Sweet & Larson Headline Thursday Night

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — World of Outlaws point leader Brad Sweet and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will headline the field for Thursday night’s qualifying action during the 62nd annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway.

Sweet is the 2018 Nationals winner and Larson captured the event in 2021.

The second of two nights of qualifying where point totals matter, with the top 16 points earners will lock into Saturday’s main event, which will pay $185,000 to win.

Sweet wheels the familiar Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49, while Larson drives Paul Silva’s No. 57 sprint car.

They’ll have to battle a stout field to accumulate the most points Thursday night at the half-mile dirt track located at the Marion County Fairgrounds, as the second night is stacked with the sport’s top stars.

Rico Abreu — a winner with the World of Outlaws, High Limit Racing Series and All Star Circuit of Champions this season — will be in action aboard the Abreu Racing No. 24r tuned by Ricky Warner.

Carson Macedo, who ranks third in World of Outlaws points, steers the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 crewed by Phil Dietz. The team won the Nationals in 2016 with the late Jason Johnson and in 2019 with David Gravel.

Logan Schuchart drove his Shark Racing No. 1s to victory in the Eldora Million last month at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway and he’ll be a leading contender in the Nationals where he has finished third, fifth and second in the last three runnings of the event.

A two-time Knoxville Nationals runner-up and three-time Knoxville Raceway champion — Brian Brown — continues to chase a victory in the sport’s biggest race. Brown has won five features at Knoxville this season, including one with the World of Outlaws.

He’s made 12 Nationals A-mains since his first attempt in 2007.

Others expected to contend on Thursday night and in Saturday’s main event include World of Outlaws regular Spencer Bayston, last year’s Nationals rookie of the year Buddy Kofoid, traveling sprint car racers Anthony Macri and Cory Eliason, and Knoxville Raceway point leader Austin McCarl, who started on the pole for last year’s Nationals feature.

Others who could make some noise include Ryan Timms, Daryn Pittman, Tim Kaeding, Brock Zearfoss and Shane Golobic.

Thursday’s Entry List