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Topic: Russ Hall – Victory Comes in Knoxville Opener! Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
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Bill W
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May 12, 2015 at 09:34:24 AM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 5210
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Russ Hall – Victory Comes in Knoxville Opener!

 

(Bill W) May 12, 2015 – Russ Hall didn’t wait long to register his first win of the season.  Last Saturday night, he picked up a victory in the 360 class at the season opener for the Knoxville Raceway.  The win was the Pleasant Hill, Iowa driver’s third at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”.  After a Wednesday night crash at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Russ didn’t even think he could get the Skillz Motorsports #29 to the track three days later.  This Friday nightwill see Russ in 410 competition at the “Sprints Gone Wild” event featuring the FVP National Sprint League vs. the MOWA series at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois aboard the Northrop Racing #83. He will be back in Knoxville on Saturday.

 

The Sprint Invaders were in Oskaloosa on Wednesday.  Russ would finish fourth in his heat.  “The track was fast early,” he says.  “It was hard to pass in the heats.  I was really rusty too.  Usually by the first of May, I’ve raced eight to ten times.  As it was, it was the first race of the year.  As fast as it was, and Knoxville was on Saturday, it was a little tough to get the feeling back.”

 

Starting 12th in the feature, he charged forward and was battling for fifth with Jon Agan when they tangled.  “I had some power steering issues, but we were really coming on at the end of that feature,” says Russ.  “It looked like we were going to get into the top five when (Jon) Agan and I tangled up. It was just a racing deal.  Unfortunately for Agan, Dakota (Hendrickson) hit him first when he came along.  It was fortunate for me, because I was squared up and he would have hit me in the cockpit. As it was, we kind of bounced us around.”

 

Still the hit took its toll on equipment.  “I’m running thin on parts,” says Russ.  “It didn’t tear up too much, but it took our top wing and a couple of wheels.  It didn’t look good for us as far as running on Saturday at Knoxville.  One of my friends called me and asked what it would take to get me back on track.  He helped me out, and I called Lynton Jeffrey to ask if he could have a wing ready for us.  He had one the next morning.  I’d like to thank them for getting us back on track.  Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been racing.”

 

Russ, father Roger and the Skillz Motorsports team were burning the midnight oil and then some. “Actually, we borrowed a motor on Wednesday, so we got ours back for Knoxville,” he says.  “We changed that.  We worked all night every night and worked our full-time jobs during the day.  I think by feature time Saturday night, we had had six hours of sleep since Thursday.  Right before the feature, I was sitting in the push off lane during the 305’s and I actually fell asleep.  Fortunately, someone wished me good luck and woke me up.  I was worn out.”

 

He woke up for the feature.  Having qualified eighth quick and making it through the heat race, he redrew a starting spot outside of row two.  “We got off to a good start and the car was on a rail,” says Russ.  “The track had a good bottom, and that’s where we like to run.  We were able to get out front. Towards the end of the race, the car was getting a little looser, and I was getting more cautious.  I didn’t want to make a mistake on a bottom that was getting narrow.”

 

A late caution put Justin Henderson on his bumper with a handful of laps to go.  “I was getting through lapped traffic well before the restart,” says Russ.  “I didn’t need it and had my momentum up.  The last few laps, I overprotected.  Justin Henderson’s fastest lap was lap 16, and that’s when he got by me.  I dropped the hammer and got back by him.  My fastest lap of the race was the last one.  I think our Ostrich engines combined with our Schnee chassis are going to be really good this year.”

 

Russ is excited to get some 410 seat time in at Jacksonville, a track where he won the Herb Barlow Memorial a few years back.  “It’s going to be wild for sure!” he says.  “We’ll be in the stacked tube Schnee.  We’ll see what we can do.  We’d definitely like to make the show!”

 

Russ and the Skillz Motorsports team would like to thank: Waterfront Seafood Market, Kulow Trucking, Northtown Motors, Schnee Chassis, Ostrich Racing Engines, Tom Davis Automotive, Des Moines Industrial Products, Midland Performance, Octane Ink, Vortex, R&L Racing Shocks, Tony and Allison and Jocko’s.

 

 Russ in Victory Lane at Knoxville (Rob Kocak Photo)

 

 

 

Bill W Media

 

[email protected]

 

Twitter: @BillWMedia

 

Monroe, IA USA

 


If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com


oswald
May 12, 2015 at 11:00:53 PM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 2003
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Great run by Russ. Never thought he would hold off Henderson like that. 



chilly
May 13, 2015 at 12:51:21 PM
Joined: 12/01/2004
Posts: 976
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I thought I heard that Russ donated the funds he won in the feature Saturday to a local charity.  I figured Bill W would incorporate a feel good story into his presser if it happened, so maybe it didn't.  If it did, good for him though!  




Bill W
MyWebsite
May 13, 2015 at 01:33:54 PM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 5210
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That's my bad.  He donated to Avery's Army as was stated in the Knoxville story in the wee hours Sunday morning that Chilly stayed up to read...


If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me! 
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com

chilly
May 13, 2015 at 01:47:58 PM
Joined: 12/01/2004
Posts: 976
Reply
Reply to:
Posted By: Bill W on May 13 2015 at 01:33:54 PM

That's my bad.  He donated to Avery's Army as was stated in the Knoxville story in the wee hours Sunday morning that Chilly stayed up to read...



Dammit Bill W, I expect more out of you!  wink

I've read a lot of what you've written over the years, just not the recap from last Saturday!  

I was actually listening to KXNO (1460 AM) on my way home from work last night... heard them mention something about it... might have Russ on the show today... I guess he's a buddy of co-host Ross Peterson.  



vande77
May 13, 2015 at 03:10:39 PM
Joined: 01/20/2005
Posts: 2079
Reply

Pretty cool to see Russ (as well as Chris Walraven in the 305's) donating some or all of their winnings to charities (Especially when you consider how expensive it is to put these cars on the track).

They both will be earning T-shirt $$$ from this fan based on that fact alone (they don't have to do it, they choose to -- which is a great message they are sending to the youth in the stands).





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