The Dirt Chronicles

dirt

CHRONICLES

By: Bob Mays

The 1a meant that Bobby Allen was in town. The future Hall-of-Famer and 1990 Knoxville Nationals winner was a consistent force on the outlaw trail in 1978. (Leroy Byers Photo)

WINGED LEGENDS TOPLESS

Doug Wolfgang won the 1978 Knoxville Nationals aboard the Speedway Motors 4x. It was his second consecutive Nationals win and one of five total. (Leroy Byers photo)

Rick Ferkel led the 1978 WoO standings most of the season but couldn’t stave off the advances of Steve Kinser. His biggest victories were the 1973 Pacific Coast Nationals at Ascot and the 1974 Western World at Manzanita. (Leroy Byers photo)

Steve Kinser had his coming out party in 1978. He’d been knocking around with other teams for several years but when Karl Kinser tabbed him for the seat of his plain-Jane-looking #11, it changed sprint car racing forever. (Leroy Byers photo)