I was very disappointed when I finally put two-and-two together and learned the USAC show was in direct competition with Knoxville’s weekly program. It sucks when you have to choose which show you want to see. In our case, we sampled a little of both.

It was a bit frusterating when they were thirty minutes late in getting the midget race started.

I don’t know why they were late, USAC sometimes doesn’t move with the greatest sense of urgency. Or, it could have been the NASCAR Pro Series practice took longer than anticipated.

I can tell you, it was a small form of torture not being able to watch Indy Pole Qualifying and instead being forced to watch fenders practicing.

When the midget race was finally started, Bobby Santos III led all but one of the 30 laps to capture the National Midget Series victory. Brad Sweet finished second, Darren Hagen third, Bobby East fourth and Henry Clarke fifth.

While Santos held off sevarl challenges from both Sweet and Hagen, East put on a show, working his way through the field from his 20th starting spot.

Unfortunately there were quite a few caution laps in the midget race which put us in a bind. We had hoped to see at least the midget and sprint features before heading over to Knoxville. However, we were only able to stay for half of the sprint race before we had to leave.

Bryan Clauson won the 50 lap sprint race, just ahead of midget race winner Bobby Santos III. Jerry Coons Jr. was third, Tracy Hines fourth and Levi Jones rounded out the top five.

The 100 lap silver crown race was won by A.J. Fike. Kody Swanson was second, Bud Kaeding third, Shane Hmiel fourth and Jerry Coons Jr. fifth.

After a quick drive down Highway 14 we arrived in Knoxville just in time to watch Don Droud Jr. dominate his heat race and win by nearly a half a lap over the field.

Ryan Roberts won the 360 B main.

In the 360 A feature, Chad Humston looked like he was poised to win his first Knoxville feature. On the last lap, Jonathan Cornell broke coming out of two and coasted down the backstreatch and into four. Cornell wasn’t able to get off the track and opted to go high, trying to keep out of the path of the leaders.

Unfortunately, Humston tried to get around Cornell on the high side and ran out of room, clipping Cornell’s car and flipping in turn three. Thankfully Humston was not injured, but that’s a long tow back to Nebraska after coming SO close to the win and instead brining home a crippled race car.

Johnny Anderson made the most of his second chance and won his first Knoxville feature of the season. Ricky Logan barely edged out Matt Moro for second. Jon Agan was fourth and Dennis Moore Jr. rounded out the top five.

Ryan Roberts came from the B to finish eighth in the A, and Chad Humston was credited with 15th.

The 410 A feature proved interesting, as Sammy Swindell followed up his Friday night win at Jackson, Minnesota with a dominant performance at Knoxville.

Swindell set quick time, won his heat and would start sixth in the A feature. Things got interesting at the drop of the green flag in the 410 feature. Several cars including Swindell got out of shape taking the green flag into turn one. Swindell did a complete 360 in front of 3/4 of the field, avoiding contact and kept the car rolling.

Swindell’s right front tire was flat, forcing him to the pits for a fix and sending him to the back of the field. On the restart, Swindell spent the rest of the race machining his way through the field.

It only took Swindell four laps to make his way to sixth. By lap 12, Swindell passed Brian Brown for first place and held on for the win. Immediately after taking the checkers Swindell’s well-worked right rear tire exploded going into one. Sammy kept the car on all four wheels and made it to victory lane for career win number 43 at the Knoxville Raceway. Swindell is now tied with Earl Wagner for fifth all time in Knoxville Raceway wins.

Brian Brown finished second and now sits atop the Knoxville 410 Championship Cup point standings. Lynton Jeffrey was third, Skip Jackson fourth and Don Droud Jr. fifth. Droud sits just five points out of first in the points chase.

While it was disappointing we weren’t able to watch the entire USAC show, it was still a fun Saturday. The weather finally feels like summer, and we took in races a two tracks on the same day.

Friday, I’m making my annual pilgrimmage to Mecca. We’ll be hitting the road bright and early in hopes of making it to the USAC silver crown show at the Indiana State Fairgounds on Friday night. On Saturday we’ll be at the Night Before the 500 midget race at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Sunday we’ll be at the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Check out the latest gallery of photos from Knoxville Raceway, courtesy of Brandon Anderson.

