been eliminated compared to last year.

Stickel is a familiar face at the track with a proven track record. His background is quite extensive within racing and business and I think he is a good choice by the Marion County Fair Board to represent the Knoxville Raceway and help to continue its traditions while also trying to help it grow in the future. I have had a good experience working with Brian the past few years with press credentials, stories for the Nationals programs, planning a company outing, and Twitter. I approached Brian two years ago about why the track should use Twitter, how it could be used, and the benefits. So he agreed to let me post the results and news and it’s worked out well. It’s amazing how when you talk to people face to face, or over the phone, how much more receptive they are to any idea you may have, and you are taken more seriously.

Looking over the resume for 52 year old Stickle is quite impressive. He is a native of nearby Pleasantville and now resides south of Knoxville not too far away from the English Creek Speedway. Here is a summary of Brian’s past work experience in chronological order (thanks to Brian for sharing his resume with me).

Owned his own company that promoted mountain biking events in Vermont.
Director of Competition: National Off-Road Bicycle Association.
Deputy Competition Manger: Mountain Biking 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Executive Director: Greater Des Moines Sport Authority.
Pacific Division Director: NHRA.
Drag Strip Director: Mid-America Motorplex (Pacific Junction, Iowa).
Executive Director: Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development.

As you can see he has a background in a lot of other areas besides sprint car racing, and I think that is a good thing. But his heart is where his home is, and that is Knoxville Raceway. Brian has a passion for sprint car racing and he also understands the business side of things as well. I look forward to the 2013 season and what the new management team has in store for us race fans.

2012 Knoxville Raceway Season in Review (410)

This season at Knoxville was a good one. It was a season that saw the emergence of Davey Heskin as a serious contender, Terry McCarl proved he is the best driver there, Bronson Maeschen finally got his breakthrough win, it was a struggle for Dusty Zomer who was my pre-season pick to win it all, and it was heartbreaking for guys like Austin McCarl who didn’t have the resources to get onto the track until late in the season.

The upgrades to the restrooms were great. The concessions changed from fountain pop to bottles which made the lines move faster. The nachos were packaged a little different to make that line faster. The only thing that slows the lines down is the taco salad which is one of my favorites, but it takes 3-4 minutes sometimes to prepare. The only other complaint I have (for the fifth year in a row) is the sound system. Several high school football stadiums and other race tracks (Iowa Speedway) have a much clearer sound, music actually sounds good, and it's not as loud. Knoxville is loud, but it's so loud you can't understand the announcers at times. It's like a fast car that can't turn a corner.

Toby Kruse came and went, but he certainly injected a new energy and attitude with employees being more courteous and friendlier than in the past. And I think he handled the situation well with not trying to do too much and reinvent the wheel, but he made a difference at the same time. Sad to see him leave after one year.

There were eight different feature winners this year in thirteen features. Winning two races were Terry McCarl, Davey Heskin, Bronson Maeschen, Brian Brown, and Danny Lasoski. Winning one feature was Ian Madsen, Justin Henderson, and Wayne Johnson. Drivers with wins in previous seasons and not winning any features this year were Dusty Zomer, Mark Dobmeier, Don Droud Jr., and Lynton Jeffrey.

I keep track of stats of each driver throughout the season at Knoxville.

Top Ten in Qualifying Average: Maeschen 5.7, Heskin 8.4, Selvage 9.4. McCarl 9.5, Madsen 11.3, Bunton 12.2, Dobmeier 12.6, Wolfgang 12.9, Zomer 13.3, Rager Phillips 13.8.

Top Ten in Average Feature Finish: McCarl 4.9, Heskin 6.8, Maeschen 7.3, Dobmeier 7.8, Zomer 8.2, Madsen 9.9, Droud 11.9, Wolfgang 12.3, Jeffrey 12.9, Selvage 13.0.

One stat that is always interesting is the Qualifying Average to Feature Average finish ratio (Q/F as you will see below) where you can use that as an indicator who is passing the most cars in the features.

