KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Knoxville Nationals week is here.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the sport in its entirety are converging upon Knoxville Raceway. The 65th running of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s is slated for Aug. 12-15.
The Knoxville Nationals is more than a sprint car race. It’s an event on the grandest scale. People from all over the globe are ready to multiply the population of the small town of Knoxville, Iowa. A sea of campers will stretch across campgrounds and yards.
For the competitors, this is the mountaintop. It’s the race circled from the moment they step into a sprint car. It’s the race they all dream of winning.
This year’s running will dish out a record $200,000 to the champion atop a massive purse that hands out $15,000 for simply making the show. But the Knoxville Nationals is about so much more than the money. It’s about immortality. Winning this event cements a place in the sport’s history. Knoxville Nationals champions are never forgotten.
HISTORY WITHIN REACH
The opportunity to equal one of the sport’s most impressive records stands ahead of Donny Schatz this week.
Steve Kinser earned his 12th and final Knoxville Nationals title in 2002, a record that seemed insurmountable considering no other driver owned more than five at the time. But just a little more than two decades later, Schatz is knocking on the door.
The Fargo, N.D., native heads to Iowa with 11 Knoxville Nationals titles on his résumé. He broke through for his first in 2006 to launch a historic run of 10 triumphs in 12 years. Number 11 came in 2022. Since then, the closest he’s come to tying “The King” was third in 2023.
Schatz gets another shot this year, and it’ll be his first since joining forces with CJB Motorsports. The pairing already proved to have speed at Knoxville in May when Schatz ran runner-up at the Stars and Stripes Salute.
RETURNING CHAMPIONS
Schatz will have four more former champions joining him in pursuit of making that famed right turn into Knoxville Victory Lane Saturday.
Ryan Timms shocked the world a year ago when his first World of Outlaws win came in the form of a Knoxville Nationals title. He engineered a 50-lap beatdown aboard the Liebig Motorsports No. 10 and has the opportunity to become the ninth competitor to win the crown jewel two years in a row. The Oklahoma City, Okla., native already boasts eight Knoxville scores this year and is fresh off dominating the 360 Nationals with the American Sprint Car Series.
David Gravel will be on the hunt for his second title and first since joining Big Game Motorsports. The Watertown, Conn., native got his first in 2019 with Jason Johnson Racing. He’s been on the podium in three of the last four championship features in Tod Quiring’s No. 2, including drives from 22nd to second in 2023 and 21st to third in 2025.
Sammy Swindell, the 1983 champion, will make his 50th Knoxville Nationals appearance this week. In addition to his one victory, “Slammin’ Sammy” has been runner-up on three occasions (1981, 1985, 1990).
While NASCAR obligations may interfere with his chances at racing Saturday, three-time Knoxville Nationals champion Kyle Larson is slated for Thursday’s qualifying night. “Yung Money” put the Silva Motorsports No. 57 in victory lane in 2021, 2023, and 2024. He’s fresh off winning the Capitani Classic.
FIRST TIME FAVORITES
The entry list features several accomplished drivers who are looking to conquer the sport’s most prestigious race.
Carson Macedo stands out as one of the favorites on the World of Outlaws roster as he could give Jason Johnson Racing their third Knoxville Nationals title. He’s won there four times in the “Ragin’ Cajun’s” No. 41, most recently a 2023 prelim.
The last three runnings of the event have led to top five finishes for Macedo. The team rolled out a special paint scheme for this week that pays homage to Jason Johnson’s popular 2016 win.
Four top fives have brought Logan Schuchart so close to Knoxville Nationals glory with Shark Racing. Among those are memorable drives from 22nd to second in 2019 and 17th to third in 2022. All that’s left for Schuchart to find is the top step of the podium and join his grandfather Bobby Allen on the list of champions.
Sheldon Haudenschild’s speed during Knoxville Nationals week has flown a bit under the radar. He carries an active streak of six consecutive top 10s in the finale into his first attempt since joining KCP Racing.
Rico Abreu was one spot away from getting the job done last year, finishing a personal best of second. The St. Helena, Calif., driver owns 13 Knoxville triumphs, including one to open the month of August with the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team.
Clovis, Calif., phenom Corey Day will take a break from his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series duties to chase a Knoxville Nationals title. He drove the Jason Meyers Racing No. 14 from 11th to the podium two years ago and is a two-time World of Outlaws Feature winner at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World.”
Brian Brown has been trying to win the Knoxville Nationals for more than two decades and came so close with three consecutive runner-up results from 2012 through 2014. The Grain Valley, Mo., native’s 69 career Knoxville victories rank second behind only Danny Lasoski (112).
Giovanni Scelzi enters the biggest week of the year with the momentum of Bob Weikert Memorial and 360 Nationals prelim victories with Spire Motorsports. “Hot Sauce” boasts nine total Knoxville triumphs.
IOWA PROUD
It’s hard to believe that no Iowa native has ever won the Knoxville Nationals, but could this be the year it happens?
If a “Hawkeye” is going to make the home state proud, it’s tough to look at anyone aside from Austin McCarl as the favorite. The Altoona, IA driver has captured four 410 track championships, including the last three. He’s also won 10 races at the half-mile with a 410 under the hood. In 2022, he proved he could perform under the bright lights when he put the Country Builders Racing No. 88 on the pole of the sport’s biggest race.
McCarl will have plenty of fellow Iowa-born competitors joining him, including Tasker Phillips, Kelby Watt, Riley Goodno and more.
FLYING UNDER THE RADAR
The names expected to be up front have been covered, but who are some of the entries that could surprise with a strong run?
It’s hard to call 2013 World of Outlaws champion Daryn Pittman an underdog, but his semi-retired status doesn’t allow him a lot of track time these days. Still, the 2019 Knoxville Nationals podium finisher can’t be counted out as he takes another crack with Pennsylvania’s Kreitz Racing. Pittman put the blue No. 69k on the front row two years ago.
Garet Williamson has been banging on the door of his first World of Outlaws win and would love to replicate Ryan Timms’ feat of pulling it off on the biggest stage. Like many from Missouri, Knoxville is where Williamson spent plenty of time cutting his teeth. He owns a trio of Knoxville checkered flags, two in a 360 and one in a 410.
James McFadden’s name may not get thrown around in the favorite category, but his recent results with Tarlton Motorsports make him hard to overlook. They won last year’s Capitani Classic and grabbed a 360 Nationals top five over the weekend.
J.J. Hickle has turned plenty of heads in the Matt Moro No. 2m this season. It started with a World of Outlaws top five in April, and he’s been back in the top five in 410 competition seven more times, highlighted by a runner-up. Hickle made the championship feature in 2022.
