(Bill W) In 1979, the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame was born. Eighteen members were inducted. Drivers Greg and Kenny Weld, Kenny Crook, Dean Sylvester, Danny Richardson, Bud McCune, Gordon Woolley, Earl Wagner, Ken Gritz, Dick Sutcliffe and Thad Dosher were enshrined. These eleven drivers accounted for 158 feature wins at the raceway. Also being honored were mechanics Taylor “Pappy” Weld, Bob Trostle, Fred Kain, Wayne House and John Leverens, as well as former promoter Marion Robinson.
The Knoxville Hall of Fame is not to be confused with the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame sitting in turn two. The Knoxville Hall has undergone some location changes over the years, but has persevered, and includes 122 inductees through 2003.
Hall of Fame night has been synonymous with the mid-season championship, and it was no different 25 years ago. Many interesting tidbits are included in that night of racing action, and thanks to the resources of Bob Wilson, I thought I would share a few things I dug up. Sixteen future Knoxville Hall of Fame inductees (including 8 of the top 10 A main finishers) and three National Sprintcar Hall of Famers were driving in that night’s program. Countless others were present.
Jan Opperman was an interesting participant. His best days had come and gone, but he was there. Johnny Anderson from California, who in my opinion will be enshrined in the NSCHoF, was driving the Tuttle and Long #10. His ride on the World of Outlaw tour with McCray and Woodruff had dissolved and Bob Trostle had lined up this ride, vacated by an injured Jerry Potter (also a Knoxville HoFer). Anderson competed for several weeks at Knoxville before departing for the road again.
In the feature event, John Stevenson broke out to an early lead and commanded it until lap eight, when a broken ring and pinion sidelined him. Darryl Dawley inherited the lead and held it over a young hard-charger in Tim Green. South Dakota’s Roger Larson claimed the last spot on the podium. The win ended a four year drought at Knoxville for Dawley and netted him $1,200. Tragically, it would be the last checkered flag he would ever see at Knoxville. The very next week he passed away as a result of a lap one crash that also claimed Larson’s life. The two Hall of Famer’s left a big hole to fill in the weekly program.
Joining Dawley and Larson as Knoxville Hall of Famer’s driving that evening were Opperman, Green, Gary Scott, Randy Smith, Eddie Leavitt, Tom Corbin, Lloyd Beckman, Lenard McCarl, Mike Brooks, Cliff Woodward, Ralph Blackett, Stevenson, Stacy Redmond and Sonny Smyser. A look at that night’s racing results:
6/30/79
Knoxville Raceway
Mid-Season Championship/Hall of Fame night/25th Anniversary
40 cars
Roger Larson (19th car out to time) set the standard in qualifications when he circled the half-mile in 20.630 seconds. Randy Smith (29th car out) was second quick, followed by Billy Robison (35th), Tim Green (38th), Gary Scott (37th), Darryl Dawley (18th), Tom Corbin (28th), John Stevenson (17th), Bobby Brutto (34th) and Ralph Blackett (25th). Sonny Smyser was a scratch before he could get a time in.
Trophy Dash (started): 1. Dawley 25x (1) 2. Scott 8 (2) 3. Green 55 (3) 4. Robison 22 (4) 5. R. Smith 43 (5) 6. Larson 18 (6)
Slow heat (started): 1. Mark Shaffer 27x (4) 2. Dick Stoneking 20x (3) / 3. Bill Hetrick 18x (1) 4. Ed Pitko 35x (7) 5. Jim Braden 94 (2) …. Also: Jan Opperman 99 (5), Tim Deaver 48 (6)
Heat one (started): 1. Steve Hainline 21 (4) 2. Green (8) 3. Lloyd Beckman 47 (6) 4. Stevenson 31 (7) 5. Johnny Anderson 10 (5) / …. Also: Barney Bauernfeind 14x (1), Chris Maurer 181 (2), Adrian Zoutte 11 (3)
Heat two (started): 1. Eddie Leavitt 49x (5) 2. Mike Brooks 12 (6) 3. Robison (8) 4. Rich Brahmer 26 (4) 5. Corbin 58 (7) / …. Also: John McCoy 9 (1), Ed Grant 27 (2), Mark David 34 (3)
Heat three (started): 1. Blackett 49 (6) 2. Dawley (7) 3. Mackie Heimbaugh 15 (5) 4. Lenard McCarl 7x (4) 5. R. Smith (8) / …. Also: Mike Shafer 4A (1), Galen Martin 2 (2), Terry Taggart 39 (3)
Heat four (started): 1. Scott (7) 2. Cliff Woodward 125 (2) 3. Larson (8) 4. Rick Weld 25 (5) 5. Mike Thomas 37 (4) / …. Also: Ken Potter 76 (1), Stacy Redmond 61 (3), Brutto 1A (6)
B main (started): 1. Brutto (6) 2. Maurer (8) 3. David (3) / 4. Taggart (4) 5. Grant (7) …. Also: Martin (1), Zoutte (2), Redmond (5), K. Potter (9), McCoy (10), Bauernfeind (11), Shaffer (12), Stoneking (13)