Looking at each driver in the top ten of points in finishing order:

1.) Terry McCarl
Stats: 2 wins, 9 top fives, 12 top tens, 4 heat wins, and 1 quick time. Qualifying average 9.5, Average Feature finish 4.9, Q/F +4.6, Nationals B-Main 14th, +3 improvement in points position.
T-Mac was the most consistent driver all season for sure, and one of only two drivers that started all 13 regular season shows. Despite being out qualified all season by Heskin, he stayed within striking distance in the points chase and at the Capitani Classic event T-Mac took the points lead after he made a daring pass around James McFadden in his heat race to get a feature transfer position. That pass was the defining moment in the championship and what put him over the top. He might not have had the fastest car every week, or the most funding, but he was up in the seat each night to drive and he proved he is the best driver in 2012. His Nationals effort of only making it up through the B-Main could be considered disappointing, but not terrible for trying to rebuild his own 24 team this year. He was fourth in points in 2011 in the Vermeer 55 so things are looking up for McCarl.

2.) Davey Heskin
Stats: 2 wins, 9 top fives, 11 top tens, 1 heat win, and 2 quick times. Qualifying average 8.4, Average Feature finish 6.8, Q/F +1.6, Nationals A-Main 10th, +6 improvement in points position.
Heskin had a chance to win the championship but fell just short. The team has to be proud of their season however after finishing fifth in 2011. They had a clear advantage in qualifying timing in the top five on eight nights. Only Bronson Maeschen had a better qualifying average. The Garrett Engines were killers this year. Heskin showed maturity by being patient at times, he found the rubber early on a couple of nights, and the nights he started further back with a ten or twelve invert draw he always made his way to the front. And his Nationals this year was a good one getting his third consecutive A-Main start and his second top ten finish. Heskin was eighth in points in 2011 so a big jump for him to second. He is young, popular with fans and kids as well. I look for Davey to only get better.

3.) Bronson Maeschen
Stats: 2 wins, 6 top fives, 11 top tens, 1 heat win, and 1 quick time. Qualifying average 5.7, Average Feature finish 7.3, Q/F -1.6, Nationals B-Main 11th, +8 improvement in points position.
Maeschen was a great underdog story this year. He left the Jordan 1 team at the end of 2011 after finishing eleventh in points last year and he restarted his own 96 team. That move paid off as he picked up his first two career feature wins, including the Capitani Classic over a stacked field of 67 cars. He had the best qualifying average this year and third in feature average finish. A really good season for Bronson and he answered the critics about not being able to race his way through the field as he was more aggressive this season. Hopefully Bronson can keep the momentum for 2013.

4.) Dusty Zomer
Stats: 0 wins, 6 top fives, 11 top tens, 5 heat wins, and 0 quick times. Qualifying average 13.3, Average Feature finish 8.2, Q/F +5.1, Nationals B-Main 24th, -2 spots in points position.
Zomer had a disappointing 2012 season. After winning four features and finishing second in points in 2011, most had Zomer picked to win the championship before the season started (including me). The Ingalls 91 car just didn’t have a good qualifying year and that never seemed to improve all season and it caused them to miss the feature invert a lot of nights. When you win five heat races that is an indicator that the car races well, but can’t qualify well. I wish I would have kept track of who the hard charger was each week because this guy won it several times I’m sure. And then they wrecked at the start of the Nationals B-Main to cap off the year. I hope they can turn it around in 2013.

