Johnson Edges Out Schatz In a Knoxville Thriller

The 56th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals had an amazing conclusion Saturday night as Jason Johnson edged out Donny Schatz by a car-length in a race that will be remembered by many as "the best that they have ever seen". The race for the lead over the final ten laps was so amazing that, honestly, I do not feel that I can give it justice in my words here on the Back Stretch, but I will give it a try and hopefully I will be able to link a highlight video here soon.

Yes, it had the added boost of the fact that Donny Schatz was looking for his tenth Nationals title in the last eleven years and while the fans in general showed him more respect than in years past it was still obvious that most of the large gathering wanted anybody else to take the checkers first. Few though thought that "anybody" would include Jason Johnson.

"The Racin' Cajun" looked strong in his Thursday night qualifying efforts landing him on the front row for the 50-lap finale next to Daryn Pittman, the driver that many felt had the best chance to unseat Schatz, and it would be Pittman who would open the race as the leader. Johnson went charging by on the outside to take the lead on lap eleven only to have Pittman come back on him a lap later and while this battle was a good one, it was allowing the third running Schatz to close quickly.

Donny went from third to first one lap later and quickly pulled away as the leaders worked traffic. The first caution of the race waved when Craig Dollansky slowed on lap sixteen and following the restart Schatz again opened an advantage that he carried all the way to the mid-race beak at lap twenty-five.

Crews were given just a three minute "halftime" this year so adding fuel and changing tires were the primary activities in the pits, while some others thrashed to make some more significant changes. Everybody pushed off in time and a look at the restart order showed Schatz out front with Johnson in second, Kerry Madsen was third, Pittman fourth and Shane Stewart was in fifth. With the race upfront capturing nearly all of the attention, the break allowed us to take notice that Greg Hodnett had come from eighteenth to ninth and that B-Main winner Kyle Larson had moved from twenty-first to eleventh.

Once back to racing Schatz went right back to the bottom line that he has mastered over the years here at Knoxville while Johnson let the kite string out and was flying around the cushion. The crowd roared its approval as Jason swept around the leader on lap 27 and then waited for Schatz to fight back. As Johnson's lead grew so did the cheers and the place nearly erupted when Madsen dropped Schatz back to third on lap 39. That thrill was short-lived though as Schatz regained the second spot with an aggressive move two laps later and when Johnson got over the cushion exiting turn four the race was on with Schatz closing quickly. Donny would take the lead with six to go, but Johnson would not give in and gave Schatz a couple of power moves of his own to take the lead with four laps remaining.



Jason Johnson rides the cushion at Knoxville - Barry Johnson photo

One block by Johnson entering turn one broke the momentum of Schatz and as Johnson opened a ten car-length lead it looked like this one was over. Another slip off the cushion in four as he came to the white flag though gave Schatz the opprtunity to close back in and as Johnson rode the high line around turns three and four for one last time, Schatz drove to the bottom and was making up ground fast. The two drivers came off of turn four nearly even and in the drag race to the checkers it was Jason Johnson taking the win by just a 0.168 second margin.

The crowd went absoultely nuts with fans high-fiving each other and literally dancing in the stands, a celebration that continued as Jason Johnson climbed to the top wing in victory lane.

The post-race discussion - Barry Johnson photo

After the race Schatz pulled alongside the winner unhappy with some of the daring moves that were made in those closing laps and afterwards, while sitting side-by-side in the pressroom it was obvious that any hard feelings were from the heat of the moment as Johnson explained. "I respect this guy so much and I want him to respect me." Yes, Jason Johnson had used some bold maneuvers to fight off Donny Schatz, but as Jason pointed out, "this is the god damn Knoxville Nationals!" And, as the winner of this absolute classic, Jason Johnson not only has the respect of Donny Schatz, but the entire Sprint Car racing world.

Shane Stewart joined his good friend on the podium in third and joked that maybe he gave the winner a little too much good advice when Johnson came asking about how to beat Schatz after Stewart held off the champ on Wednesday night. Pittman finished in fourth while Kyle Larson proved that he remains a Sprint Car star driving all the way up to fifth. Jamie Veal was sixth, Chad Kemenah was solid in seventh, Hodnett hung tough in eighth, Ian Madsen was ninth and David Gravel completed the top ten. Kerry Madsen had his top-five run go to the wayside when he pulled off with mechanical problems during the final three laps.

Barry Johnson photo

Earlier in the night only the second red flag of the week flew as R.J. Johnson bicycled on the cushion in turn three during the D-Main and when the front end dug in his car vaulted up and over the wall. Crashing through the billboards on the other side, R.J. actually said that it wasn't that "hard of a hit" as his car settled down outside of the track and he walked away uninjured.

So that puts a wrap on the 56th version of this event, a week that fought the weather on the first two nights, but still delivered four fantastic nights of racing topped off by a feature race that will set the bar high for the future. I have been coming here since 1976 and while I have seen many memorable Championship races, this one no doubt jumps to the top of the list and you can bet that I will continue to come back each August knowing that there is always the possibility that it could be replaced.

I want to thank Keith and Jeff Nachbor, Buck and Pat, Grandpa and the boys for allowing me to join the family this week. The chance to reunite with good friends for four nights of fun each year is what makes this event so special and while I told the boys that my readership from the teenage girl demographic is likely quite low, they made me promise to include the following for having to put up with me for the entire week.

Follow Ethan at nachbor7 on Twitter or at ethannachbor on Instagram and keep up with Sam on Instagram at SamNachbor.

Let me know how that works out for you guys.

Barry and Stephanie Johnson and daughter Aidan opened their home to me again this week and for that I am always so grateful.

And finally, a big thank you to Kendra Jacobs, John McCoy, the Marion County Fairboard and the entire staff at the Knoxville Raceway for the fantastic hospitailty all while presenting the absolute best event in auto racing!