Knoxville


August 7-10 is the best time of year because that is when the 410 Sprint Car Nationals are held in Knoxville, Iowa. This is a tradition for my dad and I, and has been since I was little. The first time I had ever been to the nationals was when I was in second grade and I have been hooked on it ever since. Every year we go down for every one of the four days no matter what the weather is like. When we go down there we will pay a person for the week for us to pitch the tent in their back yard . This also cuts down on the costs for the week because it doesn't cost anything to stay in a tent.
The races are at night, so we have to figure out something to do during the day. Most of our time is spent by the track because that is where all of the venders and shirt trailers are. We like to walk around and check everything out before we buy a shirt or maybe find something that looks good to eat like a nice big corn dog or maybe a nice big pork tenderloin. Corn dogs with some mustard on it is my personal favorite. In my opinion the best corn dogs in the state are at the nationals. I like to also get the fried Snickers or another good one is the fried Twinkie.

After we eat we will usually walk around to where all the cars are and watch the crews rebuild or tune the cars for the race that night. I would stand there and watch the crews work on the cars all day if I could. My favorite part, other than the racing, is to look at the cars and see how they are built. We usually walk by the cars at least once a day. I always hope that someday I can own my own race car. If I'm feeling competitive I will challenge my dad to a race inside the Sprint Car simulators that are at one of the venders. Of course I always beat him! He can never win. When it comes race time we grab our gear including our clear glasses because the race gets pretty dirty. We first get a supreme nachos with a lot of jalapeños as this is another tradition we have before we go to our seats. These seats are on turn one and are the same exact two seats my dad has sat in for the past 17 years and the ones I've sat in for the past 9 years. We are always around some of the same people every year and we always look forward to seeing them or it’s fun to see who you remember as the crazy ones from the year before. A few have watched me grow up over the 9 years so it’s always a site for them to see me.

This is why there is so much tradition and fun in these four days, out of every year, that I most look forward to. I hope i will still be going with my dad in the next 9 years and maybe I can cary this tradition on to my son. This something I know that will always be fun even if it is a bad year.