Thursday kicks off the Southern Iowa Sprint Week when Knoxville Raceway hosts the 22nd annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Nationals three-day event. This race continues to grow in popularity, and year in and year out is the best racing of the year in my opinion.

The 360 cars seem more equal than the 410s, and it gets harder every year to predict the top contenders to win. The event is also becoming a spring board for some teams to gain momentum heading into the following week’s events. The past two years, Shane Stewart won his second and third career 360 Knoxville Nationals and that helped launch him to two consecutive top-five finishes in the 410 Nationals. So it’s good racing, but also valuable track time to possibly gain an edge on the competition for the 410 Nationals.

At the 410 Nationals you can see a clear cut group of five cars that have a chance to win, and probably two or three that stick out as the favorites. In the 360 Nationals there are 10 to 15 cars that have a shot to win and it’s hard to pick anyone as a clear favorite. The $10,000 to win event attracts some regular 410 drivers who do not compete in 360 races throughout the regular season and that makes it hard to judge how good their equipment is coming into this event and where they stack up. All the question marks out there make for a dramatic event and it’s hard to say who will come out on top on Saturday night.