While it will take place one year later than originally planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 60th NOS Energy Knoxville Nationals will be run Aug. 11-14 at the legendary Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway.
In anticipation of the big event that could pay the winner as much as $200,000, we look back at key moments from the event’s storied past.
THE FIRST ONE: Created by promoter Marion Robinson, the first Knoxville Nationals drew nearly 14,000 people on July 29, 1961, and was won by Roy Robbins, who banked $1,280 for what was known as the Super-Modified National Championship.
BIGGEST UPSET: In 1990, Mark and Steve Kinser each posted perfect scores on their qualifying nights, but on Saturday night it came down to fan favorite and underdog Bobby Allen of Pennsylvania, who held off Sammy Swindell to claim the $35,000 top prize and post the biggest upset in the history of the event.
ONE EXTRA LAP: The 1973 Nationals mistakenly ran an extra lap, but it didn’t matter as Kenny Weld paced all 31 circuits to win the event for the fourth time.
SHORT REIGN: Kenny Gritz won the 1969 Nationals, but was killed at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds two weeks later.
CAR COUNT: The record car count for the Knoxville Nationals is 166 in 1991.
WINGS, NO WINGS: With no rules outlawing wings for the first Knoxville Nationals, Roy Robbins won with a wing on his car. Wings were outlawed from 1962 through 1972 and banned again after the 1973 race. Winged racing returned to the Nationals for good in 1982.
EARTH-SHATTERING: When home track hero Danny Lasoski, the winningest driver in Knoxville Raceway history, won the Nationals for the first time in 1998, the reaction of the crowd literally shook the grandstands. It was the first of four Nationals triumphs for “The Dude.”
FATHERS AND SONS: When Kraig Kinser won the rain-delayed Nationals in 2005, he and his father, 12-time winner Steve Kinser, became the only father and son drivers to win the Nationals. However, three-time winner Mark Kinser won all three of his races driving for his father Karl, who has 14 overall victories in the event, having also won 10 times with Steve Kinser and once with Dick Gaines.
YOUTH GONE WILD: Greg Weld was 20 years old when he won the Nationals in 1963 and he remains the youngest winner in the history of the race. The following year his older brother, Kenny, won and the pair became the first and still only brothers to each win the Nationals. Kenny Weld then became the first repeat winner of the race in 1965. He won the race four times.
THE WOLF: Doug Wolfgang is third on the all-time list of Knoxville Nationals winners list, having captured the big event five times. He won the Nationals back-to-back in 1977-’78 and 1984-’85 and his final triumph came in 1989.
THE KING: Steve Kinser won the Knoxville Nationals a record 12 times. His first victory earned him $6,000 in 1980 and his final Nationals triumph was worth $125,000 in 2002.
THE PRINCE: Donny Schatz has won the Knoxville Nationals 10 times, including winning streaks of four in row from 2006 through ’09 and five straight from 2011 through ’15. Schatz finished first or second in the Nationals 17 times in 20 years.
BRIDESMAID: Five-time Knoxville Raceway track champion Brian Brown finished second to Donny Schatz in three consecutive editions of the Nationals between 2012 and ’14.
FROM THE B: Donny Schatz won the B main and charged from 21st in the feature starting lineup to win the Nationals for the seventh time in 2013. That was the deepest starting spot in the field for any Knoxville Nationals winner.
LAPS LED: Donny Schatz has led 320 feature laps during the Knoxville Nationals. That’s 19 more than Steve Kinser, who led 301 laps. Doug Wolfgang is third on the list with 152 laps led.
MOST FEATURES: Steve Kinser has qualified for the Knoxville Nationals feature a record 35 times. Sammy Swindell has 34 A-main starts. Donny Schatz and Terry McCarl are the active leaders with 22 starts each.
HALL OF FAME: Located adjacent to Knoxville Raceway on the Marion County Fairgrounds is the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum. The museum was founded in 1986 and the building opened in 1991. Dedicated to preserving the history of sprint car racing, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is open 362 days per year.