WAYNE JOHNSON
Oklahoma‘s Wayne Johnson has made the Nationals A-Main eight times, with a career best finish of eighth in 2006. The last time he made the show was in 2017, but he‘s logged a lot of laps at Knoxville during his racing career and he‘s been running fulltime with the Outlaws the last two seasons, so don‘t count him out.
MATT JUHL
Matt Juhl has made the show in the last two Knoxville Nationals. The South Dakota racer is a regular at the famed Marion County oval. In 2018, Matt ran fourth in the Hard Knox night feature to make the Saturday show, where he finished 20th. Then, in 2019, he timed 10th and ran ninth on his qualifying night to again make the finale, turning in an 18th-place finish.
In 2020‘s One and Only, he ran 18th on night one, timed well and ran 14th on night two, then ran 17th in the Capitani Classic finale, putting it in the feature all three nights. In the June two-day Outlaws show at Knoxville, Juhl timed well both nights, then ran 21st in the prelim and 13th in the finale. Juhl has a good shot at putting the TKS Motorsports No. 2KS in the finale in 2021.
CHAD KEMENAH
Ohio native Chad Kemenah has made the A-Main nine times. The six-time All Stars champion finished second in the 2004 Nationals, finished fifth twice (in 2005 & 2013) and brought it home seventh in both of the last two times he made the starting grid, in 2016 and 2018.
KRAIG KINSER
Kraig Kinser is on a relatively short list of racers who can say they‘ve won the Knoxville Nationals, after he took the checkers in 2005. The last year he put the 11K in the show was 2016, but he‘s certainly capable of getting it done. He‘s had some good runs following his win. Kraig finished sixth in 2009, fourth in 2012, and brought home a top-10 finish in the Nationals in 2014.
BRENT MARKS
Brent Marks has made the Knoxville Nationals twice. In 2015, he quick-timed in his group in the Friday Hard Knox program, then ran third in the night‘s A-Main to earn a starting spot in the Saturday big show, where he finished 17th. In 2019, Marks timed 11th and ran sixth in his prelim feature to make the Saturday finale, again finishing 17th.
In the WoO two-day show at Knoxville in June, Brent timed 11th in his group and ran 11th in the feature on night one, then timed fifth in his group and ran seventh in the finale.
AUSTIN McCARL
Austin McCarl has spent the majority of his race nights competing at Knoxville Raceway. In 2018, he was the Knoxville Raceway 410 sprint car champion. He‘s made the big show twice at the Nationals, in 2011 and again in 2017. In April, he earned a win in a Knoxville weekly show. He could put his 17a in the show again this year.
JUSTIN PECK
Justin Peck began his racing career as a non-winged sprint car pilot, but in recent years has transitioned successfully to winged sprint cars. So far in 2021, he‘s driven the Buch Motorsports No. 13 to three wins with the All Star Circuit of Champions (at Attica, Sharon, and Muskingum County), a win at Williams Grove in April, and earned the checkers in the Drydene 30 at Lincoln Speedway in June. This could well be his first year to make the show.
PARKER PRICE-MILLER
Parker Price-Miller has made the show in both 2018 and 2019. He timed well in 2018, turning the fifth-quick lap of his qualifying night before going on to finish 18th in the Saturday A-Main. Then, in 2019, he qualified well again — timing third on his prelim night. He finished 16th in the Saturday big show.
He stumbled in last year‘s One and Only and never made it out of the B-Main over the three nights. However, when the Outlaws visited Knoxville in June for their two-day show, PPM timed respectably on night one and finished 14th in the feature, then timed second-quick in his group on the finale night before finishing ninth in the A-Main.
FREDDIE RAHMER
Freddie Rahmer struggled at his first Knoxville Nationals in 2019, but this year could be much different. The second-generation “Fast Freddie” continues to mature as a driver and has been winning in Pennsylvania, earning the Williams Grove Speedway opener and three wins at Lincoln Speedway. Rahmer is currently leading in points at Lincoln and sits second to Lance Dewease at the Grove.
JASON SIDES
Jason Sides has put his No. 7s in the field seven times, with a career best finish of 12th in 2010. The 2004 Kings Royal winner last made the big show in 2017, but don‘t count out the World of Outlaws veteran.
TREY STARKS
Trey Starks has made the Knoxville Nationals twice, in 2017 and 2019, finishing 18th and 19th, respectively. He was a regular at Knoxville Raceway in 2019 and 2020, so he‘s logged some laps and experience at the half-mile oval.
SAMMY SWINDELL
Although he was still lining up a ride at this writing, Sammy Swindell intends to be running the Knoxville Nationals. He‘s made 34 Knoxville Nationals A-Main starts, and one more would tie his career rival Steve Kinser‘s record of 35.
It‘s amazing that Sammy has only landed in victory lane one time at the Nationals, in 1983. But, his luck at the Marion County oval has been terrible. He‘s finished second three times and third four times, and amassed a career total of 14 top-five finishes. Depending upon which car he‘s wheeling, Sammy could put it in the show once again.
BROOKE TATNELL
Brooke Tatnell has made seven A-Main starts in the Nationals. His best finish was seventh, in 2007, and his last start was in 2017. Although he hails from Australia, his American home track is Knoxville Raceway.