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Rather than yet another post on the tragedy in our sport, let's talk about the the greatest spectacle of our sport that happened on the same night. 

Here's my 25 car breakdown of the Knoxville Nationals A Main.

1. Donny Schatz (1) - World of Outlaws - What more is there to say that hasn't been said. Donny's 8th Nationals victory in the last 9 years with the only loss coming on the night he lost a cylinder. I guess the only debate now is, is he the best sprint car driver of all time? Donny lead 49 of the 50 laps. 

2. Brian Brown (4) - Knoxville Regular - I actually thought he had it. Leading lap 44 with his patented huge run off of turn two. The roar of the crowd was so loud you can clearly hear it over Johnny Gibson and the cars in the highlights video. Awesome. Nothing to be ashamed of and yet another $75,000 payday for the fan favorite from Grain Valley, Missouri. It's coming soon. Winner of the his prelim program for the 2nd consecutive year. 2014 Jessie Hocket Mr. Sprint Car champion. 

3. Kerry Madsen (3) - World of Outlaws - The "MadMan" was easily the 3rd best car on the track although had nothing for the 21 or the 15. The 2014 Kings Royal Champion had an amazing month of money and has represented Aussieland extremely well. Look for more wins as the season winds down. 

4. Craig Dollansky (7) - Knoxville Regular - Felt weird to type Knoxville Regular next to Craig this year. Surely good enough to be on the tour, I'd reckon to say the ex-outlaw has had a disappointing season at Knoxville but that changed when it mattered most. A solid top 5 finish. 

5. Justin Henderson (8) - Knoxville Regular - Man, Justin really gets around Knoxville well. Back to back top 5's (and best appearing car) has me thinking he is one of the most underrated drivers in the country. Great for Justin, great guy. 

6. Paul McMahan (5) - World of Outlaws - Solid all week as expected, the CJB team crushed the field in time trials on his prelim night, followed that up with a heat race transfer and went on to a top 5 points night. Sharp looking car and an all around successful weekend for the 51 team. 

7. Terry McCarl (6) - Knoxville Regular - Anyone noticing a trend here? World of Outlaws, Knoxville Regular, World of Outlaw, repeat. T-Mac has enjoyed success in all of 2014 at Knoxville and it was no different come Nationals time. Rack up another top 10 for T-Mac as he competes for the Knoxville track title next weekend. 

8. Mark Dobmeier (11) - Knoxville Regular - The highest finishing driver that has not been on the World of Outlaws tour before. Mark is another one of those extremely underrated drivers and already has a WoO win in 2014 beating the Outlaws from 10th at his Sunday weekly track, Husets. A solid run for Dobmeier who was driving with his elbows up, to put it nicely, all weekend. 

9. Joey Saldana (13) - World of Outlaws - In a nice reversal of the season thus far, Joey didn't set a blistering time trial lap but instead raced extremely well. A solid 22nd to 7th run on a tough track to pass in his prelim night set up another top 10 weekend for Joey. My vote for best appearing car. 

10. Kraig Kinser (9) - World of Outlaws - Winless since 2012, it was nice to Kraig up front again at Knoxville. He's had a rough go the past years but he looked real good on his prelim night dicing for lead and ended up with a great run on Saturday to build some momentum heading into the West Coast swing. 

11. Stevie Smith (19) - Pennsylvania Posse - Running a scaled back schedule for Fred Rahmer and Dave Pritchard in Central Pennsylvania, Stevie Smith has been fast every time they roll out of the trailer. A rather disappointing qualifying night but it was enough to put him in the A and he was very fast when it mattered most. The highest finishing non Knoxville regular or World of Outlaw driver, although does fall into the category of ex-outlaw. The lone Posse driver to make the feature after the 27 and 1z finished 5th and 6th in the B main. Look for Stevie to be back on the National scene come National Open time. 

12. Cody Darrah (18) - World of Outlaws - Another solid Nationals for Cody. Seems as if though he isn't as bad as everyone on this board seems to think. Fast as usual, but the kicker was he was able to keep it on all 4's all weekend.  The highest KKR finishing car. 

13. Brad Sweet (21) - World of Outlaws - The highest finishing B main transfer. Starting 11th (turned into 9th with TK moving out) in the B, it looked to be a potentially huge disappointment of a Nationals run but turned into a respectable finish for Brad. 

14. Daryn Pittman (17) - World of Outlaws - Hard to call any 14th place finish at Nationals a disappointment but I expected more from the defending World of Outlaws champion. The strongest he looked all weekend was in the World Challenge. He finished 14th last year as well in the KKR 9. 

15. David Gravel (10) - World of Outlaws - Gravel has had an impressive season behind the seat of the famous Roth car, and added another Nationals A main to his resume. Never made a huge splash all weekend, but looked strong every time he hit the track.

