Larson To The Front At Thursday's Knoxville National Qualifier

Kyle Larson gave race fans a sign of what was ahead during the fourth heat race as he got off to a slow start from the outside of row four and then steadily picked his way past some good cars  before driving by Clint Garner for the fourth and final transfer spot for Thursday night's main event at the 65th Knoxville Nationals. No other driver had been able to do that this week as only five of the top twenty qualifiers, the drivers who started their heat race from row four needing to get to the top four, got the job done. The other four would pick up two or more positions on the opening lap and then have nine more times around the historic half-mile to make their moves. So, when I was asked who would win during the night's four-wide parade lap, there was no doubt that it would be Kyle Larson. 

Just one lap would go in the books before Kaleb Johnson got sideways in turn four collecting both Carson McCarl and Matt Juhl with the contact sending Johnson for a rollover. All three cars would be done for the night.

Garet Williamson - Barry Johnson photo

Once back to green Garet Williamson and Austin McCarl would resume their battle for the lead with Williamson setting a quick pace before Austin was able to drive to the front on lap seven. Williamson came right back though to resume his lead on lap nine just before Tasker Phillips spun in turn two while racing in sixth. Larson, who had started eighth as the high point qualifier, was now up to third for the restart and he would quickly dispatch McCarl before setting his sights on Williamson who had stretched his lead out to a half straightaway.

Kyle Larson takes second from Austin McCarl - Barry Johnson Photo

That advantage would steadily fade though as Larson reeled him in and with seven laps to go Kyle would driver under Williamson in turn one to take the point. Hold on though, just as Larson made his move the caution waved and it was explained that someone had gotten out of shape, but had recovered by the time the yellow lights came on. Even the announcing trio of John Gibson, Tony Bokhoven and Blake Walker could not identify who that someone was as they reviewed instant replays, so perhaps chalk this one up as a "phantom" caution. 

It did put Williamson back in front for the restart though knowing that Larson had easily passed him on the inside, so Garet immediately went to the bottom of turn one and successfully blocked his challenger. He would continue to hold off the inevitable for two more laps before a red flag flew when Tasker Phillips took a high flying end over end ride in turns one and two. Thankfully Tasker was able to get out of the car under his own power.

On this restart Williamson again went to the bottom while Larson took to the top and once he got it wound up he would sail around Williamson for the lead with four to go. Behind them Brent Marks was making his move as the driver who had started the race in row six, and who had lined up sixth on this restart was making some moves of his own driving past McCarl, Parker Price-Miller and Buddy Kofoid to get to third as the checkers waved over Larson, Williamson and Marks. Kofoid would finish fourth with McCarl fifth and PPM in sixth. Carson Macedo made up for a poor qualifying effort early in the night by driving from fifteenth to seventh in the feature, Aaron Reutzel was unusually quiet on the night coming from thirteenth to eighth, Logan Schuchart won the B-Main and then charged from twenty-first to ninth while Spencer Bayston improved four spots to tenth.  

Brent Marks (19) around the outside of Carson Macedo (41) and Spencer Bayston (17) - Barry Johnson photo

There has been plenty of talk about Kyle Larson competing this week knowing that he has a Saturday night conflict with the NASCAR Cup race at Richmond and after the race he made it quite simple stating that this is what his car owner Paul Silva and crew member Trevor Canales do for a living and the Knoxville Nationals is a high paying race. The winner's purse tonight plus the guaranteed $15,000 for locking into the Championship race was the best that he could do given the circumstances and that was the goal coming in. "I'm happy to get Trevor his second start in the Knoxville Nationals", Kyle said post race as the Silva team had a similar scenario several years ago when his driver at that time Rico Abreu was committed to a NASCAR Truck race. Kyle then stated that he hopes the NASCAR race runs off quickly so that he can then settle in and watch the stream of the Nationals saying that he almost enjoys being a Sprint Car fan as much as does driving one. 

Hard to argue with that.

