By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 11, 2022) — Austin McCarl capped off a banner day by earning the pole position for the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s. McCarl, from nearby Altoona, Iowa and the son of legendary Knoxville driver Terry McCarl, qualified fifth fastest in the 50-car field, finished fourth in his heat race, and fourth in the A-Main on Thursday to score 477 points. McCarl and his wife earlier in the day announced they are expecting a baby, making the day one to remember for the McCarl family.
Tyler Courtney, who also competed on Thursday, will start on the outside of the front row. Donny Schatz, David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Kyle Larson Brent Marks, Daryn Pittman, Brad Sweet, and Knoxville regular J.J. Hickle rounded out the top 10 in Nationals points.
Thursday night feature winner Jacob Allen starts 11th while quick qualifier on Wednesday night Parker Price-Miller starts 12th.
Rookie of the year candidates for the Nationals Justin Sanders and Buddy Kofoid, both natives of California, will start together in row seven.
Knoxville regulars Tasker Phillips and Aaron Reutzel round out the 16 drivers locked into Saturday’s main event.
Drivers 17-27th in points are locked into Saturday’s B-Main while the remainder of the field will return on Friday for the “Hard Knox” program
61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s
Point Standings after Thursday’s preliminary feature
Locked into Saturday’s A-Main
1. 88 Austin McCarl-477
2. 7BC Tyler Courtney-473
3. 15 Donny Schatz-469
4. 2 David Gravel-469
5. 41 Carson Macedo-467
6. 57 Kyle Larson-462
7. 19 Brent Marks-462
8. 27H Daryn Pittman-459
9. 49 Brad Sweet-458
10. 25 JJ Hickle-458
11. 1A Jacob Allen-457
12. 11M Parker Price-Miller-457
13. 39 Justin Sanders-456
14. 11X Buddy Kofoid-453
15. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips-451
16. 8 Aaron Reutzel-447
Locked into Saturday’s B-Main
17. 18 Gio Scelzi-445
18. 1S Logan Schuchart-444
19. 2K Lynton Jeffrey-443
20. 26 Zeb Wise-442
21. 83 James McFadden-441
22. 13 Justin Peck-441
23. 14J Cole Macedo-435
24. 2KS Ian Madsen-434
25. 9 Kasey Kahne-431
26. 3TK Tim Kaeding-431
Drivers that will compete in Friday’s “Hard Knox” Program
27. 19W Chris Windom-423
28. 14 Corey Day-422
29. 11 Roger Crockett-417
30. 16A Colby Copeland-416
31. 5C Dylan Cisney-414
32. 3 Ayrton Gennetten-414
33. 39M Anthony Macri-414
34. 55 Hunter Schuerenberg-410
35. 17W Shane Golobic-407
36. 49X Cale Thomas-406
37. 17 Sheldon Haudenschild-405
38. 42 Sye Lynch-404
39. 49J Josh Schneiderman-401
40. 17B Bill Balog-400
41. 101 Lachlan McHugh-399
42. 17C Carson Short-398
43. 9 Matt Juhl-398
44. 20G Noah Gass-397
45. 21 Brian Brown-396
46. 7 Justin Henderson-396
47. 91 Kyle Reinhardt-395
48. 21H Brady Bacon-395
49. 55T McKenna Haase-392
50. 1 Logan Wagner-391
51. 73 Scotty Thiel-390
52. 55W Mike Wagner-390
53. 17S Sammy Swindell-389
54. 35 Zach Hampton-388
55. 24R Rico Abreu-388
56. 7S Robbie Price-386
57. 3P Sawyer Phillips-385
58. 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr.-384
59. 2M Davey Heskin-384
60. 13JT Mark Dobmeier-382
61. 27 Carson McCarl-382
62. 71 Cory Eliason-381
63. 6B Brandon Wimmer-380
64. 11N Harli White-380
65. 5 Spencer Bayston-379
66. 16 Brooke Tatnell-378
67. 21K Thomas Kennedy-377
68. 53 Jack Dover-376
69. 7W Dustin Selvage-376
70. 24 Terry McCarl-373
71. 1AU Marcus Dumesny-360
72. 18R Ryan Roberts-353
73. 11K Kraig Kinser-341
74. 83T Tanner Carrick-336
75. 11T TJ Stutts-336
76. 44 Chris Martin-333
77. 84 Scott Bogucki-333
78. 20 AJ Moeller-332
79. 15M Bobby Mincer-323
80. 40 Clint Garner-323
81. 99 Skylar Gee-318
82. 3Z Brock Zearfoss-318
83. 14H Josh Higday-312
84. 35K Chad Kemenah-308
85. 47X Dylan Westbrook-306
86. 97 Greg Wilson-302
87. 65 Jordan Goldesberry-302
88. 2KK Kevin Ingle-301
89. 22 Riley Goodno-293
90. 6 Bill Rose-282
91. 10 Skylar Prochaska-278
92. 83JR Kerry Madsen-275
93. 12 Tyler Drueke-273
94. 9JR Derek Hagar-272
95. 1X Jake Bubak-271
96. 4W Matt Wasmund-267
97. 1M Don Droud Jr.-265
98. 97G Alan Gilbertson-263
99. 45 Rusty Hickman-257
100. 6A Adam Cruea-257
101. 52 Blake Hahn-230