8/1/09

TJ Hartman with Silva Motorsports - UPDATE - A change in plans!                                  

Knoxville, IA - August 1, 2009...

The Silva Motorsports Team, with driver Shane Stewart, made a detour to the Knoxville Raceway to get in a little practice for the upcoming 360 and 410 Nationals - arguably the biggest sprint car races on the planet!  The team left the 410 engine in place and fought a tight handling condition all evening.  Shane drove to a 2nd place finish in his heat race and after starting 12th in the main event and running as high as 6th, he crossed under the checkered flags in the 8th position - a respectable finish.

In TJ's words:  "We had the car too tight for Shane all night.  We couldn't quite figure it out, but it was good to see him up to sixth.  We were parked next to Derek Ingalls(fellow Washingtonian) and that was cool to talk with him all night.  I didn't really remember a lot about Knoxville because I was only 9(years old) when I was there the last time, but it's a pretty cool place.  It's big and fast, but you don't get to see a lot from the infield.  We're going to Huset's(Speedway) for Sunday night and I can't wait to see that track!" 

The team will hook back up with the All Stars Thunder Through the Plains tour at Huset's Speedway in Brandon, SD for the series final leg of the tour Sunday evening.  After that they will start preparing for the 360 Nationals at Knoxville Raceway where there is already over 100 cars entered.  Getting this opportunity to be with Paul and Shane is pretty special, and getting the opportunity to be at all the famous tracks in the Mid-West alongside drivers and teams that we here in the Northwest see maybe once a year (if that), hasn't intimidated TJ at all.  He is just taking it all in stride, as usual.        

Next scheduled stop - TJ's favorite track that he's never seen!


TJ Hartman Racing with Shane Stewart & Silva Motorsports