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

What kind of field of cars can we expect at Knoxville this weekend for the Non-Wing cars?

Any regulars maybe taking the top off? I have ssen very little of the Non-Wing shows so I am really looking forward to this weekend.

30 and No

I thought maybe Don Droud would run in both divisions

He may, but he definitely isn't a regular any longer. 

I just hope they water the track decent so we can start on time and get out of there a heck of a lot earlier. The days of Kendra seem like a faint memory. 

Also, I hate 360 qualifying. Go back to the draw. It adds 30-40 mins to the night and around 100 extra laps on the track for wear. If you don't like the draw system move up to 410s where the big dogs still qualify. 

Ok I got my complaining out for the week. Been holding that in all weekend. Better here than twitter I always figure. Carry on. Upper 20s and no one notable doing double duty is my prediction. 

Randall may well go for both.   Moles will likely run with the Wing on as well.   Axom??  

I thought Brady Bacon was trying to get into more of the Winged stuff.

I agree completely. Lots of gaps between every transition really. Hot laps to qualifying. Qualifying to opening ceremonies. Opening ceremonies to heats and so on. They aren't particularly very long but a few minutes between each race start to add up more than one would realize. 

and, he likely will not finish in the top 15 in either class.

Brady Bacon will likely run both. He's been running a lot of winged races this year and has a WoO victory to his credit this season. There are several othe non-wing drivers that also run wings so we'll see. There are virtually zero wing guys that ever take them off anymore so I wouldn't expect any of your Knoxville regulars, especially since they are running the wing cars along with this event. A couple of cool developments though, they announced JJ Yeley, former USAC star and long time NASCAR cup driver is entered in this deal for his first USAC sprint car race since 2009! Also the winner's pay has increased to $11,000 Friday night and $12,000 Saturday night. As far as the format...I'd like to see the non-wing cars hotlap and qualify first while the track is decent for them. Starting hot laps a half hour later would be a good idea for track conditions and there's only 2 classes instead of 3. I wouldn't be surprised to see over 30 non-wing since they haven't run there for a couple years. Hopefully at least 32 as USAC only runs 3 heats now with under 32 cars, 28 used to be the cut off. 

Axom was at Knoxville a couple  of weeks ago, so it makes sense that CMR team tries it. Would love to see Rico, KTJ, Sunshine, Obviously Larson, and I know we're getting into other series, Grant? Randall? 

Outside of Larson, assuming all guys who can run both, knowing not all will show up, who wins?

Rico? 

Keep It Real

A couple USAC guys you might see run both would be Mitchell Moles (ran with WOO Monday night at Lawrenceburg) and Jake Swanson in the Alex Bowman 55. 

Not sure where the "30 cars" are going to come from. The most recent USAC Sprint Car race ran on a half mile was the Hulman Classic ran on 23 May 2023. 24 cars took time. That is in Indiana - not nearly 500 miles away in Knoxville. You'll have the regular nat guys like Bacon, Leary, Ballou, etc., but not sure where the additional cars will come from.  Hope I'm wrong and I hope and pray for a safe race,

Between you and IADIRT, I dont even know why either of you go to the races, all either of you do is bitch bitch bitch. Why dont the both of you appreciate that we have a facility such as Knoxville in the Midwest that has ONLY sprint car classes for a weekly show. Also, Kendra NEVER had anything to do with how the show was ran. There is a person that has a title of Race Director that has been there for some time and actually does a pretty good job at moving the show along. if you are complaining about the time of the show last week, there were some circumstances that had nothing to do with how the show is ran, i.e. the safety worker getting hurt, the bad crash with Tyler Groendyk and turn 2 was an absolute shit show for wrecks. Since you are BOTH such experts, go manage a race track, jump in the water truck and put the right amount of water on the track so that its perfect EVERY single night. Or, you could take the high road and sit in the stands, enjoy a beer or two, and be a great fan and enjoy the show!! Have a GREAT Day!!

Between you and IADIRT, I dont even know why either of you go to the races, all either of you do is bitch bitch bitch. Why dont the both of you appreciate that we have a facility such as Knoxville in the Midwest that has ONLY sprint car classes for a weekly show. Also, Kendra NEVER had anything to do with how the show was ran. There is a person that has a title of Race Director that has been there for some time and actually does a pretty good job at moving the show along. if you are complaining about the time of the show last week, there were some circumstances that had nothing to do with how the show is ran, i.e. the safety worker getting hurt, the bad crash with Tyler Groendyk and turn 2 was an absolute shit show for wrecks. Since you are BOTH such experts, go manage a race track, jump in the water truck and put the right amount of water on the track so that its perfect EVERY single night. Or, you could take the high road and sit in the stands, enjoy a beer or two, and be a great fan and enjoy the show!! Have a GREAT Day!!

Thanks for the Sweetie Pie comment, l'll take that as a compliment.

#2, its pretty sad that you have to go back almost two years to get a possitive post from him about Knoxville.

#3, I dont like feeding ducks at the park, I like to go to Knoxville to watch sprint cars.

#4, there is absolutely nothing wrong with my demeanor. if you can read at the end of my post, I asked them to just be a fan and enjoy the show. Trust me, I have have to many other tracks across the country and Knoxville runs a pretty damn efficient show.

Have a nice day and enjoy the races as much a i do!!!

If you don't think Kendra had anything to do with speeding up the program you are a fool. Who gives expectations to the race director? I understand things happened last week but the urgency is NOT there. It's just not. There is a obvious difference from years ago. No i have no desire to own or manage a track and I couldn't do it better. That's always the most bullshit come back from someone who has no desire to take some constructive criticism. I am just offering suggestions because I want to be able to take my kids and get home at a reasonable time. I post it here to vent cause no one reads it anyhow and it doesnt matter. I could post on social media but also don't like tearing down the sport I love. So not sure how all I do is bitch but carry on. I know where I'll be this weekend. The question is should I take my kids... cause they want to go but not for 5 hrs. 

It is co-sanctioned with the Midwest Wingless series, so I think 30 is certainly a possibility.  We will all know for sure in less than 24 hours. 

Personally, I will take quality over quantity any day.

24 good cars tonight at Knoxville will make for a quick running, really good show. 

The show should run along faster than a "regular" saturday. Less cars, however, I don't remember how USAC moves the program along. 

Honestly, Knoxville wants to know these things. Simply complaining to complain is different. Yes we have it very good at Knoxville. I myself would rather be done around 10, instead of 11. I myself am more likely to bring a young wun or friend if I know we can get out of there before 11. 

I have sent constructive criticism to the track and received a response. I can tell you 100% they want to know, but keep in mind, there are other factors that none of us know about. Good life advice too, you may not always know or understand what factors go into making a decision that you like or dislike. And an explanation isn't always needed despite how bad you want to know. 

 Kendra definitely had some influence on how the program was ran. You can probably find an interview with her specifically pointing this out. 

I love that Jason Reed, has tried to do (2) WOO events in the spring and late spring /early summer, and a (2) day USAC show. 

I'm picking Grant on Friday and Bacon on Saturday to Park It.  By the way, go watch the Dirt series that Flo produced. I think there are (3) episodes out now. 

Keep It Real