8/8/2018
RacinBoys
It's Knoxville Nationals Time!
(Knoxville, IA) -- The 58th Annual 5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores kicks off its four-day run tonight (Wed. August 8) at the famed Knoxville Raceway. Nearly 100 cars are pre-entered and the field will be split up over the first two nights of qualifying which consists of time trials, heats, consolation races and preliminary A-Main which will be used to tally points for Saturday night's feature events.
Donny Schatz goes for his 11th Knoxville Nationals victory.and leads the current World of Outlaws standings by 198 points over Brad Sweet. David Gravel, who led much of the early half of last year's race is third in the current standings. Daryn Pittman and Shane Stewart are also among the top-five Outlaws drivers all looking for their first Knoxville Nationals crown.
Locally, Brian Brown has won 7 410 features and 8 overall at Knoxville in 2018. Four-time winner in 2018 Austin McCarl leads the current track standings. His dad Terry, fresh off his fifth 360 Nationals win, is eyeing his first Nationals victory and the first Iowan to hold the prestigious trophy.
For ticket information: http://www.knoxvilleraceway.com
Live Pay Per View at http://TheCushion.com
RacinBoys will stream Free of charge the Post Race Press Conferences.
FORMAT
The 5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals encompasses a four-day format unmatched in all of dirt track racing, and is presented by Casey's General Store. The prestige of winning the event far outweighs the generous purse that is nearly $1,000,000. With points meaning everything, and every lap turned on the track meaning points, there is no time for a break at the "Granddaddy of them all" the Knoxville Nationals!
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY QUALIFYING NIGHTS
Order of Events: Hot laps, Qualifications, 5 Heats, C Main, B Main, 25 lap A Main.
Qualifications - 200 points are awarded for quick timer, 198 for second quick, 196 for third, etc.
Only the top 50 qualifiers each night make the heats, the rest are put in the last chance heats if needed in which the first eight finishers will fill the back of that night's C feature (starting in the sixth row). If there are ten or less cars not making the heats, they will line straight up by time starting in the sixth row. The quickest will be given 50 points, the next 47, etc.
Last Chance Heats (for drivers out of the top 50 in Qual.) – 50 points awarded to the winner, 47 for 2nd, etc.
Heats - 100 points are awarded for the heat race winner, points go down by three for each position: 97, 94, 91, 88, etc.
Heats are inverted by 8. This sets up the best racing of the
week. Only the top four finishers go to A Main, fifth through eighth go to the B Main, finishing positions 9-10 go to the C Main.
C Main
Top four finishers go to back of the B. Fifth place is worth 92 pts., 6th is 90, etc.
B Main
The top four finishers transfer to the tail of the A. The B awards 142 points for fifth, 140 for sixth and so on by twos.
A Main
The A Main points are the same as time trials: 200, 198, 196 etc. This explains how a driver can not make the A, but if he timed well may have more points than someone who did make the A. The invert for the A Main is eight.
First tie breaker is finish position in respective main event. Next tie breaker is rank in time trial. The third tie breaker is pill draw. Other tie breaking criteria may be implemented if needed.
A perfect score (quick time, heat win, feature win) is 500.
The top 16 in combined points from Wednesday and Thursday are locked in to Saturday's Championship A Main, Teams 17th-26th in points are awarded the first 10 positions in the Saturday B Main. The rest of the field comes back for more racing on Friday.
FRIDAY
Friday Hard Knox Events:
The top 4 finishers from the Hard Knox A-Main will earn the 17-20 starting spots in Saturday's A Main. This is where the term making the A Main the Hard Knox way comes from. Friday's event will consist of split field qualifying, 6 heats, C Main, two B Main's and the Hard Knox 25 lap A Main. Friday ends with the Speed Sport Challenge.
*The Friday format may change if there are any weather related scheduling issues.
SPEED SPORT Challenge
This is an international invitational event. American drivers earned starting spots by competing in qualifying events in Australia the past winter. All foreign drivers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other countries that competed on Wednesday or Thursday are also eligible. The lineup is determined by points accrued on Wednesday and Thursday and inverted by 14. The winning driver in the Challenge is eligible for a 25th position in Saturday night's main event, if not already qualified
.
SATURDAY
5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Store Finals
Events:
10 lap E Main, 12 lap D Main, 15 lap C Main, 22 lap B Main, and the 50 lap 5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals Championship A Main.
The B, C, D, and E Main will take the top four finishers to the tail of the next event (if there are scratches, there may be more taken for a particular event).
