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

Just wondering what the thoughts are from the people that saw the nationals.  Did anyone like it?  I only saw highlights but all I'm reading is how they gave too much time to Schatz, how much Knoxville pays the WOO for sanction, how a driver was lucky to win, what people from what state or part of the country finished and of coarse lots of people calling other people names.  So how were the races?  Was it worth going or watching?

I went to whole thing.  2nd year in a row.  Went to final 2 nights in 2017   Can’t recommend it enough. The atmosphere is electric. I though the racing was real good as usual this year. Track was a little narrow early on Wednesday  night but was spot on rest of time.  Will definitely go back next year.  No doubt Gravel was best car this year. 

It was AWESOME to be there in person. As always. The racing was very good. Don't let the typical internet crap fool you 

+1

I went for about my 10th time... awesome experience.  The town, the racing facility, the people.. can't miss

Don't pay any attention to most of the B.S. on here! If you have the chance to go, then definitely go! This was my 15th straight Nationals and am already reserved and ready for next year! The Kings Royal, World finals, Williams Grove Summer Nats, Iron Man, are all great events, but not as good as Knoxville in my opinion!! Just go and experience the best 4 nights of sprint racing on the planet!!!

Went for the 3rd straight year this year and once again everything was great. The town, people, track, facility, events, hall of fame, food, and racing. Everything is worth every dime I spent. The entire time I was there I did not think about the format, qualifying, who sanctioned what, if the Outlaws should or should not be involved, what part of the country a driver was fun, or ways the event could be better. The Nationals are already great and no changes really need to be made to anything in my opinion, The only bad part of the experience is Sunday when you realize everything is over with and you have to wait another year. Today we are down to 51wks or 357days and counting. We already re-reserved our room for next year and plan on renewing the tickets once the info comes in the mail.

Went the first time in 1998, bought a house, in 1999. Moved here full time, in 2006. Some years are better than others but, the only disappointment is when they are over.

The Nationals were awesome as usual. I've been going for longer than I can rememeber 30+ years and have enjoyed every single event. If you are able try to hit up the 360 Nationals, the two Osky races, and then obviously the 410 Nationals. 10 straight days of sprint car racing is hard to beat.

There are so many things to do during the day and in around the Knoxville area, so you shouldn't ever get bored.

The racing itself is great, the atmosphere, the vendors, food... the shebang shebang. I would not touch the format of how the nationals are. It forces drivers to go all out every single time they hit the track so there's no sand bagging. The only weird thing this year was that Schatz wasn't in contention to win and to my knowledge, this was everyone's first year on the podium. 

It's NOT uncommon to see drivers, Nascar folk, car owners, thsoe involved in the sport walking the concourse, mingling with the fans, drivers, etc. 

I highly recommend it and encourage you to see the 60th, which I hear is going to be extra special!

Keep It Real

Been going for 10+ years. Love it, best race of the year. Saturday was totally awesome. Gravel was the best car all week, you could tell in his heat race Thursday night. He probably would have won in 2017 if his crank would not have broke. I didn't think Schatz got anymore time than any other top name driver would have. No complaints here.  

I have been to the Nationals twice, once in 2000 and again in 2017. Every sprint car fan should put it on their life bucket list to go at least one time. Once you go, you will want to go back every year. The whole week is an experience. No matter what local track you support, there is no other track or town that can compare......Knoxville just rolls out the red carpet, whether it is the Hy Vee, Casey's, The Dingus or other local establishments. With thousands of fans, campers,vendors etc it is just a cool week to be a sprint car fan no matter who you root for, or where you are from.

Do you think that Gravel was just the best car, or best driver/car combination?

www.manvelmotorsports.com

I think if there would have been one more caution . Schuhart and Pittman would have gave him a run for his money . Pittman was a rocket on the restart

I used to go to the nationals every year as a kid and i just started going again last year after a 15 year hiatus. Its the best ! like people already above have mentioned there is plenty of stuff to do in town. T-shirt shopping , diecast shopping , Brian brown was selling panels off his car, Slideways, dingus, swimming , boating , Hall of Fame, and racing every night. Its cool to because you will see the drivers and teams out at Slideways , dingus, or just walking around. 

