By Bob Baker
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (August 15, 2010) – To no one’s surprise, Sammy Swindell of Memphis, Tennessee, claimed the 2010 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa Speed Week point championship and its Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” title on Saturday night at the 50th annual Goodyear Knoxville Nationals. Despite his blown tire and resultant flip late in the 50-lap race, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee accumulated enough points to capture the 12-race, 10-night championship honoring his family’s racing friend, the late Jesse Hockett.
The official top twenty in the 2010 Cox Design Iowa Speedweek points after nine shows are as follows: 1., Sammy Swindell, 276 points; 2., Brooke Tatnell, 229 points; 3., Jason Johnson, 219 points; 4., Bronson Maeschen, 215 points; 5., Brian Brown, 207 points; 6., Davey Heskin, 205 points; 7., Shane Stewart, 198 points; 8., Brandon “Bud” Kaeding, 185 points; 9., Paul McMahan & Robby Wolfgang, 181 points (tied); 11., Kerry Madsen, 180 points; 12., Jamie Veal, 179 points; 13., Brady Bacon, 167 points; 14., A.J. “Skip” Jackson, 161 points; 15., Johnny Herrera, 157 points; 16., Rager Phillips, 153 points; 17., Craig Dollansky, 146 points; 18., Joey Saldana, 145 points; 19., Cale Conley & Ricky Logan, 140 points (tied).
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, and Terry McCarl (2009) of Iowa.