Ricky Knotts

Benny Richard Knotts (May 23, 1951 – February 14, 1980) was an American ASA driver. The Paw Paw, Michigan driver began his career in 1966 on Michigan short tracks and raced in various stock car series for six years before he died in a crash at Daytona International Speedway in 1980.

ASA Knotts was a Michigan short-track racer who began racing at the age of fourteen. Primarily competing in late models, he was in touring series by the late 1970s. He won three American Speed Association events during his career, at Toledo Speedway, Winchester Speedway, and Anderson Speedway. The 1979 Anderson win came in the Red Bud 300 in Anderson, now regarded as a major race for Super Late Model drivers, where he led 58 laps, beating Midwestern short track legends Dick Trickle and Mike Eddy (who led 57 laps), and future NASCAR Cup Series race winners Jody Ridley (who led 98 laps) and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Mark Martin (who led forty laps).

Winston Cup Series In 1979, the Knotts family purchased an Oldsmobile 442 race car, attempting to make Winston Cup Series starts without any prior ARCA or Sportsman experience on the longer circuits. The car made attempts at Michigan and Charlotte at the National 500, failing to qualify for both.

His father Richard served as his crew chief.

Knotts had never participated in an intermediate track with ARCA in the Midwest or in a Sportsman race such as the Permatex 300 at Daytona. He failed to qualify for two intermediate track races in 1979 at the Cup level.

Under current rules, Knotts would not have been permitted to participate in the Duels. NASCAR currently requires drivers to have intermediate experience before being allowed to participate in the three restrictor plate (superspeedway) races at Daytona, Talladega Superspeedway, and since 2022, Atlanta Motor Speedway. In addition, drivers cannot participate in the Daytona 500 heat races unless they have raced in any of the development series races previously at the three circuits. First time drivers must test in the January test session for ARCA and gain clearance from NASCAR before being permitted in a developmental series practice session (Truck, O'Reilly, ARCA) before being cleared to race in that series. Cup Series drivers must have participated in a superspeedway race in a lower series and start at another oval before being cleared for any of the six races at the classified superspeedways under current regulations. Under current rules, Knotts would have been told to participate in the ARCA race at Michigan before making an attempt at the Sportsman race in Charlotte in 1979 before the Daytona ARCA test, followed by the ARCA race at Daytona (the week before the 500) before he would have gained permission to race at Daytona in the Cup level.

Honors Knotts was inducted into the Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. His daughter Toysa represented the family for the induction.

Personal life Knotts attended Comstock High School. He had a sister Deborah. 1980 31 RSD

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