Even though the Knoxville Nationals is in its 56th year it is good to know that it is open to change and after it had become obvious that the Friday night "non-qualifiers" show had become a bit stale a few years ago, a major change in the format was brought forth. For many, many years the top fifty in points from the Wednesday and Thursday qualifying sessions were "locked in" for Saturday while the rest of the field would run a full program on Friday night with the feature winner earning the eleventh starting spot in Saturday's C-Main......yay.
Under the new format only the top sixteen in points from the two qualifying nights lock into Saturday's A-Main, while drivers ranked 17th through 26th have the option to start from the first five rows in Saturday's "B" feature, or throw their hat back in the ring and run a full show on Friday where the top four in the main event leap frog those other ten and go straight to rows nine and ten in the Championship feature....YAY!
Not only does that make Friday night exponentially more entertaining, but officials even put a cherry on top by adding the winner of the Speed Sport World Challenge to the back of Saturday's finale if that driver had not already qualified. So with that, five more Friday night drivers advanced on to tonight's National Championship at the 56th Annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores.
With 77 drivers signed in the field was split into two qualifying groups with the first group running heats one, two and three while the second group would make up heats four, five and six. Drivers qualifying at the back of each group would run a C-Main while each group would then have its own B-Main to set the 24-car feature field. Three cars would advance from each heat and the top four qualifiers would be inverted so, with no points being awarded, a driver would actually be better off qualifying seventh to twelfth within the group so that they could start from the front row of the heat rather than the second row. Pennsylvania drivers Lucas Wolfe and Jacob Allen would set quick time in their respective groups and while Wolfe was able to capitalize on the effort, it turned out to be a frustrating night for Allen.
Obviously points are not awarded in the heats either so with the lesser invert, and the reduced motivation for that driver running second to make that one more pass for the lead the six heat races were fun to watch, but nowhere near as intriguing as the previous two nights. Drivers from within the invert advanced through the first three and it would be a miscue by Allen that would spice up the fourth qualifier. Jacob had been shuffled back to fifth when he spun on the low side of turn three and then slid up the track. When the car went over the cushion it executed a soft rollover causing the first (and hopefully only) red flag of the week. After he was pushed back to the work area the crew wasn't even going to change the top wing since they were able to bend it back into shape, but with a broken suspension part officials would not let Allen return to the race at the back of the twelve car field. It was later reported that Allen was miffed at the decision, but if somebody would have explained to him that he was still going to start from the pole of the second B-Main even if he just went to his pit to start making full repairs it could have saved him the angst.
As it turned out, Allen's incident actually hurt Rager Phillips more as he held a comfortable lead before the red and appeared to have the race win well in hand. On the restart though both Dakota Hendrickson and Danny Lasoski powered by and then with just two laps to go Matt Moro took third away from Phillips to become the only driver on the night to qualify from outside of the invert. Phillips on the other hand would now start fourth in the second B-Main and needing a top three finish to advance he wound up in sixth.
After a disappointing qualifying night Brian Brown had taken to Twitter to complain a bit about the format, the same format that has seen him challenge Donny Schatz for the Championship the past few years. Another example of my belief that race drivers really do look at things as to how it effects them in the moment rather than how it is for all, drivers and fans included. As the last car out to qualify in Group B tonight, Brown showed that he was ready to race as he posted the third best qualifying lap and he continued that focus on the opening lap of the sixth heat when he powered from fourth to first in the first two turns, a move that would vault him to victory by a full straightaway.
The C-Main had a interesting contrast of youth and experience as three drivers were racing for the final two transfer positions. Teenager Chris Martin found himself locked in battle with both Jac Haudenschild and Danny Smith until "The Wild Child" spun Tony Shilling's #22 up the track in turn three. Martin pulled away from Smith on the restart and Danny was able to fight off a challenge first from Brian Paulus and then on the final lap from Byron Reed to move on to a B-Main.
Dustin Selvage and Kraig Kinser would go one-two in the first B-Main while young Trey Starks came from sixth to take the third and final transfer. The significance of that will be revealed a little later. Front row starters Jacob Allen and Cap Henry would lead the way in the second B-Main and when Cory Eliason slipped high off of turn four on the final lap it allowed Davey Heskin to drive by and steal the position. It looked as though Eliason was not aware that he was in a transfer spot as he was still trying different lines in an effort to catch Henry and that last move cost him dearly.
