Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame Welcomes Class of 2016 this Saturday!
Monday, June 20, 2016
by Track Historian Eric Arnold
Four Knoxville Raceway dignitaries will be inducted into the Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Saturday June 25 at 12:00pm Noon in Dyer-Hudson Hall and introduced to the public trackside during the night’s event. The afternoon banquet and luncheon is a reunion for all Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame members and their families. Tickets are free for Hall of Fame members and available to the public for a cost of $5. Ttickets must be purchased by Friday June 24th at the ticket office, call 641-842-5431.
The inductions will mark the 38th year that the track has honored those who have made "Knoxville" a world-wide name. The inductions will be a part of this weekend’s festivities including “Nostalgia at Knoxville” on Friday night, June 24, and Saturday’s Mid-Season Championships presented by Farm Bureau, and the FVP National Sprint League $5,000 to win main event!
The Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame will welcome;
Track Official: Dave Beede (St. Charles, IA)
Dave Beede spent 41 seasons as an official in turn one and as the courtesy car driver. Over his career Beede drove countless people to the hospital to be with their injured family members. He performed the daunting and courageous duty of having to tell ten wives that their husbands died due to injuries suffered from racing. He provided support for many families that had extended stays in the hospital over the years. Dave was a great ambassador for Knoxville Raceway who wanted people to feel welcome, appreciated for being here and taken care of when in need. Dave passed away in December of 2015.
Track Official: Doug Clark (Sioux Falls, SD)
Doug Clark began flagging races in 1976 at Hartford Speedway and later at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota. In 1981 he flagged the Mystery Feature at the Knoxville Nationals and that later led to being the full-time Knoxville Raceway flagmen in 1983. He has held that position since (34 seasons). Doug has flagged races in 19 different states for several sanctioning bodies and is known as the best flagmen in the sport of sprint car racing. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame this year.
Driver: Larry Pinegar II (Des Moines, IA)
Larry Pinegar II started racing at a young age in moto-cross, go-karts, and then graduated to sprint cars where he spent 15 seasons competing at Knoxville Raceway from 1994-2008. He was the 1995 360 track champion and accumulated (10) 360 feature wins and (3) 410 feature wins. He was the 1995 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year and started the 1997 Nationals A-Main that ended with a 20th place finish. In the 360 Nationals his resume includes (3) top fives and (6) top ten finishes, with a runner-up finish in 1998. In total Pinegar amassed 60 sprint car feature wins across the country, including an ASCS National win at East Bay Raceway in Florida. He drove his own Brady Truck Equipment 11L sprint car most of his career but also drove the the Rasmussen #55 and the Cahill #7.
Driver/Owner/Mechanic: Adrian Zoutte (Knoxville, IA)
Adrian Zoutte started coming to the races as a fan in the late 1950’s as a young boy and had a passion for sprint car racing and his hometown track from a young age. He raced his #11 sprint car for 14 seasons from 1969-1982 thanks to help of several friends and family members supporting the team financially. He was one of the first drivers to use a Mopar engine in 1976. He has helped his son Alan race since 1999 to today. Although he never won a feature at Knoxville he has been recognized for giving up much of his life to being a great competitor and ambassador of Knoxville Raceway.
See the cars that made Knoxville home on Friday night at “Nostalgia at Knoxville.” Admission is just $5 for adults, and it’s FREE for 12 and under. Pit passes are also $5. Festivities get underway at 6:45 p.m.
All three sprint car classes will be in action Saturday night. The 305, 360 and 410 classes have been ultra-competitive this season! Hot laps get underway at 6:45 p.m. Saturday night. Admission is $15 for adults, kids 12 and under are free!
For more information on these events and on the inductees, keep an eye on the track’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
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