Just a few comments from the Friday program that was run during the day on Saturday at the Knoxville Nationals.....
The track used to run an event called the Master's Classic for drivers who were fifty years of age or older. It was popular when it first started because there were so few drivers who were still active after turning fifty, but when some of the sport's stars crossed that half-century mark and made it where the guys who were coming out of retirement couldn't even stay on the same lap in a heat race, the event faded from the schedule. Throw out Jack Dover and you had today's version of the Master's Classic with fifty-five-year-old Danny Lasoski winning after starting seventh on the grid. Fifty-six-year-old Jac Haudenschild passed Dover for second going into turn one on the final lap before his motor let go heading down the back stretch. Dover was able to get back around the smoking car to finish in the second spot while Haudenschild was able to coast across the line in third. And coming home fourth after leading a lap earlier in the race it was none other than "The King", Steve Kinser who turned sixty years old on June 2nd.
It made me feel like a teenager again!
Five heats, a B-Main and a twenty-lap feature was completed in one hour and twenty-four minutes. Just how much dinking around did we do back in the days of one division racing in order to have shows last for three or more hours??
With overcast skies, a light breeze and cooler than normal daytime temperatures the track stayed wide and racy giving us perhaps the best daytime dirt race that I will ever see again.
For a full rundown click here.
After an hour of track prep the Speed Sport World Challenge was run and in that time the sky brightened and the temps went up a few degrees. Hindsight is 20/20, but perhaps that race should have been run immediately following the feature race as by mid-race the track had locked down and was eating tires. Daryn Pittman got around Tim Kaeding with nine laps to go to take the win and since the defending World of Outlaws champion is already qualified for tonight's Championship feature, Kaeding earns "The Golden Ticket" to start 25th in tonight's A-Main.
For the story from the World Challenge click here.
Time to head back to the track for the finale of the 54th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores. Will anybody be able to stop Donny Schatz? I don't think so.....
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