Thursday Notes.....The draw for qualifying order was again very important as the top five of Tanner Thorson, Tyler Courtney, Xavier Doney, Larson and Daryn Pittman came out 7th, 6th, 1st, 5th and 27th respectively......Parker Price-Miller slipped past pole-sitter Levi Hillier on lap nine to claim the fourth and final transfer spot in heat one......Courtney had a run off the bottom of turn four coming to the checkers, but Kaleb Johnson slammed the door on him and held on for fourth in heat number two,,,,,Brent Marks made a late pass of Carson McCarl to win the third heat, but even with his drive to the podium in the feature he will start from the outside of the front row in Saturday's B-Main.....Pittman made some early moves to go from eighth to fourth in the final heat race, but he then had to hold off a late charge from Kerry Madsen to keep the transfer.....There were two separate incidents on the first try at a start of the B-Main. Contact up front would send the right front of Cale Thomas up the outside guardrail where he was fortunate to not go flipping and as he slowed in turn one it was chaos in turn two as several cars spun and made contact with Chase Randall getting upside down. Tyler Courtney was one of those involved and after repairs in the work area he would go from his original starting spot on the front row to the rear of the field for the second try. This time Daison Pursley would flare out too early from his starting position and as the caution came out for his jumped start, Pursley would get sideways in turn one causing more carnage down on the berm......Once the race was finally underway it was a good one with most eyes on Courtney who was charging through the field trying to get to fourth before the twelve laps were completed. He would get to within two car lengths of the fourth running Skyler Gee with three laps to go, but Xavier Doney and Pursley were right there as well and as those three engaged in a torrid battle for fifth in the closing laps, Gee was able to pull away and make the show as the final starter.

The first eight rows of the Championship race is slated to lineup like this:

Kyle Larson - Sheldon Haudenschild

James McFadden - Kasey Kahne

Buddy Kofoid - Justin Henderson

Parker Price-Miller - Daryn Pittman

Chase Dietz - David Gravel

Rico Abreu - Logan Schuchart

Garet Williamson - Cole Macedo

Corey Day - Brian Brown

Rain that was forecast to build over south central Iowa around 7 p.m. did not materialize until overnight and as we look at Friday that nasty "R" word seems to be more prevalent. Hopefully the Dunkins will be given the window of opportunity that we need in order to race this evening as four more Championship race qualifiers will be determined for the 65th Knoxville Nationals.

Brent Marks - Barry Johnson photo

Sheldon By A NOS As 65th Knoxville Nationals Opens With A Thriller

There was drama before Wednesday night's feature even took the parade lap and, at the end, race fans saw one of the most thrilling finishes ever in the sixty-five years of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's.

The initial drama came when defending Nationals champion Ryan Timms, who was scheduled to start ninth in the twenty-five lap main event, was not able to make the call when his crew was unable to get the fuel plate back on the car. As the rest of the field slowly made their way around the track for several laps, the team was finally able to get the plate back in place and as they pushed the car back to be picked up by one of the Knoxville Raceway four-wheelers to be brought around to staging, they were still trying to get as much fuel into the car as possible. In fact, one crew member remained on the car as it was being pushed to finish the fueling and when he completed the task let's just say that his dismount was less than perfect, landing face first on the paved pit area.

There is always a possibility of seeing a "first time" occurrence when you are at a race track, and this was definitely one of those, but I have to believe that after this incident there will be a new rule stating that no crew members can remain on the car as it is being pushed to staging.

It had already been announced that Timms would have to start at the rear for being late to staging, but he quickly drove up to the fifth row just as the field went into their four-wide salute to the fans. And during those laps it was noted that a magnetic flashlight was still attached to the back of the roll cage, with the light still on, so he would have to return to the work area to have it removed. At that time he was again told that he would be starting from the back and after picking up a few positions early in the race, Timms would be the first car to drop out of the event and was credited with a 24th-place finish.

Barry Johnson photo

In the meantime young Jace Park had taken the lead from the pole position and as he pulled away from the field many in the large opening night crowd had to be wondering who this was in the plain white, unsponsored car #28. Racing here weekly in 2026 from his hometown in Overland Park, Kansas, and with guidance from fellow Kansas City area veteran Brian Brown, Park is currently fifth in the point standings at Knoxville and he was on a rail tonight running the top on both ends. 

