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“This
is not a nice place,” owner A.J. Mottet said referring the
physical structure of his Knoxville bar, the Dingus Lounge. “That’s
not why people come here.”
The shabby, 33-year-old
edifice with writing on its walls certainly doesn’t deter
an estimated 10,000 race fans from stopping in for a few beers and
smiles in mid-August during the week of the Knoxville Nationals
sprint car races. It’s the bar’s fun, happy-go-lucky
atmosphere they’re attracted to, Mottet said. It’s a
pit stop, of sorts, for fans attending the world’s largest
sprint car race held right across the street at the Knoxville Raceway.
“All walks of life
come through here,” Mottet elaborated. “Rich people,
poor people, celebrities, race car drivers, everybody.” The
Knoxville Nationals attracts a cult following of open-wheel, dirt-track
racing fans from all 50 states and several countries. They stop
by throughout the week, drink beer, have a good time, and sign their
names on the walls with a black marker. “There are a lot of
good stories and good memories here,” Mottet said.
Mottet reminisced the
day when 2002 NASCAR champion Tony Stewart (who owns a sprint car
team) came in and signed his name on the wall and wrote “24
and 2 suck” referring to NASCAR competitors Jeff Gordon (#24)
and Rusty Wallace (#2). “(Stewart) loves this place because
he can come here and be himself and nobody bothers him,” Mottet
said.
The same goes for all
the other Dingus Lounge patrons who pack the bar from noon to 2
a.m. every day during Knoxville Nationals week. “The race
fans are here to have fun, plain and simple,” Mottet said.
“People who come here year after year for the race know it
is a very friendly bar.”
While the population
of Knoxville is just over 8,000, it swells to over 20,000 during
the national race week. Despite the massive influx of racing fans,
Mottet said his bar experiences relatively few problems of public
intoxication. The Knoxville police know the races are good for the
city, he added, and they do an excellent job of making safety a
top priority while still allowing racing fans to have plenty of
fun.
Which, for about 10,000
people in mid-August, means walking to the modest little bar with
writing on its inside walls between crumpled wing panels taken from
wrecked sprint cars. The shabby physical structure, however, is
insignificant to most Dingus Lounge patrons. It’s the good
company and cold beer inside and the race track across the street
that matter the most.
“The Knoxville
Nationals is the biggest sprint car race in the world,” Mottet
said, “and this is the place to be during that time.”
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