Check Out These Other Pages At Hoseheads
Hoseheads Dirt Late Model News
Bill W's Knoxville News Bill Wright
KO's Indiana Bullring Scene Kevin Oldham
From the Grandstand Ron Rodda
Wagsworld Ken Wagner
Sooner Circles Don Hubbard
View From the Pressbox Stacy Ervin
Keeping Track Dino Oberto
Tri-State Outlook Duane Hancock
Western PA News Rick Rarer
The Big Cars Jay Hardin
Interrogation Gary Costa
A Fans View Rick Hartnett
the PITS 2009
Central PA
Hawkeye Ovals
By Eric Arnold
6/28/2009
The World of Outlaws made their second visit of the season to Knoxville Raceway this past Saturday night. The racing surface was the hot topic of the night along with the announcement of a fuel stop for the 40-lap Nationals A-Main in August.
Throughout the night the middle groove slicked off, but with moisture sitting on the extreme bottom of the corners the cars were able to hook up on that and kick the moisture up to the middle, which made for a narrow and fast track. Track records were broke in the heat race and the 25-lap A-Main as winner Terry McCarl was clocked at 6:53.8 and ran most laps in the lower 15 second bracket. McCarl drew the front row for the dash and won that setting him up for a front row starting spot in the A-Main where he led all of the 25 laps. The A-Main saw Kraig Kinser challenge McCarl early but McCarl was able to pull away, especially in traffic. Donny Schatz was able to make a charge late from fifth to second.. Jason Sides was also impressive late charging up from twelfth to fifth.
The racing surface has seen a variety of track types over the last month. From dry slick and rubber down, to less than an inch of rain the day before a race causing a cancellation, to near perfect 3 wide racing, to wet and tacky like this last Saturday night.. One thing is for sure, in Iowa the weather can have so much affect on the surface and the Dunkin track crew can only make their best guess as to what the track needs from one day to the next. It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it, and if I had my pick of anyone to work on my track I would pick Chris Dunkin.
The rumor of a fuel stop for the 40-lap Nationals A-Main was put to rest on Friday as the Raceway announced that there would be a fuel stop at some point during the race, but when? My sources tell me it will be a call that Race Director Ralph Capitani will make himself during the event. If there happens to be a yellow or red flag between lap 10-20 Cappy may elect to stop the field for fuel only at that time. If the race stays green for the first 20-25 laps a competition yellow will stop the race for fuel only. One pit crewmember will be allowed in the work area to put fuel only in the car, no other adjustments will be allowed.. One thing is for sure, the controversy has already begun for the 2009 Nationals, and with the rumor of going to 50 laps in 2010 for the 50th anniversary, there’s more fuel on the fire. Fuel stops are typically not popular with fans or the racers. The message boards or lighting up with everything from it’s a great idea, to the worst idea ever. My opinion is to wait and see what happens on Saturday night August 15th and see how it pans out. Cappy may look like a genius when it’s all over with. Only time will tell.
On Friday night my good buddy Luke and I ventured to Osborne, MO to watch the World of Outlaws at US 36 Raceway. It was my first trip to this facility and I have to say I’m a fan after my first visit. The facility itself as far as parking, wooden bench seating, and all reserved seating that created a LONG line at the ticket window made me appreciate the amenities of Knoxville. To my disappointment some local Knoxville Regulars did not enter the race such as Brian Brown, Billy Alley, Don Droud Jr., Dusty Zomer, and Skip Jackson. And after seeing the signs for a $40 pit pass I could understand why. But the track itself is a high-banked quarter mile that was wide and fast. It reminded me of Eagle Raceway, but better. In probably the best race I have seen in 2009 Joey Saldana and Johnny Herrera put on a great show in the 40-lap event.
Unfortunately the 19 car of Dollansky who had tipped over midway in the race restarted with a badly damaged top wing and became a moving pick that turned out to play a factor in the last lap of the race. Dollansky was already one lap down when the red came out on lap 34 for Kerry Madsen, but he was clearly slow and had nothing to gain being on the track for the last 6 laps. As the leaders swapped the point on multiple occasions they came up on Dollansky at the white flag and it was enough to break Herrera’s momentum and allow Saldana to get around Herrera coming off of turn 2. Herrera made it a photo finish at the end, but the win went to Saldana. It was a great race and the track was very “racey” as Kraig Kinser came from 7th to finish 3rd, Schatz started 12th and finished 4th, Tony Bruce went from 15th to 10th, so there was racing every lap and it was all you could do to keep one eye on the leaders and one eye in the middle of the pack. One thing is for sure; I’ll be going back to US 36 Raceway again even if I do have to wait 30 minutes to buy a ticket, because it was worth it in the end!
So after the two shows this weekend my early power rankings for the Knoxville Nationals look like this. 1. Schatz, 2. McCarl, 3. Saldana, 4. Kraig Kinser, 5. Steve Kinser, 6. Sides, 7. Herrera, 8. Meyers, 9.. Lasoski, 10. Stevie Smith, 11. Wolfe, 12. Kaeding, 13. Brown, 14. Swindell, 15. Madsen, 16. Droud, 17. Bruce, 18. Dollansky, 19. Hafertepe Jr., 20. Walker, 21. J. Johnson, Dobmeier, 22. Haudenshchild, 23. Pittman, 24. Rahmer, 25. W. Johnson.
A Hosehead Production
Copyright © 2009 by "Hosehead's Sprint Car Photos & News." Do not reproduce anything from these pages without the permission of the photographers, writers or webmaster.
Hosehead's Sprint Car Photos & News,PO Box 42, Drums PA 18222-0042