I'm back from my week at the Knoxville Nationals.  Only 365 days til the next one! 

It is hard to explain to a non-sprint car fan or non-dirt racing fan what the experience is like. 

                     Like a week long tailgating party before a college football game.

                     Like Speedweeks at Daytona, except you actually SEE the drivers out and about.

                     Like the SuperBowl, but you can get tickets to stand on the sideline -                                    for only  $20 more than the reserved seat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knoxville is a town of about 7,500 and during the Nationals, parking rules don't apply.  Front lawns become high dollar motorhome parking lots complete with satellite dishes, air conditioning and golf carts.  Showers are available at the middle school or from whatever generous homeowner will let you in their door. 

Merchandise trailers for everything from sponsors, drivers, magazines, and new products are parked all over town.  Semis with trailers are parked in hotel parking lots, where teams pull out their cars and wrench on them right there.  Walmart is cluttered not with motorhomes, but racing rigs who have two or three sprint cars in various stages of assembly strewn everywhichway.

Crowds of fans swarm across streets to food vendors.  Drivers host autograph sessions, historians meet to discuss past drivers, races, and racetracks; and promoters from all over converge to watch the spectacle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What everyone wants to see is great side-by-side racing on a 1/2 mile dirt track.

Every driver wants to get to the Saturday Night A Main.  Getting there is a complex system of points gathering based on passing, qualifying times, finishes in heats and luck.  This year, rain added a chicane to the program when the Wednesday night program was rained out.  The fix was this:  Thursday stayed Thursday, Friday became Wednesday + part of Friday's program; Saturday featured Friday's last chance races and the "Main Event" at its regular time.  Confused?  So were many fans, trying to figure out which ticket to bring to the track!

Winning the Nationals brings a lot of prestige in the sport, and puts you in the company of legends like Jan Opperman, Doug Wolfgang, Steve Kinser, and Sammy Swindell.  Doug Wolfgang, who at times has generated controversy, had a homecoming of sorts at the Nationals.  His autobiography, with Dave Argabright, was released this week.   Doug & Dave had several autograph sessions, and were swamped with fans.  The hot souvenir of the week was a signed copy of "Lone Wolf."  (No, I haven't finished reading mine yet.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night, Donny Schatz put his name again in the record books, defending his win last year by winning his Second Knoxville Nationals.  That's Schatz ( in the yellow car) taking a parade lap with Paul McMahon.  Steve Kinser is behind Schatz and Joey Saldana is behind McMahon. 

With all the sprint car teams in town, rumors fly around town faster than a lap at the track.  The rumor of the week was that Tony Stewart was buying Knoxville.  As the track is owned by the county, this was one that those "in the know" laughed about all week.  Added to the rumor was that Jerry Springer was going to be the new announcer.  Odds are the rumor started at Dingus, the pub at turn one, during one of the rain delays. 

The second rumor was one that was actually true:  Tony Stewart is adding another car to his World of Outlaws team.  The second team?  Donny Schatz, the winner of this year's Nationals and last year's WoO champion.  Schatz will join Paul McMahon at Tony Stewart Racing.  The rumor that Tony was adding a team was not new, but who that team was, made news.