The starting grid for the 25-lap main event was now set and with the top four finishers advancing to the big show on Saturday it makes the fan watch this one in a much different manner. Especially tonight when there was an interesting race for the lead, but perhaps an even more intriguing one at the same time for fourth.
Rico Abreu started third, but when the front row of Lucas Wolfe and Greg Hodnett left the bottom open in to turn one, Rico charged through and then drove to the cushion in turn two to establish himself as the leader. Hodnett moved to second and sixth-starting Danny Lasoski was quickly up to third as Wolfe fell from the top four when Brian Brown took the position. Abreu opened a big lead early before Hodnett found the low line to his liking and began to reel him in. As the race for the lead tightened so too did the battle for that important fourth spot as Logan Schuchart closed in on Brown.
With six laps to go Hodnett had Abreu in his sights as the leaders worked traffic and Schuchart had pulled even with Brown down the back stretch only to have Brian slam the door on him entering turn three. With four laps remaining Schuchart again had a run off two and this time he completed the pass for fourth going down the back stretch. Just as Brown dove to the bottom in turn three to throw a slidejob at Schuchart the caution lights came on for the lapped car of Trey Starks that had spun on the cushion between turns three and four. Entering turn three at full speed Brown's car went up the track to the cushion where Starks sat and while he tried to squeeze between him and the fence, there was not enough room. Contact with both Starks and the guardrail left the FVP #21 too damaged to continue and if Brian Brown is going to once again challenge for the National Championship he will have to do it in dramatic fashion starting from mid-pack in tonight's C-Main. Don't count him out!
On the restart Hodnett was able to keep pace with Abreu, but could not mount a challenge as Rico scored his first career feature win here at the Knoxville Raceway. Lasoski held down the third spot while Schuchart could not hold back the resurgence of Lucas Wolfe who came back to take fourth. Tim Shaffer, the 2010 Nationals champion and the only driver to defeat Donny Schatz here the past ten years had his late charge come up just short as he finished fifth after starting sixteenth, Schuchart was sixth, Joey Saldana finished where he started in seventh, Stevie Smith was eighth while Sheldon Haudenschild and Brady Bacon filled out the top ten.
Later in the press room when Rico was asked how it felt to get his first ever win at Knoxville, he said that it was incredible and that he had just told Danny (Lasoski), who was sitting next to him, that he only had another 109 or 110 to go to catch him. Rico also noted how much it meant to win Friday night's feature as it was the race that his good friend, the late Bryan Clauson won here at the Nationals last year. In 2015 Abreu scored enough points on his qualifying night to make the A-Main, but when he honored his commitment to his K&N Series ride he had crewman Trevor Canales start and park the car. No start and park this year, you can bet that Rico will put on a show for the fans tonight.
The 25-lap Speed Sport World Challenge, an event that includes Australian drivers who race in the U.S. and Americans who did some racing Down Under this past winter, would close out the evening with the race winner earning the "Golden Ticket" to Saturday night's finale if that driver was not already qualified. The race is lined up with a deep invert based upon the points earned by the drivers on their qualifying nights and that landed Kraig Kinser and Jason Sides on the front row. Kinser, the 2005 Nationals Champion the year before Schatz started his ownership of the event, was fresh off of 25-laps where he had finished 17th and his crew had him dialed in for this one. Sides kept pace through most of the race until Kinser pulled away and the battle for second was then the one to watch over the final five laps. Danny Dietrich moved to second with four lap to go, then it was Ian Madsen in second with two to go. James McFadden traded the position with Madsen coming to the white flag and at the checkers it was Kinser, Madsen, McFadden, Dietrich, Jamie Veal and then Sides.
The field is now set for tonight's grand finale that will see the "E", "D", "C" and B-Mains leading up to the 50-lap National Championship that pays $150,000-to-win and $9,500 just to start. There will definitely be some contenders this year, but from what I saw on Wednesday night, especially in his heat race when he quickly drove from eighth to third, my money is on Donny Schatz to win his tenth Knoxville Nationals in eleven years. I will though be more than happy to lose that bet!
Come on out and join us on a beautiful night for the Knoxville Nationals!
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