Knoxville Raceway opens track as RAGBRAI 2024 rolls into Iowa's racing capital

KNOXVILLE — It's uncharacteristically quiet at the Knoxville Raceway on Wednesday afternoon.

Instead of the roar of engines, RVs and campers sit idly at the center of the track. A single group of riders on the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa quietly cruise on the half-mile dirt oval.

Amber Fontenot, the team's captain, hails from Clear Lake. She grew up going to the raceway, but this is the first time she's seen it from the track. While her group wasn't sure if the track would be open, they couldn't pass up an opportunity to ride it.

"It's a better experience being out here than watching," said Fontenot, gesturing to the empty stands.

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Day 4 of RAGBRAI ended in Knoxville after a 75-mile ride from Winterset. Better known for horsepower than legpower, the Knoxville Raceway rewarded riders for slogging up hills in the hilliest RAGBRAI ever by opening its gates and letting riders experience the dirt track on their bikes.

Racing is as much a part of Knoxville as corn is a part of Iowa. More prestigious series may come and go on the 7/8-mile concrete at Iowa Speedway in Newton, but Iowa’s racing heritage starts on the dirt in Knoxville.

With 20,321 seats, the raceway is the fourth-largest outdoor sporting venue in Iowa behind Kinnick Stadium, Jack Trice Stadium and Iowa Speedway.

Brendan Villegas, another member of Fontenot's team, has ridden segments of RAGBRAI before, but the track was a unique experience for him. The group tried their best to race on the uneven surface, though their speeds dropped "quite a bit," he said.

Villegas suggested his 13-year-old son cheated.

"It felt like rumble strips the entire time," he said. "But we don't normally have the opportunity to get on the tracks, so that's pretty cool."

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The Knoxville Raceway, while less conducive to cycling, is considered one of the world's best dirt tracks. Even the "Black Zook" dirt here is special, mined from a river bed south of Knoxville, said Bob Baker, executive director of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum.

"It's a real black, rich dirt clay," Baker said. "It's dirt that holds the moisture really well. It gives the racecars' tires better traction, and it compacts really well. So it keeps the dust down."

'Nothing will ever top Knoxville'

Over its history, Knoxville Raceway has held all sorts of events. In 1878, the half-mile dirt track was built for horse racing. Knoxville High played football at the track until the 1930s. The track hosted the short-lived Superstar Racing Experience, or SRX, backed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in 2021. The NASCAR Truck Series raced there in 2021 to 2022. And too many demo derbies to count have been held here.

Today, Knoxville Raceway is still a quintessentially Iowa place, sitting in the middle of town across from both a Casey's convenience store and a Hy-Vee grocery store. Even with business booming, the Marion County Fair Board still manages the facility.

From April through September, 33 nights of racing brings the grandstands to life. By far the most popular event is Knoxville Nationals, the premier sprint-car race in the world.

Knoxville Raceway held the "Super Modified National Championship" in 1961. At the time the track was on the verge of going out of business, Baker said. The idea was to invite the best sprint car drivers in the country and pay out a purse of $5,000, with $1,000 going to the winner, Baker said.

"They needed something to save the racetrack," Baker said. "The fair board at the time told (the promoter) he was crazy for paying that much money and it would never work, but they agreed to do it because they needed to do something to pull the track out of the financial doldrums they were in."

Somehow, a national sprint car invitational worked, Baker said. Eventually the event evolved from a one-day race into a four-day party. This year's Knoxville Nationals will run from Aug. 7 to 10. It has a purse of $1.15 million and pays about $190,000 to the winner.

"For a sprint car fan it's like Christmas in August," Baker said. "Everybody is here."

Philip Joens is riding his 19th RAGBRAI. He has completed the river-to-river trek seven times. He covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register and can be reached at 515-284-8184 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

Addison Lathers covers growth and development for the Des Moines metro. Reach her at 608-931-1761 or alathers@registermedia.com, and follow her on X at @addisonlathers.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Knoxville Raceway opens track as RAGBRAI 2024 rolls into Iowa's racing capital