Behind him James McFadden, who started sixth, had now worked his way up to second and was starting to reel in your leader through traffic before the lone caution of the race waved when the powerplant in Emerson Axsom's #27 went up in smoke and then a single burst of flames on lap fourteen.

Following the restart Park would lead one more lap before McFadden powered by on the inside to take the point. Rather than fade away though, Park made a believer out of us by coming right back after McFadden and when James sensed him coming back on the outside, he moved up the track to block only to have Jace then go low and regain the lead with five laps remaining.

James McFadden - Barry Johnson photo

If you could pull your eyes away from this battle for a split second you would have seen that about a straightaway behind them Sheldon Haudenschild had just prevailed in his battle with Cole Macedo for third and he would now try to reel in the lead duo in just a handful of laps.

McFadden would come charging back at Park again on the bottom to take the lead under the white flag as Park again nailed the cushion in one and two to get a big run down the back straightaway and with a slower car just ahead of them they drove deep into turns three and four looking for the win. The crowd roared though as Haudenschild closed quickly and as McFadden slid up exiting turn four to close the door on Park, Sheldon came off the bottom like a rocket and in the drag race to the line it would be Haudenschild taking the thrilling victory by just six one thousandths of a second over McFadden. Park would be just a smidge over a tenth of a second back in third in what will go down as one of the best finishes in Knoxville Nationals history. 

Sheldon Haudenschild - Barry Johnson photo

Cole Macedo finished fourth, Chase Dietz had his best Knoxville outing ever in fifth, Justin Henderson finished in sixth, Sye Lynch started second and finished seventh while the quick qualifier on the night, Kasey Kahne finished where he started in eighth. Sawyer Phillips had a good outing in ninth and Jy Corbett established himself as the top Rookie of the Nationals by taking tenth. 

Wednesday Notes.......The first car out for qualifying, Kasey Kahne set quick time and the rest of the the top five Rico Abreu, Emerson Axsom, David Gravel and Corey Day were 15th, 22nd, 6th and 2nd in the order respectively......As they have been for many years now the top eight were inverted in each heat with only the top four transferring to the A with only two of the top ten accomplishing that feat.....The first was Kahne who was aided by a couple of incidents at the start of heat one. Lynton Jeffrey was lined up on the outside of row one, but when he swung out wide toward the cushion before getting to the start line, the start was waved off and Jeffrey was docked a row due to a new rule calling for the drivers to stay side-by-side instead of fanning out. On the second try at a start seventy-year-old Sammy Swindell who is making his 50th and final run here at the Nationals, made contact with Jeffrey at the exit of turn two sending both cars sideways with Sammy going for a series of nasty barrel rolls down the back stretch. Thankfully one of my all-time favorites was able to climb from the beat up car uninjured and word is that he will be back to try it again on Friday. On this third start Kahne would now start sixth and he would get to fourth early and then hold off Tanner Holmes to move on to the feature. Also on that third start, James McFadden would quickly go from third to first and then drive away for an easy victory..... The second heat saw the top four starters finish in the top four with Rico Abreu coming up one spot short in fifth.....One of the reasons that I do these notes is to make myself look back and see how if just one little thing had happened differently earlier in the night, how much it would have changed the outcome in the end. This was the case in heat race number three as Jace Park fought off both Emerson Axsom and Donny Schatz mid-race to hang on to the fourth and final transfer spot eventually landing him on the pole of the main event. Axsom would later transfer out of the B-Main and he would drive from 22nd to 13th before his engine let go in the feature.....Sheldon Haudenschild would be the only other driver beside Kahne to come from a fourth row start and transfer from his heat race, but that fourth heat started off with a caution when Sheldon bounced off the berm entering turn one and made contact with the fifth starting Logan Julien. With Julien then spinning and being dinged for the caution, Haudenschild moved to the outside of row three for the restart where he then thrilled the crowd with a big run up to second at the checkers.....The crowd on the back stretch had a thrill on the opening lap of the fifth heat race as drivers were three wide for the lead and three wide for fourth. Ryan Timms, who had started fourth, would then take the lead and drive away for a nearly a half lap victory.......The stacked B-Main turned out to be a bit of a snoozer as the top four drivers finished exactly where they started with Rico Abreu, Axsom, David Gravel and Corey Day making the transfer while several of the sport's biggest stars would be relegated to a spectator role for the remainder of the night.......During the post race press conference Haudenschild was asked what he thought about the drama at the start of the race and he summed it up by saying that if it had been him who had been struggling to get to the track that the race would have likely started without him.

