Sprint cars descend on sleepy Iowa town

Chuck Schoffner

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 1:15 a.m.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa - Daytona. Indianapolis. Knoxville.

Knoxville?

Granted, this town of 7,700 about 45 miles from Des Moines doesn't have the status of the most famous cities in American racing. But that doesn't matter to the big names who have competed here.

"Knoxville is the Daytona 500 of sprint cars," three-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon said.

To those who drive sprint cars - powerful, compact machines that buzz around dirt tracks like a horde of bumblebees - the Knoxville Nationals is the place to be this week. Winning can be a career-maker for a driver, not to mention the $125,000 check that goes with it.

"Some of the races we go to are just races," driver Johnny Herrera said. "The Nationals isn't just a race, it's an event."

It's an event like none other in this neck of the prairie, the centerpiece of the World of Outlaws series.

Thousands of fans have gathered for the big show at the half-mile track where A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Jr. also competed. Here, Jac Haudenschild and Craig Dollansky T-shirts are every bit as prevalent as Dale Earnhardt paraphernalia at a NASCAR race.

Qualifying began Wednesday, and more than 25,000 fans will attend Saturday night's championship event, some watching from air-conditioned luxury boxes that lease for $16,000 a year.

They've come from all 50 states, Canada, Australia and England.

"A couple of writers came from The Netherlands, for heavens sake," said racing director Ralph Capitani.

They're staying in hotels and campgrounds up to 100 miles away. With only two motels in town, more than 1,000 residents open their homes to visitors, putting them up in spare bedrooms or in tents or campers in the yard.

Roger Heern and his wife, Judi, made the nine-hour drive from Carbondale, Ill., and for the third straight year are staying with Marcella and Melvin Yount of Knoxville.

"We've become part of the family," Heern said.

He grew up around racing. His brother, Gary, owned cars and Heern had uncles and cousins who raced - sprint cars, mini-sprints, midgets, modifieds, whatever they could get on a track.

"Anything to keep dabbling," Heern said. "Once it gets in your blood, it doesn't go away."

Many drivers got into it the same way.

Herrera's father, Joe, was a driver. Johnny, now 34, has been racing since he was 18. Jason Meyers remembers wanting to race when he was riding tricycles as a 2-year-old boy. WOOL points leader Terry McCarl followed his father into racing. Danny Lasoski grew up watching his uncle and father compete.

"I was born right into it," said Lasoski, the 1998 Knoxville Nationals champion. "I was a grease monkey. They let me do everything."

Lasoski's love for racing the winged monsters is shared by his boss, Winston Cup star Tony Stewart. He'll be racing against Gordon this weekend in Watkins Glen, N.Y., after stopping over Wednesday and Thursday to see what's happening to his car in Knoxville.

"I have been to the Nationals the past few years as a race fan," Stewart said. "But this is my first trip as a car owner, and I am excited."

Gordon remembers his time in Knoxville, saying one of his proudest achievements as a racer was just making the field.

"With 200 cars attempting to make the race and only 24 running the feature, it's difficult," he said.

With their slanted "wings" over the driver's compartment, sprint cars look something like a wheeled rocket fighter out of "Star Wars." Driven by an 800-horsepower engine, they can hit speeds of 150 mph. They average close to 120 on the Knoxville oval, sliding into the turns and catapulting down the stretch.

"Sprint car racing on dirt is one of the most exciting things you could ever see," McCarl said. "It's not like stock cars, where you can rub each other. You rub a sprint car and somebody's going to crash. You've got dirt hitting you in the face, clods flying, parts from other cars - I love it."

For fans, it's hard to imagine a friendlier atmosphere. Once the racing ends, they flock across the track to the pit area. Drivers sign autographs and pose for pictures. They let children sit in their cars.

"In what other sport can you do that?" McCarl said. "Can you see that in golf with Tiger Woods or somebody like that? I hope it stays that way."