Gravel Rules Hard Knox Night As Four Lock In At Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Not only did David Gravel rejuvenate his NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s chances Friday night, he leaned into the crowd noise at Knoxville Raceway as well.

Gravel rolled from fourth on the grid to the victory on FVP Hard Knox Night at the half-mile Marion County Fairgrounds dirt oval, locking the Big Game Motorsports No. 2 into Saturday’s championship feature and putting a chaotic prelim performance well behind him.

The defending World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion took the lead from Kerry Madsen on lap 13 of 25, then weathered three late-race restarts – including two red flags – to capture the checkered flag and make his 13th straight Knoxville Nationals.

Friday night was Gravel’s 14th career 410 sprint car win at Knoxville and sets him up 21st in the lineup for the $195,000-to-win ‘Granddaddy Of Them All’.

“Obviously, you don’t want to run on Friday night, and the heat race from Wednesday put us in that position … but we’re moving on from that because we’re here [on the victory podium] now,” said Gravel as a mix of cheers and boos rained down from the crowd.

“We felt good all night in this one. I honestly messed up in qualifying, and our pill draw helped us out there to still be in a good spot,” he added. “When they blade that top [groove], it gets treacherous fast here for a while, but it was curbing up toward the end. It didn’t feel that great for me on lap five, but I saw the bottom look pretty wet … and I’m glad I tried it on the first restart, because I feel like if I didn’t that I probably would have been chopped liver.

“Just happy to be able to search around. Our car was maneuverable; we’ve had a hot rod all year long, no matter what night it is. Sometimes we get into wrecks or blow tires and drive straight into the wall, but we didn’t do any of that tonight and we’re back in the Knoxville Nationals.”

As a raucous crowd rained down their emotions and thoughts on Gravel in victory lane, the 2019 Nationals champion had a message for all those against him – whether recently or in the long haul.

“These guys [who are booing] are going to run out of breath, because I’m telling you … I’m only 33 years old and I’m going to be here for a long time,” Gravel said with a coy smile. “Get ready and get your oxygen tanks.”

With four spots on the line into the Knoxville Nationals, desperate moves and fired-up drivers were all around the half-mile black clay oval, which led to several wild crashes during the 25-lap distance.

A right-rear tire exploding on Kelby Watt’s No. 1K drew the first yellow flag of the race three laps in, but it was a scary flip for Pennsylvania’s Justin Whittall with nine laps in the books that first drew the crowd to a hush and cars to a stop.

Whittall was awake, alert, and talking to safety workers after his incident in turn one, but per the live DIRTvision broadcast was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation after complaining of pain.

Outside polesitter Kerry Madsen, who led the field from the initial green, brought the field back to full song on lap 10 with Gravel marching into second on the restart and setting his sights on the leader.

The pass was made three laps later, and from there Gravel was untouchable in clean air for the duration.

That didn’t mean it was easy, however. A Carson McCarl flip with 10 laps to go set up the first of three restarts down the home stretch, and that was followed by another wild incident as Jamie Ball got upside down in turn three four circuits later – collecting J.J. Hickle and Brandon Wimmer.

Gravel easily pulled away on the lap-20 restart, but the man on the march was Roth Motorsports’ Buddy Kofoid, who started 21st after winning the Last Chance Showdown and picked his way through the field to third when the green flag returned.

Kofoid passed Madsen for second with four to go, but looked like he wouldn’t have a shot at Gravel by being nearly two seconds back at that point.

That all changed at the white flag, as Madsen slowed from third with what was later diagnosed to be a throttle pedal issue, dropping him out of the transfer and setting up a green-white-checkered overtime finish.

The first attempt to finish what became a 26-lap main event saw Ashton Torgerson ramp the back of Madsen’s No. 55V down the frontstretch when it stumbled again, leading to one final restart try.

Though Kofoid tried to keep pace with Gravel, he fell .801 seconds short of the win in the end. The consolation, however, was locking into his third career Knoxville Nationals finale and soothing the bitter disappointment of missing last year’s championship feature.

“If you would have told me I’d be in the Knoxville Nationals after my prelim night, I’d have told you that you were crazy and put money on it,” admitted Kofoid. “Really happy to make a charge like we did against a good group of cars. This Roth Motorsports team was on it and to be back in the big show feels amazing.”

Cole Macedo crossed third to join his older brother Carson in Saturday’s grand finale, with Daryn Pittman piloting California-based Lunstra Motorsports to a Knoxville Nationals start by holding off 11-time Nationals winner Donny Schatz for the final lock-in position in a dramatic final lap.

Schatz will start 11th in the 22-lap Last Chance Showdown Saturday by virtue of his fifth-place finish in the Hard Knox feature. He’ll have to get to fourth to extend his streak of championship A-Main appearances to 27 straight years.

