Turn 2 Blog: Knoxville Nationals event continues to grow in stature

*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.

*For this week’s Turn 2 Blog we are pleased to be joined by Kris Krug. His experience at covering dirt racing is prolific, having served as a track announcer in our area at the Smoky Mountain Speedway. But more recently, Kris has handled the microphone duties at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, site of this weekend’s Knoxville Nationals event sanctioned by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Richard: Tis the season for Dirt Late Model racing’s biggest events. We’re already through several of them as the North/South 100 and the World 100 are among the most recent crown jewels to have been completed. Now it’s time for the Knoxville Late Model Nationals.

Although this race doesn’t have the history of the two races mentioned above or doesn’t offer the eye popping $100,000 winner’s purse of the Dirt Late Model Dream and this year’s Dirt Track World Championship, it has risen steadily in stature since its inception in 2004. The rich tradition of sprint car racing at the Iowa facility has spilled over into the Late Model ranks and made this a race that most drivers and teams circle on their calendars.

I know from an interview I did with him a couple of years ago that Jimmy Owens still feels the sting of a loss in a Knoxville Nationals that he believed he had under control. No doubt, other drivers have their own reasons for wanting to win this Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series sanctioned event.

This race truly has added to the sport of Dirt Late Model racing, hasn’t it?

Michael: Yes it has. I was like a number of people that wondered why dirt late models were going to the heart of sprint car country at a track tailor made for the sprints. Each year, this event just keeps getting bigger and better.

You look at the drivers that enter this event. The bigger names that go is a list that gets longer each year. And the racing has been top-notch.

I have talked to a few people that have had the chance to go to Knoxville for this event. They all tell me it’s some of the better racing they’ve seen anywhere. I had one tell me he would rather go to Knoxville than Eldora and probably would if Knoxville wasn’t so far from his home. Sounds like we need to take a tour bus and load up some fans to go out there.

Kris Krug: It truly has recently and I think the fans have a lot to do with it. This is an event that is growing in popularity extremely fast. When this event was brought in, there was a lot of doubt that it was going to work out seeing as how Knoxville is the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” and fans have rejected other classes of dirt track racing.

Late Models had run at Knoxville before with the World Dirt Racing League and IMCA as part of the Harris Clash, an annual IMCA special event featuring Hobby Stock, B-Mods and A-Mods though Hobby Stocks have been pulled from the lineup. There was some skepticism when they decided to have a Late Model only special as people weren’t sure if the fan base would be accepting. But due to the big money and amazing racing that takes place there, the Knoxville Late Model Nationals is the fastest growing major event at the world famous half-mile.

Last year we had one of our largest crowds ever, just over 17,000. And though we don’t open the backstretch bleachers for Late Model Nationals just yet, if this event continues to grow I think within the next 5-6 years we may open them up for the Saturday night finale.

Richard: Great racing certainly helps sell the product, and as both of you say, the competition on the Knoxville track has been outstanding throughout most of the event’s history. High drama also helps sell tickets as well and this track has featured plenty of that, especially among the biggest names in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing.

A look back at last year’s Knoxville Nationals is all that’s needed to provide proof of the drama produced at this track. Jimmy Owens found himself tangled with Jason Feger during one of the preliminary races and ended up rolling over and over. And if the then three time and defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion flipping wildly across the track wasn’t enough intrigue, the finish of the feature offered up one of the greatest moments in dirt racing history.

Brian Birkhofer had announced prior to the weekend that he intended to retire after the checkered flag waved. And in incredible fashion, the home state driver passed the red hot Scott Bloomquist on the last turn of the last lap to secure an unforgettable farewell.

If that type of action doesn’t do it for you, you may need to check for a pulse.

Michael: The staff there has been doing a great job of preparing the track each time they run this event. I think that is one of the reasons the caliber of drivers is so high at this race each year. And in turn, the crowds are getting bigger each year.

I also think the surface is a great equalizer among the competitors. Aside from the drivers that live in that area, most of the drivers aren’t used to running on that type of dirt. It certainly makes for an entertaining weekend of racing.

Kris Krug: Oh no doubt. I think I talked about last years finish everyday for about a month or longer, and while I mentioned how the ending was the perfect way for Birkhofer to to close the curtain on an amazing career, I made sure to mention how unreal the other 99 laps were.

There was a point in the feature that Saturday where there was just over a second separating third through seventh or eighth for nearly 20 laps. The way this track allows a driver to run practically anywhere is the reason a lot of drivers have Knoxville at the top of their list of favorite tracks.

As great as last year was, there are other past features that we would be insane not to mention, including Darrell Lanigan’s win in 2013. While that finish wasn’t as memorable, I believe Josh Richards and Lanigan traded the lead almost four or five times before the 29 won by a car length at the end.

The finish, though, that I feel really gave this race credibility and boosted it into the national spotlight was Tim McCreadie’s amazing last corner pass over Josh Richards in 2008. The event was still growing and was doing fine, but after T-mac was able to pull off a finish like that, Knoxville became the talk of the Late Model world for quite some time. I still watch those last few laps every now and then and get goosebumps every time.

We should point out as well, one of the biggest reasons the racing is so great there is because of track prep. The amount of effort and time that Chris Dunkinand and his crew put into prepping the track is unmatched in dirt track racing and has led to races like last year’s incredible finish. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started working on the track by Monday to give everyone, drivers included, the best show possible.

Richard: All this talk has got me fired up for this race already. It has grown to be one that I look forward to every season and this year’s version is no different.

As far as the 2015 Knoxville Nationals are concerned, picking Jonathan Davenport to win would be the easy thing to do. After all, the guy has won just about everything there is to win this year. He has piled a career’s worth of big trophies in just one season.

That being said, I’m going to go away from the obvious choice. I like the chances of a guy who has been running near the front over the last several weeks. He has looked like a serious threat since making a chassis change and deciding to go out on the road more often to race.

My pick to win this year’s Knoxville Nationals is Winfield, Tennessee’s Mike Marlar.

How about you guys?

Michael: It is awfully hard to pick against Jonathan Davenport. Having said that, I’m going with Bloomquist.