Knoxville Nationals

The 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals is an annual sprint car event held at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. An Associated Press writer called winning the event "sprint car racing’s premiere title". It is nicknamed "The Granddaddy of Them All." The event is the biggest and most prestigious race of the year in sprint car racing. The Saturday finale is held on the second Saturday in August. The event is held for four days (Wednesday-Saturday) and is attended annually by approximately 25,000 fans. The event has the highest paying purse in sprint car racing at $1,000,000 which attracts roughly 100 race teams to compete.

The idea of the Knoxville Nationals was the brainchild of promoter Marion Robinson. The Knoxville Nationals began as a one-day event for Super Modifieds and was later expanded to two, three, and finally four days of racing for Sprint Cars. The first Knoxville Nationals was held in 1961 with Roy Robbins taking the win.

The prize money for the event has grown over the years. The 1961 winner received $1,000 to win and the total purse was $5,455. In 1971 it was $3,000 to win and a total of $22,000. 1982 was $10,000 to win and $100,500. 1991 the winner received $50,000 and the total was $300,120. 1995 it grew to $100,000 to win and $501,000 over all; by 2003 it had risen to $750,000. The purse continued to swell each year and in 2010 it paid $150,000 to win and the total for four days reached $1,000,255.

Some of the events highlights are its surprise upset winners, most notably being Kenny Gritz in 1969, Bobby Allen in 1990, Tim Shaffer in 2010, and Jason Johnson in 2016.

The 1990 Nationals is regarded as one of the best of all time as Doug Wolfgang advanced through the "alphabet soup" of the D-Main, C-Main, B-Main, and finished fifth in the A-Main. Meanwhile, Mark Kinser led the first 22 laps before his engine expired setting up an epic shootout between Sammy Swindell and Bobby Allen, with Allen winning with a pass with two laps remaining. The 1991 event featured 170 entrants and 75000 fans (in a city of 8200). There were drivers from 27 states, 6 from Australia, and one from Canada.

The 2010 Nationals in its 50th anniversary was also one of the most popular years with the first 50 lap championship feature in which Sammy Swindell led the first 46 laps before his left rear tire blew up. This handed the lead to Donny Schatz who had engine problems and Tim Shaffer was able to lead the final two circuits to get the win.

In 1969 Kenny Gritz won the Nationals, passing Jan Opperman with four laps remaining. Gritz was fairly new to super modified racing, only competing for four or five seasons. He had won only one feature at Knoxville a couple of months prior and was beginning to peak as a driver. Unfortunately Gritz lost his life two weeks later in a crash at the Nebraska State Fair where IMCA rules at the time did not allow roll cages. His accident sparked the rule change that roll cages were mandated after that.

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Wikipedia