Jimmy Owens
*Interview provided by Kris Krug of Knoxville Raceway
Jimmy Owens has won virtually every major Dirt Late Model race there is. Yet there is still one that has eluded his grasp. However, the Newport, Tenn. driver hopes to add the trophy and the check from the $40,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals to his collection this Saturday night.
The Knoxville Raceway has long been associated with sprint car racing and serves as the home for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. However, Late Models have recently begun to make their mark on the Iowa half-mile.
Owens recognizes the significance of winning at the historic venue.
“This track has such a great history in its past, and now the Late Models are bringing more and more crowds and car counts,” Owens pointed out. “It’s getting more prestigious every time we race here. It’s a fun place to be. It’s a fast track and a racy track, especially for our cars. It’s pretty exciting and I’m glad to be here.”
The ‘Newport Nightmare’ once had the Knoxville Nationals checkered flag within his grasp only to see it slip away in the waning laps of the event. He covets a win, and redemption for that near miss, very much.
“It would be great,” he said of adding his name to the relatively short list of Late Model winners. “We’ve been fortunate enough to win one of the preliminaries and led one of the big shows up to the last four laps until we had a little misfortune. We’re looking to hopefully get us a win as soon as we can and get on that winner board.”
But aside from trying the capture the prestige of a Knoxville Nationals win, Owens has to consider his close points battle with Don O’Neal for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season title. The three-time and defending LOLMDS champ knows that this year’s battle will likely come down to the final race.
“Don and I are so close that’s it’s almost a matter of who finishes in front of who,” Owens said. “Hopefully it’ll be that way until the end of the year. Don’s going to be a tough competitor. I imagine he’ll be tough here this weekend and the rest of the year so we’ll just have to put our nose to the grindstone.”
But with those three titles already on his resume, Owens is not feeling any pressure as he seeks an unprecedented fourth consecutive championship.
“Oh, we’re just racing,” the driver of the Mike Reece owned Club 29 car says. “As far as pressure, there’s none. We’re just here to have a good time. It’s fun racing with O’Neal, Barry Wright and all that crew.”
Even after having experienced less than stellar performances over the past couple of weeks, Owens still feels good about his chances this weekend.
“Really great,” the 42-year-old said of his confidence level. “We’ve got a good car, we’ve had a good car. We’ve had a couple of off weekends in a row, but that’s part of racing. We’ve got a good team and I think we’re pretty strong for this weekend.”
*Editor’s Note: After this interview was conducted, Owens was involved in a violent roll over crash on Thursday night. The incident occurred after contact with Jason Feger during a heat race. Owens walked away from the crash and even participated in a B-main in his backup car.
The remains of Jimmy Owens’ car are taken away from the Knoxville Raceway.
*Photo by Tommy Yates.