5.) Mark Dobmeier
Stats: 0 wins, 7 top fives, 10 top tens, 2 heat wins, and 0 quick times. Qualifying average 12.6, Average Feature finish 7.8, Q/F +4.8, Nationals A-Main 12th, +0 improvement in points position.
The Lunstra/Dobmeier 13 team had a year that was good overall, winning a World of Outlaws feature at Huset’s, making the Nationals A-Main after winning the B-Main and advancing to twelfth, but their season at Knoxville other than the Nationals had no wins, poor qualifying, and they were much like Zomer always racing their way up from the back. They were fifth in points last year as well. It’s a head scratcher to make any sense out of, but this is a good team and a good driver. I look for them to improve in 2013 and be more consistent. But they do run a lot of races throughout the season and maybe they were running thin on engines or equipment compared to a lot of other teams.

6.) Ian Madsen
Stats: 1 win, 3 top fives, 8 top tens, 0 heat wins, and 2 quick times. Qualifying average 11.3, Average Feature finish 9.9, Q/F +1.4, +1 improvement in points position from 2010.
Madsen showed a lot of improvement this year compared to a couple of years ago when he was racing weekly at Knoxville. He is my vote for most improved driver although his points improvement doesn’t show as big of a number as Heskin or Maeschen. With a trained eye you can tell how much smoother he is on the track and he races in a much more controlled way. It’s difficult to explain, you had to be there. Hopefully the Vermeer/Barry Lewis 55 team can stay together for 2013. I’m excited to see how they can do with another year together.

7.) Don Droud Jr.
Stats: 0 wins, 2 top fives, 7 top tens, 2 heat wins, and 0 quick times. Qualifying average 14.3, Average Feature finish 11.9. Q/F +2.4, Nationals C-Main 12th, +0 improvement in points position.
Seventh in points again this year. Droud is getting the most out of the Gil Sonner 47 and he brings the car back to the trailer in one piece. They were second in points in 2010 to Brian Brown and they didn’t rebound after a disappointing 2011. Good driver, down on horsepower for sure.

8.) Lynton Jeffrey
Stats: 0 wins, 2 top fives, 6 top tens, 3 heat wins, and 0 quick times. Qualifying average 16.6, Average Feature finish 12.9, Q/F +3.7, Nationals C-Main 17th, +1 improvement in points position.
Jeffrey is getting the most out of the equipment he has. Hope he can get the #12 back into victory lane in 2013.

9.) Dustin Selvage
Stats: 0 wins, 1 top fives, 7 top tens, 0 heat wins, and 1 quick time. Qualifying average 9.4, Average Feature finish 15.6, Q/F -6.2, Nationals B-Main 22nd, +1 improvement in points position.
Selvage’s sophomore season in the 410 class was up and down. He qualified well in the heat of the summer months and on the nights he had mechanical problems he was running in the top ten usually. I think this kid has a lot of talent and his team will figure out how to be more consistent in 2013 and probably win a feature. He has the most potential of anyone for improvement next season.

10.) Josh Schneiderman
Stats: 0 wins, 4 top fives, 2 top tens, 7 heat wins, and 0 quick times. Qualifying average 17.3, Average Feature finish 14.2, Q/F +3.1, Nationals C-Main 14th, +2 improvement in points position.
The Deuce Motorsports team expanded to two teams in 2012 with brother Jarrod moving up to the 410 class. Schneiderman was eighth in points in 2010, dropped to twelfth in 2011, so tenth in 2012 is a slight improvement but not where this team probably wants to be. After making the 2010 Nationals A-Main and finishing thirteenth I was expecting this team to jump up the standings similar to Heskin but it hasn’t happened. The potential is there, and with being able to afford two teams they should have good equipment, maybe they have the wrong combination right now. I can’t quite put my finger on it but I hope we see improvement from Josh in 2013.

Brian Brown won two features in his seven appearances at Knoxville weekly shows. So proud of this guy for starting his own team and building it up to what he has. He is a good driver and I think he has the right attitude and business model to continue his success. If you’re looking to start a race team, this guy has set the benchmark in my opinion.

