Knoxville Nationals – Final Thoughts

This year’s Knoxville Nationals was a story of extremes:  extreme weather, extreme driving action and extremely generous hearts!

The weather was just one of several hurdles everyone in attendance had to overcome:  Extremely high heat indexes, downpours and radars that showed extreme threat, even when it did not materialize. We prevailed!

Saturday night’s racing action was some of the most amazing racing action I have seen in a long time.  It is only fitting that such talent be shown at it’s fullest during the Knoxville Nationals!  For those of you that couldn’t attend in person, you have GOT to see this.  It will be on the SPEED channel on 8/28.  Check for your local time. It is worth sitting the DVR – REALLY!

Because of Friday’s rain, we had to cancel most of our autograph sessions on Friday.  When the racing action was move to Saturday, we had to cancel most of those too.  This is very unfortunate because the autograph session was the single-biggest fundraiser for the foundation at Knoxville.

Fortunately Wayne Johnson was able to still stop by. Wayne, a local favorite in Knoxville, suffered a broken ankle during a race on the west coast about a month ago.  He is healing, but the break is bad enough that he won’t be able to “get back to work” until next February.  We appreciate Wayne taking time out hang out with us and talk to so many of his fans about his healing progress.

The extreme weather certainly hampered our fundraising. Around $4,000 was raised, well below the goal.  Half of that was raised on Saturday. Whew!

Highlights from the 2010 Knoxville Nationals for the Steve King Foundation:

1.  “Give a Donation, Get an Autograph” sessions – we had so many drivers generously share their time.  This was our single biggest avenue for fund raising during the Nationals. Thank you to the drivers and the fans for bearing bizarre weather to help us out!

2.  The silliness of Sprint Car Silly Bandz® – nearly 5000 sprint-car shaped silly bans were purchased.  The kids (big and little) went nuts for them!

3.  $3 t-shirts. Turns out moving our closeout price on t-shirts to $3 was a HIT!  For the most part fans thought it was a misprint and inquired about the price.  We would answer by telling them that if they wanted to pay more we would gladly accept a donation.  Most happily did!

4.  Fans! -  I know you hear it all the time but I can’t talk about Knoxville without repeating it.  Racing is just one big family!  It is wonderful to see the same fans year after year.  We so appreciate the Grandpa “Grumpy” who brings his grandsons and stops by each year. There is Bonnie from Nebraska and the generous couple from Minnesota.  I don’t know many other names but do know hundreds of faces – all with generous hearts.  It is great to see them each year and hear their latest racing stories. Some still have stories about Steve – each one warms my heart!

5. The Racing Action! – Yeah! I know it shouldn’t be last because that is why we are all in Knoxville.  Working the booth does not allow the opportunity to see the races, but the ones I did see were great!  Kraig Kinser and Jason Meyers battling back from qualifying night heat race mishap; Craig Dollansky having the run of his life both Saturday afternoon and evening; and then there was the battle for the checkered flag and $150,000!  I have been going to races since I was a toddler and I cannot remember seeing anything like it. WOW!  It is impossible to have come to Knoxville this year as a fan and leave anyway but other than to say, “I HAVE to go back next year!”

A few shout outs before I close up this year’s edition of Knoxville National blogs:

• Mom, Linda and Tammy for braving the elements each day to man the booth.  Let’s do it again next year!
• Kristy Finley for doing an awesome job of coordinating drivers for the autograph sessions, getting the merchandise ordered and making sure I had what I needed when I left!
• Lois Ritter – the most amazing nail artist I know – Thanks so much for your support in Osky and Knoxville (not to mention being a life saver with your fan!!!). The foundation logo looks awesome on the sunglasses!
• Kevin, Susan, Landon and Jordon for being the best host we have ever had!  My kids already miss you guys!
• Heather for joining us Saturday to provide some needed relief!
• The crew at the Knoxville Raceway, especially Brian and Grant, for their help on all sorts of issues!
• Park for allowing us to use his empty rental house and finding a different spot for the RV.
• Dave Lunstra for allowing 3 total strangers to borrow your truck and haul a trailer to Osky and back! 
• Terry and Lori McCarl for allowing us to set up at Osky!
• Davey and Todd for all the RV help!
• Meredith and Lauren for keeping the tweets going!
• Van for being Tammy’s taxi!

If I missed you, it is not on purpose….know from the bottom of my heart how much we appreciate the help!

See ya next year!
Danette

Day Three – Rain!

With yesterday’s theme being all about beating the heat, today was another weather battle. This time it was rain and more rain and more rain.  It came in spurts – sometimes a slow drizzle; others a downpour. Sometimes we gained false hope by a break in the clouds.  In the end the entire day can be summarized by simply saying “Mother Nature Won”.

We had high hopes for “Give a Donation, Get an Autograph” sessions scheduled for today.  Jac Hausenschild, Shane Carson and Joey Saldana had volunteered to help the foundation out.  Jac’s session is the only one we got in and we battled rain even then.

This morning I had the honor of attending the celebration to honor the life of Tyson Perez.  Ty was kil led in amethanol accident about a month ago near Seattle. Ty was serving a Travis Riliat’s crew chief.  Travis is in a burn center in Seattle and making grand strides forward on a long road to recovery.  Ty is from Australia and many of those in attendance were his racing buddies from down under. The “celebration” as it was termed, as a nice tribute to Ty.  He will be missed by many. 

