Kyle Larson celebrates his win on night #1 of the Knoxville Nationals (DB3 Imaging)
Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet Lead in Points
by Bill Wright and Bryan Hulbert
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 9, 2017) – Kyle Larson led wire to wire on Brandt Professional Agriculture Night #1 of the 57th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores at the Knoxville Raceway Saaturday. The Elk Grove, California native guided Paul Silva’s #57 flawlessly through traffic to claim his third career feature win and $12,000 at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World.” Donny Schatz emerged atop the all-important point standings earning 492. He was followed by Brad Sweet (489), Kerry Madsen (487), Greg Hodnett (472), Larson (469) and Shane Stewart (469).
Larson grabbed the lap one lead from Austin McCarl, who had gotten the jump at the green. Greg Hodnett settled into second in the 25-lapper, ahead of Paul McMahan and Donny Schatz. Schatz used the low side of the track to gain fourth on lap two. Parker Price-Miller came to a stop when his nose wing came askew three laps in.
Larson pulled away again, while Kerry Madsen moved into the top five. Schatz drove by Hodnett to take third on lap five, and Madsen followed him into fourth. The leaders entered lapped traffic on the tenth circuit, and McCarl, Schatz and Madsen battled for several laps in second, third and fourth. Schatz would clear the group on lap 14 and continue his pursuit of the leader. Hodnett would shoot under Madsen for fourth on lap 14, and slid by McCarl for third on lap 17.
Larson would maintain his advantage to the checkers, followed by Schatz, Hodnett, Brad Sweet and McCarl. Madsen, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, Christopher Bell and Bill Balog completed the top ten. Madsen set quick time on the night at 14.886. Kevin Thomas Jr., Jac Haudenschild, Matt Moro, Schatz and Bill Balog were heat winners. Lucas Wolfe won the B main.
“I definitely have to have the conversation with him, that’s for sure!” said Larson in Victory Lane as the crowd roared, in reference to his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series owner, Chip Ganassi, and his ability to make it back from practice in Michigan for Saturday’s championship in Knoxville. “I’ve never been this good in a sprint car in my career. To win a prelim night here with Paul Silva is amazing. Our car was really good the whole feature. We were a little loose on the bottom, and I felt we moved up at the right time. I’m super-happy to win! I’m nervous about the phone call. Hopefully, (Chip) is listening and knows how much I appreciate everything he allows me to do racing sprint cars. If we can race Saturday night, that will be a dream come true. To win here Saturday…I feel like we have a great shot. In the Cup stuff, those are the best group of guys to work with. I feel like we have a great shot (at a championship). I feel fast, and I’m having fun. It would be a lot of fun to get done practicing Saturday and know I’m racing here.”
“We tried something there to see if we may be a little better,” said Schatz. “We may have been a little worse. You have to do that. We got ourselves in a good spot in the heat race and qualified o.k. You have to finish good and we did. Kyle was really good there. When the racetrack changed, he got up on it. We were just a little free, but my hat’s off to this race team. They do incredible things together. They work hard together. Racing is one of them games where we argue, enjoy it, and do everything together.”
“I’ve been running the bottom pretty well, but it went away from me there,” said Hodnett. “I had to move back up to the top, and I think I held my own and didn’t lose a whole lot. We’re still trying to figure it out, but the guys are doing a great job on the car. We’ve got a great fan base here, and a great racetrack. There are two lanes here, and you can’t ask for anything better. I appreciate all the effort that Knoxville puts into this. We’re very fortunate to be able to come here.”
Join us tomorrow night for Toyota Night #2 of the 57th Annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
410 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 2M, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (1), 14.886; 2. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (18), 14.986; 3. 24W, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (2), 15.026; 4. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (14), 15.042; 5. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (3), 15.070; 6. 2, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (38), 15.073; 7. 82, Dusty Zomer, Sioux Falls, SD (7), 15.110; 8. 4, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (43), 15.160; 9. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (33), 15.163; 10. 27, Greg Hodnett, Spring Grove, PA (40), 15.227; 11. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (17), 15.252; 12. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (22), 15.286; 13. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (4), 15.298; 14. 22, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (16), 15.307; 15. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (37), 15.309; 16. 93, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (29), 15.317; 17. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (46), 15.329; 18. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier, Maroochydore, QLD, Aust. (10), 15.380; 19. 51, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (31), 15.381; 20. 14B, Christopher Bell, Norman, OK (36), 15.384; 21. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (21), 15.385; 22. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (24), 15.389; 23. 2MM, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (13), 15.403; 24. 1M, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO (35), 15.408; 25. 99, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (19), 15.410; 26. 70, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (48), 15.413; 27. 5H, Cory Eliason, Selma, CA (45), 15.429; 28. 67X, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (30), 15.461; 29. 26, Tayler Malsam, Sammamish, WA (8), 15.471; 30. 4X, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE (26), 15.474; 31. 71, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (27), 15.481; 32. 17, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (39), 15.497; 33. 9X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (6), 15.512; 34. 1B, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (42), 15.521; 35. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (25), 15.532; 36. 8H, Jason Kendrick, Perth, WA, Aust. (12), 15.616; 37. 17W, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (20), 15.625; 38. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (23), 15.671; 39. 3G, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (47), 15.674; 40. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (28), 15.754; 41. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (44), 15.801; 42. 1P, Curtis Evans, Norborne, MO (32), 15.878; 43. 83C, Adam Cruea, Troy, OH (9), 16.230; 44. 12W, Josh Walter, Plymouth, WI (41), 16.504; 45. DQ (Light at Scales) 39, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (5), 14.898; 46. DQ (Light at Scales) 85, Chase Wanner, Agency, IA (15), 15.682; 47. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (11), NT; 48. 10, Tyler Bear, Elliottsville, PA (34), NT.
Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:38.5: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (8); 3. Austin McCarl (6); 4. Shane Stewart (7); / 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (5); 6. Jason Kendrick (1); 7. Sawyer Phillips (9); 8. Clint Garner (3); / DQ (Muffler) - 9. Aaron Reutzel (4); DNS 10. Chase Wanner (10);
Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:36.6: 1. Jac Haudenschild (2); 2. Brad Sweet (8); 3. Harli White (1); 4. Matt Juhl (4); / 5. Davey Heskin (5); 6. Cory Eliason (3); 7. Dusty Zomer (7); 8. Tim Shaffer (6); / 9. Curtis Evans (9); DNS - 10. Logan Schuchart (10);
Heat three (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Matt Moro (4); 2. Parker Price-Miller (3); 3. Jake Bubak (2); 4. Paul McMahan (7); / 5. Lucas Wolfe (8); 6. Chase Johnson (6); 7. Jordyn Brazier (5); 8. Scott Bogucki (1); / DNS - 9. Adam Cruea (9); 10. Tyler Bear (10);
Heat four, (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (8); 2. Dustin Selvage (2); 3. Danny Lasoski (4); 4. Carson Macedo (1); / 5. Joey Saldana (5); 6. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 7. Rager Phillips (6); 8. Josh Walter (9); / 9. Tayler Malsam (3);
Heat five, (started), 10 Laps, 2:40.4: 1. Bill Balog (2); 2. Kyle Larson (6); 3. Greg Hodnett (7); 4. Christopher Bell (5); / 5. Matt Covington (1); 6. Brady Bacon (4); 7. Dakota Hendrickson (3); 8. AJ Moeller (8); / DNS - 9. Spencer Bayston (9);
C main (not run): 1. Tayler Malsam (2); 2. Curtis Evans (3); 3. Adam Cruea (4); 4. Chase Wanner (6); / DNS - 5. Aaron Reutzel (1); 6. Spencer Bayston (5); 7. Logan Schuchart (7); 8. Tyler Bear (8);
B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Lucas Wolfe (1); 2. Dusty Zomer (3); 3. Chase Johnson (6); 4. Tim Shaffer (5); / 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 6. Jordyn Brazier (10); 7. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 8. Cory Eliason (14); 9. Clint Garner (13); 10. Rager Phillips (7); 11. Davey Heskin (9); 12. Joey Saldana (11); 13. Brady Bacon (12); 14. Sawyer Phillips (15); 15. Matt Covington (18); 16. Jason Kendrick (16); 17. Tayler Malsam (17); 18. Josh Walter (20); 19. AJ Moeller (2); 20. Curtis Evans (22); 21. Adam Cruea (21); 22. Chase Wanner (19); DNS - 23. Dakota Hendrickson (23); 24. Scott Bogucki (24)
A main, (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Kyle Larson (1); 2. Donny Schatz (6); 3. Greg Hodnett (3); 4. Brad Sweet (7); 5. Austin McCarl (2); 6. Kerry Madsen (8); 7. Shane Stewart (5); 8. Paul McMahan (4); 9. Christopher Bell (9); 10. Bill Balog (18); 11. Matt Juhl (10); 12. Tim Shaffer (24); 13. Danny Lasoski (12); 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (14); 15. Carson Macedo (20); 16. Parker Price-Miller (13); 17. Dusty Zomer (22); 18. Chase Johnson (23); 19. Dustin Selvage (17); 20. Jac Haudenschild (15); 21. Matt Moro (11); 22. Harli White (19); 23. Jake Bubak (16); 24. Lucas Wolfe (21); Lap Leader: Larson 1-25; Hard Charger: Tim Shaffer
57th annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store Event Points (as of August 9, 2017)
1. 15, Donny Schatz 492
2. 49, Brad Sweet 489
3. 2M, Kerry Madsen 487
4. 27, Greg Hodnett 472
5. 57, Kyle Larson 469
6. 2, Shane Stewart 469
7. 2KS, Austin McCarl 466
8. 4, Paul McMahan 463
9. 82, Dustin Zomer 438
10. 24W, Lucas Wolfe 438
11. 14B, Christopher Bell 437
12. 49X, Tim Shaffer 435
13. 09, Matt Juhl 429
14. 68, Chase Johnson 427
15. 1M, Danny Lasoski 424
16. 2MM, Matt Moro 416
17. 17B, Bill Balog 414
18. 71, Kevin Thomas, Jr. 414
19. 67X, Parker Price-Miller 413
20. 12, Lynton Jeffrey 407
21. 17, Jac Haudenschild 400
22. 93, Sheldon Haudenschild 400
23. 1B, Dustin Selvage 395
24. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier 388
25. 22, Rager Phillips 388
26. 3G, Carson Macedo 387
27. 9X, Jake Bubak 386
28. 56N, Davey Heskin 386
29. 20, A.J. Moeller 385
30. 17W, Harli White 380
31. 51, Joey Saldana 380
32. 5H, Cory Eliason 369
33. 70, Clint Garner 363
34. 99, Brady Bacon 363
35. 26, Tayler Malsam 338
36. 8H, Jason Kendrick 335
37. 95, Matt Covington 332
38. 4X, Dakota Hendrickson 330
39. 87, Aaron Reutzel 328
40. 3P, Sawyer Phillips 326
41. 12W, Josh Walter 309
42. 84, Scott Bogucki 309
43. 1P, Curtis Evans 306
44. 83C, Adam Cruea 302
45. 85, Chase Wanner 291
46. 39, Spencer Bayston 278
47. 1S, Logan Schuchart 269
48. 10, Tyler Bear 265