SAMMY NAVIGATES HIS WAY THROUGH THE HEAVY FOG TO GARNER A SEVENTH PLACE FINISH IN A SHORTENED FEATURE EVENT AT KNOXVILLE RACEWAY

KNOXVILLE, IOWA (June 13, 2015) – For most racers there is no better place to race than the Sprint Car Capital of the World – Knoxville Raceway. Sammy Swindell, the three-time WoO Champion, pulled across the black clay into the pit area with his Jason Johnson Racing (JJR) team on what started out as a beautiful night for racing. There were 42 cars ready to compete for the win.

Swindell was in Flight B for time trials and qualifying in the Priority Aviation Services/Crow Enterprizes #41 Maxim. When the push truck tapped his rear nerf bar, his Kistler Engine fired and he pounded the accelerator to get up to speed. He took the green flag and circled the big half mile oval in 15.856 seconds the first time around. He continued to power his way through the air and turned a quicker lap on lap two with a time of 15.778 seconds, which was fourth quick in Flight B and tenth quick overall.

For the fourth heat race, the legend from Tennessee lined up on the inside of row two with Daryn Pittman to his outside and Terry McCarl and Paul McMahan on the front row. McCarl, a Knoxville regular and former track champion, powered the ten cars in the event under the green flag. Sammy held his position in the running order behind McCarl and McMahan throughout the eight laps to finish in the third position aboard the Pro Powder Coating/Valvoline #41 Maxim to lock himself into the 25-lap feature event.

As the heat races came to an end, the Dash lineup was set. Sammy made his way into the six lap event in the Fischer Body Shop/Hepfner Racing Products (HRP) JJR entry. Securing a spot in the Dash is never easy, but certainly makes your night a little easier as it establishes the starting order for the first four rows of the feature. Donny Schatz claimed the win with Sammy crossing the line in the seventh position to secure the inside of row four as his starting spot for the big event on this night.

Just after the Dash concluded, Mother Nature paid what is becoming an all too common visit to World of Outlaw events as rain started falling from the skies. It kept falling . . . and falling . . . and falling. But Knoxville and World of Outlaw officials were determined to get the event in as this visit was the Outlaws only scheduled visit to the Marion County Fairgrounds oval prior to the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals in August. When the rain subsided, the track crew went to work and the push truck drivers followed to finalize the recapturing of the racing surface so on track action could resume. The delay was about three hours, but everyone’s hard work and focused efforts were amazing and greatly appreciated. It was time to go racing! But as the 25 lap feature was lining up, fog started to roll in over Knoxville making conditions very difficult. Sammy was secured tightly in the cockpit of the Jason and Bobbi Johnson owned entry and rolled out to his seventh starting spot in the Waco Metal/Winters Performance Products Maxim. When the racing finally got started, Donny Schatz led the field on lap one with Swindell holding his own in the seventh spot. The conditions continued to deteriorate as it was impossible for the fans to even see the high speed daredevils on the backstretch or at a distance. It was difficult for the drivers too. Schatz continued to lead the field, but after the fifteenth circuit officials decided to throw the checkers early and shorten the event for safety reasons. Schatz took the win and Sammy brought home his second straight seventh place finish for the JJR team. A strong and consistent effort by the team and legendary driver.