KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Kyle Larson will start the 62nd running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals from the pole.
Larson made an aggressive charge from seventh starting spot in the fourth heat race on Thursday night and moved forward in the feature to finish second and lock up the high point total for two nights of qualifying and earn the pole.
Larson ended up with 482 points to Rico Abreu’s 480 after Abreu set fast time and finished fifth on the second night of the Nationals.
But the heat race was the key for Larson.
“The heat race was great,” said the driver of the Paul Silva No. 57 sprint car. “It worked out a lot better than I thought it would. Seventh is the worst place to start in a heat race. We got a decent row and I came off turn two in fifth. I got to third pretty quickly and I tried to be patient and (Anthony) Macri and Colby (Copeland) got to racing and I was able to get by Colby.”
Larson talked about starting the 50-lap, $185,000 main event from the pole.
“It’s an honor when you can be the high point guy out of a field this stout, but that doesn’t pay anything,” Larson said. “You want to win the race on Saturday night. I don’t love to start on the pole. It is sometimes good when you are able to sit back and watch things develop and sometimes you can get complacent as the leader.”
Abreu shares the front row with Larson, while Thursday night winner and 11-time and defending Nationals winner Donny Schatz will start third on Saturday. Schatz shares row two with Eldora Million winner Logan Schuchart.
Macedo and Hunter Schuerenberg will share the third row.
The Points
The A Main
1 57 Kyle Larson 482
2 24 Rico Abreu 480
3 15 Donny Schatz 479
4 1S Logan Schuchart 479
5 41 Carson Macedo 474
6 39 Hunter Schuerenberg 462
7 55 Kerry Madsen 459
8 83JR Buddy Kofoid 459
9 18 Gio Scelzi 458
10 14 Corey Day 458
11 4 Ian Madsen 455
12 3J Dusty Zomer 453
13 5 Spencer Bayston 451
14 2KS Chase Randall 449
15 7BC Anthony Macri 449
16 49 Brad Sweet 449
B Main
17 13 Justin Peck 449
18 83 James McFadden 447
19 9 Kasey Kahne 446
20 88 Austin McCarl 443
21 21 Brian Brown 439
22 71 Shane Stewart 439
23 6G Garet Williamson 438
24 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 437
25 7W Dustin Selvage 435
26 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 434
Hard Knox Night
27 42 Sye Lynch 434
28 5X Daryn Pittman 432
29 52 Blake Hahn 429
30 3Z Brock Zearfoss 429
31 4W Jamie Ball 416
32 7TW Brandon Wimmer 415
33 17B Bill Balog 414
34 10L Scott Bogucki 414
35 16A Colby Copeland 412
36 19 Brent Marks 412
37 18T Tanner Holmes 411
38 12X Ayrton Gennetten 410
39 21H Brady Bacon 408
40 4CW Chris Windom 408
41 17AU Jamie Veal 404
42 11 Cory Eliason 404
43 21T Cole Macedo 403
44 2 David Gravel 403
45 25 Lachlan McHugh 401
46 1X Jake Bubak 401
47 22 Riley Goodno 399
48 1 Justin Henderson 394
49 35 Zach Hampton 394
50 101 Kalib Henry 392
51 4J Kevin Thomas Jr. 392
52 39M Justin Sanders 392
53 3P Sawyer Phillips 391
54 7S Robbie Price 382
55 83T Tanner Carrick 382
56 26 Zeb Wise 381
57 1M Don Droud Jr. 380
58 27 Carson McCarl 380
59 50YR J.J. Hickle 379
60 3 Tim Kaeding 378
61 2K Lynton Jeffrey 377
62 9P Parker Price-Miller 373
63 16 Brooke Tatnell 370
64 5T Ryan Timms 367
65 17W Shane Golobic 367
66 20 A.J. Moeller 364
67 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 361
68 22K Kaleb Johnson 358
69 49X Tim Shaffer 357
70 24T Christopher Thram 350
71 1K Kelby Watt 345
72 1C Brenham Crouch 344
73 55T McKenna Haase 340
74 1A Chase Dietz 340
75 11N Harli White 339
76 20G Noah Gass 335
77 8 Aaron Reutzel 333
78 44P Skylar Prochaska 332
79 65 Jordan Goldesberry 328
80 91 Kyle Reinhardt 327
81 95 Matt Covington 315
82 70 Kraig Kinser 315
83 6B Clint Garner 310
84 5C Dylan Cisney 306
85 6 Bill Rose 302
86 17X Terry McCarl 300
87 18R Ryan Roberts 300
88 24H Kade Higday 294
89 35B Austin Bishop 291
90 4K2W Matt Wasmund 286
91 56 Joe Simbro 273
92 13JT Mark Dobmeier 272
93 45 Rusty Hickman 271
94 44 Chris Martin 270
95 G5 Gage Pulkrabek 270
96 2M Davey Heskin 269
97 2KK Kevin Ingle 267
98 121 RJ Johnson 265
99 6X Frank Rodgers III 263
100 15JR Cole Mincer 255
101 37 Ayden Gatewood 238
102 W19 Trent Pigdon 236
103 9H Landon Hansen 235
104 105 Cody Ihlen 223
105 78 Bill Wagner 220
106 10V Cap Henry 209
