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

Now that Ian Masden has joined the Outlaws who is left to challenge Brown weekly at Knoxville ,last I saw Lasoski is still looking for a ride ,Havent seen anything on Dollansky or Tim Keading since Lustra shut down. Looks like the McCarls and Lynton Jeffries will be his main contenders along with Kerry when hes not traveling.

Havent seen Wayne Johnsons name on the ASCS ROSTER  anybody know whats up with him?

If Kerry Madsen runs every night at Knoxville he will win points is my prediction. TK sounds like he has a ride back in Cali. Nothing on Dollansky. Lynton can be fast and can win on any given week. I think Austin will be better for sure (as if he wasn't already good last year) and don't sleep on Brooke Tatnell. That car was coming along nicely last season with a lot of good finishes and some bad luck when running up there. Terry is a wildcard. He still has it for sure but certainly had a somewhat off season last year. Hard for me to predict how he finishes. Unless Lasoski finds a ride I doubt we see him weekly up here. Needless to say competition is still pretty tough over here which multiple drop ins over the weeks who we will claim as regulars.

My Predicted Points

1. Kerry M

2. Austin M

3. Brian B - (Assuming he misses 1-2 weeks for other races due to sponsorship reasons unless we have rain outs then)

4. Terry M

5. Brooke Tatnell

Don't overlook Davey Heskin.  He struggled last year trying to figure out the setup on a new car, but results improved when he went back to the old car.  Not sure what he has ready for this year, but he has finished well in the past.

Out of the local Knoxville drivers... who do you guys think will make the trip to Mansfield April 27-28th for the $100k-to-win SCWC???

Since Knoxville is running a weekly show that night I would say there will be zero at Mansfield. I am sure Brian Brown will be at Mansfield but he is not a full time weekly regular at Knoxville.

Masden said on Winged Nation he will try to make alot of the bigger paying non Outlaw races I would think he meant Mansfield.

Saldana and a couple of the Cal guys are planning to spend some time at Knoxville to prep for the Nationals.

Since Dewease is coming out for the Hall Of Fame its to bad he cant bring Donnie along..

It would be great to see Heskin, Schneiderman, or even Tasker be able to compete for the season title if Madsen and Brown are gone too often.  It would cetainly make weekly racing there more enjoyable if the 410 point title was as competeive as the 305 point title usually is.

youre saying the 410 races would be better if the big names weren’t there? i enjoy all 3 classes but I can tell you that the majority of people who attend weekly racing there don’t think the 305 racing is better. 

Part of the reason why Knoxville is Knoxville is bc the stout competition in all classses, top drivers, On the best track. You Don’t make a better show by weakening the Overall field. 

So has the weekly racing in the 360 class been shitty bc Clint dominated past years? No. 

Keep It Real

The 2017 360 track title came down to the last race on the last day.  That certainly added to my enjoyment that night.  I'm not advocating for lousy racing, I would simply like to see the track championships competitve and decided on the final night of racing.

Better weekly races would get the nod from me vs a tight point battle. Don't get me wrong having them be competitive and come down to the wire on the last race is awesome but we usually go home saying how awesome was that close race vs how awesome was that close points battle. Just more excitement in a good race that make stories for years. Please don't make it NASCAR style. Keep the big names there as long as there are other big names to battle against them. I love it when an underdog picks up a win here or there against the best of the best. Can't be a better feeling than actually beating the best. I just dislike season being dominated by one driver when I usually know who will win when I get to the track. Certainly hasn't been the case at Knoxville in recent years.

I've been told by a good source that Lasoski is running his own car at Jackson Motorplex on Friday nights with someone providing an engine package, and that he has another car lined up for weekly racing at Knoxville. Not sure who owns the Knoxville car.

I’d agree that a tight points battle for the championship would add to the excitment But id Also be more concerned with the weekly racing. Knoxville has done a nice job of attracting some of the best each year. 

Keep It Real

I think it would be great if tracks gave you a couple “mulligans” for the weekly points. That would definitely encourage more of the big names to run for points there weekly because they could still miss a couple weeks to go run wherever and it would allow the smaller guys to take a week off a couple times a year for family events, to regroup from a crash or blown motor or even just to relax. 

Pretty sure Knoxville is offering 1 mulligan night for it's weekly competitors. That, in addition to giving 410's the week off during Jackson Nationals. A team could run both Jackson Nationals and King's Royal without skipping a beat.

-Austin Rankin

Oh cool. I didn’t know that. Such a great idea. I wish more tracks would do that. l run a sprint car locally every Friday night for points. My car owner loves running for points and I hate it. We are a small low budget team with limited help and it just ends up being a grind for everyon. Having the option to take a week or two off would make it so much better.

"he will try to make alot of the bigger paying non Outlaw races" 
I wonder why "non-Outlaw"?

The drivers can miss a maximum of 3 points shows, plus the USAC night isn't a points show, which is the same night as the Jackson Nationals. 

This is a perfect example of a track, working with the drivers, neighboring tracks. 

Keep It Real

Points structure needs something!  2 car never once passed the 40 all year.  40 won the 360 Nationals.  I don't think Moro even won a race. There's little doubt in anyone's mind who the 360 champ at Knoxville is. 

Jmo

I can see your point. Moro only won by roughly 30 pts but it's like nationals. Qualifying is half the battle. You don't need to win your heat or the feature to finish up front as long as youre consistent. I think there is some tweeking that could be done but it's pretty clean cut as it is