Day: August 13, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug.12, 2015) – Words can’t justify the kind of legacy Donny Schatz is building at the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals, Sprint car racing’s biggest event. For 20 consecutive years, Schatz has spent one week every August participating in “The Granddaddy of Them All” and, for the past 15 years, he’s been blazing an extremely bright trail. This week, the Tony Stewart-Curb Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver is focused on one thing, and that’s continuing what’s been a phenomenal run on the sport’s biggest stage.

Last year, after winning his eighth Knoxville Nationals crown, he expressed great appreciation for the opportunity to simply take part in the event, let alone stand on the top step of the podium. Winning the Nationals “means everything to me – a guy can only dream so big,” Schatz said during the celebration.

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Plymouth, Minn. (Aug. 11, 2015) – Kraig Kinser and Arctic Cat are ready for Sprint car racing’s biggest stage… the 2015 FVP Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals. Kinser, the 2005 Knoxville Nationals champion, and Arctic Cat, one of the most widely recognized and respected names in the snowmobile, ATV and Side-by-Side industry, are partnering for the second of time this season with an eye on reaching the pinnacle in short track racing.

“This is the week that everyone looks forward,” said Kinser. “To me, the Knoxville Nationals means everything. It’s the biggest race for Sprint cars and it’s just one of those races everybody wants to win. It’s what all of us in this sport thrive to get to. We’re thrilled to have another opportunity to race in it and everyone with our team is excited to be teaming up with Arctic Cat as we try to get back to victory lane.”

Kinser’s pursuit for a second Knoxville Nationals crown begins Wednesday during opening night to the 55th annual Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway. The Bloomington, Indiana native is one of more than 100 drivers looking to make Saturday’s 24-car field. To make Saturday’s A-Main field, Kinser knows it’s going to take a total effort.

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INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 11, 2015) –Sprint-car-racing icon Steve Kinser is going green … again. The 12-time Knoxville Nationals champion has spent most of his career leading the way at the famed Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and, during next week’s 55th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals, Kinser will be once again carrying green colors as part of a collaborative effort with Bad Boy Buggies to promote environmental friendliness.

Kinser, driver of Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) No. 11 Bad Boy Buggies J&J, will begin his quest for a 13th Nationals crown next Thursday. The #KinserGoesGreen campaign begins Wednesday and, each day through the weekend, the 2015 Knoxville Nationals Queen’s court member and a representative from Bad Boy Buggies will circulate the campgrounds on the Marion County Fairgrounds and the North Campground to distribute green bags that can be filled with all recyclable materials.

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Inside Line Promotions – PEVELY, Mo. (Aug. 11, 2015) – Jason Sides is ready for the biggest event of the season this week.
Sides enters the 55th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store, which is hosted by Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, this Wednesday through Saturday, with high expectations.

“This is the toughest event of the year,” he said. “It pays the most money and draws the best racers so when you do well at the Knoxville Nationals you’ve had to earn it. We’ve made the main event in the past and I know we can do that again this year. That’s the first goal.”

Sides is slated to compete in preliminary competition this Wednesday to open the premier sprint car event.

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KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 11, 2015) – Sprint car racing fans can rejoice as the crown jewel of sprint car racing, the Knoxville Nationals, is about to begin. The Knoxville Nationals is the Indy 500 for sprint car teams and a huge crowd is expected at Knoxville Raceway for the event that begins Wednesday, Aug. 12.

With well over 100 entrants on the list, it seems the man to beat is Donny Schatz,
winner of the Knoxville Nationals in eight of the past nine years, with 2010 being the exception.

But the key to being a successful racer is to believe in yourself. Most, if not every driver that will hit the dirt for the Knoxville Nationals, believe that Donny Schatz is a great racer, has a great team, but is not invincible.

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Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing (TSR) driver Donny Schatz added two more podium finishes to his 2015 World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series stat sheet during the Outlaws’ Ironman 55 weekend at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 near St. Louis. Schatz wheeled TSR’s No. 15 Bad Boy Buggies/Chevrolet Performance J&J to victory in Friday night’s 35-lap Prelude to the Ironman A-Feature Friday and came home third in Saturday’s Ironman 55.

Schatz, the six-time and reigning WoO champion, led the Outlaws to St. Louis on top of the championship standings and several other categories, including wins, top-fives, top-10s and laps led through 52 races. The Fargo, North Dakota driver entered August with a streak of 19 consecutive finishes of first or second in full-points WoO A-Features. He was looking to continue that streak and end a 16-race winless streak at the high-banked, one-third-mile dirt oval located just south of St. Louis.

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KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 9, 2015) – Joey Saldana and the Motter Equipment HE&M Saw Beltline Body Shop team joined 79 other teams for the Capitani Classic at Knoxville Raceway tonight to get a feel for the track that will host the World of Outlaws’ crown jewel, the Knoxville Nationals, in the coming days.

In preliminary action, Saldana was fourth in Group B time trials with a 15.404-second lap.

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PEVELY, Mo. (Aug. 8, 2015) – Joey Saldana and the Motter Equipment HE&M Saw Beltline Body Shop team got off to a great start in preliminary action for the grueling Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.

Saldana was quickest of 32 cars in hot laps and trumped that by scoring his 12th quick time of the season with a blistering 10.641-second lap around the 1/3-mile track.

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