Torgerson hung on for sixth at the finish, followed by Daison Pursley, Kings Royal winner Anthony Macri, Watt, and Chase Dietz.

With storms expected during the day Saturday, Knoxville Raceway officials are targeting a window of 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Central time to get the grand finale program run to completion.

Every lap of NOS Energy Drink Championship Night at the 64th Knoxville Nationals streams live on DIRTvision, the exclusive home of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

RESULTS: 64th Knoxville Nationals; FVP Hard Knox Night; Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway; Aug. 8, 2025

Qualifying Flight-A (best of two laps): 1. 1A-Ashton Torgerson, 15.510; 2. 3L-Daryn Pittman, 15.597; 3. 5-Brenham Crouch, 15.717; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.769; 5. 83H-Justin Henderson, 15.769; 6. 13-Daison Pursley, 15.770; 7. 6K-Kaleb Johnson, 15.775; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri, 15.786; 9. 27-Carson McCarl, 15.826; 10. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.907; 11. 25-Tim Kaeding, 15.919; 12. 6B-Brandon Wimmer, 15.938; 13. 23L-Jimmy Light, 15.940; 14. 88T-Tanner Thorson, 15.952; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell, 15.961; 16. 83-Michael Kofoid, 15.976; 17. 4W-Jamie Ball, 15.986; 18. 17GP-Tim Shaffer, 15.988; 19. 52-Blake Hahn, 16.007; 20. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 16.019; 21. 99-Skylar Gee, 16.040; 22. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 16.072; 23. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr., 16.075; 24. 4-Matt Wasmund, 16.088; 25. 44-Chris Martin, 16.109; 26. 11-Roger Crockett, 16.188; 27. 22-Riley Goodno, 16.206; 28. 53-Jack Dover, 16.215; 29. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, 16.219; 30. 36-Jason Martin, 16.290; 31. 09-Matt Juhl, 16.318; 32. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 16.537; 33. 40-Clint Garner, 16.540; 34. 44X-Scotty Johnson, 16.888; 35. 10W-Matt VanderVere, 17.199.

Qualifying Flight-B (best of two laps): 1. 55V-Kerry Madsen, 15.701; 2. 2-David Gravel, 15.726; 3. 23D-Chase Dietz, 15.890; 4. 2M-J.J. Hickle, 16.068; 5. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips, 16.148; 6. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 16.166; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo, 16.213; 8. 1K-Kelby Watt, 16.311; 9. 9R-Chase Randall, 16.313; 10. 24T-Christopher Thram, 16.349; 11. 1-Sammy Swindell, 16.352; 12. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 16.364; 13. 67-Justin Whittall, 16.403; 14. 23W-Scott Winters, 16.405; 15. 32B-Brandon Spithaler, 16.407; 16. 6-Zach Hampton, 16.424; 17. 27B-Jake Bubak, 16.438; 18. 21H-Brady Bacon, 16.444; 19. 24D-Danny Sams III, 16.507; 20. 87-Justin Sanders, 16.512; 21. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell, 16.564; 22. 33W-Cap Henry, 16.592; 23. 15JR-Cole Mincer, 16.645; 24. 8-Jacob Hughes, 16.667; 25. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 16.714; 26. 45X-Landon Crawley, 16.754; 27. 85J-Logan Julien, 16.835; 28. 10V-Ben Brown, 16.842; 29. 74-Xavier Doney, 16.889; 30. 16G-Austyn Gossel, 16.942; 31. 15J-Jack Potter, 17.085; 32. 121-R.J. Johnson, 17.086; 33. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek, 17.135; 34. 42-Sye Lynch, 17.135.

Heat #1 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [4]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [3] / 4. 83-Michael Kofoid [6]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 6. 44-Chris Martin [9]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn [7]; 8. 09-Matt Juhl [11]; 9. 44X-Scotty Johnson [12]; 10. 53-Jack Dover [10]; 11. 23L-Jimmy Light [5]; 12. 6K-Kaleb Johnson [2].

Heat #2 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri [2]; 2. 3L-Daryn Pittman [4]; 3. 83H-Justin Henderson [3] / 4. 25-Tim Kaeding [1]; 5. 4W-Jamie Ball [6]; 6. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr. [8]; 7. 18T-Tanner Holmes [7]; 8. 88T-Tanner Thorson [5]; 9. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [9]; 10. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [10]; 11. 10W-Matt VanderVere [11]; 12. 11-Roger Crockett (DNS).

Heat #3 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 6B-Brandon Wimmer [1]; 2. 27-Carson McCarl [2]; 3. 13-Daison Pursley [3] / 4. 5-Brenham Crouch [4]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [7]; 6. 17GP-Tim Shaffer [6]; 7. 22-Riley Goodno [9]; 8. 28M-Conner Morrell [5]; 9. 40-Clint Garner [11]; 10. 36-Jason Martin [10]; 11. 4-Matt Wasmund [8].