At the same time this morning, Mom attended the Racers vs. “City Celebrities” softball game.  The committee in Knoxville who organizes the game each year had selected the foundation as the recipient of the proceeds. We are honored!  They committee had worked hard on some great auction items!  They also had a home run derby.  The Knoxville Raceway flagman switched jobs and served as the announcer for this tough game.  Some racers are also golfers, others do know how to play a little ball – but most…well…most are best when strapped in, helmet on and their foot all the way down on the gas pedal. I think it would be best for the honor of all drivers to not share the score!

 If all goes well, we will get two days of racing in tomorrow.  We are all looking forward to a safe, fun day.

Day Two – Big Names support the Foundation

Wow!  Day two at the Knoxville Nationals. And I thought Day One was hot! Day two was all about survival. They told us the heat index was well over 110 degrees where our booth was. I believe them! While overall count was down the die-hard fans came out to see their favorite drivers and support the foundation.

A GREAT BIG thank you to the drivers that came out for the “Give a Donation, Get an Autograph”. We are so apprecitive of our Thursday signers: Shane Stewart, Brian Brown, Jason Sides, Lucas Wolfe, Brad Doty, Doug Wolfgang, Dave Blaney, Tony Bruce, Jr. and Erin Crocker Evernham for spending an hour with us throughout the afternoon. The fans came by in droves and would put money in the donation jars then ask for an autograph card or to take a photo with their favorite driver.

It was fun being on the other side – listening to the conversations between drivers and fans but also hearing the chit chat amongst drivers. We typically had two at a time. Current drivers would tell stories, discuss setups, mull over which tire was going to run best and what gear to run for time trials. Our retired drivers told great stories – on each other and themselves. There was a lot of laughter!

It is impressive for me to see drivers dig into their own pockets to pull out cash and donate to the foundation themselves. They, better than anyone, know what we are about and how the funds are raised and put to use.

It is also funto see so many Steve King shirts come through the area. I can’t help but smile when I see each one. I now recognize by face most of his die-hard fans and am inspired by their stories and continued support.

The racing action was spectacular Thursday night with Slammin’ Sammy beating them all to the line in a green, white, yellow, green, checkered finish!

Tomorrow – more of the same with autograph sessions but also a chance of rain!

Knoxville – Day 1 and no rain!

Wednesday was hot, hot, hot and oh so humid. The big news of the day – almost equal to the racing news – was the fact that it was NOT supposed to rain. Good news: Mother Nature held true to the forecast! Today was primarily about set up. Each event is a little different so we have to look inside the Steve King Foundation trailer and pull out a variety of different things to work in the space we are allotted. This year took a bit extra creative thought – or at least it felt like that based on the lack of sleep these days!

The elementary school age kids are going nuts over the sprint-car Silly Bandz. The kids crack me up. They sheepishly approach the booth scanning for the packages and their eyes light up when they find them! Wow, these are a hit! As far as we know, we are the only game in town, making it a perfect awareness builder for the foundation.

My son wanted to watch qualifying tonight. His father had to take him. I am still not up for Wednesday nights. I did try for a little bit but  kept finding my eyes wandering to turn three. I have been to other races here at Knoxville but this was first time trying to go for the Wednesday night qualifying. I guess this is part of the healing process and wherever I am on the grief spectrum means I am not ready for this. Gotta say my favorite part was the Budweiser Clydesdale Horses taking a lap around the track!  I can honestly say that is something I had never seen at the races before!

Big day planned on Thursday – We hope to be covered up with people in the afternoon giving donations to get autographs! Our line up for Thursday – Saturday is spectacular!  Special thanks to Kristy Finley for being a phone warrior to get busy drivers on the phone and work out all the details.

Don’t forget that besides the website, you can follow the foundation on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Steve-King-Foundation/148436396701?ref=ts) or on twitter. Our twitter handle is @SteveKingFdn.

Stay tuned for more from hot Knoxville!

– Danette

Arriving in Knoxville

It’s that time of year again – it’s Knoxville Time!

We are just pulling into Knoxville as I write this. Excitement is certainly all around. I arrive with sadness on my heart. I love Knoxville as do nearly all drivers, crews and fans. I do find some comfort in the fact that Steve’s last ride was at his favorite place. He lived for Knoxville. And, just like the teams this year and teams before him – all planning, all races – everything is designed to be at a peak when arriving in Knoxville. All roads do lead to Knoxville. So I arrive with sadness and with excitement!

If you are here – stop by the booth and say “Hi”. Many drivers are giving generously of their time to support the foundation this year. It is an honor to have them join us to raise funds for families in need. I am very hopefully that our “Give a Donation, Get an Autograph” sessions will have fans lining up to see their favorite drivers. We will start Thursday’s session off with this year’s 360 Nationals Champ, and a good friend, Shane Stewart! World of Outlaw (WoO) series contenders Joey Saldana and Jason Meyers will also join us during our time in Knoxville as will Brad Doty. (Steve would get a kick out of this!) Steve would also be excited that his mentor – the driver he most wanted to be like – Doug Wolfgang – will be joining us as well. Even Jac Haudenschild, who got tangled up with Steve in Dodge City during Steve’s last WoO race will be coming!

We have so many in need right now and, thankfully, we have many willing to help!

The inventory of the t-shirts with the racing prayer on the back has been replenished. Those have been a huge hit.

Our new item is Sprint car shaped silly bands. Come get silly with us. It is all for a good cause!

One more thing – we could really use some help here! The City of Knoxville puts on a softball game each year that many drivers and fans participate in. Those of you who know me know that softball is not my thing so come help us out! The proceeds will be going to the foundation!

My son and I just listened to the NASCAR theme song from a few years ago and so to borrow a line from it and DW – “Let’s go racin’ boys!” Hope to see you in Knoxville!

– Danette