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night:
3pm – Great Southern Bank Kid Zone Opens in Fan Zone Area featuring a Casey’s General Store Pizza Party
3pm –Donny Schatz Defending Champion Pole Unveil, Photo Opp and Media Availability
6pm – Textron Off-Road Winged Nation presented by Sage Fruit at Fan Zone Stage
Thursday, Toyota Qualifying Night:
11am – National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Members Only VIP Reception with Bobby Allen, Jacob Allen and Logan Schuchart
3pm – Great Southern Bank Kid Zone Opens featuring a Kone Korner Ice Cream Party
4pm - Tony Stewart Foundation Weld Racing Go-Kart Spectacular with Tony Stewart and Kyle Larson at Slideways Karting Center
6pm – Texton Off-Road Winged Nation presented by Sage Fruit at Fan Zone Stage
Post – Races: Punching Pandas band on the Fan Zone Stage
Post – Races: 50th Annual Chicken Feed in the Fan Zone
Friday, FVP Preliminary Night and Speed Sport Challenge:
8:30am – United Trailers National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Golf Classic- Pella, IA
9am – Inaugural Knoxville 4.10 Dash. Starting Line outside Turn 4 Pit Gate
9am - Auction for the family of Jason Johnson in Mediacom Media Center
Noon – Steve King Foundation Cornhole Tournament – at FVP Tent
3pm – Great Southern Bank Kid Zone Opens in Fan Zone Area featuring free face painting (4-6) and a Q&A with Tony Stewart and Donny Schatz
3:30pm – Driver Autograph Session in FVP Tent
4:15pm – Tony Stewart Foundation Silent Auction Begins at FVP Tent
5:15 – Flip it for Good Charity Coin Toss Event with Tony Stewart in FVP Tent (registration at 4:15pm)
6pm – Textron Off-Road Winged Nation presented by Sage Fruit at Fan Zone Stage
7pm – Tony Stewart Foundation Live Auction at Fan Zone Stage
Post – Races: After Shock Rock Tribute Band on the Fan Zone Stage
Saturday, 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores Finale:
10am – 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores Parade – Downtown Knoxville
11:30am– National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum Charity Auction
1pm – Great Southern Bank Kid Zone Opens featuring Balloon Twisting Artist
3pm – 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store Driver’s Meeting – West End of Mediacom Media Center/Dyer-Hudson Hall – Open to the Public
4pm -- Singer Jordan Beeman on the Fan Zone Stage
6pm – Textron Off-Road Winged Nation presented by Sage Fruit on the Fan Zone Stage
Sunday:
1:30am – Tim Dugger Finale Party and Concert in the Turns 3&4 Barn
PAST KNOXVILLE WINNERS
PAST KNOXVILLE NATIONALS WINNERS
YEAR - DRIVER, NUMBER, OWNER
1961 - Roy Robbins, 37, O. J. Huffman
1962 - Jerry Richert Sr., 69, Ted Ready
1963 - Greg Weld, 92, Taylor “Pappy” Weld
1964 - Kenny Weld, 94, Taylor “Pappy” Weld
1965 - Kenny Weld, 94, Taylor “Pappy” Weld
1966 - Jay Woodside, 9, Ted Hall
1967 - Thad Dosher, 74, Jack Cunningham
1968 - Ray Lee Goodwin, 24, Swenson/Williams
1969 - Ken Gritz, 12, Larry Snyder
1970 - Joe Saldana, 2, C&L Racing
1971 - Jan Opperman, 6, Cahill Racing
1972 - Kenny Weld, 29, Bob Weikert
1973 - Kenny Weld, 29, Bob Weikert
1974 - Dick Gaines, 71, Karl Kinser
1975 - Eddie Leavitt, 40, Ricke/Hill
1976 - Eddie Leavitt, 4J, Galden Inc.
1977 - Doug Wolfgang, 20, Bob Trostle
1978 - Doug Wolfgang, 4x, Speedway Motors
1979 - Ron Shuman, 75A, Gary Stanton
1980 - Steve Kinser, 20, Bob Trostle/Karl Kinser
1981 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1982 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1983 - Sammy Swindell, 1, Raymond Beadle
1984 - Doug Wolfgang, 29, Bob Weikert
1985 - Doug Wolfgang, 29, Bob Weikert
1986 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1987 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1988 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1989 - Doug Wolfgang, 8D, D.P. Motorsports
1990 - Bobby Allen, 1a, Allen Enterprises
1991 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1992 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1993 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1994 - Steve Kinser, 11, Karl Kinser
1995 - Steve Kinser, 11, Steve Kinser
1996 - Mark Kinser, 5m, Karl Kinser
1997 - Dave Blaney, 10, Blaney/Hylton
1998 - Danny Lasoski, 83, Dennis Roth
1999 - Mark Kinser, 5m, Karl Kinser
2000 - Mark Kinser, 5m, Karl Kinser
2001 - Danny Lasoski, 20L, Tony Stewart
2002 - Steve Kinser, 11, Steve Kinser
2003 - Danny Lasoski, 20, Tony Stewart
2004 - Danny Lasoski, 20, Tony Stewart
2005 - Kraig Kinser, 11K, Steve Kinser
2006 - Donny Schatz, 15, Schatz Motorsports
2007 - Donny Schatz, 15, Schatz Motorsports
2008 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2009 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2010 - Tim Shaffer, 83, Call/Holbrook Motorsports
2011 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2012 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2013 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2014 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2015 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
2016 - Jason Johnson 41, Jason Johnson Racing
2017 - Donny Schatz, 15, Tony Stewart
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