Heat #4 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 2C-Cole Macedo [2]; 2. 24T-Christopher Thram [1]; 3. 55V-Kerry Madsen [4] / 4. 2M-J.J. Hickle [3]; 5. 67-Justin Whittall [5]; 6. 33W-Cap Henry [8]; 7. 6-Zach Hampton [6]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III [7]; 9. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [9]; 10. 10V-Ben Brown [10]; 11. 15J-Jack Potter [11]; 12. 42-Sye Lynch (DNS).

Heat #5 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 2-David Gravel [4]; 2. 1K-Kelby Watt [2]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [1] / 4. 27B-Jake Bubak [6]; 5. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips [3]; 6. 87-Justin Sanders [7]; 7. 45X-Landon Crawley [9]; 8. 15JR-Cole Mincer [8]; 9. 74-Xavier Doney [10]; 10. 23W-Scott Winters [5]; 11. 121-R.J. Johnson [11].

Heat #6 (8 laps, top three transfer): 1. 9R-Chase Randall [2]; 2. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [1]; 3. 23D-Chase Dietz [4] / 4. 21H-Brady Bacon [6]; 5. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [7]; 6. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [3]; 7. 8-Jacob Hughes [8]; 8. 85J-Logan Julien [9]; 9. 32B-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 10. 16G-Austyn Gossel [10]; 11. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek [11].

C-Main (10 laps, top four transfer): 1. 53-Jack Dover [1]; 2. 10V-Ben Brown [2]; 3. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [3]; 4. 16G-Austyn Gossel [6] / 5. 23W-Scott Winters [4]; 6. 23L-Jimmy Light [7]; 7. 10W-Matt VanderVere [9]; 8. 4-Matt Wasmund [11]; 9. 121-R.J. Johnson [10]; 10. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek [11]; 11. 15J-Jack Potter [8]; 12. 36-Jason Martin (DNS); 13. 6K-Kaleb Johnson (DNS); 14. 42-Sye Lynch (DNS); 15. 11-Roger Crockett (DNS).

Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown #1 (12 laps, top three transfer): 1. 83-Michael Kofoid [1]; 2. 4W-Jamie Ball [5]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [6] / 4. 22-Riley Goodno [12]; 5. 25-Tim Kaeding [2]; 6. 17GP-Tim Shaffer [9]; 7. 44-Chris Martin [7]; 8. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr. [8]; 9. 18T-Tanner Holmes [11]; 10. 52-Blake Hahn [10]; 11. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [17]; 12. 53-Jack Dover [19]; 13. 09-Matt Juhl [13]; 14. 44X-Scotty Johnson [16]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell [15]; 16. 40-Clint Garner [18]; 17. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [20]; 18. 5-Brenham Crouch [3]; 19. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 20. 88T-Tanner Thorson (DNS).

Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown #2 (12 laps, top three transfer): 1. 67-Justin Whittall [4]; 2. 2M-J.J. Hickle [1]; 3. 33W-Cap Henry [7] / 4. 87-Justin Sanders [8]; 5. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips [5]; 6. 21H-Brady Bacon [3]; 7. 2KS-Brooke Tatnell [6]; 8. 74-Xavier Doney [17]; 9. 6-Zach Hampton [10]; 10. 24D-Danny Sams III [13]; 11. 45X-Landon Crawley [11]; 12. 8-Jacob Hughes [12]; 13. 85J-Logan Julien [15]; 14. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [16]; 15. 16G-Austyn Gossel [20]; 16. 32B-Brandon Spithaler [18]; 17. 15JR-Cole Mincer [14]; 18. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [9]; 19. 10V-Ben Brown [19]; 20. 27B-Jake Bubak [2].

FVP A-Feature (25 laps, top four lock into Knoxville Nationals): 1. 2-David Gravel [4]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid [19]; 3. 2C-Cole Macedo [8]; 4. 3L-Daryn Pittman [3] / 5. 15-Donny Schatz [15]; 6. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [1]; 7. 13-Daison Pursley [9]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri [11]; 9. 1K-Kelby Watt [10]; 10. 23D-Chase Dietz [6]; 11. 9R-Chase Randall [12]; 12. 33W-Cap Henry [24]; 13. 83H-Justin Henderson [7]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee [23]; 15. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [5]; 16. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [18]; 17. 24T-Christopher Thram [14]; 18. 1-Sammy Swindell [16]; 19. 55V-Kerry Madsen [2]; 20. 6B-Brandon Wimmer [17]; 21. 2M-J.J. Hickle [22]; 22. 4W-Jamie Ball [21]; 23. 27-Carson McCarl [13]; 24. 67-Justin Whittall [20].

Lap Leader(s): Kerry Madsen 1-12, David Gravel 13-25.

Hard Charger: 83-Buddy Kofoid (+17)