Danny Lasoski was at Knoxville for three of the first five races and won twice. He ran ninth at the Capitani Classic and now has a streak at Nationals of missing the A-Main three years in a row. If he would have stayed to run at Knoxville all year he likely would have won another track championship. He has 98 career wins and although some people are already celebrating 100 wins, he isn’t there yet and I think it’s wrong to even talk about it until he gets there. If he wins 100 great, I hope he does. But what if he doesn’t get to 100 for some reason? It’s bad karma.

Robby Wolfgang had a decent season going, but stepped away from the 7K. That car just doesn’t have the funding to be competitive, and I think Robby has become a good driver, but he needs a sponsor and funding like a lot of other teams out there. I would like to see what Robby can do in better equipment.

Ryan Bunton found a good bullet for under the hood of the 6R and was able to qualify well all season with a average of 12.2, but his feature finish average was 15.7. Another year of experience and I think he could be a contender.

Austin Johnson tore up a lot of equipment this year in the Marty Johnson 81 car, including one car over the turn three fence. He made it to six weekly shows and half of those he didn’t finish. And he tore up another car at the Nationals. He had some bad luck for sure, but he never qualified worse than ninth so the car is fast. Fast car, young driver, we will see if the 81 can improve in 2013, but I’m cheering for them.

The Knoxville Knockouts: Did anyone see them this year? I barely noticed them. Not sure that ambassador program worked well or not, but my vote is no.

My personal awards:
410 Driver of the Year: Davey Heskin. His Nationals performance and 2 wins did it for me.
410 Most Improved Driver: Ian Madsen
Goody’s Headache Powder Award: Austin Johnson
Race of the Year: Friday Night of Nationals. Hope you were there!
Mr. Congeniality: Davey Heskin. My kid’s vote has more weight than mine here, but Davey always has fist bumps for the kids.

Francis Wins Late Model Knoxville Nationals

The 9th Annual Late Model Knoxville Nationals was once again a success at the Knoxville Raceway. 80 cars entered this year as the field was “open” for entries instead of limited to invites and whose postmark date was earliest.

*Format: The traditional Knoxville Nationals point system is used both nights, with the exception being that all teams entered are allowed to race both qualifying nights and you are able to use the better of your two nights. In the sprint car nationals the field is split into two separate nights. The heats use a 10 invert and with 80 cars we had 16 cars in each heat, and only the top four transfer to the A-Main where the invert is 8. After each night is run the points are totaled up and the feature lineups are set for Saturday.
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*Thursday: Billy Moyer killed them in the Thursday night 25 lap feature after starting third and grabbing the lead on lap eight and pulled away. Moyer made a statement with this win and it looked like he was clearly the man to beat. However Moyer timed 19th, and that cost him valuable points. The heat races were awesome on this night with a lot of passing and optimum track conditions. Tim McCreadie put on a good show on this night after some bad luck sent him to the D-main where he finished third and transferred to the tail of the C-main where he raced up to 4th and tagged the tail of the B-Main where he climbed up to 9th.

Qualifying top ten: Scott Bloomquist (17.277), Rich Bell, Dennis Erb Jr., Kent Robinson, Mike Marlar, Jimmy Ownes, Brady Smith, Steve Francis, Chad Simpson, Terry Phillips.

Heat winners: Brian Birkhofer, Jesse Stoval, Jimmy Mars, Billy Moyer, Tyler Reddick.

A-Main top ten: Billy Moyer, Shannon Babb, Steve Francis, Brian Birkhofer, Jimmy Mars, Scott Bloomquist, Brady Smith, Brian Shirley, Denny Eckrich, Austin Hubbard.

Scott Bloomquist was the top point man over all setting quick time, finished third in his heat race, and sixth in the A-main to give him 484 points. That would end up being enough to give him the pole on Saturday night.
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*Friday: Mike Marlar started third and grabbed the lead coming off of turn four on the opening lap and led from the green to the checkered. Steve Francis and Brady Smith were there knocking on Marlar’s bumper a couple of times but they couldn’t around him and Marlar eventually broke away to win handily. Steve Francis had a good run from fifth to second and was the only driver to end up on the podium both nights. This race didn’t see a lot of passing after the opening laps. The 25 lap A-Main went non-stop in 9:03 minutes setting a new 25 lap track record for late models. The race track was really wide and slick on this night compared to the night before where the track held up better. Earl Pearson Jr. drove from 18th to eighth for hard charger honors.