Action continues on Thursday night where hopefully Mother Nature will be a race fan and, if she is, the fifty-two drivers scheduled to race will have a high bar to get over to create quite the buzz that this one did on Wednesday. Hope to see you here at Knoxville! 

Timms Wards Off Reutzel For Knoxville 360 Nationals Crown

Ryan Timms, now just two days past his twentieth birthday, joined some elite company Saturday night holding off a late charge from Aaron Reutzel to win his first Knoxville 360 Nationals championship. And, with his win in the 2025 Knoxville 410 Nationals, Ryan joins Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell as the only drivers to score a victory in both of Knoxville's premier events.

Ryan Timms - Barry Johnson photo

Timms would jump to the lead at the first drop of the green flag only to have the caution wave before one lap could be scored due to Daison Pursley's spin on the back stretch. During that caution the lone rookie that qualified for the finale, sixteen-year-old Austin Wood came to the work area to change a flat tire and he would rejoin the field for the second try at a start.

This one would see outside pole starter Aaron Reutzel race to the lead before the start was called back for the second row being too ragged. The third time was a charm and Timms would vault to the lead and go to the top side to ride the cushion. James McFadden would get to second for the first few circuits and by the time Reutzel clawed his way back to second, Timms would have a full straightaway advantage.

Lapped traffic is the great equalizer though and as Timms found most of them to be running in the lower lines, it would still allow Reutzel to close the gap getting to within a couple of car lengths with ten laps to go in what would be a non-stop thirty lapper. Ryan would again stretch the lead, but with just three laps to go he now had five cars racing for position in front of him, running both high and low on the half-mile.

As the leaders raced into turn one for lap twenty-nine Timms would try to squeeze under a lapper that was coming down the track and when he had to check up, the hard charging Reutzel drilled him squarely on the rear push bar. This would rejuvenate Timms' momentum while choking off Reuztel's and for a moment it looked like Tyler Courtney might be able to sail around them both on the back straightaway. 

Aaron Reutzel - Barry Johnson photo

With the white flag waving Reutzel was coming for the lead again and as the leaders exited turn four for the final time it was a drag race to the checkers with Timms taking the win by a car-length over Reutzel with Courtney right there as well to join the podium. Kyle Larson, who had started seventh, would finish in the fourth position with McFadden holding down fifth. Brian Brown would slip from third to sixth, Thursday's preliminary night winner Giovanni Scelzi would go seventh, Chase Randall finished eighth, Justin Henderson was ninth and Corey Day came from sixteenth to tenth.

Defending 360 Nationals champion Rico Abreu would win the B-Main then move from twenty-first to twelfth as the Hard Charge of the event.

Barry Johnson photo

The predominately high side ride by Ryan Timms was reminiscent of his dominating victory during the 2025 Knoxville Nationals where he did not face a late challenge as he did here tonight. With the momentum of these two Nationals victories, and the fact that he has been a weekly competitor here at Knoxville over the past two seasons, the young driver from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has to be tagged as the favorite when the granddaddy of them all gets underway here next Wednesday.

Danny Lasoski won the 360 Nationals in 1995 and the 410 Nationals in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Sammy Swindell won the 410 Nationals in 1983 and the 360 Nationals in 2016 at the age of 60.

It was just five years ago when we were watching this young phenom, Ryan Timms, compete at Knoxville for the first time after he was winning at other tracks who did not have as strict of age limits. Perhaps another young driver to keep your eye on in the years to come is Braxton Flatt from Monmouth, Illinois. The thirteen-year-old scored his first full-sized winged sprint car victory tonight in the weekly 305 class at 34 Raceway west of Burlington.

