Originally Posted by erich45:
Hell of a talent. I just hope he has exorcised the demons that led to his downfall.
That man was one hell of a talent. Hopefully he can stay clean and just maybe with some seat time he can knock the rust off and get close to what he was before all the trouble. If he had stayed clean and was on tour, I tend to think he would have been an absolute menace to the other driver collecting wins left and right if he was in the right equipment. That dude had all kinds of talent in him.
Originally Posted by miledirt:
Pretty sure he still has the dirt mile track record, 29.138 at 123.550 mph
You are correct as it pertains to the Silver Crown Division. Of course the overall dirt mile record is held by Sammy Swindell set at The Springfield Mile which is just shy of 5 seconds quicker (24.719) and over 22 MPH faster (145.637) than the Walker record at Du Quoin.
I witnessed the Silver Crown record Walker set at Du Quoin driving for Kasey Kahne and it was a thing of beauty. Walker went on to win the Horn Memorial leading all 100 miles the same night. He went basically unchallenged for the victory and did his signature flip off the right rear.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
Originally Posted by ISF:
You are correct as it pertains to the Silver Crown Division. Of course the overall dirt mile record is held by Sammy Swindell set at The Springfield Mile which is just shy of 5 seconds quicker (24.719) and over 22 MPH faster (145.637) than the Walker record at Du Quoin.
I witnessed the Silver Crown record Walker set at Du Quoin driving for Kasey Kahne and it was a thing of beauty. Walker went on to win the Horn Memorial leading all 100 miles the same night. He went basically unchallenged for the victory and did his signature flip off the right rear.
I witnessed that also. Conditions were perfect and he got the maximum from the car.
Originally Posted by ronmil:
I witnessed that also. Conditions were perfect and he got the maximum from the car.
The spanking Walker gave the field in '04 was somewhat indictive of what was to come some 7 years later when Kyle Larson won the Horn Memorial by more than 1/2 lap. Although Larson was not the polesitter (started 4th) he spanked the field equally as effectively after putting on a highly compelling and a bit frightening show early on in that contest while racing with the late Bryan Clauson for the lead.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
Originally Posted by ISF:
You are correct as it pertains to the Silver Crown Division. Of course the overall dirt mile record is held by Sammy Swindell set at The Springfield Mile which is just shy of 5 seconds quicker (24.719) and over 22 MPH faster (145.637) than the Walker record at Du Quoin.
I witnessed the Silver Crown record Walker set at Du Quoin driving for Kasey Kahne and it was a thing of beauty. Walker went on to win the Horn Memorial leading all 100 miles the same night. He went basically unchallenged for the victory and did his signature flip off the right rear.
that Swindell lap at Springfield, 410 winged car I assume, with the WoO? That speed is crazy
Originally Posted by miledirt:
that Swindell lap at Springfield, 410 winged car I assume, with the WoO? That speed is crazy
I was fortunate enough to watch Sammy set that record back in June of 1998. You're correct, it was a WoO's 410 winged sprint car. The engine blew during hot laps and Sammy had to change engines between practice and qualifying. IIRC they announced on the PA that there was an Illinois State Trooper with a radar gun in turn #3 and the corner entry speeds were approaching 170 MPH. Karl Kinser refused to bring a car to Springfield for this event. He said it wasn't safe and they should not be racing at Springfield.
Although it has never been confirmed official, Sammy's qualifying lap at Springfield is believed to be the fastest lap ever turned on a dirt track.
Silver Crown Championship Dirt Cars properly driven on a one mile dirt track are classic poetry in motion. Using that analogy, Jack Hewitt is one of the greatest poets of all time.
