Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I guess it's time to start talking legacy here, and how his current four straight win streak compares with the record five win streak by Steve Kinser in the 1990s. For my money, I think this streak is more impressive. I wrote an article about my reasons, plus lamenting Joey Saldana's place as the Best Driver to Never Win at Knoxville. Check it out at let me know your thoughts.

National Sprint Car & Midget Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/r4opgk

Article by SprintCar Examiner says that Ron Shuman was a great driver that never won Nationals. Ron did win the Nationals in 1979.

Greatest drivers never to win the Nationals? How about Stevie Smith. I believe he's made the A Main something like 17 times in 18 tries and has a 2nd ('93) and a couple of 3rds. Also under consideration should be "Tiger Bob" Williams, who just missed winning in '67 and averaged better than 5th in all Nationals A Mains in which he finished. Jerry Blundy ran 2nd in both "65 and '68. Blundy's in the Hall of Fame, Williams should be and Smith has a real good chance to get in some day, too. History didn't begin with the new millenium.

As far as comparing Kinser's five win streak with Schatz's current four wins, let's see what the future brings. I'm not ready to say one streak is better than the other. Please note than while Schatz won the first 40 lapper with a pass on the 34th lap (which for some reason people are already using against him), Kinser used a rain delay to nip Stevie Smith late in the '93 race. There are those who believe Kinser would not have won that race if not for the mid-race stop and Karl's opportunity to make mid-race changes.

I'm not sure there is any more true parity now than there was in the early '90's, although Wolfgang was essentially done by then and Sammy Swindell was focusing much of his time on other forms of racing, so there was a "changing of the guard", so to speak. Now, Saldana, Meyers, ect. are really good and "on any given day" can win...but Donnie Schatz is the new Steve Kinser. Only the future knows how history will unfold.

Any way you look at it, both streaks are extremely impressive accomplishments.

Hey Katich, how about Terry McCarl? What's ironic no Iowan has ever won it and Tmac's time is running out.

As for people that are saying this or that discounting Donny's win are just "blowing it out their asses".

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Greatest Iowa driver in the history of the Nationals is Earl Wagner. He made 10 A Mains in 14 tries and finished 2nd in '71. He finished 3rd in the first Nationals in '61, when the two guys who beat him had wings and he didn't. He averages a top ten in his A Main competitions. Earl wasn't a one-trick pony, either, winning the Western World at Manzanita when it had a field of cars every bit as great as the Nationals. Great sprint car, supermodified and stock car racer and certainly the most popular local racer of his or any other time at Knoxville.

McCarl is 16 for 24 in making the A Main, with a best finish of 3rd in '07 and an average finish of 13th. Good...but not "Wagner-good".

Macretiree - I noticed the Shuman thing this morning, too. All I can say is that it was late on the West Coast when I posted the article, and my "fact checking" side of my brain must have been somewhere else.

National Sprint Car & Midget Examiner
http://tinyurl.com/r4opgk