KNOXVILLE, Iowa — With his skills behind the wheel of a sprint car, Ayrton Gennetten has been turning heads for a few years now.
The third generation driver has some wins under his belt and this year, he will run for a 410 championship at the famed Knoxville Raceway.
Ayrton’s late grandfather, Gene Gennetten, was recently inducted into the National Midget Racing Hall of Fame. Gene also registered two top-10 finishes at the Knoxville Nationals in his career, his best being a fifth-place run in 1968.
Ayrton’s father Steve is also a former Knoxville regular and owns a feature win of his own there. Ayrton joined his father as a visitor to victory lane in last August’s season championship night. Despite missing a few nights in 2022, Ayrton enjoyed two quick times, four top fives and two podium finishes, netting eleventh in the final point standings. Â
“I felt we were fast at Knoxville in 2021, but we fell off there a bit last year,” he said. “Then the last night, we just changed things back to the way we did things the year before and we were able to win.”
Ayrton is looking forward to the season, but knows the competition from defending champion Brian Brown will be tough. Â
“We’re really excited about running Knoxville,” he said. “I feel like our program is really back where we need it to be. We’re always pretty competitive there, and you know, I’d like to beat the other guy there from Missouri.”
In addition to Knoxville, Aryton plans to run 75-80 events around the Midwest.
There will be plenty of big hitters appearing weekly at Knoxville, alongside Aryton and Brown. Aaron Reutzel, who finished a close second to Brown, is expected to return, along with Austin McCarl, Lynton Jeffrey and Justin Henderson.
Brooke Tatnell will fill in Henderson’s seat in the Sandvig No. 7 most nights, while Carson McCarl has teamed with South Dakota’s Jeremy Scadden. Former champion Davey Heskin, Ian Madsen and Sawyer and Tasker Phillips are additional regulars at Knoxville. Lachlan “Lockie” McHugh and Christopher Thram are two rookies who have also thrown their hats in the 410 ring at Knoxville.