Billy Moyer qualified sixth, but after having to start ninth in his heat he couldn’t advance his way in the field and finished where he started in ninth, which put him in the C-Main. He won the C-Main, but then he was light at the scales after he lost a 40 pound piece of lead off his car somehow. Apparently in the Lucas Oil Late Model Series there is a one pound per lap allowance for weight, he was 12 pounds light at the scales and the race was 15 laps. I’ve never heard of such a rule, but because Moyer was within the allowance he was able to advance to the B-Main. But that lead he lost apparently went through the radiator because they were not able to make repairs in time for the B-Main and they scratched for the night.

Qualifying top ten: Brian Shirley (17.480), Billy Moyer Jr., Jimmy Owens, Denny Eckrich, Pat Moore, Billy Moyer, Dave Eckrich, Brady Smith, Steve Francis, Kent Robinson.

Heat Winners: Donnie Moran, Earl Pearson Jr., Will Vaught, Tim McCReadie, Shannon Babb.

A-Main top ten: Mike Marlar, Steve Francis, Brady Smith, Jimmy Owens, Jonathan Davenport, Brian Shirley, Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr., Tyler Reddick, Jason Feger.
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**Saturday: This night was only for the D, C, B, and A mains. I like this format for the Nationals type of events. Especially with a 100 lap A-Main you get to see plenty of racing and it’s for all the marbles. No sense in having a support class to eat up the track and slow things down. I’m glad Knoxville decided to not run a support class this year.

Jimmy Owens grabbed the lead on lap 1 but soon faded to sixth after Scott Bloomquist passed him on lap 3. On lap ten the order was Bloomquist, Smith, Francis, Shirley, Birkhofer, Owens, Babb, and Moyer. Brady Smith passed Bloomquist on lap 12 to take the point and a lap later Brian Shirley stopped to bring out the yellow while he was in third. Shirley lost a cylinder and was done for the night. Brian Birkhofer led one lap on lap 26 but Smith shot back by him a lap later. At the halfway mark the order was Smith, Birkhofer, and Francis lurking. Smith had a 2.5 second lead going into traffic and Francis started making his move by getting around Birkhofer and then reeling in Smith and made the pass for the lead on lap 71 and pulled away. Francis ran a smart race saving his tires on restarts and the first 50 laps so he was there at the end. The 100 lap championship race took almost an hour to run taking the green flag at 9:26pm and the checkered fell at 10:23.Will Vaught was the hard charger coming from 21st to 11th.

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Closing thoughts: The thing I enjoy the most about going to non sprint car events at Knoxville is how appreciative the fans and drivers are about having the opportunity to race on the historic half-mile. This goes for the Late Model Nationals, Harris Clash, all events that I have been to the past few years. Steve Francis said in victory lane, “No disrespect to the World 100, but this is the biggest win of my career.” That is a huge statement considering the man has won the granddaddy of all Late Model races, the World 100 in 1999. Kyle Strickler basically said the same thing this year when won the Modified Harris Clash event. And the past few years when the IMCA Late Models raced you heard it again from Ray Guss Jr. and Tommy Elston, those were the biggest wins of their career to win at Knoxville. I’m not knocking sprint car fans, but the weekly fans that like to complain about small things, go to any other dirt track in the state and see if you think it’s as nice as Knoxville. I don’t think you appreciate the gem in the facility and track that we have here in Iowa.
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Late Model Nationals finish: 1. Steve Francis (5), 2. Brady Smith (4), 3. Brian Birkhofer (7), 4. Scott Bloomquist (1), 6. Mike Marlar (6), 8. Billy Moyer (9), 10. Jonathan Davenport (15), 11. Will Vaught (21), 14. John Anderson (19), 15. Kent Robinson (10), 16. Bub McCool (23), 18. Tyler Reddick (11), 21. Frank Heckenast Jr. (20), 23. Jason Feger (18), 24. Terry Phillips (14), 25. Morgan Bagley (12), 26. Shannon Babb (8), 28. Earl Pearson Jr. (22), 29. Jimmy Mars (16), 30. Denny Eckrich (13), 31. Terry Casey (24), 32. Mark Burgtorf (17), 33. Brian Shirley (3).

