Donny Schatz Wins Knoxville Nationals/ Knoxville National Recap with Photos
Donny Schatz Wins Knoxville Nationals/ Knoxville Nationals Recap with Photos
It is the biggest day in Sprint Car racing and SPEED is live in Knoxville to bring the coverage to fans live.
In the opening montage we see some great moments in Knoxville history. Hey wait! That’s me!
Back in the day when TNN televised the Nationals I worked on the RF crew. That is me in victory lane helping send the victory lane images back to the TNN truck. I finally made the Knoxville broadcast and I wasn’t even there. Cool. Sorry about being self absorbed. Now on with the show.
The program opens and they go to Brad Doty and Ralph Sheheen who are not in the normal broadcaster coat and tie but in Knoxville t-shirts. That is a nice touch. You go to Knoxville and that is all you see. Nice touch to make the viewers feel like they are there. Time for the C Main.
Green. Brooke Tatnell gets a jump on the field but Dennis Moore Jr. stalls between one and two bringing out the yellow. Green again and there is a good fight between Tatnell and Jac Haudenschild until a multi car accident brings out the red.
PJ Chesson spins and collects Jason Martin. PJ says he will return to the IRL in 2007. (an announcement could come this fall.) Green again but Dennis Moore Jr. brings out the yellow again.
Green once more and The Wild Child takes the lead from Tatnell. Haud holds off Tatnell for the C Main win. Both Brooke Tatnell and Jac Haudenschild will transfer to the B Main. I like that they showed us and talked the viewers through the hot laps.
Once again the broadcast team is doing a great job of bringing the flavor of the Nationals to the viewers. Time to go racing for the B. Lasoski jumped so we have a restart but caution when Jonathan Allard spins.
Restart, good battle between Shane Stewart and the leader Brian Brown. Brandon Wimmer brings out the next yellow. Danny Lasoski has been moving up through the field. The yellow is out for Skip Jackson. Green again and Stewart is pulling away with the lead. Lasoski needs a caution.
He gets into Kerry Madsen and creates his own caution.
Madsen flips wildly but walks away.
Green again and Lasoski tried to take away the transfer spot from his nephew Brian Brown.
Brown comes down on Lasoski
and the Dude spins.
The yellow comes out which should put Lasoski on the tail but Knoxville officials say that Lasoski kept going and the flag was inadvertent. So the field reverted to the lap before the caution and Lasoski restarted 5th. He got by Brown and got the last transfer spot into the A Main. The intensity of the event led to a heated verbal exchange between Danny Lasoski and his father who is also the grandfather of Brian Brown.
SPEED captured the moment on video tape and played it back for the viewers. Danny Lasoski could be heard saying “well go ahead and hit me then.” Father and son were restrained by Marion County Sheriff’s deputies. Steve Kinser broke the tension later during driver’s introductions telling SPEED. “I don’t know that the big deal is,” Kinser said smiling. “It’s only a race.”
Green. Saldana out front early but then Jason Solwold blows a right rear tire and is done. Green again and this time Schatz takes the lead but Tim Kaeding spins. Green again and Saldana takes the high side and goes to the lead. Schatz does not give up and is on Saldana’s tail.
Donny Schatz takes the lead and begins to drive away. Terry McCarl spins and brings out the yellow to bunch up the field with 19 of the 30 laps completed. We get one lap of green in before
Brian Paulus and Shane Stewart get together bringing out a red flag. All the cars then went to the work area giving teams a chance to reset their cars for the final ten laps. Joey Saldana’s team goes to a lower gear in hopes to go to the front. Steve Kinser is up to 6th and Lasoski is up to 7th. We are green.
Donny Schatz pulls away again to a straight away lead.
Checkered flag falls. Schatz reaches immortality and becomes a Knoxville Nationals champion!
Joey Saldana finishes second followed by Jason Johnson. Danny Lasoski comes from starting last to finish 4th. Full results can be viewed at the following link http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/results.aspx
Wow, what a race. The broadcast was well produced and executed.
Congratulations to Donny Schatz. This is why he races; to finally win the Nationals is his ultimate goal.
If he can keep his points lead in the WoO Sprint Series he could be their champion this year as well. Full coverage of the Cup Series as well as the IRL at Kentucky tomorrow. That is all for now. Good night and congratulations to Donny Schatz, his family, Parker Stores, his other sponsors and the crew.
The incredible images that appear in this update of the blog were shot by the great men and women of SPEED. The images are courtesy of SPEED and Knoxville Raceway. The Knoxville Nationals will reair on SPEED on Tuesday, August 15th at 12pm eastern and an edited version will reair on Saturday September 2nd at 12pm eastern.
