On this day after the conclusion of this spectacular four-day event, following are my thoughts without the use of a notebook (left in the car all week as I said I would earlier) and without a single visit to the press room since the luncheon has now apparently been moved permanently to Thursdays when I still have to work.
After a wet spring and a scorching summer we couldn't have asked for better weather during this four-day run. Even a 60% chance of rain for Friday night never materialized and the temperatures and humidity were comfortable throughout.
If not for a an engine going south over the final two laps in 2010 this would have been the sixth straight Nationals win for Donny Schatz who was lightning fast all week, except of course when his powerplant went up in flames during Wednesday's feature. That little hurdle put him in row seven for the finale and it only took him fifteen laps to get to the front. Another driver to be discussed next will be remembered, for awhile at least, for all the cars that he passed this week, but Schatz passed all that he needed to, and fast, on his way to his fifth Knoxville Nationals crown. Love him or hate him, you still have to respect his accomplishment.
Shane Stewart once again made a ten-day visit to Knoxville look like he should be contending for a World of Outlaws title rather than racing 360's full time. But then again, I think that works just fine for Stewart and car owner Paul Silva. Last Saturday night Stewart captured his second straight 360 Nationals title starting from the pole and then holding back a late charge from Tim Shaffer on a night when drivers like Shaffer and many others also raced in the 410 division. Not Stewart though. In 2010 Shane found himself on the podium for the 410 Nationals as well charging up to a third-place finish and this week he even caught the attention of people who just attend for the social aspect (my wife) with his thrilling runs from back to front. On Wednesday night he started 24th and finished 4th in the A-Main. The fact that Stewart even made the A on Wednesday was the result of one of the gutsiest moves of the week when he pulled off a slider on Bronson Masechen in the final laps to get that last transfer out of the B-Main. During Friday's show the grudge draw placed Stewart in 17th for the start of the Race of Champions and he was closing fast in second when pole-sitter Tim Shaffer took the checkers. Then in the World Challenge race Shane started 13th and ran out of laps before he could catch front row starter Lucas Wolfe who took the win. Everybody was pumped to watch the Rockstar do it again in Saturday's headliner and he did not disappoint closing to within five car lengths of Schatz at the checkers. And to think, it was the second heat race on Wednesday night, when Stewart started fifth but had both Donny Schatz and Austin McCarl go blowing past him dropping him back to sixth, two positions out of a transfer, that put him in "catch up mode" in the first place. Look for Stewart to now go on and close out another ASCS National Tour Championship here in 2011.
At fifty-seven years old Sammy Swindell may be running out of legitimate chances to back up his 1983 Knoxville Nationals title and I think I heard that in his voice during his podium interview Saturday night. Sammy racked up the most points through the qualifying events and started from the pole position, but a bobble early off the berm in turn three allowed Brad Sweet to lead and then late, when it looked as though Sammy was closing in for the kill on Schatz, that same berm bit him again. With four laps remaining Swindell went into turn three just a smidge too low making contact with the berm and kicking him out into the middle of the track. Sammy said that it felt like he had parked there for lunch, and for his fans like me it was an agonizing split second as his momentum was now lost, and Schatz was gone. Stewart pounced as well to take over the second spot and Sammy recovered for third which is still better than how he ended his run last year upside down in turn four. As a Swindell fan I do hope that he continues to be a contender for years to come, but I have a harder time driving home each year at age 48, so I can't even imagine the effect that each passing year has on someone in a winged missile touring a half-mile oval in 15 seconds.
The only way to live up to winning last year's Knoxville Nationals for Tim Shaffer was to do it again, but the "Steel City Outlaw" has to be pretty happy with how his Southern Iowa Sprint Week went. Last Saturday he was the runner-up to Shane Stewart in the 360 Nationals and finished fourth on the same night in the All Stars sanctioned 410 show. Shaffer had a good night going on Wednesday before his motor went south in the feature, but with a grudge draw gift from Danny Holtgraver (the pole position) he won the Race of Champions on Friday night, then came from 19th to fourth in the Championship race on Saturday. It is safe to say that Shaffer has Knoxville dialed in right now.
Daryn Pittman was pretty quiet all week until he made a run at Schatz for the lead following the mid-race caution. His fifth-place finish was a nice finish to the week.
Four-time All Iowa Points champion Mark Dobmeier established himself as a contender by disposing of Danny Lasoski late in the first heat race and then prevailed through some thrilling sliders with Brian Brown and Jason Meyers to take Thursday night's feature win. Dobmeier started seventh and was never a threat to win the finale on Saturday, but posted a solid sixth-place finish for one of the upper Midwest's best drivers.
Speaking of Lasoski, after he was passed by Dobmeier for the final transfer spot in Thursday's first heat the week went downhill from there mercifully coming to an end with a fifth-place finish in Saturday's D-Main. "The Dude" has been solid here all season only finishing outside of the top-five twice all year. He now needs to regroup to see if he can hold back Dusty Zomer for the Knoxville season points championship. And speaking of Zomer, his week ended just one position ahead of Lasoski in that D-Main, an event he dropped to when his left rear tire exploded while leading the first Semi-Main on Friday night.
