Schmalz’s Log Week 16

Section head text.

Week fifteen here

Week fourteen here

Week thirteen here

Week twelve here

Week eleven here

Week ten here

Week nine here

Week eight here

Week seven here

Week six here

Week five here

Week four here

Week three here

Week two here

Week one here

Unsolicited Sanctimony (but it does have slot cars)

Growing up, one of the big events of the summer was the running of the Indianapolis 500. I grew up going to the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals every August, it was (and still is) the biggest Sprint Car race of the year. One of the compelling aspects of the race (besides the vendors selling gaudy t-shirts and the awesome arcade) was that it was spring board for the careers of many open wheel drivers. Drivers such as Parnelli Jones and A.J. Foyt had come to the Nationals in the past and raced, and usually returned home without much success, as the Nationals were no joke. One weekend a year of sprint car racing was not going to win the pig dirt crown.

The Nationals and Sprint car racing were the feeding grounds for the racers that went on the big race