By Bob Baker
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (August 9, 2010) – Knoxville Nationals-winning car owners Gary Swenson and Bob Trostle headline Wednesday’s new “Sixty Minutes in the Trostle Garage with…” autograph sessions at the National Sprint Car Museum in Knoxville. The one-hour sessions will be staged in the air-conditioned museum’s east wing and they are free with a paid museum admission. Others who will be appearing in the Trostle Garage are Nebraska historians Bob Mays and Jim Harris, veteran sprint car drivers Tony Elliott of Indiana, Earnest Jennings of Oklahoma, and Bill Boyce of western Canada, and photographers Mike Arthur, Dave Hill and Jeneanne Visser.
According to curator Tom Schmeh today, “It is so cool that we will be hosting some true legends of the sport this week for this new series of autograph sessions. 1977 and ’80 Knoxville National Championship owner Bob Trostle will be holding court everyday at 3:30 p.m. with his very special guests, including Trostle-chassis sprint car driver Bill Boyce of Alberta on Wednesday. We are also pleased to have 1968 Knoxville Nationals-winning car owner Gary Swenson of Nebraska on-hand at 10:30 a.m. Bob Mays of Speedway Motors and Jim Harris of National Sprint Car Annual fame will share the table at 12:30 p.m., as they follow long-time Nationals photographers Mike Arthur, Dave Hill and Jeneanne Visser at 11:30 a.m. And sprint car fans won’t want to miss chatting with Tony Elliott at 1:30 p.m. and Earnest Jennings at 2:30 p.m. And I know that we’ll be adding more legends to this impressive line-up, too.”
Also in the museum on Wednesday are three Knoxville Nationals Fan Fair forums at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. Larry Ball, Jr., will host “National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (NSCHoF) Induction Process” at 11 a.m. Larry Boos of Eldora Speedway will host “Sprint Car Racing: State of the Union” at 1 p.m. And Johnny Gibson will host “World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Racing” at 3 p.m. The fan fair forums are moderated in the west wing of the first floor and they will feature many special guests.
The “Red, Wheat & Bleu” wine-, beer- and cheese-tasting special reception will take place from 12:30 until 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday on the second floor. It is also free with a paid museum admission. The reception will feature Peace Tree Brewing Company of Knoxville, Whispering Pines Winery of Keosauqua, Winneshiek Wildberry Winery of Decorah, Covered Bridges Winery of Winterset, Snus Hill Vineyard & Winery of Madrid, Maytag Dairy Farms of Newton, Corning Winery, Reichert’s Dairy Air of Knoxville and Summerset Winery of Indianola.
Those individuals interested in learning more about the activities at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum in Knoxville this week should visit the museum’s web site at www.sprintcarhof.com. Those seeking additional information on the 50th Goodyear Knoxville Nationals presented by Lucas Oil should log onto www.knoxvilleraceway.com.