16. Sam Hafertepe (12) - True Outlaw - A spin early in the race prevented what was most likely going to be a career high finish. At the end of the first segment he went a lap down and was weaving in and out of cars not losing a stride to Schatz only to have the mandatory caution come out right as he was setting up Donny going into turn 1. A great Iowa Speedweek for Sam as he finished 2nd in 360 Nationals.

17. Bryan Clauson (14) - USAC - All the hatrid for the BWW team and no love for Bryan putting the 82 car in the A main. An absolute monster in wingless competition, Bryan has made HUGE strides with a wing on and improved from an E main start last year to his first career Nationals A main in 2014. 

18. Clint Garner (22) - Knoxville Regular - Unfortunately his weekend ended up with a torn racecar as he flipped following the checkered flag but what a solid return to the 410 Nationals making his 1st career A Main start. The 360 standout has had a, by his standards, mediocre season in his return to 410's but after that Nationals performance I'd be hard pressed to call his season mediocre.

19. Tim Kaeding (25) - True Outlaw - The winner (finished 2nd) of the Golden Ticket to the A main through the World Challenge was a nice reward his hard work this season and a nice boost to the Phoenix Racing team's trying off-track season. 

20. Brooke Tatnell (21) - Knoxville Regular - The B main winner was nearly unnoticeable on Saturday during the B because everyone was watching the torrid battle for the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, he was checked out and ran a flawless 22 laps to secure yet another A main start for the Aussie talent. 

21. Lee Jacobs (24) - Ohio Buckeye Bandit - Wow. That's the only word I can think of to describe Lee Jacobs Nationals run and entire 2014 season. Lee and his 1 crew member (Yes, 1) made the A main, the hard way, through the final transfer spot in the B main. A great manuever to roll by Don Droud for the 4th spot and then quickly be able to get back to the bottom to halt Greg Hodnett's momentum will certainly be forever etched into this young man's racing memories. Great weekend. The feel good story of the 2014 Nationals. The lone Ohio local to make the feature. 

22. Shane Stewart (2) - True Outlaw - Tough break with the driveline in the feature ruined a sure-fire top 5 finish in the Larson Marks Racing National debut. Prelim winner. This team will tackle the full World of Outlaw schedule in 2015. 

23. Tim Shaffer (20) - ASCoC - Grabbed that all important final spot to the A after the qualifying nights, but that's where the luck stopped for the 2010 Nationals champion. Lost a motor on his qualifying night and added another DNF in the feature on Saturday. Was fast all weekend.

24. Ryan Bunton (16) - Knoxville Regular - Some nice luck for Ryan after an absolutely horrific bad luck ridden season at Knoxville. Luck is a big part in racing but they always have said you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good, Ryan put up a great qualifying lap to start 6th in his heat and was solidly in 5th before a caution came out for an ambulance needed in the outer pit area allowing him to squeeze by Chris Shirek for the final transfer spot into the A main on his prelim night. Perserverance pays off for Ryan as he was ordering parts to try and put together a motor for Saturday and he was able to run, although smoke was pouring out of the 6r nearly instantly on Saturday. An absolutely awesome paint scheme, honoring military members, had me cheering for him all weekend. The feel good story of the Nationals part II. 

25. Sammy Swindell (15) - World of Outlaws - Sammy took off a couple of weeks from the WoO tour to try and dial it in at Knoxville for the Nationals but motor problems put a halt to Sammy's Saturday very early. 

Breakdown by drivers: 

World of Outlaws - 10

Knoxville Regulars - 8  

True Outlaws - 3 

Pennsylvania Posse - 1 

Buckeye Bandits - 1 

ASCoC - 1 

USAC - 1 

Thoughts:

