[flagboy55]

We’re having a great time also, hanging with Oppweld, Brent and got to meet Duel, a great weekend continues!

[Chief Wahoo]

Ok what western movie is that theme song from??

[erich45]

Originally Posted by Chief Wahoo Ok what western movie is that theme song from??

The song is The Ecstasy of Gold, from the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

[Chief Wahoo]

Originally Posted by erich45 The song is The Ecstasy of Gold, from the movie The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Figured it out, but it was driving me crazy. Thanks

[ThrowbackRacingTeam]

I know we are not allowed to say anything bad anymore but some reality should be interjected for those that have actually seen good non-wing sprint car racing there in the past.
1. The track prep is obviously done for the wing cars. "Sprints on skates"
2. Winged hot laps followed by winged time trials took the first hour so a non-wing car didn't hit the track until 8pm when it was kinda used up.
3. Winged cars were unnecessary to begin with. Show ended at midnight.
4. Cars have gotten so ugly it's beyond likeable. Cage panel city and "Flat black is the new flat back" and no thought in schemes besides Mitchell Davis #56.
I wasn't expecting greatness but something a little more than what I witnessed. It was good enough to go back and hopefully they can take some suggestions and not silence any and all criticism like what's happening on IOW.

[BrentTFunk]

I think a stiff breeze also factored in on track prep. I thought both nights were great. Race for the lead wasn't that great on Saturday. (it was on Friday) Second thru sixth was real good. Had a great time and hung out and met some nice people. Hopefully they will do it again. Thanks to all involved.

[Jonr]

Originally Posted by ThrowbackRacingTeam ...… Winged cars were unnecessary to begin with. Show ended at midnight...……...

I disagree. Knoxville has a huge history with Winged Sprint Cars. They have a large weekly sprint car show that has a good following. By having one winged class each night, it made sure that the local fans had a reason to come to the show. If the car counts continue to grow and the crowd continues to grow, there may become a point where they are not needed. However, at this point consider it the price to pay to have a race at Knoxville.

[SoIllSprinter]

Heckuva price, they put on a good show as well. It felt like midget week, when you got to see two open wheel classes.

[openwheelfan1]

A few of MY observations from the inaugural CornBelt Nationals:

1.) I don’t think anyone in their right mind could have imagined 51 non-winged cars would show up Friday night when this event was conceived last year. A GREAT turnout!

2.) After starting hotlaps Friday night about 45 minutes later than advertised, Knoxville, USAC and POWRi/WAR ran 10 hot lap sessions, qualified 92 cars 2 laps each, ran 10 8 lap heat races, a 10 lap C main, 2 B mains, an 18 lap feature and a 25 lap feature. Yes, we got out of there right around midnight, but that is a LOT of racing! Two multi car crashes involving multiple cars flipping definitely slowed the night down too. It was a great cooperative effort from the organizers, sanctioning bodies, crews and drivers to get all that racing done so efficiently.

3.) Nick Bilbee is either the biggest bada** in the country or the luckiest. He bicycled three times (at least) getting in to turn 1, twice high enough I could see the bottom of the car, and yet kept pounding it in there Saturday night in the feature. Great job to not turn it over!

4.) For a “kinda used up” (quoting another post) racetrack, it sure provided some good racing in both the 360 winged and the non-winged sprint features. Both ran 2-3 wide through the pack during both races. Overall, Friday exceeded my expectations.

5.). Brady Bacon and his team definitely had everyone covered this weekend. I don’t know what they’ve figured out, but early in last night’s feature, he was running over 0.4 seconds/lap faster than Leary on my handheld watch (cellphone). THAT is impressive!

We’ve been to the Knoxville Nationals for the last 6 years, but never to a weekly Saturday night Knoxville show, so I can’t relate to how the crowd compares between a normal weekly show and last nights, but a couple locals I spoke to were very impressed at the turnout both nights. Hopefully the mgmt. at Knoxville was impressed enough to do this again. I’ll drag my butt out there for the CornBelt Nationals and the Knoxville Nationals as long as I’m able if they keep having them!

[flagboy55]

Perhaps I was too enamored by my first visit to the “sprint car capital of the world” but I can’t find anything to complain about. Outside of the Macho Man decimating the field, the racing was great, track was good and the people were friendly. I’m sure I’m in the minority but I was looking forward to the wings as well. Obviously the Nationals are run with them and it’s the biggest dirt track race in the world, so I was happy to see those guys live to get a better feel for what I’m seeing when watching on TV. And they’re racing was pretty good. I did find a bit of irony in the fact that an Indiana kid gets his first Knoxville win on the night they’re running wingless. I have to tell any of you that haven’t been there to go when you get the chance. When you drive up, you just get the feeling that you’re someplace special. It looked to me like a good crowd especially Saturday. I would like to know the number, but I think it was good enough that they see the potential to bring it back and grow it. Perhaps next year we can get even more folks involved and turn this into a must see event. My trip was highlighted by getting to meet and talk to a couple VIP’S of the sport. Met and chatted with Kendra Jacobs, Richard Marshall, and Spridge. Humbled that they had time for us. Overall a great experience and I hope more of us can enjoy it in the future. Lastly I have to thank Oppweld for being my wingman for the weekend, and Brent and Asha for hanging out with us, a weekend I’ll never forget!