Alright, so I think I'm finally caught up on the sleep that I pretty much didn't get thanks to that great town of Knoxville, Iowa. But before we get into the festivities from there, lets talk about the bullshit the Rubins pulled during the week by cancelling their Friday WoO show on Wednesday. It was cancelled due to "flooded and wet conditions." Hmmmmm, when I drove home on Friday, that track sure didn't look too flooded or even wet to me!
Typical move coming from the track that could be an even bigger cash-cow if the right people were in charge. After talking to people down in Knoxville, it sounded like this race was never going to happen anyways as reports surfaced earlier in the week they would cancel due to the weather forecast. I'd like to thank them for making me realize that Knoxville "eats pieces of shit like them for breakfast" (thank you Shooter McGavin), and I'll try to spend as much time and money this summer in Iowa as possible, and not at Huset's.
Anyways, off to the trip down to Knoxville with my buddy Reid as we left Sioux Falls a little after 11am. Made some great time and even better gas mileage with a shocking 43 MPG on the way down in my Galant. That set the mood for a good time at Slideways and Dingus before the races, only to see the longest line ever for tickets that stretched to probably 200+ deep in each line. Great turnout for the spring WoO show only to see Donny Schatz drop the fastest time I've ever seen there at 14.589 in time trials.. wow that was fucking fast. Great car turnout with 57 360s and 47 410s for a cheap $27 ticket.. so we knew we were in for a long night, but also a great night of racing.
The 360 feature saw some kid I've never seen before take off with the win. Congrats to Matt Covington for conquering the field in only his 3rd time signing in at Knoxville. Clint Garner would have got him if there were a couple more laps or even a late yellow, but it never came for the fastest guy on the track. Gregg Bakker ended up 3rd giving the SoDak drivers 2/3rds of the podium.
Then it was time for the big boys with Brian Brown and his uncle, Danny Lasoski on the front row. Everyone expected The Dude to take off with the lead from the front row, but it was the younger family member leading the first 14 laps before Terry McCarl in the Big Game Treestands #24. It was at about this point the track started to lay a little rubber, and also time that Schatz in the ArmorAll #15 crept into 2nd behind McCarl. T-Mac was having issues getting around Dusty Zomer for the longest time as Zomer was locked into the rubber. McCarl ended up getting way too tight late in the race, which resulted in Schatz getting by him with 5 laps to go. There was a late caution producing a green, white, checkered finish but it wouldn't matter as Schatz went on to win his 92nd career A feature win with the Outlaws. McCarl held on for a disappointing 2nd ahead of Steve Kinser who got by Brownie on the last restart.
Now the post-race festivities were beginning and after stopping to talk to the 23w and Zomer, it was off to Dingus for a couple brewskies before finding something to do. Saw some hilarious things happen inside the Dingus with a WoO driver in the top 5 in points (he will remain unnamed) kissing some major ass, but thats another topic for another day. Talked to my buddy Evan in there and he said to head on over to turns 3 and 4 for the after-party. Reid went to pass out in the car so it was just me and some people I've never been around before.. and it turned out to be one of the best times of my life. Big shout out to Tod and Terry for letting me invade their space and get to know them a little bit. It was also amazing to hang around the drivers I have looked up to over the years and get to know them a little bit on a personal basis. Got back to the car just before 5am and got a solid 2 hours of sleep before waking up with the sun at 7am, and it was onto the road again for the 5 hour trip back to Sioux Falls. We somehow made it alive, in one piece, and in no trouble at all. Out of the car I went and into my bed for a hefty mid-afternoon nap.
The Report will debut on Sunday at Huset's if they decide to ever have a season opener. Keep up to date with everything Husets, Knoxville, and WoO with points over on the right side and the blog coming once a week.
Knoxville Rundown
A-main (25 laps) - Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[7] [$10,000]
2) 24-Terry McCarl[3] [$5,500]
3) 11-Steve Kinser[5] [$3,200]
4) 21-Brian Brown[1] [$2,800]
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild[4] [$2,500]
6) 6-Danny Lasoski[2] [$2,300]
7) 41-Jason Johnson[8] [$2,200]
8) 7S-Jason Sides[10] [$2,100]
9) 19-Craig Dollansky[22] [$2,050]
10) 14-Jason Meyers[9] [$2,000]
11) 1X-Randy Hannagan[13] [$1,500]
12) 9-Joey Saldana[11] [$1,200]
13) 83-Tim Kaeding[23] [$1,100]
14) 2W-Johnny Herrera[24] [$1,050]
15) 21AU-Brooke Tatnell[16] [$1,000]
16) 55-Kerry Madsen[25] [$100]
17) 14AJ-Wayne Johnson[20] [$800]
18) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[21] [$800]
19) 17G-Dusty Zomer[6] [$800]
20) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[26] [$0]
21) 20-Kraig Kinser[17] [$800]
22) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[19] [$800]
23) 1-Bronson Maeschen[18] [$800]
24) 2-Skip Jackson[14] [$800]
25) 70-Calvin Landis[15] [$800]
26) 10J-Jeffrey Lynton[12] [$800]
Kerry Madsen and Lucas Wolfe used World of Outlaws provisionals to start the A-Feature.
Lap Leaders: Brian Brown 1-14, Terry McCarl 15-20, Donny Schatz 21-25
who was in Dingus
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