• Another impressive Nationals weekend for the Knoxville boys, putting an outstanding 8 drivers in the A main including 3 in the top 5. They are right up there (if not above) the PA, OH and CA locals. I do believe if this race was held at the Grove/Lincoln, Attica/Fremont, Chico/Tulare - you would see 8 locals from those respective regions as well. 
• Biggest surprise (Positive) - Gotta be Lee Jacobs. Followed him during my Ohio Speedweek venture and kept thinking damn, could he put it in the A at Nationals? Well, the answer to my question was yes. No fluke about it, Lee Jacobs earned that final spot. Runner up - Clint Garner drove it in the hard way as well and opened some eyes this weekend. He can drive. 
• Biggest disappointment - Steve Kinser. Will it be his last Nationals? Probably not, but still I was expecting (or maybe so hoping) for a better "Farewell Tour" run for the King of the Outlaws. Was completely invisible on his prelim night, made some nice moves early in the non-qualifers program but faded last. Runner up - Jason Meyers and the 83 team, tough to believe Jason had Nationals nearly wrapped up just a few years ago and the CH 83 actually beat that 15 car. Transferring through the D main was not the plan for the team. Hope the 83 team finds the speed from a couple years ago. 
• Very thankful that Sheldon Haudenschild is okay after that wild, wild ride in the B main. As well as all of the drivers, especially Loyet, Rico and Marks are okay after that melee at the beginning of the C. 
• Where was Rager Phillips??
• Glad to see the Legend cars only made 1 appearance this year. 
• I loved the "new" Friday format before now I really love it after going back to the old format. Damn you rain.
• I'm not a fan of the World Challenge "winner" going to the A, but I understand the point. I wish they would make it so you at least have to win the race to get into the A. But, it's a tough race to run up front in and the 2 drivers (Tatnell, Kaeding) that have gotten the golden ticket are A main veterans and didn't look out of place on Saturday. 
• Danny Dietirch's Weikert Tribute car was gorgeous. 
• I felt so bad for Skylar Prochaska, the poor kid didn't run a lap all weekend but continually tried over and over again to fix the problem. I'm a fan. 
• Chris Bell was a disappointment. I, and I'm sure many others, had him penciled in for Rookie of the Nats but he didn't make inversion on his qualifying night and didn't return the rest of the week. Gary Taylor was the premeir rookie although I was happy to see Andy Gregg go home with some hardware after that long tow. 
• The day show was better than most night shows I've seen. The Dunkin's are the best in the business. No question.
• It was weird seeing Heskin and Ian Madsen in the B main.
• Jeff Swindell might win the hard luck of the week award, he was driving like it was the 1990's on his prelim night.  

Hope you all enjoyed your week out there as much as I did. See you next year, Knoxville.

AC 

this is what I like to see. I will weigh in later

Good stuff

my opinion is that schatz is closing in on being a top 20 goat.

There was too many drivers before him that were more versatile in wing,non wing and he hasn't shown the ability to do that but that does not make him worthy of being in a conversation With being great.he has super will to win that's for sure.if we took the wings off at Knoxville then the conversation may very well be that he could not make the A main. There is lots more to be said yet for Schatz IMO

Closing in on top 20? haha

Why would you run a non-wing car for half (or much less) of a winged purse?

Nice first post there Sir.  I agree with the vast majority of it.  Stevie was certainly Posse to start with but toured for much of a couple of decades with the big boys and has been an Okie for some time, but as a stretch I can see your point, lol.  Keep the good work coming, job well done!

Thanks for this post!  Wonder what would have happened if Brian would just followed Shatz and then have waited for the last lap to make those moves?

I also thought that Sam H. was the 2nd fastest car on the track for a while, he was just about to pass Schatz to get his lap back when that caution came out.  I was terribly impressed with him that whole week, kid is fast and smooth....

Or if he could have raced the bottom in 3 and 4. He'd have won by 2 seconds.

Schatz has been running a late model and is doing very respectable,  a late model and sprint car race on dirt and that's about the only thing they have in common, doesn't that make him versatile? 

Quite possibly the best first post in the history of message boards.

Phil Taylor

home-theater-systems-advice.com

Lives in Oklahoma. Doesn't race there. Still comes back home where some of the best LOCAL racing takes place. Don't want to wind everyone up thinking I said posse is the best. Haha

Yes this helps him, can he drive and win a midget?can he win in silver crown?

Or how about non wing?pavement ?

It's not a question of money? It's a question about schatz being a goat?

When Goat discussion can begin about Schatz then so can it with others for the fun of it. No arguement needed for such a good post why spoil it...

I never like to overlook drivers that are gone or in the present day racing but don't win much anymore

Here's a list from a hammerdown poll of best drivers of the 1900s

• 1. Steve Kinser (28) Bloomington, Ind. 3,519
• 2. Tommy Hinnershitz ( 6) deceased 2,127
• 3. A.J. Foyt ( 5) Houston, Tex. 1,863
• 4. Jan Opperman ( 6) deceased 1,757
• 5. Ted Horn ( 1) deceased 1,235
• 6. Parnelli Jones ( 3) Torrance, Calif. 910
• 7. Sammy Swindell Memphis, Tenn. 704
• 8. Doug Wolfgang Sioux Falls, S.D. 703
• 9. Rex Mays ( 2) deceased 648
• 10. Larry Dickson Marietta, Ohio 504
• 11. Kenny Weld deceased 496
• 12. Duane "Pancho" Carter ( 1) Brownsburg, Ind. 464
• 13. Gary Bettenhausen Monrovia, Ind. 458
• 14. Bobby Grim ( 1) deceased 442
• 15. Troy Ruttman ( 1) deceased 431
• 16. Gus Schrader deceased 395
• 17. Jim Hurtubise deceased 366
• 18. Jud Larson deceased 357
• 19. Jack Hewitt Troy, Ohio 281
• 20. Tony Willman ( 1) deceased 280
• 21. Frank Lockhart ( 2) deceased 257
• 22. Rick Ferkel Tiffin, Ohio 249
• 23. Don Branson deceased 235
• 24. Tom Bigelow Whitewater, Wisc. 21

