Bring it on.

Hi all

Well it has been a great trip again, Knoxville was a race to remember with Sammy showing when he has the will and the gear he is fast, he showed all of them up and despite my thoughts on Sammy himself he sure put on a show, when he climbed from his car with 3 laps to go he got a standing ovation and the Crabbe was standing with the rest of them to applaud his drive, when I can I will load it onto the site for you all to see, didn't get the whole race but got at least 35 of the 50 laps and all the slide jobs for the lead.

Went to Williams Grove and was initiated into the PA Posse as a temporary member, they are crazy there, the drivers and the fans, we stood on the infield at turn one and I have never seen sprint cars going into a turn so fast, it was scary to watch, we went into the Posse stand, a guy we met last year at Knoxville let us sit in his seats, barrack for anyone not from Pennsylvania and your just as likely to get thrown off the stands, anyway the cars did not look slower from the stands, they fly.
Next night we went to Lincoln, it is about the length of Kwinana but only half as wide, they go quick here as well, 24 cars flat out into turn one and somehow they all get through.
Saw a guy called Brian Montieth win at both Williams Grove and Lincoln, he has his balls running on the fence the whole time, even when the track went slick and everyone else was running the gutter he managed to keep the high line working, it nearly tripped him up on a restart with one lap to go, they go green to checker and Lance Dewease tried to slide him from the bottom mid turns three and four, but Montieth just drove back under him, it was a great move to watch, saw lots of tricky maneuvers over here, now just have to work out how to make them myself.

Heading to Milwaukee to look at some crushing equipment and then we head home Wednesday Aussie time, another good trip watching some very impressive racing.

Bring on the start of the limited season, just cannot wait to get back into it.

Crabby

Knoxvilles' Main Event

Evening all, we are sitting in our stands waiting for tonights main event to begin. After today's World Challenge the track was left in an awful state so they were working on it all afternoon to get it back to where it should be.


E Main - 12 cars - 12 laps - Top 2 to the D Main. Flag to Flag.
Domain Ramsey starts in 4th and finishes 5th
Bruce White starts in 12th and finishes 9th


D Main - 22 cars - 12 laps - Top 2 to the C Main. Flag to Flag.
Trevor Green starts on pole and finishes 2nd
Mitch Dumsney starts 6th and finishes 4th
Paul Jeffrey starts 17th and finishes 15th


C Main - 22 cars - 15 laps - Top 2 cars to B Main.
Max Dumsney starts 6th and finishes 20th
Brooke Tatnell starts 16th and finishes 22nd with a DNF
Jamie Veal starts 20th and finishes 21st
Trevor Green starts 22nd and finishes 18th
Tatnell upside down in turn 1, after getting too high in the cushion.


B Main - 22 cars - 22 laps - Top 4 cars to the A Main
Ian Madsen starts 6th and finishes 8th
Restart due to Tyler Walker breaking the start but as soon as the amber lights came on he made contact with the wall. Damage to the right rear.



A Main - 24 cars - 50 laps
Kerry Madsen pulls top time for hot laps with Skip in 8th.

Jason Johnson is the 41 Haynes car starts 9th, pit stop 6th, 8th at restart, and finishes 9th
Kerry Madsen starts 11th, pit stop 11th, 6th at restart, and finishes 5th.
Skip Jackson starts 12th, finishes 23rd with a DNF after dropping out at 20th lap.
Lynton Jeffries starts 13th, pit stop 20th and finishes 21st with a DNF.

