Larson Romps To Third Knoxville Nationals Crown

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Saturday night’s finale to the 63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s was more proof that, at least right now, the racing world is Kyle Larson’s and everyone else is just living in it.

Larson went virtually unchallenged at Knoxville Raceway’s half-mile dirt oval, leading all 50 laps of sprint car racing’s most prestigious event for a $190,000 payday aboard Paul Silva’s now-iconic No. 57 car.

It marked his third Knoxville Nationals victory in the last four years and second in a row, joining legends Kenny Weld, Eddie Leavitt, Doug Wolfgang, Steve Kinser, Mark Kinser, Danny Lasoski, and Donny Schatz as the eighth driver to win “The Grandaddy of Them All” in consecutive years.

Larson started from the pole of the 24-car field and, after a brief battle with outside front-row starter Daryn Pittman on the opening lap, set sail from that point on.

The 31-year-old from Elk Grove, Calif., opened up gaps of more than a second multiple times throughout the race and effortlessly knifed his way through slower traffic during the back half of the 50-lapper.

It all built up to a 3.8-second margin of victory that cemented Larson’s dominance in the current era, as he took his 34th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win and 12th sprint car score overall at Knoxville.

Joined by his children – Owen, Audrey, and Cooper – in victory lane, Larson’s joy was palpable after a sub-par NASCAR Cup Series qualifying effort earlier in the day at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than the Knoxville Nationals,” said Larson, the seventh driver to win three or more Knoxville Nationals titles. “It feels great to lead back-to-back 50 lappers from start to finish here, because it’s the best sprint car drivers in the world behind me.They don’t make it easy.

“It was a tricky race there. Those lappers were just fast enough on the bottom where I felt like I was slowing myself down, but I feel like I strung some good laps in at the end and we got it done.”

In leading every lap Saturday night, Larson became just the second person in Knoxville Nationals history to wire the field for two straight years. Steve Kinser accomplished the same feat in 1986 and 1987.

Larson’s win continued a remarkable stretch for the versatile driver, as he’s won five straight sprint car races dating back to Aug. 2 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., plus NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July.

Making the feat more amazing was the fact that Larson and Silva, unlike most of their competitors, elected not to put on fresh tires during the scheduled mid-race break.

“We’ve been really bad this year, at least up until the last couple of weeks. The team works so hard, and all this goes to them,” Larson noted. “The tires (at the halfway point) looked brand new, so [we figured] ‘What’s the point in changing?’ We led the first 25, so why put on a new set and trick yourself?

“I felt better the second half.”

Though it was Jason Johnson Racing’s Carson Macedo who chased Larson early, Gio Scelzi was the man on the move late in the KCP Racing No. 18.

Scelzi drove past Macedo using the low lane on lap 28 to take second, after starting fifth and methodically working his way forward.

However, though he closed to within three-quarters of a second at one point as Larson worked through traffic, the Fresno, Calif., young gun had nothing late to contend with and settled for runner-up honors.

“I’m proud of this team,” said an emotional Scelzi after the race, as he held back tears. “I want to win this race more than anything in my life, but you have to lose them before you can win them.”

Still, Saturday’s result marked Scelzi’s best Nationals finish in six championship feature appearances.

Eighteen-year-old Corey Day, the night’s hard charger, roared from 11th to third in Jason Meyers’ No. 14 and was the star of the show in the closing stages no matter what groove he used on the racetrack.

Macedo faded to fourth, capping a sweep of the top four finishing positions by California-born drivers.

Pennsylvania Posse ace Anthony Macri finished fifth, followed by Brian Brown, Tyler Courtney, Australian Scott Bogucki, Sheldon Haudenschild, and Jacob Allen.

Eleven-time Knoxville Nationals winner Donny Schatz, who had to win his way into the starting field during Hard Knox Night on Friday, started 21st and couldn’t replicate the magic from 2013 – when he won the race from the same starting position.

Schatz could never get the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 out of dirty air and was a disappointing 13th – his worst Nationals result since 2001, when he crashed out on lap 30 and finished 23rd.

In preliminary action Saturday, Sawyer Phillips won the E-Main, Don Droud Jr. topped the D-Main, Brenham Crouch was victorious in the C-Main and five-time World of Outlaws sprint car champion Brad Sweet took the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown to lead the final four transfers into the main event.

Knoxville Raceway’s schedule continues Aug. 24 with McKay Group Championship Night for their weekly sprint car classes, while the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series heads next to Jackson (Minn.) Motorplex for the $25,000-to-win Fendt Jackson Nationals Aug. 16-17.