The Capitani Classic will unleash the 410's here at Knoxville on Sunday night while I look forward to the opportunity to be on the mic at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Thanks for checking in on the Back Stretch!

Courtney Consumes Bacon For Friday Feature Win at 360 Nationals

Yes, I just did that and I came darn close to being able to use the word "Sizzles" in the headline for the second night in a row! Brady Bacon looked unstoppable through the first eight laps of Friday night's main even at the Knoxville Raceway until he caught the back of the field. Struggling to get around Tyler Lee who was also running the leader's preferred line around the bottom of the historic half-mile, fellow front row starter Tyler Courtney closed fast and after they both disposed of Lee, Courtney made the pass on lap eleven of the twenty lap event.

Tyler Courtney closes in on Brady Bacon - Barry Johnson photo

He too would then open up a seemingly insurmountable advantage only to have lapped traffic give him fits allowing Bacon to come roaring back and as they split the slower car of Evan Semerad, Bacon almost beat Courtney to the bottom in turn one. Once "Sunshine" closed the door though, this one was over as Courtney would score the win over the "Macho Man" in the non-stop event. Ryan Timms was the star of the night from a points standpoint as his third place run, up from the seventh starting spot, will put the young star on the pole for Saturday night's finale. Anthony Macri finished where he started in fourth and Brian Brown closed out the top five.

Tasker Phillips was the Hard Charger coming from eighteenth to finish sixth, young Austin Wood slipped from third to seventh, five-time 360 Nationals champion Terry McCarl is still getting it done in eighth, J.J. Hickle was ninth while Levi Hillier was tenth. The night's quick qualifier Sam Hafertepe Jr. slipped from eighth to eleventh while the defending 360 Nationals champion and crowd favorite Rico Abreu won the B-Main and then finished thirteenth.

Tyler Courtney - Barry Johnson photo

Barry Johnson photo

Friday Notes......Tonight's top five qualifiers Hafertepe, Timms, Brown, Kerry Madsen and Josh Schneiderman came out 2nd, 30th, 5th, 12th and 1st respectively. Madsen would come out of the B-Main while Schneiderman was one spot shy of a transfer out of the B......Courtney gave a preview of things to come going from fourth to first in the first set of turns in the first heat, a race that he would then win going away.......Timms would be the only driver on either night to start sixth and take a heat race win taking the lead on lap five of eight in heat two.....The third heat race was stacked with the defending 360 track champion Phillips, Whit Gastineau, Parker Price-Miller, Bacon, Abreu and Brown starting in the first three rows with only four to advance. PPM would join Abreu in the B-Main where he passed Schneiderman late and then raced from 24th to 12th in the feature.....A three car battle for the final transfer position in heat four was a good one where Sean McClelland tried to hold off Anthony Macri and Kerry Madsen through some tight quarters racing. Macri would prevail leading to his top five run in the main event......The first two starts of the fifth heat were very ragged and called back, but once underway there would be no catching sixteen-year-old Evan Semerad who would score the win......With a threat of weather possibly popping up in the area, track officials kept things moving with the final checkers waving at 9:44 p.m.......Ryan Timms and Aaron Reutzel will bring the field to green from row one in Saturday's finale. Other notable A-Main qualifiers include sixteen-year-old Austin Wood as the Californian comes back to his Iowa roots, along with sixty-one-year-old National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member Terry McCarl. A tip of the hat as well to hometown hero Ryan Leavitt and ASCS regular Kyler Johnson who made it in as the twentieth driver on the points list.....That leaves defending champion Rico Abreu in the B-Main where you can bet he will look to put on a show as it will be Knoxville Night In America on Saturday! 

Ryan Timms - Barry Johnson photo

Scelzi Sizzles; Reutzel Tops Points List After 360 Nationals Opener

During hot laps for Thursday night's opener of the Knoxville 360 Nationals Gio Scelzi's Chili's sponsored car #77 sounded terrible and was obviously not up to speed posting the 45th best lap of the 53 entries. With a 360 cubic inch engine on loan from the team of Pacific Northwest stalwart Trey Starks and no viable option to change to, the team went to work and diagnosed a spark plug issue that was taken care of in time for qualifying. As the 26th car out to time, Scelzi posted the 13th best lap and the team went back to work on fine tuning the borrowed powerplant.

