1988 – Belleville Midget Nationals to Knepper

 

Steve Knepper proudly displays his trophy for winning the 40-lap Midget Nationals at the Belleville High Banks. – Jim Viviano Photo

By Bryan Gapinski

Belleville, Kan. (August 3, 1988) – Steve Knepper scored the biggest win of his career Saturday night by winning the 40-lap Belleville Midget Nationals feature at the Belleville High Banks. The win was worth $6,500 of the $34,000 purse.

Knepper, who started on the pole, jumped into the lead immediately closely followed by Randy Roberts. The duo pulled away from the rest of the field and battled for the top spot.

By the 10th trip around the half-mile, Knepper increased his lead over Roberts to four-car-lengths as third-place Dan Boorse closed in on Roberts. At the midway point of the race, Knepper’s margin was six-car-lengths.

Former Belleville winner Mike Gregg and Tommy White crashed on lap 29, with Gregg flipping, bringing out the red flag. Neither driver was hurt.

On the restart, defending race winner Ron “Sleepy” Tripp retired to the pits with engine problems and Knepper cruised to the easy win over Roberts, Boorse, Chuck Gurney, and Robby Flock.


Results –

1. Steve Knepper
2. Randy Roberts
3. Dan Boorse
4. Chuck Gurney
5. Robby Flock
6. Palmer Crowell
7. Jon Backlund
8. Mike Brooks
9. Steve Enlow
10.Dean Billings