63rd Knoxville Nationals Championship Night results:

NOS Energy Drink A-Main (50 laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]; 2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [5]; 3. 14-Corey Day [11]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo [4]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [8]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [7]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 8. 10-Scott Bogucki [10]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [14]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [16]; 11. 69K-Daryn Pittman [2]; 12. 2-David Gravel [19]; 13. 15-Donny Schatz [21]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [22]; 15. 21H-Brady Bacon [9]; 16. 13-Justin Peck [18]; 17. 83SR-James McFadden [20]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [13]; 19. 49-Brad Sweet [17]; 20. 27A-Emerson Axsom [24]; 21. 19-Brent Marks [12]; 22. 2KS-Chase Randall [15]; 23. 24R-Rico Abreu [6]; 24. 5X-Justin Henderson [23].

Lap Leader(s): Kyle Larson 1-50.

Hard Charger: 14-Corey Day (+8)

Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown (22 laps, top four transfer): 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 3. 2-David Gravel [6]; 4. 83SR-James McFadden [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9]; 6. 3J-Dusty Zomer [8]; 7. 8-Cory Eliason [4]; 8. 83JR-Michael Kofoid [15]; 9. 5-Spencer Bayston [13]; 10. 21T-Cole Macedo [12]; 11. 09-Matt Juhl [5]; 12. 9P-Parker Price Miller [18]; 13. 23-Garet Williamson [7]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee [17]; 15. 19S-Hunter Schuerenberg [19]; 16. 48-Danny Dietrich [22]; 17. 55C-Chris Windom [24]; 18. 1C-Brenham Crouch [21]; 19. 33W-Cap Henry [10]; 20. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten [23]; 21. 18T-Tanner Holmes [16]; 22. 9-Kasey Kahne [20]; 23. 2X-Lynton Jeffrey [11]; 24. 58-Kaleb Johnson [14].

C-Main (15 laps, top four transfer): 1. 1C-Brenham Crouch [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 3. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten [3]; 4. 55C-Chris Windom [4] / 5. 17GP-Cale Thomas [6]; 6. 24T-Christopher Thram [7]; 7. 6B-Brandon Wimmer [10]; 8. 3-Tim Kaeding [12]; 9. 22X-J.J. Hickle [5]; 10. 27B-Jake Bubak [16]; 11. 35-Zach Hampton [14]; 12. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 13. 1M-Don Droud Jr. [18]; 14. 36-Jason Martin [13]; 15. 7S-Landon Crawley [20]; 16. 70-Kraig Kinser [17]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [21]; 18. 5T-Ryan Timms [19]; 19. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [23]; 20. 22-Riley Goodno [22]; 21. (DNF) 55-Kerry Madsen [15]; 22. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [11]; 23. 88-Austin McCarl [9]; 24. 52-Blake Hahn [24]; 25. 26-Zeb Wise (DNS).

D-Main (12 laps, top six transfer): 1. 1M-Don Droud Jr. [2]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms [1]; 3. 7S-Landon Crawley [3]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 5. 22-Riley Goodno [6], 6. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [5] / 7. 24D-Danny Sams III [7]; 8. 45X-Jace Park [8]; 9. 44-Chris Martin [9]; 10. 14J-Jack Dover [17]; 11. 1K-Kelby Watt [11]; 12. 6W-Dustin Selvage [12]; 13. 18R-Ryan Roberts [13]; 14. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek [15]; 15. 74-Xavier Doney [10]; 16. 53-Jessie Attard [16]; 17. 95-Tyler Drueke [18]; 18. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [19]; 19. 19H-Joel Myers [21]; 20. 88T-Tanner Thorson [20]; 21. 1-Sammy Swindell [23]; 22. 23L-Jimmy Light [24]; 23. 15JR-Cole Mincer [22]; 24. 14T-Brooke Tatnell [14].

E-Main (10 laps, top six transfer): 1. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [1]; 2. 88T-Tanner Thorson [2]; 3. 19H-Joel Myers [3]; 4. 15JR-Cole Mincer [4]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [10]; 6. 23L-Jimmy Light [5] / 7. 1D-Tasker Phillips[7]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [9]; 9. 3N-Jake Neuman [6]; 10. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [12]; 11. 49J-Josh Schneiderman [18]; 12. J2-John Carney II [17]; 13. 2K-Kevin Ingle [15]; 14. 9H-Landon Hansen [14]; 15. 23M-Lance Moss [11]; 16. 27W-Weston Olson [13]; 17. 10V-Brian Paulus [8]; 18. G5-Gage Pulkrabek [16].