The sprint car industry in dirt racing is swirling this off-season, with a second national tour in High Limit Racing, along with streaming partner and minority owner FloRacing trying to make their transition into the ecosystem without disturbing things more than they need.
One of the things that the new series won’t include in its inaugural year as a national touring sprint car series is a stop at Knoxville Raceway – home to the biggest sprint car event in the world in the Knoxville Nationals.
It’s something that series co-owners Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, both Knoxville Nationals champions, want to make happen in the future, and pushed for as well as they were building the 2024 High Limit series schedule.
“We have the utmost respect for Knoxville,” Sweet said. “It’s where the (National Sprint Car) Hall of Fame is. It’s kind of sprint car Racing’s most popular place. So, yeah, I mean, we were disappointed. We thought we’d keep keeping an event date there. They definitely show their loyalty which we can appreciate.”
The All-Star Circuit of Champions series – the former regional tour purchased and absorbed by Sweet and Larson’s High Limit entity – had raced at Knoxville traditionally in the final Saturday before the start of the Knoxville Nationals.
The omittance of a High Limit Racing came due to a want from Knoxville Raceway, who’s racing is now seen exclusively on DirtVision, to maintain its relationship with World Racing Group.
“I met with Brad (Sweet) several times and (High Limit CMO) Kendra Jacobs as well,” Knoxville Raceway General Manager Jason Reed said in a statement to ARD. “We’ve built a good relationship with (World Racing Group CEO) Brian Carter, the World of Outlaws and World Racing Group. We’ve got our TV/PPV contract with DirtVision through them. It’s just been a good relationship, so we decided for this first year, just to go that way and still follow our schedule with World of Outlaws races (in April and June) and going that way for the time being.”
“They have had a relationship with the World of Outlaws and with their vision and those things,” Sweet said. “I think the one thing that we have going for us is that our teams will still be able to race at Knoxville, whether they decided to do an event with us or not. We’ll leave dates open. Obviously, the Knoxville Nationals is something that we’re never going to try to run against. So, from our perspective in the short term was a little bit of a disappointment, but in the long term, I think that we’ll be able to have a relationship in the future with Knoxville and we’re definitely still very friendly with them.”
Sweet captured a Knoxville Nationals title in 2018, while Larson earned his second career Knoxville Nationals championship this past season in August of 2023.
Larson echoed Sweet’s comments.
“I’m proud to be a two time Knoxville Nationals champion,” Larson said. “I love everybody at Knoxville Raceway. And at the same point, yeah, you’re bummed that you aren’t able to have a race there next year, but I don’t view it as that we’re not going to ever have a race there. I think what we’re doing is still so fresh and new tracks and teams are still trying to figure it all out. So I understand that and know that, but I’m confident that in the future we will be able to race there. So yeah, I know it’s a bummer right now, but I think short term versus long term we’ll be fine.”
Knoxville Raceway’s 2024 season will kick off with the 71st annual season opener on April 20 before a weekend doubleheader with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series on April 26-27.