It is the biggest day in Sprint Car racing and SPEED is live in Knoxville to bring the coverage to fans live.
In the opening montage we see some great moments in Knoxville history. Hey wait! That’s me!
Back in the day when TNN televised the Nationals I worked on the RF crew. That is me in victory lane helping send the victory lane images back to the TNN truck. I finally made the Knoxville broadcast and I wasn’t even there. Cool. Sorry about being self absorbed. Now on with the show.
The program opens and they go to Brad Doty and Ralph Sheheen who are not in the normal broadcaster coat and tie but in Knoxville t-shirts. That is a nice touch. You go to Knoxville and that is all you see. Nice touch to make the viewers feel like they are there. Time for the C Main.
Green. Brooke Tatnell gets a jump on the field but Dennis Moore Jr. stalls between one and two bringing out the yellow. Green again and there is a good fight between Tatnell and Jac Haudenschild until a multi car accident brings out the red.
PJ Chesson spins and collects Jason Martin. PJ says he will return to the IRL in 2007. (an announcement could come this fall.) Green again but Dennis Moore Jr. brings out the yellow again.
Green once more and The Wild Child takes the lead from Tatnell. Haud holds off Tatnell for the C Main win. Both Brooke Tatnell and Jac Haudenschild will transfer to the B Main. I like that they showed us and talked the viewers through the hot laps.
Once again the broadcast team is doing a great job of bringing the flavor of the Nationals to the viewers. Time to go racing for the B. Lasoski jumped so we have a restart but caution when Jonathan Allard spins.
Restart, good battle between Shane Stewart and the leader Brian Brown. Brandon Wimmer brings out the next yellow. Danny Lasoski has been moving up through the field. The yellow is out for Skip Jackson. Green again and Stewart is pulling away with the lead. Lasoski needs a caution.
He gets into Kerry Madsen and creates his own caution.
Madsen flips wildly but walks away.
Green again and Lasoski tried to take away the transfer spot from his nephew Brian Brown.
Brown comes down on Lasoski
and the Dude spins.
The yellow comes out which should put Lasoski on the tail but Knoxville officials say that Lasoski kept going and the flag was inadvertent. So the field reverted to the lap before the caution and Lasoski restarted 5th. He got by Brown and got the last transfer spot into the A Main. The intensity of the event led to a heated verbal exchange between Danny Lasoski and his father who is also the grandfather of Brian Brown.
SPEED captured the moment on video tape and played it back for the viewers. Danny Lasoski could be heard saying “well go ahead and hit me then.” Father and son were restrained by Marion County Sheriff’s deputies. Steve Kinser broke the tension later during driver’s introductions telling SPEED. “I don’t know that the big deal is,” Kinser said smiling. “It’s only a race.”
Green. Saldana out front early but then Jason Solwold blows a right rear tire and is done. Green again and this time Schatz takes the lead but Tim Kaeding spins. Green again and Saldana takes the high side and goes to the lead. Schatz does not give up and is on Saldana’s tail.
Donny Schatz takes the lead and begins to drive away. Terry McCarl spins and brings out the yellow to bunch up the field with 19 of the 30 laps completed. We get one lap of green in before
Brian Paulus and Shane Stewart get together bringing out a red flag. All the cars then went to the work area giving teams a chance to reset their cars for the final ten laps. Joey Saldana’s team goes to a lower gear in hopes to go to the front. Steve Kinser is up to 6th and Lasoski is up to 7th. We are green.
Donny Schatz pulls away again to a straight away lead.
Checkered flag falls. Schatz reaches immortality and becomes a Knoxville Nationals champion!
Joey Saldana finishes second followed by Jason Johnson. Danny Lasoski comes from starting last to finish 4th. Full results can be viewed at the following link http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com/results.aspx
Wow, what a race. The broadcast was well produced and executed.
Congratulations to Donny Schatz. This is why he races; to finally win the Nationals is his ultimate goal.
If he can keep his points lead in the WoO Sprint Series he could be their champion this year as well. Full coverage of the Cup Series as well as the IRL at Kentucky tomorrow. That is all for now. Good night and congratulations to Donny Schatz, his family, Parker Stores, his other sponsors and the crew.
The incredible images that appear in this update of the blog were shot by the great men and women of SPEED. The images are courtesy of SPEED and Knoxville Raceway. The Knoxville Nationals will reair on SPEED on Tuesday, August 15th at 12pm eastern and an edited version will reair on Saturday September 2nd at 12pm eastern.
posted by Blake Johnson at 12:23 AM
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