The Torch Has Been Passed

After this year’s Knoxville Nationals on Saturday night in the press conference I asked Brian Brown if he felt that maybe a torch has been passed to a new generation of drivers with Steve, Sammy, and Danny not making the A-Main this year. Brian answered the question with a no, and that he was grateful for them helping make the sport what it is. When Schatz answered the question he said those drivers are still some of the best in the business, but the competition level is better than ever, almost eluding to the fact that they were victims of the tough format and bad breaks.

Doug Auld used this topic in his new editorial in Sprint Car & Midget Magazine this month (you're welcome for that topic of conversation). It seemed like Auld also defended that those drivers are some of the best and threw out some stats of how they’re all still winning races. I get that point. They are still some of the best drivers in the business, no doubt. The point I was eluding too is that the torch was passed "at Knoxville." I'm not looking at anything else other than previous events at Knoxville.

Maybe Steve and Sammy were victims of circumstances on their qualifying nights with narrow tracks and mechanical problems, but they are not victims of the Nationals format, and had their chances to race their way in and didn't. And with the trained eye I have in the stands, they just weren't fast enough is why.

What Auld fails to mention is that all drivers had a second chance to make it into the Saturday A-Main on Friday night. Sammy declined that opportunity and elected to start seventh in the B-main Saturday. And all drivers had a third shot on Saturday night to advance through the B-Main, but they didn’t.

On Friday night Steve Kinser qualified 10th and Lasoski timed 21st. Kinser finished third in his heat and won his B-Main while Lasoski won his heat. In the Friday A-Main Kinser started 15th and finished 9th in the A, while Lasoski started 10th and finished 15th.

On Saturday night in the B-Main Sammy started 6th and finished 5th. Kinser started 15th and finished 10th. Lasoski advanced from the C-Main, started 22nd in the B and finished 17th. Those guys just didn't get it done.

I’m going to argue that the torch has indeed been passed.

1.) Lasoski: He failed to qualify for the Nationals for the third consecutive year.

2.) Sammy: I was surprised Sammy didn’t race his way in Saturday in the B-Main. No disrespect to Brian Paulus or Jason Sides, they had great runs this year, but Sammy let them get by and missed out on the party. It was shocking considering a lot of people (including me) had Sammy pegged as the favorite to win the whole thing. Sammy should have been able to race his way in but didn’t.

3.) Kinser: He has been on a decline in recent years finishing outside the top ten the three previous years in 12th in 2009, 22nd in 2010, and 16th in 2011. The King hasn’t won a race at Knoxville since April of 2005. All signs were pointing south that his reign of dominance is over AT Knoxville and I had to force myself to put him in the top 24 of my pre-nationals power rankings.

This is all subjective to opinion as far as a torch being passed. I feel that it has been passed to Donny Schatz. Schatz won’t ever admit that, he is humble and smart enough to know he can't say that, but trust me it’s been passed.

Who will be Donny’s rival? That's the question I have. Opperman had Weld. Lasoski has McCarl. Kinser had Sammy. It was looing like it would be Jason Meyers. Will it be Saldana, Dollanksy, Madsen, Sides, Kraig, Darrah… who? Or is Schatz in a league of his own? He is after all on pace to win as many Nationals as the King as they both won their sixth Nationals at 34 years of age. Let the debate continue.