Jimmy Owens won his second Knoxville Nationals on Saturday
When the average person in America is asked about a town named Knoxville they will likely think of the city in Tennessee that serves as home to the University of Tennessee and the convergence of two major interstate highways. But that might not necessarily be true for enthusiasts of dirt racing. The thoughts of Knoxville to them will no doubt bring to mind a much smaller town in Iowa that serves as the home of one of the country’s most historic racing facilities.
But despite the fact that the two Knoxvilles are separated by more than 800 miles, there is somewhat of a connection. Only four drivers have won the Knoxville Dirt Late Model Nationals on the dark clay of the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa twice. But importantly, three of those four drivers are from the state that is home to the more well known of the two cities that bear the same name.
The win on Saturday night by Jimmy Owens in the 16th annual Knoxville Late Model Nationals was the Newport, Tenn. driver’s second consecutive triumph in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned $40,000-to-win event. He joined Scott Bloomquist, Mike Marlar and Brian Birkhofer as the only racers to capture checkered flags from that race on two separate occasions.
Mike Marlar has won twice in Knoxville
Bloomquist is from Mooresburg, Tenn. while Marlar hails from Winfield, TN. Along with Owens they form a triumvirate from the Volunteer State who have scored multiple wins on the track most noted for being one of Sprint Car racing’s most revered sites.
Birkhofer hails from Iowa and can consider the Knoxville Nationals as somewhat of a home race.
The two consecutive wins by Owens in 2018 and 2019 combined with Marlar’s victories in 2016 and 2017 to continue Tennessee’s stranglehold on this event. The last non Tennessee driver to win the Knoxville Nationals was Arkansas racer Jared Landers in 2015.
Scott Bloomquist has two Knoxville victories
Bloomquist won in Iowa back in 2005 and 2009 to give Tennessee pilots a total of six wins out of the 16 features held there.
The Knoxville Raceway may not be in Tennessee despite having a name that sounds like it might be. However, winners of the biggest Late Model race held on the famed track tend to come from the Volunteer State. And when those drivers win in Iowa, those triumphs tend to come in pairs.
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