KNOXVILLE, Iowa — The biggest 360 sprint car event in the world is here.
The 35th annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank goes green this weekend with a loaded roster of talent ready to battle for a possible $35,000 payday at Knoxville Raceway.
The three-day program spans Thursday–Saturday, July 31– Aug. 2 and begins with back-to-back preliminary night programs on Thursday–Friday.
All drivers have been split into either Thursday or Friday’s preliminary program and will accumulate points for finishes in the qualifying and Feature events throughout the night. At the conclusion of Friday’s program, the top 20 drivers in event points will be locked into Saturday’s main event, while all other drivers will race the lower mains and vie for one of the final four transfer spots into the 30-lap, $20,000-to-win main event.
Each lap of Saturday night’s main event is worth an extra $500 for the leader of that lap, making for a possible $35,000 payday should the race winner lead all 30 circuits around the historic half-mile oval.
TEAM ASCS
The stars of the American Sprint Car Series are set to take on an extra-large field of different contenders this weekend, ranging from Knoxville’s weekly competitors, various national 410 sprint car standouts and a slew of past champions.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. is the national ASCS points leader, currently riding one of the biggest hot streaks of his career with five wins in the last five series events. The five-time series champion from Sunnyvale, Texas, has won four times in his career at Knoxville, including three 360 Nationals preliminary night features in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
He has never won on Saturday night in the marquee event, but was runner-up in the finale on two occasions, finishing second to Brian Brown in 2014 and Aaron Reutzel in 2022.
Blake Hahn is second in the national ASCS points standings, coming off a runner-up finish last Saturday at Missouri’s Benton Speedway. The two-time series champion from Sapulpa, Okla., has never been to victory lane at The Sprint Car Capital of the World, but notched a top-five finish in a 410 Knoxville Nationals preliminary night feature in 2023. His best 360 Nationals finish came in 2021, when he finished 16th in the finale.
Matt Covington ranks third in the standings and is one of only five drivers to win in national ASCS competition through the first 14 races on the schedule.
The multi-time ASCS regional champion from Glenpool, Okla., has a best career finish of third at the iconic half-mile oval — twice — which came in Midwest Power Series competition in 2022 and weekly action this past May. His best finish in the 360 Nationals finale was an 11th-place result one year ago.
Jason Martin has yet to reach victory lane with the series through the first 14 races of 2025 but has a second-best five podium finishes among all drivers (tied with Hahn). His best 360 Nationals preliminary feature finish came in 2023, when he ran sixth after starting on the outside pole. He’s made the main event on Saturday twice in his career, with results of 21st (2017) and 22nd (2023).
KNOXVILLE’S FINEST
Knoxville Raceway hosts weekly 360 sprint car competitors chasing one of the most prestigious track championships in the entire country.
Tasker Phillips is the points leader and has been the standout driver in weekly 360 competition this year, winning three features, including the most recent event last Saturday night. The Pleasantville, Iowa-native has a best career 360 Nationals finish of sixth, which came one year ago.
Clint Garner is second to almost nobody in accomplishments in 360 sprint car racing at Knoxville. The nine-time track champion from Sioux Falls, S.D., is second on the track’s all-time 360 wins list with 48 — the most recent of which came on May 3 — and is the 2017 360 Nationals winner. He is second in track standings.
Tyler Groenendyk has the second-most feature wins (2) in weekly 360 competition so far this season and is third in the standings. The 2021 Knoxville Pro Sprints track champion from Oskaloosa, Iowa, qualified for the 360 Nationals main event for the first time one year ago but did not finish.
Jamie Ball is a former 360 Nationals preliminary night feature winner, taking the checkers on opening night of the 2016 edition of the event. The Knoxville native clinched his first Knoxville track championship in the 360 division last year and is ninth on the track’s all-time 360 feature wins with 11. His best 360 Nationals main event finish came in 2017, when he ran fifth.
410 INVADERS
A host of national 410 sprint car stars have pre-entered into 360 competition this weekend in the effort to get more laps turned at the track before the 410 Knoxville Nationals commences next week.
Leading those stars is none other than the three-time and defending 410 Knoxville Nationals winner Kyle Larson. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion has dominated Knoxville’s signature event in each of the past two years, leading all 50 laps to win both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the dirt crown jewel behind the wheel of car owner Paul Silva’s signature No. 57. Larson last raced the 360 Nationals in 2022 and finished 11th. His best finish of third was in the 2013 edition.
