Grant noted that his victory two years ago came with a sense of relief, as he was one of the drivers who participated during the brief stint where USAC attempted a return to Knoxville in 2010 and ’11.
At the time, he believed he’d missed out on his only shot to win a race at the track, but those dreams were eventually given another chance of which he took full advantage.
“We’re obviously really excited to be going back there, first off,” said Grant. “Any time you get to walk through the gates at Knoxville is a special feeling, no matter what you’re going there to race in. Being able to go there and race for a good amount of money is awesome, because unless you put the wings on, that’s not a chance that we get to have very often as non-winged sprint car guys.
“I went there the last year before we quit going in 2011, and I really struggled. It was not a ton of fun,” he admitted. “After they quit going though, I never really thought I’d have the chance to go back and race, let alone win there. Going to the Knoxville Nationals as a kid … it certainly wasn’t the Knoxville Nationals the weekend that we won, but it was still a super-cool win and one that will stick with me.
“It’s the kind of win where you remember it for what it was and what it meant, that’s for sure.”
Tyler Courtney comes into Knoxville as the most recent USAC winner at the historic facility. He took the checkered flag there last year. Courtney shattered Bettenhausen’s longstanding race record at the track, completing 30 laps in 10 minutes and 45.63 seconds.
Courtney called the victory one of the highlights of his young career.
“Knoxville is one of the most historic tracks we go to,” Courtney said. “I got to win at Terre Haute and Knoxville last year, which is something I thought I’d probably never do. Winning at Knoxville is not easy to do. To get to do this with the team I’m with (Clauson/Marshall/Newman Racing) … this family and this crew and to get to do the things we did last year was pretty special. To win at Knoxville in front of a big crowd like we had that night is even cooler.”
Then there’s a crop of drivers seeking their first victory at Knoxville Raceway, including Kevin Thomas Jr., Chris Windom, C.J. Leary and more.
Leary has competed in the last two USAC events at Knoxville and while he hasn’t won there yet, he believes his driving style lends itself to some success on the bigger speedways, something he’s hoping to cash in on during the inaugural Corn Belt Nationals.
“The first year we ran well, and then last year I ran second to (Tyler) Courtney, so we know we’ve been close,” Leary said. “Rolling into this year, I feel like I have as many laps as anyone else there in a non-winged car and I think that can be an advantage for those of us who have raced there before. I feel like it plays into my hands, being a half-mile and I seem to run well on the bigger tracks.
“This deal is just huge for sprint car racing in general, though. … I know a few people have said that this is like our Knoxville Nationals, and I believe they’re right in that assessment. I hope it’s as huge as everyone believes it can be and we can make this a regular event out there.”
With a field that many involved hope to see ring in at 50 or more cars for the inaugural Corn Belt Nationals, Shuman wants this race weekend to mark something much greater for the non-winged sprint car community than “just another big event.”
He’s hoping this is a renaissance for the discipline at The Sprint Car Capital of the World.
“The non-winged stuff has always been really big in Indiana and Illinois, but in the deeper Midwest — Iowa, Kansas, places like that — I feel like it’s really starting to pick up,” Shuman noted. “There are a lot of people there who want to run non-winged now. As far as different groups, we haven’t always cooperated well together, and that’s unfortunate, but for something like this … Knoxville is giving non-winged racing a big-paying show and allowing the discipline a chance to get back to what it began with.
“The Knoxville Nationals were non-winged for a long time before it went to wings, so to have a shot to put non-winged racing back at Knoxville, on a big stage and with big money on the line, is something I think everyone was willing to make happen. Hopefully, it can get bigger and better out of this first one.”
Click here to learn more about the Corn Belt Nationals.