Notes:
On Thursday, 14 February 1980, during the second of the Twin 125 qualifying races for the Daytona 500, driver Ricky Knotts from Paw Paw, Michigan lost control of his Oldsmobile #31, after the car's hood suddenly blew off. Knotts crashed into the wall on the outside, bounced back to the center of the track and was violently hit by the Mercury #39 driven by Blackie Wangerin, then spun across into the inside retainer wall. A total of nine competitors were involved in the accident. Knotts died instantly having struck his head on the wall when his seat came loose.

Knotts began racing at Kalamazoo and Berlin Raceways in Michigan and was a regular on the American Speed Association (ASA) Circuit of Champions. In 1979, he drove Bob Correll and Bob Weaver's Camaro to a ninth place finish in the ASA.

Ricky Knotts is buried in Wildey Cemetery, Paw Paw, MI.

• U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007.
• Social Security Death Index.
• Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964.
• Florida Death Index, 1877-1998.
• Book "The History of America's Speedways - Past & Present", by Allan E. Brown, third edition, first printing, November 2003, America's Speedways, PO Box 448, Comstock Park, MI, 49321-0448, United States, ISBN 0-931105-61-7, page 194.
• Book "The Tribute Project", edited by Ed Watson, 1997, page 24.
• Book "40 Years of Stock Car Racing, Vol. 4", by Greg Fielden. [T]
• Magazine Autosprint, issue 19 February 1980.
• Newspaper National Speed Sport News (Ridgewood, NJ, United States), issue of 20 February 1980, article "Twin 125 Finishes Tight, Knotts Dies".
• CBS tv coverage.
• Website racing-reference.info, 1980 Race #2, page http://racing-reference.info/race?id=1980-02&series=Q.
• Website Atlas F1, bulletin boards, "The Nostalgia Forum", thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 1, posting by "Francis".
• Website The Daytona Beach News-Journal, article "Racing-related deaths at Daytona International Speedway", page http://www.n-jcenter.com/newsjournalonline/speed/nextelcup/03speednext20020904.htm.
• Website Atlas F1, bulletin boards, "The Nostalgia Forum", thread "Speed's Ultimate Price: The Toll", page 36, posting by Jim Thurman, message http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread.php?postid=1599017#post1599017.
• Website Find-A-Grave: Benny Richard “Rick” Knotts.
• E-mail by Rick Kelly, dated 09 February 2004.
• E-mail by Rick Kelly, dated 18 June 2004.
• E-mail by Jim Thurman, dated 01 December 2005, citing [T].
• E-mails by Jerald Daughtry, dated 11 and 16 May 2007.
• E-mail by Steve Estes, dated 11 November 2010.