The 62nd running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals kicked off Wednesday night in south central Iowa at the world famous Knoxville Raceway and it would be an eighteen-year-old from Oklahoma that would top the headlines on a night that included a couple of controversial and impactful incidents.
Let's get to the night's winner first though as Ryan Timms clicked off the third best qualifying time on the night as the sixteenth driver to trip the timer. He was then just one of only two drivers to race from row four of the eight car inverts in the five heat races to make it in to a top four transfer position and he then made a big early charge in the main event to get him into a position to later take the lead, and eventually win the twenty-five lap main event. This effort would total up to 487 points, 18 points more than any other driver on the first of two qualifying nights and likely locking him to a front row start in Saturday's National Championship race.
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| Ryan Timms - Barry Johnson photo |
For the local fans, this did not come as a surprise as Timms has been a terror at Knoxville during the regular season putting the Leibig #10 in victory lane here four times already in 2025 with the 410 car and once with the 360. Tonight's victory started from the outside of row four where he used the high line to get all the way up to third on the opening lap. The young phenom would soon move to second and on lap ten he would drive by early leader Justin Pack to take the point before the red flag flew a lap later. Kaleb Johnson had jumped the cushion in turn one and went for a wild ride that he would thankfully walk a away from uninjured.
On the restart Timms would drive away from the field and he would be flawless through traffic in the closing laps to take the win nearly a full straightaway ahead of Peck. Sheldon Haudenschild, who had started fifth, would put the NOS Energy Drink #17 on the podium in third, Garet Williamson finished where he had started in fourth while Emerson Axsom advanced one spot to take fifth.
After a disappointing 360 Nationals, Sam Hafertepe Jr. had a nice run from tenth to sixth, Corey Day charged from the outside of row eleven to finish seventh, Rico Abreu started next to Day and followed him up to eighth, Chris Windom finished ninth and Austin McCarl closed out the top ten.
Along with Timms' domination, a couple of incidents will be thoroughly discussed and analyzed here on Thursday as fans take shelter from some morning thunderstorms. The first came at the start of the fourth heat race as one of the pre-event favorites David Gravel ended up smacking the guardrail entering turn one before getting upside down. Starting from the outside of row four Gravel entered turn one about a line and a half from the bottom, but when the fifth starting Hunter Schuerenberg did not stay on the berm the two made contact sending Gravel for his ride. In the post-accident interview Gravel stated that Schuerenberg must have entered the turn with his eyes shut and that prompted the large opening night crowd to shower him with a chorus of boos. Even with a couple of different camera angles it was hard to determine who was at fault and it was best summed up by Schuerenberg's crew chief who said that two drivers were both going for the same position on the race track.
Gravel's crew quickly made repairs as he was able to start the C-Main that he won easily and he then made a valiant charge from twentieth to eighth in the twelve lap B-Main leaving him four positions out of a transfer.
It was the final lap of that B-Main that gave us the other highly debated incident of the night as Sye Lynch and James McFadden engaged in a drag race to the line for the fourth and final transfer position. Some will say that McFadden came up the track too much while others will claim that Lynch tried to crowd him down, but the result was that Lynch went for a wild ride that saw him nearly clear the infield guardrail and enter victory lane in the worst way possible while McFadden somehow maintained control and captured that final transfer. The winner of Sunday's Capitani Classic would then advance nine positions to fifteenth in the main event putting him eleventh on the points chart after night one.
The seventh car to take time, Rico Abreu would earn the 200 points for quick time, but his seventh place finish in the opening heat race would set him behind. Still his point total of 468 would tie him with Corey Day and be just one marker behind Sheldon Haudenschild who ranks second on the current list.
Gravel was impressive posting the fourth quick qualifying lap despite being the 49th driver out to qualify. Even without making the feature he is 20th on the points chart, but he will still have a chance to lock into the Championship race with a top four finish in Friday night's action.
Ten-time Knoxville Nationals champion Donny Schatz had a night to forget finishing fifth after starting third in his heat race and then finishing where he started, fourteenth in the B-Main. He too will try to turn things around on Friday night.
The surprise of the night was young Jack Anderson who parlayed a great draw for qualifying to rank fifth on the chart after being the first car to the track. The 410 rookie had a great run on the opening lap of his heat race, but when Hank Davis slid up to the cushion in three and four, "Fast Jack" had to take evasive action and somehow kept it out of the guardrail losing three spots in that sequence. He then held his own in fine fashion to finish third in the B-Main and he ended the night finishing sixteenth in the feature. His point total of 444 puts him tenth on the chart and should lock him into the first five rows of the B-Main on Saturday. Quite an accomplishment for a driver who has posted just two top ten finishes in weekly action here at Knoxville this season and again it shows how a low pill draw on your qualifying night can lead to a big evening if you take care of business.
The forecast calls for clearing skies on Thursday making for another exciting night at the Knoxville Raceway!
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