Jody Knowles, a third-generation member of a racing family, raced his way into the starting field for last week’s Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway, adding a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start to his already impressive — and diverse — racing resume.
Knowles, who works full time as a mechanic for his family’s trucking business, finds time to compete fairly regularly in a Late Model dirt car. He has raced since he was a youngster running Bandoleros, where he and David Ragan carried on a spirited rivalry. He advanced on to Legends cars, Street Stocks and short-track trucks on asphalt, but he’s best known for his participation in rally races for vintage cars, events such as the Great Race.
And on the dirt Late Model circuit, Knowles and his cousins have picked up where his father and uncles left off, winning races on a regular basis at tracks across the country.
In the truck race, he was 12th-fastest in the first practice and sixth in the second, despite having only five crew members, including his uncle Wayne Hansard as his crew chief, on his race team. He ran as high as 11th in the main event before having to serve a penalty for moving low too early on a restart. He rallied from that but had a flat tire, bringing out the race’s final caution period, and finished 28th.
He said that despite the disappointing finish, just participating in one of NASCAR’s top three series is something to be proud of.
“It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “I’m usually pretty cool, calm and collected, but I have to admit I was pretty nervous about racing in the truck series at Eldora.”
Knowles’ strong run has opened the door for other opportunities, too. He’s scheduled to drive his No. 80 Ford at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.
Elliott will need new chief: The selection of Greg Ives to be crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Sprint Cup Series next season, means that Chase Elliott will work with someone else next season.
Working with Ives this season on the Nationwide Series, the 18-year-old Elliott has three wins — at Texas Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway — and is atop the points standings heading into this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway.
Ives came to the JR Motorsports team, which fields Elliott’s car, after working as the team engineer for Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 team at Hendrick Motorsports. He’s had a part in 42 Sprint Cup wins by Johnson and has five Nationwide wins as a crew chief, including two last year with Regan Smith.
Ives will replace Steve Letarte, who is moving into a broadcast role with NBC, which is returning to the NASCAR TV lineup.
No. 11 team punished: Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 Toyota team were hit with stiff penalties by NASCAR after their car failed a postrace inspection at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, but under the new rules for the Chase for the Sprint Cup there likely won't be much impact on the team when it comes to making the season-ending run to the championship.
Hamlin and car owner Joe Gibbs were docked 75 points apiece, and crew chief Darian Grubb was suspended for six races and fined $125,000 after officials discovered that the interior of the car was modified to allow air into the car, which gave it an aerodynamic advantage. Car chief Wesley Sherrill was suspended for the next six races.
The penalties dropped Hamlin from 11th in the standings, to 22nd, but a driver with at least one race win, which Hamlin has, needs only to be in the top 30 in points to make the Chase. Hamlin has 497, while Michael Annett, now 30th, has only 325 with six races to run before the start of the Chase.
Joe Gibbs Racing said it will appeal the penalties, but won’t send Grubb and Sherrill to Pocono this weekend.
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