Joey Saldana out after 7 laps after he did an engine causing a restart.
We're at the half way break stopping for a 5 minute pit break. Swindell is out in front only just. Some great racing between him and Schatz. Schatz closed in on him whilst they started overlapping the traffic. Kinser was catching now sitting in 3rd, with Schaffer 4th and Brown 5th and that rounds out the top 5.
Madsen is the first Aussie at 11th. He and Davey Heskin have been close since the start battling for 9th.
Kinser out at 16 laps to go, blown his engine. Lynton Jeffrey out at 15 to go.
Restart at 6 laps to go as Brown stops in-between turns 3 and 4, right rear gone.
Sammy and Schatz battling for 1st after the restart, unbelievably great racing then 3 laps to go and left rear tyre goes, his taken a tumble and ended upside down.
After Swindells mishap it looked like it was Schatzs' for the fifth year in a row but it was not meant to be. Tim Shaffer was just that much quicker on turn 3 and 4 and slid Schatz with 2 laps to go.

Congratulations to Tim Shaffer, the Golden Anniversary, 50th Annual Knoxville Champion!


Night all, although I'm that amped up tonight that I don't think I'll be sleeping.
Crabby Jnr.

Location:Knoxville, Iowa, USA

Knoxville World Challange

After meeting up with Steve Bombak and his family at the Smiths house for the Aussie breakfast and the parade, we are finally at the track again ready for the delayed World Challenge.

The first heat of last chance qualifying sees Mitch Dumsney, Paul Jeffrey and Jamie Veal battling it out among 21 other cars for the spot.
Veal finishes 8th, Dumsney finishes 10th and Jeffrey finishes 14th.

In the second heat of last chance of qualifying, we have Brooke Tatnell, Domain Ramsey, Bruce White, Trevor Green battling 15 laps with 18 other cars.
White ends with a DNF after pulling into the pits at lap 12, Ramsey finishes 17th, Green finishes 5th, and Tatnell finishes 4th.

The feature qualifying race sees Tatnell starting 8th, Green starting 10th, Veal starting 15th, and Dumsney starting 20th.
Dumsney finishes 16th, Veal finishes 10th, Green finishes 11th, and Tatnell finishes 6th.

The next and final race we have is the World Challenge.
The line up is as follows;

Trevor Green
Lucas Wolf
Max Dumsney
Jonathan Allard
Ricky Logan
Ian Madsen
Craig Dollansky
Paul McMahan
Joey Saldana
Jason Sides
Lynton Jeffrey
Skip Jackson
Kerry Madsen
Jason Johnson
Sammy Swindell
Toni Lutar
Mitch Dumsney
Brooke Tatnell
Jamie Veale
Domain Ramsey
Paul Jeffrey
Bruce White
Donny Scatz
Colin Entwisle

Sammy Swindell was out due to a flat tyre before the race even started as he and Kerry Madsen came into contact.
Unfortunately we lost out, the line up across the line went;

Craig Dollansky
Lucas Wolfe
Max Dumsney
Trevor Green
Jonathon Allard
Kerry Madsen
Paul McMahan
Joey Saldana
Brooke Tatnell
Ian Madsen
Jason Johnson
Lynton Jeffrey
Jason Sides
Ricky Logan
Skip Jackson
Mitchell Dumsney
Toni Lutar
Colin Entwisle
Jamie Veal
Domain Ramsey
Paul Jeffrey
Bruce White

Trevor did well to hold off Dollansky until about the 8th lap. Kerry Madsen was going hard and got up to 3rd but in the final laps about 3 to go he slowed a little moving back 3 places on the last lap, looked like his engine was starting to over heat which is unfortunate. Hopefully they can get the car back up and roaring before tonights big night.


That's about it for today. Our next and final race for Knoxville is tonight at 7:30, Skip is in the A main, hopefully he can be the first Aussie to win The huge event.


Just an update back at home, Mr. Mike Armstrong asked me to buy him a Craig Dollansky t shirt, I asked him why on earth he'd want one of those. His reply was that once we all see his new paint job we'd know why. Keep an eye out. Just remember, if you have heard anything, or have any updates we can add to the blog then send Crabby an email so we can keep everyone else update.

Regards,
Crabbe Junior.

