KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Kyle Larson shines on the biggest of stages and Knoxville Raceway is his favorite venue of them all. His success there proves that.
The three-time Knoxville Nationals winner won Thursday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature at the historic half-mile track on the Marion County Fairgrounds. It was his 13th victory there.
The driver of Paul Silva’s No. 57 sprint car has won 10 of his last 22 Sprint Car races at the iconic half mile. He’s finished second six times in that stretch, making it 16 top two finishes.
“This is my favorite race track. It is my favorite event,” the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion said. “I get really pumped up to come here and it helps when your car is really good every time you come here, whether it is in April or in August. The atmosphere is amazing and it is fun being good here at this track.
“We don’t run (sprint cars) as much as everyone else. I don’t do this for a living, so this is what our year builds up to and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves for this race.”
That said, Larson was disappointed with his qualifying effort on Thursday that left him ninth in points, leading to a ninth-place starting spot for Saturday’s $195,000-to-win main event.
“Starting from the inside fifth row is not prime position, but it’s 50 laps on Saturday and, hopefully, we can get another good start like we did tonight and just get rolling,” Larson said.
• Thursday night third-place finisher Logan Schuchart said he was already thinking about car set up before the checkered flag waved.
“I was thinking about it the last couple of laps, what we could be doing better,” Schuchart related. “I feel like we were catching Kyle in traffic, but I’m sure he wasn’t pushing because he didn’t need to. I didn’t feel very good there at the end, so I was excited when I got out of the car, but my mind was going about what we could do better because you have to be perfect to win this race.”
• Sixteen drivers locked into starting positions on Saturday night following the first two nights of qualifying.
The biggest surprise of them is probably rookie sprint car racer Cameron Martin, who runs weekly at Knoxville.
Martin earned the 15th starting spot based on points.
• Spencer Bayston, who finished second on Thursday, earned the 16th starting spot by a single point over Chris Windom.
Bayston, who led the opening laps, said after the race he thought he had to win, was relieved to learn he locked into the event.
Windom will start on the pole for Saturday’s B main.
• Of the 16 drivers locked into Saturday night, 13 are active on one of the two national tours. The other three — Austin McCarl, Cameron Martin and polesitter Ryan Timms — race weekly at Knoxville.
• Friday’s Hard Knox field includes heavy hitters David Gravel, Buddy Kofoid, Donny Schatz, Anthony Macri and Kerry Madsen to name a few.