By the third heat race the engine was humming right along as Gio started fourth and finished second to Tanner Holmes to qualify for the night's A-Main and, as luck would have it, his point total to that point would land him on the pole position in the standard eight car invert for those who were able to transfer from the five heat races.

Scelzi would outrun fellow front row starter Ryan Leavitt into turn one to take the point and he would open a sizeable advantage until he started to encounter traffic on lap eight. Kyle Larson had moved from fourth to second at that point and as the leader struggled to get past Kaleb Johnson, Larson quickly closed in on Scelzi. Finally after a couple of laps Gio cleared Johnson, and the car in front of him, as Larson now faced the same struggle only to have the lone caution of the race wave on lap twelve when the left rear tire exploded on the #8 of John Carney II.

Gio Scelzi - Chuck Stowe Images

With an open race track and just eight laps remaining the restart would likely tell the story here, but as both Scelzi and Larson drove to the bottom through turns one and two, Chase Randall went to the middle and drove around the outside of Larson to take second. Kyle would battle back to regain the spot with five to go, but while they tussled Scelzi had hustled out to a full straightaway advantage. 

As those final laps clicked away, quick qualifier on the night Aaron Reutzel had worked his way past Randall for third and was now closing fast on Larson and as they came off of turn four to take the checkers Reutzel would edge out Larson to finish as the runner-up to Gio Scelzi. Once viewed as a bit of a villain here at Knoxville, I was amazed to hear the crowd actually cheering the final lap pass over the driver that was once everybody's hero. Randall would finish in fourth followed by James McFadden in fifth. Corey Day started tenth and finished sixth, Justin Peck advanced from twelfth to seventh, Justin Henderson was eighth, Brock Zearfoss ninth and Ryan Leavitt was the best of the locals finishing out the top ten.

Chuck Stowe Images

Thursday Notes.....A favorable draw for qualifying order is a big step toward success in both the 360 and 410 Nationals, but on this night it wasn't as critical as the top five qualifiers Aaron Reutzel, Justin Henderson, James McFadden, Riley Goodno and Daison Pursley went out 17th, 24th, 52nd, 22nd and 6th respectively. Although if you asked him, I'm sure that Ryan Leavitt would say that being the third car out was a nice start to his evening.....Kyle Larson was the 37th car to trip the clock in qualifying and he posted a solid sixth quick time that landed him on the inside of row three for the first heat with the six car invert. The top four would transfer out of each heat and at the drop of the green Larson had to check up twice behind Texan Christopher Townsend and he would drop to eighth on the opening lap. This would normally be a bad sign, especially in an early heat race, but the track was already wide and Larson would race his way back to fourth by the checkers......As the sixth starter in heat three, McFadden picked up the fourth spot as lap one was scored slamming the door on Jace Park as they raced down the front stretch.....The fourth heat had a great battle for the final transfer position as Brock Zearfoss and Riley Goodno swapped the position mid-race and in the final laps they closed on the third place car of Kade Morton. In the end it would be Goodno who would have to make a transfer from the -B-Main....A very slow pace coming to the start of heat five allowed Daison Pursley to jump from sixth to fourth on the opening lap and he then had to hold off a charge from Sawyer Phillips mid-race....The only flip of the night would come at the start of the B-Main where Skylar Prochaska swung wide from his eleventh row starting spot and passed several cars down the front stretch. But entering turn one he would run up over the back of Ben Brown sending Prochaska's car hard into the outside guardrail where it then collected young Jack Thomas. Thankfully both drivers walked away without injury......The top ten in points after night one are Reutzel, McFadden, Henderson, Larson, Scelzi, Randall, Pursley, Goodno, Day and Leavitt with the other half of the field set to go tonight. 

Aaron Reutzel - Chuck Stowe Images