THis was my 25th year of going to the nationals. I was there for 10 days and saw all the races. The best race of the 10 days was the Sunday night race but all the races were good competitive races. My only thought on Schatz is there is a rule book and the rules should be followed. I have no idea what the rule is but in past WOO races I have been to it seems like it is 2 munutes or two laps. Maybe the rule has changed?

The only negative is the price of a room. The motels figured out a couple of years ago they could triple there normal room rate for the nationals.

I went all four days and this was my 18th straight.  Has been worth going all 18 years.  The "racing" portion of the show actually fell in the "average" range for me.  Wednesday night's show was a below average show and Thursday night was good as far as changes for positions, side-by-side racing, etc.  Friday night was pretty good start to finish and I thought the heats for a Friday night were better than normal.  Saturday night's racing was also VERY good.  Sure, after some early passes for the lead Gravel ran away.  BUT, Logan 22nd to 2nd?  Pittman from mid-pack to 2nd before fading to 3rd?  Kaeding and Sweet battling for a few laps.  I thought the A was very good.  

The actual "racing" aside, the event has always been worth it.  The atmosphere is great.  The people you meet are (usually) great.  And the buildup to Saturday at around 10:30 or 11:00 is electric.  

In my 18 Nationals, there were fortgettable ones, a large majority in the "good" range, and 5 or 6 were absolutely spectacular for one reason or another.  Johnson in 2016---nuf said.  Sammy vs. Donny in 2010 for the 50th until Tim stole the show.  Steve from the C Saturday night to a top 5.  Dude from the C Saturday night to a top 5.  Dude vs. Browny.  

Every single Nationals may not be mind-blowing.  But, if you keep on going, you're going to have a ton of memories etched into your mind.  

My 2 cents

Friday night was the best night of winged racing I have ever seen. I admit I am much more of a non-wing fan. Most nights there were 3 grooves, and definately 2 racing grooves. The track prep is easily the best in the country, none of the silly reworking of the track between races. It is a big event for sprint car racing and they have managed it well over the years. 
The only thing I would change is announcing. Knoxville has 2-3 really good local announcers, I would stick with them through the Nationals. Let them do their regular  jobs. 

I quit trying to figure out the point system over the years, seems to continually evolve. Back in the non-wing days it was mostly based on time and was exciting as could be. Seems good cars get penalized in the heats now, just my opinion.

I love Knoxville and this was my 15th Nationals. It was probably in the bottom 5 In terms of actually quality of racing, i thought the track sucked on Wednesday and the neverending jumping of the starts on Friday took away some enjoyment for me.  But that’s because the Nationals has set such a high bar of quality that even saying all that , it was still a ton of fun. 

I personally love the points system and the challenge it gives drivers to earn every spot to achieve every point.  No one settles in once they reach a transfer spot-----gotta get the next spot for the 2 or 3 points (depending on feature or heat)  

I know this can be tough sometimes, but it's what makes it an exciting event.  Seeing a driver struggle in a heat, knowing he has to transfer through the B, and then work his/her way up through the A that night is what makes this such a fun event.  I will also add, the racing is MUCH better knowing on those qualifying nights that every position matters and we don't just have to watch the leader running away in clean air.  The racing everywhere else is JUST as important as the lead.  I think it's a spectacular format.  

JMO but I would not make any major changes to the points system at all.  

This was my 25th year of attending the Nationals.  I can't recommend it enough.  4-10 days of eating, sleeping and racing winged sprint cars.  Get there for whatever you can.

The Wednesday night heat races sucked.  No passing except for a couple of instances - great move you made Aaron Ruetzel!  The A feature was good.

The heats were better Thursday night but still not up to their usual gold standard.  Good feature.

Friday night heats were the best of the week and the features were good.  As another commenter noted, there was definitely some jumping on the start - need to reign that crap in.

Saturday night was awesome.  You can feel the electricity in the air early in the day and it grows until GO time.