Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 15) – It was far from the Knoxville Nationals Jack Dover had dreamed about.
There were problems leading up to the race and even more during the famed 51st annual Knoxville Nationals last weekend at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The biggest 410 racing weekend of the season turned out to be one of the most disappointing for Dover.
“We only had one engine going into the weekend and if anything went wrong, we were done,” the 21-year-old Springfield, Neb., resident said.
Sure enough, Dover’s Knoxville Nationals went up in smoke late in his qualifying night last Thursday. The damaged engine sidelined him for the rest of the event.
“In the C Main I was in third place, one spot out of a transfer, when the engine let go,” he said. “I think it was down a cylinder early in the night and that really hurt us from that point until it let go.”
Dover qualified 42nd, which was two positions – and only 0.022 of a second – from making the invert. He then started second-to-last in the heat race and after driving to sixth – two spots out of automatically advancing – Dover fell back to ninth toward the end of the race.
He was relegated to start third in the C Main, which transferred the top two. Dover stayed within the top five for the entire race and was closing on runner-up Robby Wolfgang with two laps remaining when Dover slowed on the backstretch. He pulled into the pits with an 11th-place result.
“That was definitely frustrating to end our night and our weekend on that note,” he said. “The Knoxville Nationals is such a huge event and you have to be nearly perfect all weekend to be successful there. It didn’t start or end well for us and it isn’t fun knowing that I have to wait another year for the next chance at the Knoxville Nationals.”
Dover returns to action this weekend in a 360 engine at the 33rd annual Jackson Nationals at Jackson Speedway in Jackson, Minn. The Friday-Saturday doubleheader is sanctioned by the ASCS National Tour and the ASCS Midwest Region, which Dover currently leads by 179 points as the series is about two-thirds of the way through its schedule.
“Jackson is a big, ½ mile that is really fast,” he said. “I had a good run there last time and I hope I can duplicate that, pick up another top five and get things rolling again.”
In his only race at Jackson Speedway this season, Dover finished fourth in the ASCS Midwest feature on July 8.
For live updates on Dover and the rest of the races, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com throughout the weekend.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 11 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 42; Heat race: 9 (9); C Main: 11 (3).
SEASON STATS –
33 races, 30 features, 6 wins, 20 top fives, 25 top 10s, 26 top 15s, 27 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Jackson Speedway in Jackson, Minn., for the 33rd annual Jackson Nationals with the ASCS National Tour and the ASCS Midwest Region
FAVORITE NUMBER –
4: Result the last time Dover raced at Jackson Speedway in Jackson, Minn., which was July 8 in an ASCS Midwest Region event.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JackDoverRacing
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/jackdoverracing
ON THE AIR –
Dover was a featured guest on the ASCS Show with Racinboys on June 14 after his win at the Eagle Nationals. His interview starts around 18:40.
http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=19427
He was also on the ASCS Show with Racinboys on June 7. Check out the link below for his interview, which begins around the 6:50 mark.
http://www.meridix.com/mbp/general/index.php?liveid=Racinboys&recordid=19351
Here’s a link to some on-board video of Dover winning his heat race at Knoxville Raceway on June 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWFqplMGokk&feature=channel_video_title
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Home Pride Companies, Inc.
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“Luke Cochran has become a family friend the last few years and he’s been instrumental in keeping our program going in 2011,” Dover said. “He also has a great company, which we’ve seen firsthand when Home Pride Companies, Inc., roofed my parents house.”
Dover would also like to thank Thorpe’s Body Shop, Trail Performance Coatings, Inc., Certified Transmission, Shaver Engines, Eagle Motorsports, Inc., The Oil Medics and ButlerBuilt for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors’ return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit www.insidelinepromotions.com.
- Admin Account on Oct 10, 2011
- Article Date: 8/15/2011 by Shawn Miller - Inside Line Promotions