2007 Outlaw Dirt Kart Nationals !
The 2007 Outlaw Dirt Kart Nationals are to be held at English Creek Speedway in Knoxville Ia, Aug 8, 9, and 10th. These dates are concurrent with the famed Knoxville Nationals, THE elite Sprint car race, racers come from all over the world !
Dan at English Creek Speedway is trying to run the program similar to the format racers run at the "Big Show". This should give the kids a great challenge and provide them with a great deal of exposure. With the huge crowds the Sprint Car show brings to town, spectator count at English Creek is high, rumored to have been around 1200 in 2006.
Stay tuned and follow as Joshua makes his way through the program, and tries to make the A Main on Friday. Should be a great experience !
RAIN RAIN RAIN.
The 2007 Casey's Outlaw Dirt Kart Nationals were set to start on Wednesday and run through Friday. We got a LOT of rain Tuesday and early Wednesday, so I called the track. Races were put off, but check back around noon for an update. Checked back. No racing. We are going to race Thursday through Saturday. Time now to check a couple last minute things on the car.
Thursday, more rain, Again, check back around noon. Checked back around noon, and WE ARE GONNA RACE !!!! Thursday night racing to get the out of towners some time to get acclimated to the track size and surface. Gates open at 5:30, racing at 7:30 !!!
Thursday night ... time to get ready to go. Tonight doesn't count for points towards the national win, it promises to be MUDDY and LATE, so we decide to stay home after all this and get to bed early. After all, if we were to race the equivalent of a regular weekly show, we wouldn't get home until midnight, then have an hour or so of basic car maintenance, and the be up at 6:AM to get ready for the big show on Friday .... We elect to skip Thursday.
Friday am ! RACE DAY FINALLY ! We are already loaded up, so we head for the track. Joshua cant keep quiet, he is so excited. I make the decision to pump a little diet Pepsi X-treme into him .. WHOOPS ! that was wrong. We get to the track and discover that they are going to run the entire show on one day. They run this closely in conjunction with the Knoxville nationals, since they are both in the same town, and that is the world's largest sprint car race. After all, there is a LOT of rollover, both for participants and fans from the sprint car world to the Outlaw Dirt Karts. A bonus, entry is down 75.00 from what I projected. I'm liking THAT part.
RACE DAY
HOT HOT HOT .... It is SO humid and in the 90's it is just unbearable, even early. We put up the EZ UP canopy, but there is no air moving. Anyway, its time for the restricteds to go to the grid for hot laps. Away we go, as we are setup. We line up, run hot laps, the car looks good, Joshua looks good in it, we are able to pass as we wish, he can put the car high or low, So we decide to leave it alone.
The 1st heat race of the
2007 CASEYS OUTLAW DIRT KART NATIONALS
has Joshua starting inside row 2, behind 2 racers from other states. Beside him he has the conservative looking but fast 9x out of southern Missouri. The green flag drops, not only on this race, but signalling the start of the 2007 Nationals, and Joshua maintains his position. The distance is 8 laps on this 1/6 mile banked oval, and Joshua starts to make his move, eventually working his way into 1st position. Joshua starts the day with the 1st heat race win of the Nationals !
CONGRATS JOSHUA !!
For the 2nd 8 lap heat race, Joshua had asked that we leave the car alone. The RPM's fell a little below our target number in the 1st heat, indicating that a gear change should be necessary, but the track was drying out, and I thought we might be OK. Joshua started near the tail of this heat race, and it became evident we should have changed the gear, but he still passed some cars and finished 4th. NOT BAD ! This is the Nationals. after all. People come from all over because the think they can prove they are the best there is.
The A Main was straight-up, meaning NOT inverted. You had to race your way into a good spot. Young Joshua Moffitt was scheduled to start the 16 lap feature event 3rd out of 16 cars. When the green flag flew, the racing was clean as always with these kids. However, in turn 3/4 on lap 1, one of the highly competitive cars out of Missouri got into the tail of the 53 car of Joshua Moffitt, and Joshua spun, causing a restart with him at the tail. A racing accident, racing happens, and, as they say, rubbing is racing. It didn't really matter in the big picture, as about 3 laps into the restart, Joshua felt his car losing power on the front straight and pulled into the muddy infield. The track workers were quick to help him get restarted, and back in the game. 16th place now with 12 or 13 laps to go, Joshua began picking them off. He made his way to the 6 spot, and having the 5 car of Katelyn Smith ahead of him, he had some work to do. He got around her once on the back chute, and went into 3 low and she went high, and he was unable to make it stick. Joshua finished his 1st ever National event in 6th place, in his Rookie year at the speedway.
Very good finish Josh ! we are all very proud of you !
results:
A-Main 01 -- 1. Brooke Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 2. Elizabeth Stewart, Republic,
Heat 01 -- 1. Joshua Moffitt,
Heat 02 -- 1. Kelby Watt, Adel; 2. Colten Roorda, Sully; 3. Isaac Kjar,
Heat 03 -- 1. Tyler Betts,
Heat 04 -- 1. Brooke Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 2. Colten Roorda, Sully; 3. Isaac Kjar,
some pictures from the event :.
the start of the 1st heat.
(Not all competitors in this heat are in this picture)
there was a lot of activity on the grid as the restricted cars got ready for the A Main Friday
motor homes everywhere, with fans watching from the roofs, just like at the World of Outlaws or Nextel Cup shows. you really feel like you've hit the big time now!
some people come more prepared than others ...
these guys were pitted right next to us.
these guys were on top of the hill
this is how we do it. You might say we travel a bit lighter than some of the others.
the cars varied as well ...
here was a trio of VERY nice open class cars, very professional
but some were a little more home-brew ....
you wanted to be real careful judging who was gonna be fast just by looking, that's for sure.
I personally really like the home built cars.
this picture illustrates the safety of these cars. This car was SERIOUSLY damaged in an accident, note the twisted frame. They quickly started to strip the car, presumably to replace the frame. The driver was completely unharmed in this incident.