Jack Dover with Eagle Raceway flagman Larry White after Dover's feature win Saturday.

My brother-in-law graduated from high school this weekend, so we were busy with family, but I was able to sneak out in time to catch the feature at Eagle Raceway on Saturday night.

My Take…

The sprint feature was very entertaining. Jack Dover won another Eagle feature, but he had to work hard to make it happen.

Trevor Grossenbacher looked strong throughout most of the feature, leading the middle portion of the race. However, Dover was able to catch and pass him in lapped traffic.

It’s situations like that where Dover’s experience really pays off. He’s just a lot smoother negotiating traffic than most guys do, especially at Eagle. Grossenbacher looked as fast though, and if he continues to put consisitent runs together like he did Saturday, he’ll pick up a feature win or two this season.

Mike Boston worked his way to third, but was not a factor in deciding the feature winner. Ken Klabunde was fourth, and John Klabunde rounded out the top-5.

Billy Alley made an appearance at Eagle, but just didn’t have the speed in the feature and finished eighth.

I did make it out to Eagle just as the IMCA Modified A Feature took to the track. I’ll admit, it was a very good race. It seems as though Eagle has one of the best IMCA fields in the country, and top-to-bottom the level of competition in that class has really gone up.

Complete Eagle Raceway results from 5/8/10.

And Finally…

We’ll be making the trip to Knoxville Raceway this Saturday. I’m ready to take in my first night at the Marion County Fairgrounds!

These factors and more contribute to lower car counts seemingly everywhere across the country. Even in Knoxville – the “Sprint Car Capitol of the World”, car counts are low. Last weekend’s opening night at the half mile had only 22 410′s take to the track.

At home here in Lincoln, Eagle will be lucky to have more than 22 sprinters on hand for their weekly shows once the season is in full swing.

It’s just as true today as it was ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years ago; running a sprint car is an expensive proposition.

However, sprint car teams you have nobody to blame but yourselves. You are your own worst enemies. You spend a lot to be competitive, probably more than you should sometimes.

It’s like that in all forms of racing, but it’s especially true with sprint cars.

Believe me; I understand the desire to stay on top of the proverbial sprint car arms race. If I owned a team, I’d be the exact same way.

What I don’t understand is why teams aren’t more aggressive when seeking sponsorships. What do you have to lose? If the costs are continually rising, go out and race on Other People’s Money.

I really believe that there are companies out there who would get a lot out of being involved with a race team, even if that team isn’t on the same level as the World of Outlaws.

Let’s say you’re a local team, running for ASCS Midwest points this year. Go out and identify companies that would benefit from your type of schedule. There are some companies that are in almost every town you’ll be racing in (or near).

Take NAPA Auto Parts for example. Maybe, instead of asking your local NAPA store to sponsor you, contact their regional marketing offices first. There’s a pretty good chance there’s a NAPA store in every town on your schedule.

Ask for the opportunity to prove how your team can help them market their products. Work with them to develop a promotion schedule. Offer to show off your car at stores in the area of your race. Don’t just slap a decal on the car; give them a return on their investment!

Get the sponsor to give you Point of Sale items (apparel, decals, coupons, free samples, etc.) and pass them out to fans. Get your team online. Have a nice website, use social media, anything that can help spread the message of your team and your sponsors.

You don’t even have to win all the time, just come up with creative ways to market your sponsors and they’ll stick with you.

I realize that finding that company might not be easy. You may go to ten different businesses before one finally says yes, but at least try. Costs are never going to go down. It’s never going to be cheap to run a sprint car. Sponsorship may be viewed as an annoyance by some, but it’s a necessary annoyance. Otherwise car counts will continue to plummet.

My Take…

In what is becoming a frustratingly common occurrence, the IndyCarshow at the Kansas Speedway was a bore. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe started on the pole, but it was the Target Chip Ganassi cars of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti that ran away with a 1-2 finish yesterday afternoon at the 1.5 mile speedway.

Dixon was flawless as he led 167 of 200 laps to take the victory. Anyone that has followed racing knows that at times, a car can be so dominant that nobody is going to challenge them. Even in the most competitive series this can happen. Such was the case yesterday. Nobody, and I mean nobody was going to catch Dixon. Apparently race officials felt the same way, so much in fact, that on the race’s final restart, they allowed SEVEN lapped cars to remain between first place Dixon and second place Helio Castroneves.