Rico Abreu has been one of national sprint car racing’s most dominant drivers in 2025 with 10 feature wins. The 33-year-old from St. Helena, Calif., has been strong at Knoxville this season as well, winning three of his five main event starts. His lone 360 Nationals start came in 2023, when he climbed from last place (24th) on the starting grid to a third-place finish.
Brad Sweet has not entered the 360 Nationals in over a decade but will return to the roster in 2025. The 39-year-old from Grass Valley, Calif., won the 410 Knoxville Nationals in 2018. The five-time World of Outlaws champion has made three starts at Knoxville with the Outlaws this season, resulting in finishes of ninth, 10th and fifth.
Before February, Justin Peck had never made a start with the American Sprint Car Series apart from his first two career 360 Nationals appearances in 2023 and 2024. But after a three-race sweep of the 2025 national ASCS season opener at Volusia Speedway Park, Peck will return to the 360 sprint car circuit this weekend, driving the Rudeen Racing No. 26, trying to better a career-best 13th-place finish in the 360 Nationals last year.
PAST CHAMPIONS
Several past 360 Nationals champions have pre-entered for the event.
Terry McCarl has won the 360 Nationals main event a record five times — an accolade he shares with 2009 American Sprint Car Series champion Shane Stewart.
The 60-year-old from Altoona, Iowa, has long been one of Knoxville’s greatest drivers, capturing seven 410 track championships, one 360 track championship, 59 feature wins in a 410 and 13 in a 360.
He has not won at the track so far this season but sits seventh in points with three top-five finishes. He finished 10th in last year’s 360 Nationals finale.
Gio Scelzi leads storylines in multiple categories coming into the weekend as both a 410 invader and a past 360 Nationals champion. The 23-year-old from Fresno, Calif., two weeks ago ended his five-year tenure with Iowa-based KCP Racing and has joined Clauson Marshall Racing as the pilot of their flagship No. 7bc. It’s the same car and team that won last year’s 360 Nationals with Tyler Courtney, who currently injured, at the wheel.
Scelzi, a winner of the 360 Nationals himself in 2021, enters the 360 Nationals this weekend for the first time since a 10th-place finish driving the KCP No. 18 in 2022.
Brian Brown is another of Knoxville’s finest exports with 69 career 410 feature wins (second on the all-time track wins list), 18 wins in a 360, five 410 track championships and the 2002 360 track championship. The two-time 360 Nationals champion has been to victory lane at the track three times already this season. He finished fourth in last year’s 360 Nationals.
Kerry Madsen and James McFadden are two of the most established Australian 410 sprint car names in the field this weekend. Madsen, 53, a resident of Knoxville, is the 2005 Knoxville 410 track champion. He won the 360 Nationals in 2020. McFadden, 36, captured his lone 360 Nationals title in 2019. He will pilot the California-based Tarlton Racing No. 21t.
NEW FACES
Several new faces to the 360 Nationals are in the field this weekend, trying to claim the $500 bonus as JETCO Rookie of the Race.
Kaylee Bryson made her first career start at Knoxville on May 30, driving a third entry for Clint Garner Racing. The 24-year-old from Muskogee, Okla., has spent the last several seasons bouncing around in several different motorsports disciplines since her departure from the full-time national Midget ranks following the 2022 season. She’ll return to the seat of the Clint Garner Racing No. 11b at Knoxville this weekend.
Chase Dietz is joining the party and representing the Pennsylvania Posse in Knoxville this weekend for the first time in his career. The 25-year-old from York, Pa., will return to the track for the first time since his debut at the 410 Nationals in 2023. Dietz has six checkered flags this season.
Brandon Spithaler has raced Knoxville before, but never in August. The 33-year-old from Butler, Pa., made his debut at the track in July 2018 with the All Star Circuit of Champions and spent seven years away before making his return this past April with the World of Outlaws. His 2025 season has been comprised of mostly Ohio and Western Pennsylvania events, scoring a pair of victories.
Ryder Laplante is one of four teenage racers competing for the national ASCS Rookie of the Year title and this weekend makes his first visit to Knoxville. The 18-year-old from Calera, Okla., sits third in the ROTY points standings with four top-10 finishes through the first 14 races.
Daison Pursley has won at Knoxville in non-winged sprint competition before and will try for his first with the wing on this weekend. The 20-year-old from Locust Grove, Okla., will pilot the Buch Motorsports No. 13.