A main (started): 1. Dawley (3) 2. Green (5) 3. Larson (8) 4. Scott (4) 5. R. Smith (7) 6. Leavitt (12) 7. Corbin (2) 8. Heimbaugh (13) 9. Beckman (11) 10. J. Anderson (15) 11. Brahmer (16) 12. Thomas (14) 13. McCarl (17) 14. Maurer (21) 15. Brooks (10) 16. Woodward (18) 17. Blackett (9) 18. Hainline (19) 19. Robison (6) 20. David (22) 21. Brutto (18) 22. Stevenson (1) DNS – Weld
6/19/04
A few words put together by Bob Wilson in honor of this week’s inductees into the Knoxville Hall of Fame:
2004 Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame Inductees
NAOMI GRIMES - Des Moines, Iowa (now from Walcott, Iowa) Naomi, along with her husband Hall of Famer, Ray Grimes, promoted Knoxville Raceway from 1974-1979. Her basic schedule on Saturday nights was to work at the pit shack sign-in window as well as to score the races during the evening from the old infield judges' stand. Additionally, she figured weekly points for the track. It was during the Grimes' era that Naomi worked on and completed the first point system for the Nationals. That system is still used today. During Nationals, her additional duties were to figure those points and to develop the lineups. Finally, it was Naomi's concern which led to the courtesy car. This is the car used for driving family members to the hospital from the track after an accident. She often housed those family members if the hospital stay was lengthy. "Ray and I did it together," Naomi says of herself and her husband of 52 years.
LARRY JASPER - Martinsburg, Iowa Celebrating 50 years of continuous homage to the Knoxville Raceway this year, Larry started in the early 1950s working with Knoxville Raceway Hall of Famer, Dean Sylvester. Larry says, "I owe everything to him as Knoxville has been my Saturday night home since I started coming here." Working with Sylvester during his career at Knoxville did not end when Dean retired from driving and owning a car. Larry continued helping Dean build modifieds and stocks, most of which went on to become track champions, most notably is Mike Hughes. It was Larry who ended up restoring the #12 Sylvester super modified driven by Earl Wagner to the 1961 track championship and to third place in that year's Nationals. The car has often been displayed at Knoxville since its restoration. Today Larry has a 305 non-wing sprint that he fields for that division.
MIKE THOMAS - Des Moines, Iowa Mike began his racing career in 1955 riding motorcycles in various divisions. In 1970 he drove street stocks and late models at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. 1970 also saw Mike buy the Dan Pemble #37 and begin his racing career at Knoxville Raceway with his last season being in 2000. During that time he competed in 18 Nationals which is still a 13th place tie for most Nationals competitions. Today, he is still active driving in the dwarf cars as well as in the 305 sprint division. He also had a brief stint in dirt champ cars in the late 1980s. He can also be credited with bringing the removable steering wheel to this track, an absolute necessity in emergencies. To date, Mike has raced in 22 states and Canada during a career that saw him compete in 1054 race events.
TOM SAVAGE - Sioux Falls, South Dakota After witnessing his first midget race in Indiana in 1946, Tom was hooked for a lifetime on what we call circle track racing. Living in Sioux Falls in 1954, he became a grandstand fan at Husets and area bullrings. In the mid-1960s he began writing and sending race results to the newly founded Hawkeye Racing News. This interest would eventually lead to a column for Hawkeye which Tom called "Dakota Area Observations" which, in later years he would always manage to take a humorous poke at Bob Trostle or Ralph Capitani. In 1972 Tom started his own weekly newspaper called "Dakota Area Racing News". For just over ten years he edited and sold the racing year book "Dirt Track Fury". He has also written for OPEN WHEEL and STOCK CAR RACING magazine with stories about the sprint car scene. He is currently a contributor the FLATOUT magazine. Tom Savage has had a story in each Knoxville Nationals program since 1983 to date. As a reporter he has covered the Nationals event from 1975 to 2000 developing and broadcasting a radio show since 1978 to his last event here.