Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, Iowa

The sharp smell of gasoline and a sound like rumbling thunder fill the air.

It is a Saturday night at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway and everyone is either in the stands or listening as the race’s soundtrack echoes across the small town. Sprint cars race by, one after another.

“Anyone who lives here knows that the track was here first,” said Lori DeMoss, a resident of the city of Knoxville.  “So when it’s loud on the weekends, you just accept it because it is a way of life around here.”

The racetrack can hold up to 24,000 spectators despite Knoxville’s population of only 7,536. Visitors come from as far away as Australia. Because the small town does not have enough hotels and campgrounds for all of the visitors, the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce initiated a housing program. The chamber compiled a list of residents that were willing to host families during the races. Some people host families for a fee, and some end up housing visitors for free.

“You end up making friends with the people that you host and they end up returning year after year to stay with you,” DeMoss said. “Knoxville has proved that not only are they all about the races, but they are all about the friends and people.”

Racing began in 1914, but the track fell silent during World War II. The next car raced in the late 1940s.

In 1954, an era of weekly races began on the half-mile track. New additions, such as lights, fencing and banking turns appeared. The First Annual Super-Modified National Championship race, which is now known as Knoxville Nationals, was in 1961.

Nationals began as a two-day event with time trials on Friday and the races on Saturday. Today, the event takes four days. The racetrack is flooded with fans of all ages. Everyone proudly displays their support for their favorite drivers on their brightly colored shirts, and they walk around discussing who will win. Young children support their parents’ favorite drivers by wearing hats that are too big for their little heads and fluorescent T-shirts that match their parents’. 

Today the Super Clean Knoxville Nationals is the track’s largest event, but the community also has plenty of attractions to keep visitors busy. A few of the events consist of a pit stop for all-you-can-eat pancakes, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Bizarre Bazaar, which features crafts, antiques, art, entertainment and more.

The race’s profile has increased in recent years, evidenced by national network TNN’s broadcast of the race. The prize increased thousands of dollars to almost $90,000 in 2006. Spectatorship has grown more than tenfold.

Jeannette Loch and her husband have attended nationals at the raceway for three years.

“My husband, Bill, is a true sprint car lover, and he used to race sprint cars in the late ’50s and ’60s,” Loch said. “But once the racing gets in your blood it stays forever. We just love all types of racing.”

Sprint car racing is their favorite because there are many races, instead of just one long one, Loch said.

The Lochs first visited the Knoxville Raceway in 1996. They made the eight-hour drive to Knoxville from Mayford, Okla., to watch the races. They've continued to make the drive year after year.

“We own a Dixon Lawn Mower sales and service business,” Loch said. “So we close the business up for two weeks and change the message on the machine. Everyone knows we’re off to the races.”

At the races, fans discuss time trials and order juicy hot dogs with ice-cold beer. But not every moment in racing is happy. In 2006, Kansas sprint car driver Steve King died after a part broke on his car and sent his car flying into a fence on Turn 3. There have been 15 racing-related deaths at Knoxville, said Ralph Capitani, the director of the raceway.

Still, the enthusiasm people hold for Knoxville and racing remains.

“This is the perfect town for the races,” said 18-year-old Grant Cadwallader.

Cadwallader encourages everyone else to get a chance to experience the racing. No one can truly understand the feeling and exhilaration that arises from watching the sprint cars go flying past, he said.

“Don’t judge something because you don’t know much about it,” he said. “Experience it. You will get the biggest thrill out of it and love it.”

Photos by Chris Tharp