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KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP)—The first 50-lap race in the 50 years of the Knoxville Nationals produced a thrilling finish and an unlikely champion.
Sammy Swindell’s late wreck allowed Tim Shaffer to win the Knoxville Nationals, sprint car racing’s premiere title.
Shaffer bolted out of a late restart and blew past four-time defending champion Donny Schatz to collect $150,000—the richest winning purse in sprint cars.
“It’s incredible. It’s hard to explain,” Shaffer said. “To be up here is a dream.”
It supposed to be Swindell’s reality. But Swindell, who was seeking his second Knoxville title and first in 27 years, slammed into the wall just three laps from finishing a race he was controlling.
Schatz finished second and Shane Stewart was third. Swindell finished 19th after leading much of the way.
Swindell’s wreck gave Schatz a golden shot at tying the record of five straight Nationals titles that Steve Kinser won from 1991-95. But with smoke coming from Schatz’s No. 15 car, Shaffer slid past Schatz on Knoxville’s famed dirt track for his first Nationals crown.
“I guess it’s kind of like a double-edged sword,” Schatz said.
The Knoxville Nationals iconic “A-Main” finale was a 30-lap event for most of its history. But last year they ran 40 laps with a fuel stop to prepare drivers for 50 laps in 2010 to commemorate Saturday night’s 50th annual race.
The move to 50 for the 50th produced some truly thrilling racing.
Swindell, who started on the front row with pole sitter Brian Brown, opened up a sizable lead soon after the race went green. But Schatz tracked down Swindell just before the five-minute fuel stop at the 25-lap mark, with the pair racing side-by-side just before the flag went up.
The crews went to work as fast as they could to tweak the cars, but Swindell re-established a healthy edge over Schatz on the restart.
Schatz made one strong push at Swindell with about 15 laps left and even took the lead for a split-second, but Swindell maintained the edge until Brown hit the wall with six laps to go.
Swindell and Schatz swapped the lead over the next few laps with moves that epitomize sprint car racing’s appeal, but Swindell’s night came to an end when he blew a tire.
The crowd began chanting “Sammy, Sammy!” but that was little consolation to the luckless Swindell—who stood on top of his overturned car in disbelief.
Luck soon turned against Schatz as well. His motor lost some pop right about when Swindell went down, and that smoking engine didn’t have enough to catch Shaffer.
“It’s like ‘Wow. This is for real now. We’ve got to make something happen,” Shaffer said.
Only three of the 24 drivers in the finals had ever won Knoxville before; Swindell, Schatz and 12-time champion Kinser.
Schatz’s success hasn’t helped him win over the notoriously fickle Knoxville crowd, which seems to like drivers more when they’re climbing the ladder than when they reach the top. Schatz was largely booed during introductions, and one of the more popular T-shirts seen in the crowd had Schatz’s No. 15 crossed out on the back.
Kinser, nicknamed “The King” for his success at Knoxville and a crowd favorite as well, finished 22nd after starting fifth.
A main (started): 1. Tim Shaffer 83 (7) 2. Donny Schatz 15 (4) 3. Shane Stewart 57 (8) 4. Dollansky (24) 5. Kerry Madsen 3 (11) 6. Greg Hodnett 22 (3) 7. McMahan (22) 8. Davey Heskin 56 (16) 9. Jason Johnson 41 (9) 10. Smith (21) 11. Daryn Pittman 13x (6) 12. Jason Sides 7s (14) 13. Schneiderman (23) 14. Brian Brown 21 (1) 15. Chad Kemenah 63 (17) 16. Dusty Zomer 91 (15) 17. Brandon Wimmer 7TW (20) 18. Erin Crocker 98 (19) 19. Sammy Swindell 1s (2) 20. Dale Blaney 2B (10) 21. Lynton Jeffrey 12 (13) 22. Steve Kinser 11 (5) 23. Skip Jackson 2 (12) 24. Joey Saldana 9 (18)
1. $150,000, 2. $75,000, 3. $37,500, 4. $26,000. 5. $21,000, 6. $20,000 7. $19,000, 8. $18,000, 9. $17,000, 10. $16,000, 11. $15,000, 12. $14,000, 13. $13,000, 14. $12,000, 15. $11,000, 16. $10,000, 17. $10,000, 18. $10,000, 19. $10,000, 20. $10,000, 21. $10,000, 22. $10,000, 23. $9,500, 24. $9,500.
They don't even know how to spell sprint car
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com
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