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1997 Champion, Dave Blaney, Returns to Knoxville Nationals

Dave Blaney, former Knoxville Nationals champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee will make his return to Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway for the 56th running of the 5-Hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.

This Knoxville Nationals will be the first for "The Buckeye Bullet" since 1997, when he earned the victory over Greg Hodnett and Danny Lasoski crowning him the Knoxville Nationals Champion.

"It will be exciting to get back to Knoxville (Raceway)," Blaney said. "There's a lot of prestige to this race and really this entire week. Every driver wants to be the one crowned as the Knoxville Nationals champion."

Blaney, 53, will return to sprint car racing's biggest event as the driver of the Motter Motorsports No. 71m. Owner, Dan Motter, has fielded sprint cars for more than two decades with some of the best drivers in competition such as Doug Wolfgang, Kenny Jacobs and, most recently, Joey Saldana. The Motter Motorsports team finished fifth in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals.

Thus far, Blaney and Motter Motorsports have captured one win at Volusia Speedway Park in February, three top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes this season.

Blaney, the 1995 World of Outlaws champion, has earned 70 World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series wins, including one Historical Big One victory, a Gold Cup championship, and two Kings Royal titles. He's also seventh on the Arctic Cat All-Star Circuit of Champions all-time win list with 47 victories.

In 1998, Blaney transitioned from sprint car racing to stock cars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series(NXS). He's since competed in three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, 121 NXS, and 473 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Blaney earned one NXS win at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in October 2006.

Other entries received thus far for the 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores include:
Jon Agan of Knoxville, Iowa., has entered the Knoxville Nationals driving his family-owned No. 4. A 10-time 360 winner at Knoxville Raceway, Agan finished third in the D-Main in the 2015 Knoxville Nationals.
Clint Garner, a six-time 360 season champion at Knoxville Raceway, will compete in the Knoxville Nationals in the No. 40 he competes in regularly at the ½-mile track. Garner, of Sioux Falls, S.D., finished 21st in last year's B-Main.
Wayne Johnson from Oklahoma City, Okla., will race the No. 2c in this year's 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores. Johnson has qualified for seven finales with a career-best finish of eighth in 2006.
Brent Marks of Jonestown, Penn., qualified for his first Knoxville Nationals A-Main last August. He earned a 17th-place finish in the Marks family No. 19M.
DJ Netto of Hanford, Calif., will compete in the No. 88N. Netto finished 14th in last year's C-Main.
Paige Polyak of Tiffin, Ohio, will return to the Knoxville Nationals for the third time in the Mike Woodring-owned No. 19P. "Lady Lightning" is the only female who has entered the race thus far.

Stevie Smith of Broken Arrow, Okla., is considered one of the best drivers to never have won a Knoxville Nationals title. Smith has qualified for 21 Nationals finales, the fourth most in the race's history, and has earned 14 top-10 finishes.
Jamie Veal of Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia has entered in the Indy Race Parts No. 71. Veal finished 12th in the B-Main one year ago. Earlier this year, Veal led 21 laps before finishing fourth in the June World of Outlaws event at Knoxville Raceway.

More confirmed drivers will be announced each week as we close in on the 56th running of sprint car racing's most prestigious event. An updated list can be found at www.knoxvilleraceway.com/Event/Knoxville-Nationals. To date, 93 drivers have entered the race.

The 56th annual 5-hour ENERGY® Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores kicks-off on Wednesday, August 10 and concludes on Saturday, August 13. The event features more than 100 drivers from around the United States, Australia and New Zealand, Nearly 21,000 spectators converge upon Knoxville for the event.

Tickets for the 5-hour ENERGY® Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores are available for purchase at www.knoxvilleraceway.com or by calling 641-842-5431. Four-day ticket packages are also available.

More information about Knoxville Raceway and the 5-hour ENERGY® Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores can be found at the aforementioned website, on Knoxville Raceway's Facebook page, @KnoxvilleRaces on Twitter and Knoxville Raceway on Instagram. The Knoxville Raceway app is also a free download for all Apple and Android phones and features live timing and scoring for every event.

Fans can receive updates and information on events, driver appearances and more b texting "Nationals" to 84483.

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