4/30/04
25 Years of Spring with the WoO at Knoxville
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the World of Outlaws first spring feature here at Knoxville. A lot has changed since April 12, 1979, but some of the same competitors are still around causing havoc for all the local boys. Wings have been added, heat race and feature inverts have been shrunk or done away with, and some of the competitors unfortunately are no longer with us. Both Roger Larson and Darryl Dawley, who competed in that event, lost their lives in the same accident on July 7 at Knoxville. Dick Stoneking, who was not present at the WoO show, would lose his life two weeks later when he flipped and collided with the flagstand. The impact also injured flagman Gary Johnson and his assistant Steve Koons. 1979 was a tough year at the raceway.
Memories of these incidents and others come streaming back when you think back through the years, and I have been doing that in a personal project I’m completing. I owe a debt of thanks to Bob Wilson, Knoxville Raceway’s historian in providing me with a plethora of information. I thought it would be neat to share with you just a bit of it in my offering this week.
One big difference between today’s formats and those in 1979 were the formats. Heats were totally inverted (similar to the Nationals format) according to time. If you didn’t finish in the top four of your ten-car heat, you were heading to the B (or the trailer). Seven of the top ten qualifiers came from the last row of their heat to qualify for the main event. Two of the three who did not were flip victims (Lee James and Johnny Anderson). That speaks to the quality of the competitors in that field.
Sammy Swindell, the winner of the event, is familiar to all. Hopefully, these names and results can bring memories back for you as they did for me. Complete results and some names are lost to time, so if you can help in any way, send me an e-mail at sprntcar@netins.net. Enjoy!
4/21/79
Knoxville Raceway
WoO
66 cars
Sammy Swindell (22nd car out to time) set quick time in the first World of Outlaws race ever at Knoxville Raceway with a time of 20.316 seconds. Ralph Blackett (35th car out) timed in second fast, followed by Bobby Marshall (5th), Ron Shuman (16th), Billy Robison (3rd), Steve Kinser (36th), Lee James (11th), Darryl Dawley (7th), Shane Carson (32nd) and Johnny Anderson (53rd). John Stevenson crashed in time trials, as did Con Edwards and Bobby Layne. Edwards flipped over the fence. All escaped serious injury, though Layne suffered a broken tooth. Lynn McIntosh and Tim Green failed to get a time in.
Trophy Dash (started): 1. Shuman 75 (3) 2. Kinser 11x (1) 3. Blackett 49 (5) 4. Marshall 19 (4) 5. Swindell (6) 6. Robison 22 (2)
Five ten car heats had a complete invert based on time, and took the top four finishers to the A main.
Heat one (started): 1. Jerry Stone 24 (4) 2. Don Mack 4 (8) 3. Robison (10) 4. Mackie Heimbaugh 15 (7) / 5. Sonny Smyser 28 (5) …. Also: Chris Maurer 181 (1), Cliff Woodward 81 (2), Bob Williams 58 (3), Gary Scott 8 (6), J. Anderson 21x (9)
J. Anderson flipped in turn three.
Heat two (started): 1. Shuman (10) 2. Jim Linder 4E (7) 3. Carson 4x (9) 4. Jerry Potter 10 (2) / 5. Johnny Beaber 3x (8) …. Also: TJ Giddings 05 (1), Rick Weld 94 (3), Greg Cole 38 (4), Mike Thomas 37 (5), Stacy Redmond 61 (6)
Heat three (started):1. Lloyd Beckman 47 (6) 2. Rick Ferkel 0 (7) 3. Marshall (10) 4. Doug Wolfgang 20 (8) / 5. Dawley 25x (9) …. Also: Barney Bauernfiend 14x (1), Roger Rager 4J (2), Rich Brahmer 26 (3), Danny Smith 2 (4), Terry Doss 73 (5)
Heat four (started): 1. Norman Martin 98 (1) 2. Blackett (10) 3. Jerry Blundy 33 (3) 4. Jack Hewitt 50 (2) / 5. Bill Mellenberndt 97 (6) …. Also: Bob Brutto (4), J.J. Riggins 14 (5), Mike Brooks 12 (7), Victor Chudy 711 (8), James 15 (9)
L. James and Brutto flipped hard in turn one, but they were uninjured.
Heat five (started): 1. Swindell (10) 2. Kinser 11x (9) 3. Butch Bahr 25 (4) 4. Randy Smith 43 (8) / 5. Roger Larson 18 (5) …. Also: John Coogan 6 (1), Dale McCarty 9x (2), Jim Goettsche 3G (3), Jr. Parkinson 65 (6), Eddie Leavitt 04 (7)
B main (started): 1. Beaber (4) 2. Larson (9) / 3. Dawley (6) 4. Smyser (13) 5. Mellenberndt (1) 6. Scott (8) 7. Brahmer (15) 8. Riggins (10) 9. Doss (11) 10. Thomas (12) …. Also: Parkinson (2), Brooks (3), Chudy (5), Redmond (7), Goettsche (14), McCarty (16), Bauernfiend (17), Giddings (18)
A main (started): 1. Swindell (8, $2000) 2. Shuman (5) 3. Carson (2) 4. Ferkel (11) 5. Marshall (6) 6. Robison (4) 7. J. Linder (12) 8. Hewitt (18) 9. Wolfgang (9) 10. Beaber (21) 11. Stone (16) 12. Beckman (14) 13. Larson (22) 14. Bahr (15) 15. Blundy (17) 16. J. Potter (19) 17. Kinser (3) 18. R. Smith (1) 19. Blackett (7) 20. Martin (20) 21. D. Mack (10) 22. Heimbaugh (13)
Carson took the early lead, while Swindell began picking off competitors in his Federal Express sprinter on a rutty track.. Swindell took the lead from Carson on lap 16 of the 25 lapper in front of 9,000 spectators. Shuman made his move on Carson for second on lap 22. Beaber moved up 11 spots to earn hard-charger honors. Hewitt moved up ten spots, and Larson moved up nine. Heimbaugh was uninjured in a lap one flip that claimed his tail tank. On lap three, D. Mack ended up on his lid as well.
Shuman retained his WoO point lead (1520) over Rick Ferkel (1372) and Doug Wolfgang (1364).
Also present on the evening: Lynn McIntosh 5x, Grissom? 26, Ken Chapman KY58, Bobby Layne 01, Lenard McCarl 7x, John McCoy 9, Steve Hainline 21, Ed Grant 27, Adrian Zoutte 11, Ken Potter 76, Bill Hetrick 18x, Linus Mack 42, Dean Erfurth 81x, John Stevenson 31, Con Edwards 5, Tim Green 1