MIKE KNIGHT FLIRTS WITH VICTORY IN UNEXPECTED E-MOD START SUNDAY NIGHT AT STATELINE SPEEDWAY

Source: MKR PR
Date: 09/17/2008

RIPLEY, Ny — Mike Knight nearly picked up a memorable feature win on Sunday night – in a race he didn’t expect to enter and a division he had never previously attempted.

The 21-year-old dirt Late Model sensation from Ripley, N.Y., received a last-minute ride offer for Sunday night’s rain-postponed, $5,000-to-win ‘E-Mod Invasion’ special at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., and gladly accepted it. He proceeded to make his presence known in his first-ever start behind the wheel of an open-wheel machine.

Driving an E-Mod owned by chassis builder Jim Clinger, Knight charged forward from the 10th starting spot to win a heat race. He then advanced from the fifth starting spot to grab the lead just after the halfway mark of the scheduled 30-lap feature, but his time in front was short-lived because a flat left-rear tire forced him to make a pit stop on lap 17.

Adding insult to injury, the event was declared official one lap later when the track’s lights went out as a result of a power failure caused by strong winds that blew through the area in association with the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Knight had tagged the rear of the field and was beginning a late-race charge when the speedway went dark.

“The lights went out just a little bit too late for us,” said Knight, who got the opportunity to run Clinger’s E-Mod because the car’s regular driver was unable to attend the Sunday-night event. “I felt like we would’ve been tough to beat if I didn’t get that flat.

“I had a real good car,” he added, “and I really wanted to win it for Jim. He’s a real nice guy and hasn’t won a race all year, so I thought it would be great to get a win for him.”

Knight arrived at Stateline on Sunday night after entering his family-owned Rocket dirt Late Model in Saturday night’s Independent Racing Series ‘Hub City 50’ at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. His third career start at the half-mile oval wasn’t memorable, ending with a 13th-place finish in the 50-lap A-Main after he used an IRS provisional to start from the 23rd position.

“We were just too tight all night long,” said Knight, whose plans to run a Friday-night IRS event at Winchester (Va.) Speedway were washed out by rain. “I was able to get almost into the top 10 from 23rd, but then my motor started getting kind of hot. I was up there running hard in the cushion, so I started backing down a little bit to make sure I didn’t hurt the motor and I lost a couple spots.”

Knight will hit the road again this weekend to compete in the two-day (Sept. 19-20) IRS ‘Motor Madness in the Mountains’ at Elkins (W.Va.) Speedway. Qualifying is on Friday night and the $7,000-to-win feature is scheduled for Saturday night.

Knight, who also plans to enter Sunday night’s Super Late Model season finale at his home track of Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., is currently ranked sixth in the IRS points standings. Running the Elkins event will allow him to remain in line for IRS points-fund money by entering at least 75 percent of the tour’s races in 2008.

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 with his family-owned team in 2008. His operation carries sponsorship from Arrowhead Wine Cellars, Mobilia Fruit Farm, Ottaway’s Auto Parts, Ottaway’s Auto Body, Knight Farms, NYPenn Surveying, TeCulver Contracting, Ripley Machine & Tool, Genesis Shocks, Slavic Custom Racing Shirts, Farr MotorSports, MWB Web Designs and American Racing Tires.

For more information on Mike Knight, visit www.mikeknight9k.com.

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