RPW Column: Knoth Brothers Racing On Dirt & Asphalt In 2021: Dan At Accord, Joe At Bethel

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – GARDINER, NY – The Knoth name has long been a familiar one for a long time to racing fans in the Mid Hudson Valley. Jerry Knoth and his light yellow #20’s were a familiar sight at Accord, OCFS and other tracks starting in the 70’s. Rich Ricci Sr. had some good finishes racing for Jerry and longtime Limited Sportsman racer Bud DePuy also raced the #20.

Jerry passed away in 2011, but his sons, Dan and Joe have continued the family tradition of racing and they both are looking forward to being in competition in 2021.

“Joe raced for the first time on asphalt at Bethel in 2020 and he really enjoyed it,” Dan said. “He is excited about the 2021 season. I have a Hig Fab car that I would like to race at Accord on Friday’s. All this is contingent on whether the Covid situation allows tracks to be open.”

Dan ran the team’s car in 2020 in the early Accord practices. It was switched over to an asphalt setup for Bethel and Joe raced the car for the balance of the season. Each brother will have their own car for 2021.

“Joe always wanted to race asphalt and my preference has always been dirt. So this season, we both will hopefully get to race what we want to,” Dan said.

The brothers both got their start in racing in the mid 2000’s with Dan racing a pure stock in 2007 and Joe starting in 2008. Dan took a few years off of racing, raced a few races in the 2015-2016 time frame and returned to Sportsman racing in 2018. Joe returned after an absence from racing of 5 years to get back into competition in 2020.

The team is very happy for the sponsors that the have for their team. They include Turcos Machine Shop (Rosendale), Expresstech Printing (Stone Ridge), Premier Auto Body (Highland), Mara’s Creations, Avery Home Repair and Antonio’s Pizzeria (Rosendale).

The crew members for the teams are Mike Bilyou, Jared Bilyou, Dan’s fiance Abby Bilyou and his niece, Catherine Gatto. Dan and Joe are also grateful for the help that the team receives from the Mike Senecal Motorsports team.

The goal for Dan is to run the full season at Accord and hopefully grab a win in the Rookie Sportsman division. Joe’s goal at Bethel is to continue to improve as he was doing towards the end of the 2020 season.

Good luck to the Knoth Brothers Racing Team as they take on the kind of unique challenge of racing weekly on the two different surfaces at the Accord Speedway and the Bethel Motor Speedway.