Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Was just at Knoxville for the Sprint Car Nats and had a blast. Now we are thinking about heading back for the Late Model Nats at the end of Sept. Is it a pretty good show? How many cars do they usually get? Thanks for any responses. Thanks, Troy

I have been to both. It is nothing like the Sprint Car Nats as far as the hype and the crowd. However, the racing is quite good, even excellent at times. One of the years I went, Brian Shirley won after spinning out and restarting in the back of the field. Tony Stewart finished 2nd after starting 18th. That overshadowed the first 50 or so laps when Birkhofer and Darin Miller had a hell of a race swapping the lead several times. On the other hand, the next year's race was no where near that good. It is a very good late model track as they fan out quite wide in corners 1 and 2 during restarts. I believe they invite 66 cars. ? Don't know if that is still the case or not. I am considering going again this year and I live 4 hours away if that tells you anything. A bad day at the races beats a great day at work anytime!

There is no longer a limit of 66 cars. This year it has been opened up for any Late Model driver to compete.

I've been there a couple of Late Model Nationals there & it's definitely worth going to.

There will not be near as many people, but the racing will be even better than the sprint car nationals.

Thank you for the responses. I would also be driving about 4 hours as I live in MN (twin cities). At least hopefully the hotel rooms will be cheaper than the sprint car nats.

I checked about a week ago and there were still rooms available around Pella. $100-120? if i remember correctly. I have also stayed at Newton before for the Late Models. Super 8, $80 or so.

It will be interesting to see how many cars do show up.....in the past the 66 car limit meant that every car could run on both Thursday and Friday in the traditional KnoxNat points format with the driver keeping his highest total. To be honest, 66 is more than enough if they allow a driver to run both nights and keep the same format.

Various factors have worked against the total car count (which is why the 66 car cap and running both nights instead of splitting the field like the sprint Nat's) in the past including scheduling, sanction, etc and while I do not know the status of these various factors going into this year's event, I do know that guys are starting to wake up and realize that it is a pretty darn good payday compared to the other options that weekend. (I believe if you ran dead last in both your heats and B features on Thurs/Fri and then dead last in the C main on Saturday...you still take home a couple hundred bucks)

The first year saw Birky win the B main and the A main....when was the last time that was done at a major dirt event?

That's cause Birky is a Certified Muscatine River Rat Bad Ass.... ;-)

It's been GREAT racing every time I've went.

Thursday and Friday remind me of what the Sprint Nationals were like back in the 80's. Big moves on the opening lap of the heat races and guys winning heats from 10th is the norm (last year the first (4) heat races one of the nights was won from 10th and the other from 8th if my memory serves me correct.

Crowd is not as large as the Sprint Nationals, but it has improved yearly and the fans are much more rowdy.

We where thinking about heading down for fri and sat. Is sat also a good night to go?

100 lap feature is a LONGGGG race (only green flag laps count).

Having said that, there always seems to be comers and goers and sometimes a guy will lead, slow down and drop back and then surge to the front again (much different than sprint car racing).

I've seen Brian Shirley spin on lap #3, restart 30th and win the race, seen Birkhofer come from 15th to win, seen Moyer put on a clinic winning all 3 nights (but didn't dominate). A year or two ago Steve Francis got spun on the opening lap and finished 3rd or 4th after restarting 30th.

It's just a different animal than sprint car racing. Drivers that take care of their tires early on in the race will surge forward the last 30 laps or so and those that abuse their tires will start dropping like a rock.

No matter what the track conditions or weather, I've never seen a bad LM race at Knoxville yet.

Whats the schedule usually look like for the sat night show?

C, B and A mains only (if the car count is higher, obviously they'll add another main.

Format, purse, etc. can be found at the following link

http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/Event/9th-Annual-Lucas-Oil-Late-Model-Nationals

It doesn't say anywhere on the website (usually never does) but don't they almost always have some sort of support class putting on a 1 night show on Saturday?

It's been thunder trucks, 360 sprints, modifieds and I think one year they even had legends cars....jsut something to fill the downtime since they only have 3 or 4 races on the schedule.

Last 3 years it has been A mods. Usually put on a pretty good show. They invite about 40 of those

each year based on finishing order of the Harris Clash. Its alot of fenders for one week but always put

on a great show.

-Austin Rankin