Knoxville Raceway
Fast Facts: 15th annual Knoxville Nationals
By Robert Holman
DirtonDirt.com weekend editorDates: Sept. 13-15 ($7,000-to-win features Thursday and Friday and heats, consolations and $40,000-to-win main event Saturday) | Complete Knoxville Nationals coverage
Track: Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa (semi-banked, half-mile clay oval).
2018 purse: $273,510 includes $40,000 to 100-lap winner and at least $2,500 to all 30 starters.
Sanction: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Last year’s winner: Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., who became the event’s first back-to-back winner
Tickets: Thursday adult general admission $25 (13-19 $18; 6-12 $13; 5-and-under free); Friday $25 (13-19 $18; 6-12 $13; 5-and-under free); Saturday $35 (13-19 $25; 6-12 $18; 5-and-under free). Add $7 for reserved seats.
Pit passes: $50 each day.
On the web: knoxvilleraceway.com
Track phone: (641) 842-5431
Pay-per-view: Live productions for Thursday and Friday preliminary events are available at DirtonDirt.com with multiple announcers, multiple cameras, on-screen race lineups and a live timing and scoring feed. Prices are $24.99 each day; Lucas Oil Racing TV live on Saturday and televised later on MavTV and the NBC Sports Network.
Notes: There have been in 11 winners in 14 Knoxville Late Model Nationals. … Mike Marlar (’16-’17) of Winfield, Tenn.; Scott Bloomquist (’05, ’09) of Mooresburg, Tenn.; and Brian Birkhofer (’04, ’14) of Muscatine, Iowa, are the only repeat winners. … Last year’s event drew 56 entrants, down 13 from 2016. … The record car count of 98 was set in 2004, during the inaugural event. … Two-time Knoxville Late Model Nationals champion Scott Bloomquist has led more feature laps (153) than any other driver in event history. … Josh Richards is next with 147 laps led. Richards, who has led in four different main events, has the most laps led among drivers without a Knoxville Nationals main event victory. He led 74 laps last year. … Darren Miller of Milledgeville, Ill., has led 124 laps without a victory. … The 2006 edition, won by Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., produced the most lead changes (9), while last year’s race had only two. … The event’s oldest winner, Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., was 52 years and 11 months old when he won the Knoxville Nationals in 2010. … Four drivers — Birkhofer, Bloomquist, Richards and Steve Francis — have four top-five finishes. … The inaugural Knoxville Late Model Nationals was held in October 2004 with 98 cars from 22 states and a Canadian province competing in what was a Stacker2 Xtreme Dirt Car-sanctioned event. … Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., has made 14 appearances, the most of any driver, with a best finish of fourth place three times (‘17, ’14, ’08). … Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., holds the track record for Late Models at 16.631 seconds. … To set Saturday’s lineups, drivers earn points through their time trials, heats and features on Thursday and Friday. Teams will take the highest point total of their two nights to set their starting positions for Saturday’s events. The top 24 cars in points are locked into the A-main starting in order by point totals, with the highest point total starting on the pole. Teams must qualify on Thursday. Teams that qualify Friday only can not start better than 15th on Saturday. … Saturday’s program includes D-mains if necessary, along with C-mains, B-mains and the 100-lap main event. … Hoker Trucking is sponsoring the $2,000 pole award, given to the polesitter of Saturday’s main event. … A meet and greet session with drivers is set for 3 p.m. Saturday in the Dyer-Hudson Hall off the Midway. … Knoxville Raceway, which was originally a horse track, hosted its first automobile race in 1901. The track began hosting weekly events in 1954. … The facility has 21,135 seats, including 12,969 in the main grandstand.
Knoxville Nationals winners
Weekend purses
Saturday feature
(Drivers failing to transfer from B-main positions 7-14, $500; drivers failing to transfer from B-main positions 15-24, $400; drivers failing to transfer from C-main, $400; drivers failing to transfer from D-main, $200)
Event schedule
Friday
Saturday
- Knoxville Nationals (100 laps)