Just a quick refresher on the qualifying system for those of you who are not familiar with the Knoxville Nationals. The field is split into two nights of qualifying where the drivers draw a number for their qualifying order and then points are awarded for the remainder of the night as follows:
Qualifying - 200 points for quick time with two point increments down the list
Five Heat Races - The fastest eight of the ten cars in each heat are inverted and the top four advance to the night's A-Main, fifth through eighth go to the night's B-Main while ninth and tenth go to the C-Main. 100 points goes to the winner of each heat with three point increments all the way to tenth.
Features - The top four from the C tag the back of the B and the top four from the B tag the back of the A-Main where the top eight in points from the cars that transferred from the heats are inverted for the lineup. The winner of the A-Main earns 200 points with two point increments all the way down to the last place car in the C-Main.
And that is how you earn your qualifying night points that then determine whether or not you make the Championship feature on Saturday night where the top sixteen after Wednesday and Thursday are locked in while seventeenth through twenty-sixth have the option of starting in the first five rows of Saturday's B-Main, or returning on Friday night to run another program where the top four in Friday's A-Main lock themselves into rows nine and ten for the Championship feature.
It is an absolutely magnificent system that requires a driver to have to race his or her way into the big show, but every year and especially after last night, the world of social media will go nuts because "the best" drivers are not at the top of the points list. The primary cry will be over the eight car inverts in the heat races, however those who whine about that year after year seem to forget the advantage that comes from drawing an early spot in the qualifying order. The invert for the heats is the great equalizer and remember that the same amount of points are awarded for qualifying as what are awarded for the feature. So, if you want to argue for a fewer number of cars to be inverted in the heats, then you must also have to reduce the importance of qualifying by either dropping its points to say 100 for quick time with two point increments, or leaving it at 200 and dropping the increment by position to one point.
Just a thought, but I say LEAVE IT ALONE! This method of qualifying has made the Knoxville Nationals the premier event that it is and there is no reason to change it, even if it means that Kyle Larson's plans for the rest of the week here are now screwed up. But I digress, on to my notes from Wednesday night.
Ladies first! Paige Polyak was the first car out for qualifying in the 59th Annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores and her best lap of 15.674 stood up for 14th best in the final rundown. The seventh car out for qualifying Ian Madsen set quick time at 15.165 while Aaron Reutzel's lap of 15.331 was second quick as the 22nd of the 53 cars that took qualifying times. Kyle Larson went out 27th and was ninth quick, Donny Schatz put up the tenth best lap from the 40th position and Gio Scelzi was the latest qualifier to crack the top ten as his eighth best time came from the 49th position in the qualifying order. Only two of the top ten qualifiers would then advance out of their heat race!
Brent Marks was the early mover in heat one after starting sixth as defending track champion Austin McCarl led the way after starting from the pole. (Austin was the 50th driver out for qualifying). Don Droud Jr. had second well in hand until his motor soured with two laps remaining to produce a late caution. On the restart Jamie Ball put a slider on McCarl to take the win with Marks in third while Paul McMahan passed Kerry Madsen in the final laps to become one of those two top qualifiers to transfer. Quick timer Ian Madsen was never a factor in sixth.
Aaron Reutzel started eighth in the second heat, but he used the bottom in turns one and two on the start to move to fifth heading down the back stretch. From there the defending All Stars champion methodically moved forward to finish second to crowd favorite Jac Haudenschild . Newly crowned 360 Nationals Champion James McFadden was third and Spencer Bayston wheeling Harley Van Dyke's #5H this week finished fourth.
The third heat saw the sixth starting Hunter Schuerenberg smack the guardrail exiting turn two and when the fastest qualifiers in the fourth row, Gio Scelzi and Tim Kaeding, scrambled to miss him that allowed the cars ahead to open up an advantage that could not be erased as the race stayed green. Front row starters Wayne Johnson and Scotty Thiel would go one two with Mark Dobmeier and Sheldon Haudenschild next in line.
All eyes would be on Kyle Larson to see what he could do from the fourth row in heat race number four, but he went nowhere fast finishing the race where he started in seventh as a pair of sevens, Tasker Phillips and Jeff Swindell were first and second. Justin Peck ran third while the battle to watch was for fourth where Paige Polyak had to fight off a pair of sliders from Dominic Scelzi late to hold her position.
With Larson going nowhere in the race before, the question for the fifth and final heat would be if ten time Nationals champion Donny Schatz could get qualified from seventh. The fourth row starters have to make a move in the opening set of turns to have a chance to crack the top four and Schatz did not pick off any positions early. Then when Brady Bacon drove by him on the front stretch and shut the door on him into turn one, Schatz really lost momentum and he was buried in sixth. Meanwhile up front, Knoxville Nationals Rookie-of-the-Year contender Tanner Thorson, the young man who almost lost his life in a highway accident earlier this year, made a nifty pass on leader Carson McCarl to take the win after starting fourth. McCarl, the current track point leader in the 360 division finished second as Skyler Gee and Trey Starks also transferred.
