KNOXVILLE, Iowa — With nearly a purse of nearly $1 million, including $150,000 to win Saturday night’s 50-lap feature, the 24-car field for the 59th annual NOS Energy Knoxville Nationals will be filled using one of the most unique formats in motorsports.
It’s the unique format that adds intrigue, challenge and pressure to the equation.
Unlike the usual World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series race procedure, the format at the Knoxville Nationals pays drivers points every time they go on the track on their qualifying nights.
And while minor tweaks to the format have been made through the years, including one this year, it has remained relatively unchanged for decades.
Wednesday and Thursday Nights
Order of Events: Hot laps, Qualifications, 5 Heats, C Main, B Main, 25-lap feature.
Qualifications: 200 points are awarded for quick timer, 198 for second quick, 196 for third, etc.
Only the top 50 qualifiers each night make the heats, the rest are put in the last chance heats if needed in which the first eight finishers will fill the back of that night’s C feature (starting in the sixth row). If there are 10 or fewer cars not making the heats, they will line straight up by time starting in the sixth row. The quickest will be given 50 points, the next 47, etc.
Last Chance Heats (for drivers out of the top 50 in Qual.): 50 points awarded to the winner, 47 for 2nd, etc.
Heats: 100 points are awarded for the heat race winner, points go down by three for each position: 97, 94, 91, 88, etc.
Heats are inverted by eight. For most of the history of this format, the top 10 were inverted. This sets up the best racing of the week as only the top four finishers transfer to the A Main. Fifth through eighth go to the B Main, finishing positions 9-10 go to the C Main.
C Main: Top four finishers go to back of the B. Fifth place is worth 92 pts., 6th is 90, etc.
B Main: The top four finishers transfer to the tail of the A. The B awards 142 points for fifth, 140 for sixth and so on by twos.
A Main: The A Main points are the same as time trials: 200, 198, 196 etc. This explains how a driver cannot make the A, but if he timed well may have more points than someone who did make the A. The invert for the A Main is eight.
First tiebreaker is finish position in respective main event. Next tie breaker is rank in time trial. The third tiebreaker is pill draw. Other tie breaking criteria may be implemented if needed.
A perfect score (quick time, heat win, feature win) is 500.
The top 16 in combined points from Wednesday and Thursday are locked in to Saturday’s Championship feature, Teams 17th-26th in points are awarded the first 10 positions in the Saturday B Main. The rest of the field comes back for more racing on Friday.
Friday
Here’s where there is a change this year. Following format changes in 2012, drivers who find themselves not locked into Saturday’s A-Main have a second chance to qualify for the finale. The top-four finishers in Friday’s feature event have previously made up positions 17-20 in Saturday’s A-Main. Beginning in 2019, the four transfers will now start 21-24.
The top four finishers in Saturday’s B main receive starting spots 17-20.
After 25 years, the SPEED SPORT World Challenge does not return to the slate this.
Friday’s event will consist of split field qualifying, 6 heats, C Main, two B Main’s and the Hard Knox 25-lap feature.
Saturday
Events:10-lap E Main, 12-lap D Main, 15-lap C Main, 22-lap B Main and the 50-lap 5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals Championship feature.
The B, C, D and E Main will take the top four finishers to the tail of the next event (if there are scratches, there may be more taken for a particular event).
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