Location:Knoxville, Iowa, USA

Knoxville rained out for night 3

Hi all

Well we got rained out last night, they have scheduled to run 2 shows Saturday, one starting at lunch time, then track prep and the main show, not much chance of it all getting run as the rain is everywhere and more is coming, but got to stay positive here.

Norbert has been the designated driver this year, and is managing to follow all the USA road rules, only one incidence of going up the wrong side of the road so far.

Saturday morning starts with the Aussie breakfast in Knoxville, it is at the start of the street parade, then to the track to try and get a couple of items autographed before the racing begins.

Catch you

Crabby

Knoxville Night Two

Evening all, night two has been and gone.

Tonight we had 5 Aussies racing.
Ian Madsen;
Skip Jackson;
Brooke Tatnell;
Paul Jeffrey and;
Mitch Dumsney.

Ian Madsen was the fastest out of our Aussies finishing 8th in the time trials over all. Danny Lasoski who is hoping to come racing in Australia time trialed second with a 15.29 and the King, Steve Kinser placed first in the time trials with a 15.233,

Tatnell was the first to run a heat in Heat 1. He started 3rd and had some go for a couple of laps till he lost some horse power. After going into the pits once the night was over we found out it was due his magneto moving. He finished 7th but still made it into the B main.

Heat 2 saw Skip finish 4th and straight into the A main, Madsen finish 6th, and Mitch finish 8th both through to the B main.

The only Aussie in Heat 3 was Jeffrey's and he finished 7th also into the B main.

They had the great Karl Kinser on stage talking about his greatest moments in sprint car racing and I just wanted to share a quote with you. "I've been all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania...... And no track compares to Knoxville Raceway."

Heat 4 saw Sammy Swindell start in 8th and go straight to first after some great racing.

B main saw Jeffrey starting 15th however he pulled off with a few laps to go and did not finish. Mitch started 11th finishing 12th. Tatnell starting 13th, and finishing 7th. Finally Madsen who started outside poll kept our Aussie spirit alive by finishing first. Unfortunately for the 55 team, it seems they did an engine just before he crossed the line.

A main had Skip starting poll, and Madsen supposed to start at the rear but they didn't get to change their engine so stayed in field.
Skip broke away on the first 2 starts but unfortunately cars either spun out or collided so on the the start of the 25 lap feature he got passed by Swindell and Schatz.
It was close just before the checkered flag on turn 4 with Schatz coming out of no where from at least half a turn behind and over took Sammy for first, however the yellow flag came out just before he crossed the line. With a restart Sammy got away and Skip moved to 2nd but it wasn't meant to be with yet another yellow coming out at the third turn as a car spun out on the track. People noticed Schatz right rear starting to go down, his pit crew were ready for him to come in field and change the tyre but with two laps to go in the A main it wasn't worth it, he'd have to tag the back and wouldn't make it far enough through the crowd to score as many points as he would if he just went for it. Sammy shot off on the restart with Schatz trying to catch him, unfortunately his wheel gave him difficulty causing Skip to over take him on the 3rd turn followed immediately by 21. Leaving him with 5th place and sure enough just after he crossed the line his wheel went. Skip got third as the 21 car just beat him by a front tyre on the front stretch in the dying seconds.

It sure was the best A main so far with only more to come. Keep tuned for tomorrow nights World Challenge, we will be taking the Ipad to the track so we can get the blog up quicker.

Night all.
Crabby Jnr.

Location:Knoxville, Iowa, USA

Knoxville Night One

Good evening all, or rather morning to you guys back at home.

Night one has been and gone and there was some great racing. Our Aussies did really well in the qualifying stage.
Our Aussie racers tonight were;
Lynton Jeffries;
Max Dumsney;
Domain Ramsey;
Trevor Green;
Bruce White;
Kerry Madsen;
Jamie Veal

All our Aussies did well in the time trials with Madsen the top time out of our boys.

Heat one saw Dumsney in first place after a restart, and Jeffries chasing him the whole time.