Not that it would have mattered. Even had officials removed those cars, Dixon would have still won. Castroneves faded on the final laps and the outcome wouldn’t have changed much. HOWEVER it was still an awful call. Why do that to the fans? Why remove ANY chance of a good finish to keep cars in the mix that should have no influence on determining the winner? What kind of product is the IndyCar Series trying to put in front of the fans?

All in all, it was a boring afternoon of racing. Sure, the aero changes instituted last season at the Kentucky race were in effect and did make for more side-by-side racing. Problem is, if it’s two cars fighting for 16th, it really doesn’t matter. People want to see close finishes for the win, not 16th. 

Two of the closest IndyCar Series finishes came at the Kansas Speedway. It seems those days of winning by mere seconds are gone forever. The IndyCars need competitive races. They need something to market because this year’s crop of rookie drivers at Kansas didn’t include a single American. That’s another topic for another day, but unless the ICS starts putting a better product in front of the fans, changing chassis and engines in two years won’t matter. There will be no fans left to watch.

Meanwhile, Don Droud Jr. captured his first A feature victory of 2010 at the Knoxville Raceway last night. I’m absolutely elated for Droud. He was solid in the Sonner 47 car last year, and I was glad he was able to put it in victory lane so early this season. I’ll admit, it felt strange to miss the opening night at Knoxville. I really, really miss it.

One alarming stat that jumped out at me after looking at the results was only 22 410′s on hand for the opening night. I don’t see that number rising any time soon. I believe now more than ever that Knoxville should ditch 410′s and make 360′s the premier class.   

And Finally…

Mike Boston continued his dominance at Eagle Raceway, winning yet another. He did have to beat the always-fast Jack Dover for the win. It’s a sad commentary on the state of local racing when I don’t feel like hauling ass to get back from Kansas City in time to venture out to Eagle. Instead, I spent the evening at home.  Of course I’d spend money with Eagle if they would relax their STUPID rules about not allowing customers in once the A features have started.

I’ll stop with all the negativity. As I type this, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and as soon as I’m finished mowing the lawn, there’s a cooler of ice cold beer calling my name in the garage.

That’s all for now.

It’s becoming commonplace to hear news about teams giving up on running weekly 410′s at Knoxville because the costs of running a 410 are soaring. In fact, 2010 could bring one of the lowest weekly 410 car counts Knoxville has seen in quite some time.

On the other hand, the weekly 360 racing at Knoxville seems to be very steady.

I’m left with one conclusion; Knoxville should end weekly 410 racing.

Make 360′s the premier class at the Knoxville Raceway. Bring in 305′s voila, weekly sprint car racing is alive and well in Knoxville, Iowa.

This seems like a far fetched idea, given prevailing attitudes that exist when it comes to 360 racing at the track. In Knoxville, 410′s are king, 360′s are OK, but they’re definitely second class citizens.

Why? It’s not like the sprint cars have always been powered by 410 cubic inch motors. Do you think the first Knoxville Nationals were powered by a field of nothing but 410′s?

Don’t get me wrong, I think 410 racing is cool. However, can you really tell that much of a difference during the races? Sure, the lap times may be a little slower, but not enough to make that much of a difference. Plus, is the quality of racing any better? You could make the case it’s worse.

In my opinion, if you made 360′s the premier class you’d suddenly have a thriving weekly series, with high car counts and great competition. With the emergence of the ASCS as the sanctioning group in sprint car racing, this just seems like a natural fit.

Here’s an even more radical concept. No 360 Nationals. Nope, instead the Knoxville Nationals use 360 C.I. engines. That’s right, combine the two events under one banner.

I’d relish the opportunity to see the best of the ASCS battle the Outlaws, or the Posse. Don’t kid yourself, 360′s or not, the best of the best in the country will still come to win the Nationals.

How about 200 entries? Unify sprint car racing! Why not? The excuse of “because that’s how we’ve always done it” doesn’t hold water these days.

I’m a real old school guy, and I love traditions, but to me fighting a losing battle to keep a tradition alive doesn’t make sense at this point.

The time has come for change. The time has come for Knoxville to end 410 Weekly Racing.