Knoxville Raceway in Iowa is in the middle of its Big Week right now. The 55th running of the Knoxville Nationals is going on, and the video above is from the finish of the Capitani Classic, which ran on Sunday night.
If you’re into racing at all, the Nationals is an experience worth throwing on the bucket list. It’s quite the sprint car spectacle.
Cheers to my friends in Knoxville, especially those on the Second Floor of the HoF.
Video courtesy of Knoxville Raceway
Alaska:
Alaskan Brewing Company was the first Juneau brewery since prohibition, opening in 1986. Surprisingly, after a quick glance through the list, only 13 states have a brewery older than Alaskan Brewing.
California:
Anchor Brewing, San Francisco (Est. 1896)
Iowa:
Millstream Brewing Company, Amana (Est. 1985)
Minnesota:
Schell’s Brewing Company, New Ulm (Est. 1860)
New York:
Genesee Brewing Company, Rochester (Est. 1878)
Pennsylvania:
D.G. Yuengling & Son, Pottsville (Est. 1829) The oldest brewery in the U.S.
Texas:
Lone Star Brewing Company, San Antonio (Est. 1883)
Wisconsin:
Minhas Craft Brewery, Monroe (Est. 1845)
The state of Iowa declared this week, March 1-7, Aldo Leopold Week. Winneshiek County, in a partnership with Luther College, has had events going all week.
Leopold was born in Burlington, IA in 1887.
Photo with quote comes courtesy of Winneshiek County Conservation
The Golden Gophers completely dominated the Iowa Hawkeyes in a 51-14 win, that allowed Floyd of Rosedale to extend his stay in Minneapolis. 1967 was the last time Minnesota held both the Little Brown Jug & Floyd in their trophy case. 1967 was also the last Big Ten title for Minnesota, and the last year that they had all three traveling trophies: the Jug, Floyd and Paul Bunyan’s Axe, in their possession.
The win over Iowa should help mentally, as the temps plummet across Minnesota in the next few days.
Let’s go Polar Vortex!
It’s Bacon Week on the University of Minnesota campus, as Iowa travels north to face the Golden Gopher football team.
Above: Minnesota Gov. Floyd Olson, Iowa Gov. Clyde Herring and Floyd in 1935.
After a nasty game between Iowa and Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1934, tensions were high in Iowa City the following year as Minnesota traveled south to play the Hawkeyes. Iowa Governor Clyde Herring threatened anarchy from the local fans if the game became as vicious as the previous year’s.
In an effort to ease tensions, Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson challenged Herring to a wager on the game, suggesting a Minnesota prize hog against an Iowa prize hog. The loser would have to deliver the hog to the winner in person.
In an incident-free game, Minnesota would win 13-6. A pig, the brother of Blue Boy of the Will Rogers film “State Fair”, was donated by Rosedale Farms near Fort Dodge, Iowa and promptly named Floyd after the Minnesota governor.
Since trading a live pig back and forth seemed problematic, Governor Olson commissioned a St Paul artist to capture Floyd’s likeness in bronze for the 1936 season, and the two teams have fought for that little, bronze pig ever since.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society
This Hudson Hornet, a circle track cast off, once ran the Nordic Speedway in Decorah, IA. The track is currently known as the Upper Iowa Speedway. The Hornet is for sale on ebay out of Glencoe, MN.
The Hudson has a 308 Flathead Six with the Twin-H Carter carbs, that allegedly runs, although nothing is hooked up to the motor. This Hudson 6 was originally rated at 145 horsepower, but with Hudson’s racing interest, they had the optional “Severe Usage” package. This was a factory-prepped and dealer-installed collection of thinly disguised high-performance options for the motor, which added another 85 HP.
When I last looked at the auction, the bid was at $1700.
My main interest in this post, besides the listing of craft brews, is that one friend will like the above picture, and another will probably stop watching the blog for a few days.
At any rate, Thrillist ranked each state based on their local beers. Mississippi came in dead last at #50. Iowa was #34, with Toppling Goliath coming in as their top beer. Alaska #25, with Midnight Sun Berserker & Anchorage Bitter Monk taking top honors. Texas was #20, with venerable Shiner getting mentioned as well as Jester King & Saint Arnold. Minnesota came in at #16, with Dangerous Man Brewing, Summit, and several others getting mentioned. Wisconsin #7 (which should surprise no one) with New Glarus’ Spotted Cow taking top honors. Oregon topped out the list.
Come on Iowa, you’re lagging behind.
Image Credit: Jennifer Bui
Check out Thrillist for the complete state listing.
Erin Crocker’s #16 sprint car sits in the front window display area of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum.
In 2002, Crocker had five A-feature wins in a 360 Sprint. In 2003, moving up to the 410 division, Crocker became the first woman in the World of Outlaws history to qualify for the Knoxville Nationals. She was the 2003 Nationals’ Rookie of the Year.
Notice the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sponsorship.
Erin Crocker with #16
As the sprint car season comes to a close, I thought some folks in Iowa might like this photo from Fairbanks.
That’s not to take away from the World’s Ugliest Push Truck. Afterall, these folks are professionals. Too bad it’s been retired, it was definitely my favorite.
For the love of all that is creamy and fattening, is nothing sacred anymore?
The Butter Cow at the Iowa State Fair was vandalized over the weekend. An animal rights group, Iowans for Animal Liberation, hid in the 1904 Agricultural Building until after the fair closed, broke into the Butter Cow’s refrigerated crypt, and poured red paint over the 600 pound cow, which has been a part of the fair since 1911. “Freedom for all” was left painted in large red letters on the glass to the tomb.
Rumor has it that the butter statue of Abe Lincoln had its beard shaved off, and the butter road map of the Lincoln Highway was rerouted from Lubbuck, Texas to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, but Fair officials refused to comment any further. An unidentified source within the Iowa State Troopers office stated that it is believed that the culprits have “spread across the border to Moose Jaw”, and the map is an obvious “taunt at the police”.
Oddly enough, the Crisco Pig, which was also in the crypt with Butter Abe & Butter Cow, was left untouched by IAL.
The butter for the cow is reused for 10 years, at which time it is believed that officials of the Cracker Barrel and Perkins Restaurant chains arm wrestle for it on the Midway. Tickets for this prestigious, once in a decade show are $10 per person.
Sadly, Betsy the Real Cow from Fairfield, Iowa, passed away after giving the milk that went into the making of the additional 100 pounds of butter that Fair crews used to repair the Butter Cow. Representatives of Iowans for Animal Liberation called Betsy’s demise “Unfortunate. But we always knew that collateral damage was inevitable.”
When asked where the Butter Cow’s security detail was on Saturday night, Iowa State Fair officials sheepishly admitted that “they were in Knoxville watching Donny Schatz come back from the 21st slot to win his seventh Knoxville Nationals”.
Photo surprisingly enough, is courtesy of Iowans for Animal Liberation.
The Macallans were kind enough to contribute to the story.
