Lap 46 of 50
August 13, 2022
Donny Schatz passed David Gravel to win the Knoxville Nationals for the 11th time in his career and there has not been a pass in the feature of the Granddaddy of Them All ever since.
Kyle Larson led every lap in 2023
Kyle Larson led every lap in 2024
Ryan Timms led every lap in 2025
There are a lot of reasons for this but at the end of the day, the event format places all the fastest cars up front and everyone is so equal these days, and this is still a high-speed half mile.
It comes down to dirty air and parity with exceptions as Rico Abreu points out.
“Everyone is out there with great equipment and they're running a fast pace and you don't get lots of cautions because these are the best drivers who make the features and they don’t make mistakes,” Abreu told Motorsport.com. “So I think that's why you don't see lots of cautions in these races.
“You had Gravel the last few years come from the back to the front and it's obviously doable. In 2018, Donny (Schatz) came from the B to win the feature. We’re just in a period where there are so many competitive drivers and the cars are ultra good. … You’re not going to see passing when all the best drivers are starting up front.”
Not that this will be a surprise but the guy who won last year likes the format.
“I think you should be rewarded,” Timms said. “I mean, they put you at a disadvantage already by inverting eight cars in a heat race. So the heat race, it's hard to pass and It's hard to get to the top four.
“I mean, it's not impossible, but it's pretty freaking hard to get to the top four at Knoxville in eight laps starting eighth. So, I don't think there's anything wrong with the format. The cream always rises to the top, it seems and it rewards you on Saturday night when it matters.
“This is the Super Bowl of Sprint Car racing, so you should be rewarded if you have a great prelim night. And I really think it's pretty even unless you qualify bad and if you qualify bad, you’re screwed anyway.”
So basically, the way to watch the Knoxville Nationals is to treat every session like it’s the race for the win, because the teams and racers do.
There is a polarizing mandatory open red halfway break scheduled for somewhere between Laps 25 and 50. This is for refueling but Kasey Kahne wishes that didn’t exist. He would prefer 40 straight laps.
“I mean, I feel like there should never be halfway breaks,” Kahne said. “If you run too small of a tank and run out, that’s your deal. If you run a big enough one, you're going to make it. So yeah, I think there's enough knowledge out here that everybody would make it, however many laps it was set. There's anything from 26 to 33 gallon tanks I think that are very normal and different settings for engines and that’s a factor.
“But I think the racing is better when the tires get hot and we’re out there running hard for longer periods of time.”
Abreu had the most polarizing suggestion.
“I just think it needs to be a 30 lap race,” Abreu said.
No fuel stop.
No halfway break.
No open red.
“I like the direction we’ve taken but I'm open to change,” Abreu said. “The track prep, the track, they do a great job here but the format rewards the best cars and drivers from their preliminary nights and they deserve to start straight up in the feature.”
