SAMMY SWINDELL EARNS JESSE HOCKETT “MR. SPRINT CAR” TITLE

AND DEDICATES COX DESIGN IOWA SPEED WEEK TO THE LATE EARL GAERTE

08-18-2011

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (NSCHoF) inductee Sammy Swindell earned his second consecutive Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” title Saturday night by finishing third in the 50-lap Goodyear Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway.  Sammy clinched the top spot in the twelve-race, ten-night Cox Design Iowa Speed Week point standings, held at the Knoxville and Oskaloosa dirt tracks, by simply starting the sport’s $150,000-to-win national championship feature race, which was won for the fifth time by Donny Schatz.  Sammy received the award from Cox employee A.J. “Skip” Jackson and Swindell dedicated the award to his friend and long-time engine-builder, the late Earl Gaerte.

The official top ten in the 2011 Cox Design Iowa Speed Week points after all ten nights is as follows:  1., Sammy Swindell, 321 points ($2,500); 2., Shane Stewart, 291 points ($1,000); 3., Jason Johnson, 259 points ($500); 4., Daryn Pittman, 237 points; 5., Tim Shaffer, 227 points; 6., Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 222 points; 7., Davey Heskin, 218 points; 8., Brooke Tatnell, 208 points; 9., Terry McCarl, 196 points; 10., Mark Dobmeier, 184 points.

The Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa Speedweek includes ten straight nights of sprint car racing between Knoxville Raceway and the Southern Iowa Speedway.  The top three places pay $2,500, $1,000, and $500, respectively, with the winner declared the Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” titlist.  Past “Mr. Sprint Car” titlists include Ricky Logan (2002) of Arkansas, Shane Stewart (2003, ’04) of Oklahoma, Billy Alley (2005) of Nebraska, Jason Johnson (2006) of Louisiana, Wayne Johnson (2007, ‘08) of Oklahoma, Terry McCarl (2009) of Iowa, and Sammy Swindell (2010) of Tennessee.