Steve Woodhouse
Knoxville — The next season at Knoxville Raceway may be one of its biggest, as the 50th Knoxville Nationals will be held Aug. 11-14, 2010.
Raceway Marketing Director Brian Stickel says those four days are expected to include interviews with Sprint Car legends, free autographs sessions, a parade each night featuring past champions, qualifiers, queens and more. All past champions and former queens will be invited back to take part in the festivities. Bands will perform at the fairgrounds every afternoon of the event.
To help build interest in the 50th Nationals, Stickel is taking the Raceway trailer to events around the country. He’s already scheduled to appear in Omaha, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas City, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Prior to the Nationals will be the 20th running of the 360 Nationals, Aug. 5-7. Stickel says the celebration in Knoxville will begin with these races. With the planning already going on, Stickel encourages people to share their ideas with the fair board and the chamber of commerce.
“We want everybody to feel a part of it,” Stickel said.
Knoxville Raceway will recognize its sponsors of the years. The purse to the winner of the 50th Nationals will be $1 million, so the track is still seeking more sponsors.
Ticket sales for the Nationals are going well. Overall, the track saw increased ticket sales for the 2009 season over 2008. Stickel says this is a good sign.
“You talk to people and they’re excited,” he said.
The spectacle of the 50th Nationals will include the exterior of the Knoxville Raceway. Banners, featuring former champions, will grace the concourse. There will be more fireworks and overall, Stickel hopes to provide better access between drivers and fans this year.
The Nationals will be televised in 2010 on Speed. However, they will be tape delayed and will not air on the cable network until Aug. 21. Stickel says this not only helps ticket sales, but it also covers the network and the track in case of a rainout.
“Rain? We can’t control it,” Stickel said. “Plan B is always race the next day.”
This fall, during one of the track’s other premiere events, the Late Model Nationals, all but two originally scheduled nights of the event were rained out. Stickel said despite this, the stands were full for the final night of racing. The fair board does not make any plans in advance in the event of a rainout.
Stickel said there has already been great interest in the Nationals expressed by people from New Zealand and Australia. No matter where the fans come from, the track hopes to give them an enhanced Knoxville experience that will make them want to return.
A tentative 2010 schedule is available at www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
