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Mike Knight Racing
RIPLEY, N.Y. (July 8) - Mike Knight would like to forget his 2008 Fourth of July holiday weekend.
In action at Buckeye State tracks for four consecutive nights from July 3-6, the 21-year-old dirt Late Model talent from Ripley, N.Y., experienced little to get excited about. His top finish during the period was a quiet eighth-place finish in a $3,000-to-win special on Friday night (July 4) at Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Ohio.
The remainder of Knight's weekend? Well, he would rather those results just disappear - a visit to Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, on Thursday night (July 3) that ended during time trials, plus DNFs at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, on Saturday night (July 5) and Midway Speedway in Crooksville, Ohio, on Sunday night (July 6).
"We just can't seem to get over the hump with our bad luck," said Knight, a perpetually positive rising star. "But I guess you'll have years like this."
Knight had originally planned to run Independent Racing Series (IRS) events for four consecutive nights, but rainouts of scheduled shows on July 3 at K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio, and July 4 at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio, led him elsewhere to start his weekend.
Following an early cancellation of K-C's action on Thursday, Knight headed to a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at nearby Muskingum County. His outing was extremely short, however, after a broken valve spring in his car's engine during time trials forced him to the trailer.
Knight and Co. stopped at engine builder Draime's Ohio shop on Friday morning to have the engine repaired - "I have to thank Draime's guys for coming in to work on the Fourth of July," said Knight - and then headed for Raceway 7 thanks to another IRS cancellation at Hilltop. He managed just an eighth-place feature finish at a track "we still haven't been able to figure out."
IRS competition resumed for Knight on Saturday night at Moler, where he advanced from the 15th starting spot to eighth in the 50-lap feature before running into trouble. The coil wire came off his car's ignition midway through the event, causing his family-owned machine to stall and leaving him with a 19th-place finish.
Knight was in the midst of another strong march forward in Sunday night's IRS-sanctioned Jim Dunn Memorial at Midway - moving from the 16th starting spot to seventh - before a broken brake line forced him to the pit area. He was credited with another 19th-place finish.
Knight ended the weekend still ranked sixth in the IRS points standings, but he won't attempt to advance higher in the rankings this week. His recent struggles have prompted him to stay closer to him this weekend rather than hit the road for scheduled IRS events.
"We're going to run a $4,000-to-win show on Saturday night (July 12) at Stateline Speedway (in Busti, N.Y.) and a regular show on Sunday (July 13) at Eriez (Speedway in Hammett, Pa.)," said Knight. "We're going to take the next couple of weeks and run locally to try to get our equipment back up and get our program back on track.
"We'll be back out on the road to hit bigger shows later this year, but right now we have to stay more local and get things figured out."
An up-and-coming dirt Late Model driver whose breakout 2007 season was highlighted by a points title at Eriez Speedway, Knight has an ambitious schedule of 70-plus races across the region planned with his family-owned team in 2008. His operation carries sponsorship from Arrowhead Wine Cellars, Mobilia Fruit Farm, Ottawaya's Auto Body, Knight Farms, RJB Construction, Chessa' Pizza, NY-Penn Surveying, TeCulver Contracting, Genesis Shocks, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts and American Racing Tires.
For more information on Mike Knight, visit www.mikeknight9k.com.
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