by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The 5th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by SuperClean and the Mid-States 305 Sprint Championship kicks off this Thursday night and roars into Saturday. Unseasonably warm and most importantly, dry weather is forecast for this weekend’s festivities!
The best in the Late Model business will vie for the $40,000 to win 100-lap main event on Saturday night! They’ll work on their starting position by competing in a pair of preliminary events on Thursday and Friday.
The format is similar to the SuperClean Knoxville sprint car Nationals. After qualifying the quick timers go to the back of the heats and have to race their way into the main event in some of the best late model races you’ll see anywhere! Every time they hit the track they earn points, so there’s no time for slacking! The cream always rises to the top on Saturday night!
The four previous champions of the event are scheduled to try to repeat their climb to the top of the podium on Saturday night! Brady Smith (2007), Brian Shirley (2006), Scott Bloomquist (2005) and Brian Birkhofer (2004) are all pre-entered. They’ll be joined by Sprint Cup stars Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader. Stewart charged from the rear of the field to finish third in 2006, so he will be looking for nothing less than a win this time around!
World of Outlaws point leader Darrell Lanigan is entered, as are “The Kentucky Colonel” Steve Francis, fan favorite and Iowa native Billy Moyer, “Kid Rocket” Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Mars, Darren Miller, Shannon Babb, Matt Miller and many more!
Over 40 entries have been received for the 2nd Annual Mid-States 305 championship. Several pre-entered drivers should be familiar to Knoxville Raceway fans including Johnny Anderson, John Kearney, Tim St. Arnold, Justin Giannetto, Tasker Phillips, Mitchell Alexander, Wayne Redmond and many more!
For more information, including ticket information, pre-entry lists, purse and format structure, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
