KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Knoxville Raceway is a special place on its own. But to race in the shadow of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on induction weekend is incomparable.
The Sprint Car Capital of the World welcomes the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship to Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for back-to-back nights of full programs on May 29-30.
The Avanti Windows & Doors Corn Belt Clash presents $10,000-to-win for the Friday night opener followed by Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win finale at the famed half-mile.
Gary Bettenhausen, Dick Tobias, Sammy Sessions, Tom Bigelow, Sheldon Kinser and Sammy Swindell are among the few who have won a USAC National Sprint Car main event at Knoxville and are also enshrined in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
They are the embodiment of what so many great racers aspire to achieve. To win a USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship main event at Knoxville is truly an iconic feat. To win on Hall of Fame weekend at Knoxville, that’s what dreams are made of.
Brady Bacon, Justin Grant, and Kevin Thomas Jr., among others, have added USAC wins of their own in recent years at Knoxville, and someday, their names are sure to be called upon at the NSCHOF.
KNOXVILLE MASTERS
Four past Knoxville Raceway USAC National Sprint Car winners will be in the field for this weekend’s event, namely Brady Bacon (5 wins across 2011, 2019, 2020 and 2025); Justin Grant (twice in 2017 and 2023); Jake Swanson (once in 2023); and Kevin Thomas Jr. (once in 2025).
Bacon already won a USAC National Sprint Car feature on a half-mile this year in mid-May at Eldora. Grant is seeking his 98th and 99th career USAC national victories this weekend.
Swanson’s only series win this year to date came on a half-mile at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida. Thomas Jr.’s Knoxville victory in 2025 was his first of the year, and this weekend, he aims to reach victory lane for the first time in 2026.
CRISP BACON
Only one driver has won more than two USAC National Sprint Car features at Knoxville Raceway. In fact, that driver has won five throughout his illustrious career, and that’s Brady Bacon.
The Broken Arrow, Okla., native scored at Knoxville in 2011, then swept both nights of the Corn Belt Clash in 2019, capped the weekend with a triumph in 2020, and then did the deed again on the opening night of the 2025 event.
In 13 Knoxville USAC Sprint Car starts, Bacon has only finished outside the top-three twice. He flipped while running fourth on night two of the 2025 event. Bacon’s Knoxville USAC Sprint Car profile features five wins, five seconds and a third.
HALF-MILE PROWESS
Kyle Cummins has already checked off victories at two of the most famous dirt half-miles on the USAC National Sprint Car schedule in 2026, winning at both the Terre Haute Action Track in April and Eldora Speedway in May.
Could a first Knoxville triumph be next in the cards for Cummins, the driver who currently leads the series standings and is the defending champion?
He made the best run of his Knoxville career in his most recent appearance in 2025 where he advanced from his 18th starting spot to finish third, earning himself hard charger honors.
GOIN’ FOR THREE
Team AZ / Curb-Agajanian Racing will have Gavin Miller in the seat for the weekend. Miller finished 10th in his USAC National Sprint Car debut with the team at Bloomington Speedway in May.
The team has won twice at Knoxville over the past three seasons. In 2023, they scored a last lap victory with Jake Swanson at the wheel of the No. 21AZ, then repeated the feat in 2024 with Daison Pursley as their wheelman, which was his first USAC National Sprint Car points-paying victory.
This weekend, the team will try to repeat the feat with a third different driver at Knoxville as Miller looks to tally his first USAC feature win as the driver of the No. 21az.
COASTERS SEARCHIN’
A few coastal invaders will be rolling in for the Corn Belt Clash, including USAC CRA champion R.J. Johnson, plus Charles Davis Jr., Ryan Bernal from the west, while Steven Snyder Jr. arrives from the east.
One-time USAC National Sprint Car main event winner Bernal will wheel one of the top rides on the USAC CRA circuit, the Tom & Christy Dunkel No. 17. Reigning USAC CRA champion Johnson will pilot a car for event sponsor Petty Performance Racing while Davis will be in the seat of his own No. 47.
Coming in from the east coast is Maryland’s Steven Snyder Jr. in a CB Industries-Spire Motorsports machine. Snyder’s only two previous USAC National Sprint Car starts came at Eldora’s half-mile a couple weeks back. There, Snyder finished 10th in the opener and an impressive fourth on night two after starting 14th.
HARD KNOX LIFE
Seven drivers currently residing inside the top 10 of the USAC National Sprint Car points are vying for a first Knoxville triumph this weekend.
Point leader Kyle Cummins is among those on the list as are Mitchel Moles (second), Logan Seavey (fourth), Briggs Danner (fifth), Chase Stockon (seventh), C.J. Leary (ninth) and Robert Ballou (10th).
Moles recently conquered the Terre Haute half-mile for the Hulman Classic last week. Seavey is eying his first series victory since February. Danner won the most recent series race at Circle City a week ago.
Stockon led the first 20 laps of last year’s 25-lap Knoxville opener before finishing second. Leary set a new Knoxville USAC track record in 2025 at 18.442 seconds. Ballou possesses both the 10-lap and 16-lap Knoxville USAC track records, and finished second there in 2017.
