Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Has there ever been a USAC silver crown race at Knoxville? It seems like it would be a well suited track and would be neat to see a 75 or 100 lap sprint car race. I am looking forward to the races tonight. I would think a silver crown race would be a cool addition to the program for the sunday night show, all politics and logistics and purses aside.

What do you think?

Yes there were a few Silver Crown races held at K'Ville. The last one was in 2001 and I think J.J. Yeley won it. They were held in June and were 100 laps, believe the race was called the Hawkeye 100. Not sure why they quit racing there.

I saw Rich Vogler win one there.......early '80's?

www.teamwmotorsports.webs.com

The cars were slow, the race was long, and the track was dusty & hard as a rock..... 3 things that winged sprint car fans (or nonwing for that matter) aren't accustomed to seeing at Knoxville. If the track was tacky & fast, it maybe would've been a decent show. But as it was, it was a snoozer for every fan except for the Silver Crown purists.

I'll tell you what, there were not a whole lot of complaints after this race. Remember this was the Copper on dirt with all three divisions on the track that night.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

I will never understand why usac does not book more races with the silver crown dirt cars. Knoxville, william grove. The car are so neat to watch on dirt and pavement.

I think cars are not money makers at these tracks.Or they would be booked there.

One big problem was that USAC brushed aside the traditional style champ car for a couple of years, for that God ugly machine they tried to sell us. If you remember, some of the owners of the traditional type cars even started there own series just so they could race them. That had to be one of the stupidest moves I've ever seen any sanctioning body make.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

They're not well accepted by the prevailing culture at those tracks. They get up and leave when the 360's come out. It's a winged speed freak crowd. Anything less than rocket ships they consider boring.

Stan Meissner

And once again, Stan hits the nail squarely on the head.

If that's what the track was like then that was hardly USAC's fault. Give the big cars a good track and they could put on a show. I got to witness some good Silver Crown races at Terre Haute and Eldora seven or eight years ago.

At least one of the years, they started "hotlaps" at 5 pm or some ridiculously early time with the sun high in the sky. I quoted hotlaps, 'cause it wasn't what USAC does for sprints & midget hotlaps at their races. The green was out and they let cars come & go from the pits to the track and vice versa... did this for like a half-hour straight. All the while the sun was beating down on the track. Now THAT was a good idea! I'd like to think Knoxville had nothing to do with that decision, but who knows. As it was, there was rubber down before they even freakin' timed! The track was like that year after year for that race. My dad & I said exactly the same thing after every disappointing Silver Crown show there -- a tacky track would go a long way in them putting on a good show. I think you know that I'm not just another winged sprint snob either..... those races just sucked!