Ramsey, White, Madsen, Veal all made the B main, while the rest made the A. Out of tonight Madsen was the stand out. In the mains you needed to place in top 4 to qualify for going onto the next main. In the B, Madsen had Jason Meyers lined up for fourth spot on the back straight but Meyers gave him a tap sending him back on the last lap to finish fifth. Unlucky for Meyers instead of weighing in he went straight to his car bay for 10 seconds then his crew wheeled him back for the weigh in. After lots of controversy and the Madman doing what his well known for, Meyers was disqualified leaving Madsen with the fourth place to go to the A Main. Madsen made it from 24th to 7th in 25 laps. He was unbelievably fast in the #3 Halls Haulage car, he just kept lining them up one by one running them down passing the likes of Jason Johnson, Joey Saldana, Brad Sweet, Tim Schaffer, Erin Crocker, max Dumsney and Lynton Jeffrey.

Across the line was Shane Stewart who won the A main and has 3 wins under his belt from Knoxville in the last 6 days. He has also claimed the Knoxville 360 title last weekend. Second was Craig Dollansky and third place went to Chad Kemenah.

Time for bed, we'll check in with you all tomorrow night after Qualifying night two.

Crabby Jnr. (because Snr is too busy snoring)

Location:Knoxville, Iowa, USA

Arrived in Los Angelas

Good evening all, at least it is here anyway.

We are in LA and searching the web to see how we get from LAX to BR Motorsports, Gavin went there last year on the way home fro Knoxville and phoned me to tell me he was in Ti Heaven, so I am going up there to check the place out, I have had the accountant top up the visa just in case I get tempted to buy an item or 2.

Spoke to the Benkesser couple, Norbert was at Niagra falls looking for a barrel to ride the falls with, just couldn't find a barrel with a big enough diameter for him, length was ok though (cheap shot that one), Gail and Norbert were amazed at how much water goes over the falls, he also mentioned the size of the Great Lakes, when we came over for a crushing expo 3 years ago in Las Vegas we went to the Grand Canyon, as we flew up there I was telling everyone how big the gorges in the Pilbara were, it was what I expected to see at the Grand Canyon, but you could fit most Aussie Gorges in across the Grand Canyon, so I must see these great lakes, no doubt they will be huge inland seas.

Well must try to get into the time zone so goodnight all and hello to you Crabbe kids at home.

Crabby

We've made Sydney.

Hi all

Took the midnight horror and arrived in Sydney ready for the international part of our flight.

Sleeping on the midnight horror is near impossible so we are tired as.

Got my copy of the latest SRN magazine and read with interest the story on Danny Lasoski looking for a drive in Australia this year, there was no mention of him doing the WA big meets for Luche but Danny certainly told the boys on the Speedway Star tour he was coming and driving for Luche.
Will have to get the real story when we hit Knoxville mid next week.

Well time for a coffee and breakfast.

Crabby

Last sleep before we go.

Hi all

It,s nearly time to head off to the USA for the Knoxville Nationals.
This year it's the Benkesser,s and the Crabbe,s only, looking forward to seeing the super stars of our sport going toe to toe fighting it out for top spot.
This year looks to be anyones title but I am expecting the Schatz man to make a resurgence to top form for this special meeting, however you will here me barracking for "The King", I am an unashamed Kinser fan, also I need to support the oldies like myself.
Have 2 orders for signed Kinser flags this year, my one from last year hangs proudly framed above our cars in the cave.
We have a heap of orders for parts to get and send home to Aus.
I am intending to blog my way through/during each nights racing, so keep an eye on the site for the latest info as it comes to hand, especially keep you all in touch with how the Aussies are doing.

Well folks need to go to bed and dream of the big trip, this time tomorrow we will be on our way, BRING IT ON.


Catch you

Crabby.

BIG BUDGET RACING COMES TO TOM PRICE.

Hi all,

Just thought I would show you the Crabbe racing big budget machine I am running this year, its only missing the holes in the floor for my feet to poke through.

Crabby