Brian Brown had a solid Nationals finishing in seventh-place, but you can bet that he won't want to repeat his "training method" to get to it as he was very sore following a hard crash the week before in the 360 Nationals.
Brad Sweet subbed for the injured Joey Saldana in the Kasey Kahne racing #9 and earned a front row start for the Championship race on Saturday night. I knew he was screwed though when he told Mike Roberts during pre-race introductions that "this one is for Joey" as Saldana NEVER has any luck during the Nationals. Sweet finished eighth.
If not for young Rager Phillips running out of fuel on the final lap of the B-Main, Lance Dewease would have been watching the championship race from the infield. But he made the most of his opportunity and came from 24th to 9th. It was an incredible heart breaker for Phillips who has been maligned for his involvement in accidents here the past year or so. Tonight the kid was a stud driving past big name drivers to apparently make the big show only to come up a half a lap short in the end. Brady Bacon also suffered B-Main heartbreak when his right rear tire went flat just before a late restart forcing him to pit while sitting in second.
Craig Dollansky, one of my two pre-event picks finished tenth while the other one, Jason Meyers was 22nd. That's why nobody should listen to me when I try to pick a winner.
I hated to see eighteen-year-old Austin McCarl crash hard on the first lap of his first National Championship race. Austin is exactly what this sport and this track needs to get the young crowd hooked on the sport as many of his Southeast Polk high school class mates come to Knoxville each week to cheer him on. I understand that Austin will be playing basketball for Grand View College this winter?
Morgan tells me that Cody Darrah has been taking a lot of heat on the forums for tearing up Kasey Kahne's equipment on the World of Outlaws trail this season. The youngster set quick time on Thursday night, but could not make the A that night even after starting on the pole of the B-Main. Then on Saturday night he stuffed the #91 in the turn three fence on the opening lap of the B-Main, so I'm sure that didn't help the situation.
Speaking of the forum boards, I noticed one thread where some AWP tried to make the case that the Knoxville Raceway did not care about Sprint Car fans when there was no way that he could watch Saturday's show live except for actually being at the track. Then, to top it off, he asked sarcastically how attendance had been for the week so far. Well, I'll be the first to admit that the Wednesday and Thursday night crowds were as small as I have seen them since the back stretch stands were added many years back and while the crowd picked up a bit on Friday, it still was light in comparison to recent years. Now it is my understanding that all three of these nights could be watched live online, while Saturday night you had to buy a ticket and be there to see it live. Saturday night's crowd was pretty darn good, so I wonder if there is any correlation there? I came darn close to missing the first three nights due to a work commitment, and if I had been stuck in a hotel on the east coast I would have loved to had the opportunity to watch the show live online. However, it is my opinion that the Knoxville Raceway needs to do what it has to do in order to put more butts in the stands and if that means no "live" telecast of the event on any night, then so be it. Sorry AWP, but you made yourself look like a jerk with that argument.
Better late than never. Announcer Johnny Gibson reminded fans to stay seated when the green flag waves after the initial start where Austin McCarl flipped in turn one. Johnny is fantastic at getting the crowd fired up with his "you wanted the best, you got 'em four abreast, often imitated, never duplicated, the World of Outlaws" call during the parade lap, but his next line needs to be something along the lines of "remember race fans, this is dirt track racing loved by fans young and old, short and tall, so when everybody sits, everybody sees.....after all this ain't NASCAR!" I know that the three young fans in the row behind us would appreciate that and it would be a good lesson for the folks who seem to think that their shaky and far-off looking smartphone video is important enough to block the view of everybody behind them. If you are reading this and thinking "what a stupid thing to be writing about, you stand up because it is exciting", then you are obviously somebody who has only started going to the Nationals over the past ten years. We never had this problem before then.
I did hear that an announcement was made during Thursday's press luncheon that John McCoy would move up to the booth next year to take over Ralph Capitani's race night duties, but that the Promoter/Track Manager position was still open. McCoy is the perfect choice for making the calls from the booth and I have a had a few people tell me that I should apply for the open position remaining. But my thought is that replacing a legend is almost always a losing proposition and that replacing the person who replaced the legend has a much better success rate. I have heard a few names that are supposedly in contention and all sound like they would be a good choice, although one of them would need to learn how to take a breath while giving an interview.
The 51st Knoxville Nationals was a bittersweet one for me as it may be the last time for awhile that I get to spend all four nights, plus the 360 Nationals the week before, with my son Morgan by my side. He left today to return to the University of Tulsa to begin his senior year and we of course are hoping that he will land a good job following his graduation in May. However, unless that job is back here in southeast Iowa it is likely that a newbie will not have vacation days available to him after three months to be here for the whole week, so Saturday night's finale in 2012 will probably be the best that he can do. I went to a lot of Nationals before he even came along, but this event took on a whole different level of enjoyment once he started going. It just won't be the same to go back without him next year. I hate getting old......
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