ANOTHER ONE: Kyle Larson Wins Thursday’s Knoxville Nationals Qualifying Night from Fifth
The three-time and defending Knoxville Nationals champion tops Toyota Qualifying Night for the second straight year
Kyle Larson actually looked human to begin Thursday night at Knoxville Raceway, but that didn’t last long.
He began Toyota Qualifying Night at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s by timing in 15th fastest in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying, subpar by his high standards. He did manage to wheel his way from sixth to fourth in the fifth Heat Race to sneak into the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series main event with the final transfer.
The format lined him up fifth for the finale. When the green flag dropped for the 25-lap Feature, the Larson we’ve grown to know came roaring back.
“Yung Money” started off by going three-wide into Turn 1 in an attack for the third spot, making it clear he was on a mission. It took him only five laps to carve his way into the runner-up position, leaving only Spencer Bayston between himself and the lead. Larson got to work cutting into the advantage until it was gone. A Lap 13 slider stuck, and that was all she wrote. The Elk Grove, CA native drove away to his second straight Thursday triumph at the Knoxville Nationals.
“Honestly, I’m out of breath,” Larson said. “That was a really fast paced 25 laps. The track was really slick, but then against it was super gripped up. It just made it like really technical. Your car was dancing around a lot. I was using both feet quite a bit and steering pretty heavy there, but it was fun. I was trying to watch at least the scoreboard there to see who was in second, and I saw Spencer was still in second. I got stuck behind the 4 (Cameron Martin). He was running a good pace in front of me for a while, and I just figured they were probably closing on me. Thankfully I got by him with a few to go, and I felt like I could rest a little bit easier after that.”
Larson’s victory continued his incredible recent streak at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World” aboard Paul Silva’s No. 57. He’s now won 10 of his last 22 Sprint Car races at the iconic half mile. He’s finished second six times in that stretch, making it 16 top two finishes. The win wasn’t quite enough to overcome the early troubles in terms of points. Larson will start ninth on Saturday. His three starting positions for the years he won the race were third (2021), first (2023), and first (2024). He’ll have some work to do, but anyone who has seen the 33-year-old drive a Sprint Car knows he’s more than capable.
“I wish we would’ve done a little better earlier in the night,” Larson admitted. “It’ll be enough to lock in the Feature for sure, but I’m guessing we’ll be eighth to 10th in points, which isn’t great, but we can still win from there hopefully on Saturday.”
Second place went to Logan Schuchart, who made a late run to snag the runner-up spot aboard the Shark Racing No. 1S. The finish capped a strong night all around and will line him up third on Saturday, the Hanover, PA native’s best starting position in the Knoxville Nationals Championship Feature. He’s finished in the top five on three occasions and badly wants his first win in the sport’s biggest race.
“It’s nice when you’re finishing up front,” Schuchart said. “This will be our best starting position yet. I’m just trying to think of how I felt. I didn’t think I felt really good. I know we were catching Kyle at the end, but I’m one hundred percent sure he was on conservative mode leading the race and trying not to do anything he shouldn’t do. I don’t know if we’re as good as we need to be, but I’m going to take a moment after the race to go through things. We didn’t qualify that well. I was a little worried about going out late, but at the same time we did what we had to do in that Heat Race and this A-main. We’re on the podium. It puts us in a good spot for Saturday.”
After leading early, Spencer Bayston brought the Jason Meyers Racing No. 14 home third, his fourth career podium at Knoxville. The Lebanon, IN driver’s efforts on Thursday were enough to earn him the final lock-in spot from the Qualifying Nights for the Championship Feature. Bayston will start 16th in “The Granddaddy of ‘Em All” on Saturday.
“I felt like I was setting a really good pace,” Bayston said of the race’s beginning portion. “We started to waver a little bit. I knew I was probably going to get somebody visiting me at some point, and sure enough the 57 got by and got away quick. But we fell back in line and got back to what I was doing running the top. The 14 car felt really, really good.”
Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo completed the top five. Macedo’s night was enough to slot him second in points, lining him up alongside Ryan Timms on the front row for Saturday’s $195,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals Championship Feature.
Brad Sweet marched from 21st to eighth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger and slot himself outside row two for Saturday’s finale.
Sweet also earned Simpson Quick Time honors in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to Gage Pulkrabek (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Tasker Phillips (Real American Beer Heat Two), Josh Schneiderman (WIX Filters Heat Three), Christopher Thram (Toyota Heat Four), and Brady Bacon (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Five).
The SPA Technique Pole Award went to Derek Hagar.
Brad Sweet won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Conner Morrell.
FEATURE RESULTS:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[5]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 3. 14-Spencer Bayston[2]; 4. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 5. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[9]; 8. 49-Brad Sweet[21]; 9. 45C-Derek Hagar[1]; 10. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips[17]; 11. 21H-Brady Bacon[15]; 12. 71P-Parker Price Miller[23]; 13. 33W-Cap Henry[20]; 14. 19-Brent Marks[24]; 15. 39-Lynton Jeffrey[7]; 16. 4C-Cameron Martin[22]; 17. 1-Sammy Swindell[11]; 18. 53-Jack Dover[16]; 19. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[18]; 20. 24T-Christopher Thram[19]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[10]; 22. 23L-Jimmy Light[13]; 23. (DNF) 11-Roger Crockett[14]; 24. (DNF) G5-Gage Pulkrabek[12]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.