After the lackluster performance in the final heat race Schatz's team made the risky decision to change motors before the B-Main that was the second race up on the remaining schedule and they caught a break when young Zachary Hampton pounded the turn three guardrail and got upside down on the opening lap of the C-Main. Freddie Rahmer, Jake Bubak and Rusty Hickman would be the top three while the fourth transfer spot would go to Matt Moro who after setting the 51st best time on the night came from the eighth starting spot.
With the motor change complete Schatz and Larson would make it a star studded fourth row for the twelve lap B-Main where only the top four finishers would advance and the six drivers starting in front of them had all posted better qualifying times earlier in the evening. This time Schatz was able to make that big move early as he would be scored in fifth on the opening lap and he would get as high as third before Gio Scelzi charged past him late in the race. Tim Kaeding would take the win as Scelzi made a final lap move around Ian Madsen for second as Schatz nailed down the final transfer spot. Again Larson could not gain much ground as he finished sixth and with his NASCAR commitments at Michigan this weekend the question now is whether or not he will be back to race again on Friday night.
The twenty-five lap A-Main would wrap up the night and I have to wonder if many of the fans were like me, watching the back of the pack to monitor the progress of Schatz rather than the front where pole-sitter Mark Dobmeier raced to the early lead. I nearly missed the pass for the lead as Trey Starks put a slider on Dobmeier in three and four on lap five and when Scotty Thiel spun after being lapped on lap twelve I thought that we would see some new faces up front following the restart. That was not to be though as Starks used the knowledge that he has acquired from racing here weekly this year to maintain his lead and take his first career win here at the Knoxville Raceway in fine fashion. James McFadden who had started second passed Dobmeier with five laps to go but could not reel in Starks as he took the runner-up honors and Sheldon Haudenschild made a final turn pass of Dobmeier to take third.
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| Wednesday night's winner Trey Starks - Barry Johnson photo |
Aaron Reutzel would close out a solid night in the fifth spot to be the high point man with Brent Marks in sixth. Tanner Thorson had a solid showing in seventh after starting tenth, Jac Haudenschild advanced four positions for eighth, ninth went to Paul McMahan and Tim Kaeding came from 21st to tenth at the checkers. And just outside the top ten Schatz passed Gio Scelzi on the final lap to finish eleventh after starting from 24th.
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| Victory lane from left to right: James McFadden, Trey Starks, Sheldon Haudenschild and Doug Clark - Barry Johnson photo |
The points list from the first night as pulled from the Knoxville Raceway website will show that while Reutzel's total should stand up four a top four position after Thursday's qualifying, the drop from 487 to Kaeding's 466 is steep so second after night one does not guarantee a starting spot in the first two row rows for Saturday's finale, nor does a top eight ranking now guarantee a starting spot in the Championship race. Usually following a night of chaos like this, normalcy prevails on night two so we will see what happens. Hope to see you there!
Thursday Point Totals
1 87 Aaron Reutzel 487
2 7S Tim Kaeding 466
3 13X Paul McMahan 465
4 19 Brent Marks 464
5 44S Trey Starks 463
6 18 Ian Madsen 455
7 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 453
8 9 James McFadden 450
9 71 Gio Scelzi 449
10 15 Donny Schatz 447
11 13 Mark Dobmeier 444
12 88 Tanner Thorson 440
13 3H Jac Haudenschild 424
14 19P Paige Polyak 423
15 48 Danny Dietrich 421
16 99 Brady Bacon 416
17 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 410
18 2C Wayne Johnson 410
19 70X Justin Peck 410
20 5J Jamie Ball 410
21 57 Kyle Larson 406
22 83J Lynton Jeffrey 401
23 2KS Austin McCarl 399
24 27 Carson McCarl 397
25 2M Kerry Madsen 396
26 7X Justin Henderson 390
27 5H Spencer Bayston 385
28 41S Dominic Scelzi 384
29 1S Logan Schuchart 384
30 99X Skylar Gee 380
31 7SW Jeff Swindell 377
32 64 Scotty Thiel 377
33 68 Chase Johnson 364
34 39 Sammy Swindell 359
35 1 Travis Rilat 356
36 20 AJ Moeller 341
37 18R Ryan Roberts 337
38 11C Roger Crockett 329
39 11 Hunter Schuerenberg 329
40 19T Kevin Thomas Jr. 322
41 85 Chase Wanner 309
42 45 Rusty Hickman 305
43 51 Freddie Rahmer 302
44 9X Jake Bubak 294
45 1X Don Droud Jr. 294
46 74 Brodie Tulloch 277
47 56 Joe Simbro 270
48 J4 John Garvin 269
49 73AF Joey Moughan 267
50 56N Davey Heskin 258
51 2MM Matt Moro 256
52 35 Zach Hampton 227
53 75 Glen Saville 226
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