Knoxville Nationals…
Hemby Bridge, NC – Every year Pete and the United Sprint Car Series schedule a Friday and Saturday night show, usually in mid-April, in towns South of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Every year heading that way, I have to hear dad tell me of the time him and his dad rode all over Knoxville trying to find the dirt track where the sprint car nationals were held on their way home from a modified midget championship in Cali.
Make fun of the ignorance of that last sentence all you want, but remember this… They were sprint car fans living in a world of stock car racing begging for a weekly Speed Sport paper to inform them of a Williams Grove victory four weeks prior.
PLUS, they just beat Rich Volger and Andy Hillenburg in a hundred lap modified midget race in Southern California. So cut them some slack!
Back on point…
Pulling into a Sweetwater, TN track known as I75 Speedway, your heart will skip a beat when you see this massive fencing system reminding you of Eldora or Bristol. Two years ago, it was a lightning fast 5/8 mile high banked oval with late models averaging 145mph. Unfortunately, the racing was minimal so a frustrated owner built a tiny ass fifth mile in the infield. Cars have tripled and fans have quad since the downsizing.
A thirty lap sprint car feature later had drivers yelling at Pete and Andi for payout money, but apparently they were too busy scheduling more races at the facility. Once we found out their positive situation, we let them off the hook.
I could write an additional seven and a half paragraphs of my racing experience at I75 including showing up late cause I had to close on a home, dad had nine loads of sand and stone to deliver, getting a title on the trailer we were hauling, begging mom for a few more dollars, forgetting my helmet at the house and hoping I had enough tear-offs for the other helmet, eating very questionable burritos at a Flying J praying for a decent track bathroom, and hoping when the trailer door hits the ground your car is still strapped down!
Car was horrible from the get-go. The car tried flipping over the right front every time I entered. Only raced one lap in the heat and gave up. Hauled ass into the pits and my crew chief said something was wrong with the front end. We didn’t have time to pin-point it, so we changed everything.
Started 19th…. Made it to 9th… Fourth hard charger in five races!
I’d like to think I’m having just as much fun as the leader…
Sorry dad… It wasn’t the Knoxville Nationals, but at least you got to see both your sons beat the shit out of each other for position and still bring them both to the trailer.
We were close to a Knoxville though….