• tie Emory Collins deceased 210

Also receiving multiple votes: Bobby Allen, Emil Andres, Mario Andretti, Lloyd Axel, Rollie Beale, Tony Bettenhausen, Dave Blaney, Jerry Blundy, Jimmy Bryan, Steve Butler, Duane "Pappy" Carter (Sr.), Tom Cherry, Joie Chitwood, Jerry "Scratch" Daniels, Bobby Davis (Jr.), Ralph DePalma, Peter DePaolo, Brad Doty, Pete Folse (Sr.), Dick Gaines, Chet Gardner, John Gerber, Ray Lee Goodwin, Al Gordon, Jeff Gordon, Earl Halaquist, Jac Haudenschild, Sig Haugdahl, Allen Heath, Kenny Jacobs, Joe James, Norman "Bubby" Jones, Brent Kaeding, Keith Kauffman, Frankie Kerr, Mark Kinser, Sheldon Kinser, Lee Kunzman, Danny Lasoski, Harold Leep, Gus Linder, Frankie Luptow, George "Doc" MacKenzie, Roger McCluskey, Lealand McSpadden, Louis Meyer, Tommy Milton, Jimmy Murphy, Dennis "Duke" Nalon, Mike Nazaruk, Pat O'Connor, Barney Oldfield, Jimmy Oskie, Johnny Parsons (Sr.), Gary Patterson, Lynn Paxton, Francis Quinn, Fred Rahmer, Jerry Richert (Sr.), Eddie Rickenbacker, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford, Eddie Sachs, Bob Sall, Bryan Saulpaugh, Everett Saylor, Bill Schindler, Sammy Sessions, Wilbur Shaw, Ron Shuman, Jimmy Sills, Richard "Mitch" Smith, Steve Smith (Sr.), Larry "Smokey" Snellbaker, Deb Snyder, Joe Sostilio, Robbie Stanley, Tony Stewart, Bob Sweikert, Albert "Buddy" Taylor, Dean Thompson, Johnny Thomson, Ray Tilley, Dick "Toby" Tobias, Ernie Triplett, Al Unser (Sr.), Bobby Unser, Ira Vail, LeRoy Van Conett, Rich Vogler, Frank Wearne, Travis "Spider" Webb, Greg Weld, Johnny White, Jimmy Wilburn, Billy Winn, Gordon Woolley.

Now someone tell me cause Schatz has won 8 nationals that moves him in front of every name on this page?

one thing is certain if  Donny keeps  winning for ten years then we will  place him somewhere on this page

Finally we are back to racing.Unfortunately last weeks events took away from the Nationals and the boys have at it  has been modified.Tony,Gordon,Larson,Foyt ,Andretti are a few names that can drive anything.Kinser Schatz and Swindell have tried pavement but were much better on dirt and are as good as we will ever see in winged cars.Steve Kinser and Sammy also were good in non wing but as much as I love to watch non wing cars and midgets the money and safety factor are not there.Nascar can be boring but that is where the money is and will continue to be the goal of some of the top young drivers.Several top drivers give back and a few race when they can but sponsors are what dictates what they can do.Tony is a giver and I hope he gets thru this terrible time for everybody.

Thanks all for the kind words. 

Your argument is that Schatz isn't in the top 20 because he's never done anything in non-winged cars. There is no incentive in today's racing for winged guys to race non-winged cars. Stewart, Larson, Bacon have all said winged sprint cars are the hardest cars to be fastest in.

Excellent first post

You must be kidding

No argument intended, I posted a list of  great sprint car drivers that should not be forgotten about cause Schatz has won 8 nationals and they haven't , we live in a world IMO of who is great now and we quickly forget the past history of the sport without a blink.

people do it with Lebron and Jordan is forgotten about if you can follow what I am saying.

you guys rember when Steve and Sammy were awesome with Jac and mark,and let's not forget Dave blaney and lasoski.

 I remember schatz in those days not to long ago and he wasn't so good at all, now the competition level is way down IMO cause of people leaving the series and the old age and schatz is doing great,well what happened? It's not rocket science it's a changing of the guard and it's the way it is. Remeber the days of Steve killing everyone and he was the best??? Then remember Sammy having dominate years and he challenged the best  but was not the best then blaney and mark were killing it in them days to. There is a reason when Ratbag made the ps2 game that Schatz starts 15 in career mode every race. Cause he could not run with them guys and now they are old gone and washed up. My point is that Schatz is hardly the  goat but he is the best winged driver this current year.

I respect Schatz for what he is doing and he most certainy paid his dues to be where he is today.